Is Rapamycin the Holy Grail of Anti-Aging Medicine?

MRI of brain

Rapamycin may prevent chronic age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease. From P.D. Mangan who interviewed Alan S. Greeen, M.D., prescriber and user of the drug himself:

For many informed observers of anti-aging science and practice, rapamycin appears to be one of the most promising anti-aging treatments currently available. Originally (and still) used as an immunosuppressant for transplant patients, it’s been found to increase lifespan in lab animals.

Side effects of rapamycin are a problem, but it’s since been found that a transient (3-month) treatment with rapamycin can extend life expectancy up to 60%. More studies are needed to determine the dosing regimen with maximal efficacy and minimal side effects. Intermittent dosing at once every 5 days also extends lifespan in mice, and this “demonstrates that the anti-aging potential of rapamycin is separable from many of its negative side effects and suggests that carefully designed dosing regimens may permit the safer use of rapamycin and its analogs for the treatment of age-related diseases in humans. ” Note also that this dosing regimen wasn’t started until the mice were quite old, at 20 months, and it still extended lifespan.

The principal mechanism of action of rapamycin is the inhibition of the cellular nutrient sensor and growth regulator mTOR. In elderly humans, weekly dosing of an mTOR inhibitor (not rapamycin) increased immune function as measured by response to a flu vaccine.

Given all of this, rapamycin as it relates to the slowing or reversal of aging, is still an experimental drug. However, we will be waiting a long time, perhaps forever, for the FDA to approve rapamycin for anti-aging, and since it’s a generic drug, there’s little incentive for drug companies to pursue clinical trials. Meanwhile, many people have begun to realize that they could be dead before this treatment becomes recognized – again, if ever.

Source: Rapamycin Anti-Aging Medicine: An Update with Alan S. Green, M.D. – Rogue Health and Fitness

Mangan’s site is a trove of anti-aging strategies.

Steve Parker, MD.

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