These 2 drugs made mice live 30% longer — why Bryan Johnson has warned of downsides
Biohackers, chew on this.
Anti-aging aficionados have tried it all — including taking certain drugs off-label in the hopes they will lead to longer, healthier lives.
A new study out of Germany provides fresh evidence that this approach may be worthwhile. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging found that a combination of two cancer drugs prolonged the lives of mice by about 30%.
4 Biohackers have tried it all — including taking certain drugs off-label in the hopes they will lead to longer, healthier lives.
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But buyer beware. One of the drugs, rapamycin, has sparked controversy over its safety and effectiveness in humans. Biohacking buff Bryan Johnson, 47, even admitted to dumping it from his regimen.
Rapamycin is an immunosuppressant used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients.
The pill was found in the new study to increase mouse lifespan by 15% to 20% on its own.
Rapamycin inhibits the mTOR pathway, which regulates major body functions such as protein synthesis, cell growth and the clearing of 'zombie' cells that don't function properly but refuse to die.
Because it suppresses the immune system, one major downside of rapamycin is that it increases the risk of infections.
Other potential side effects include elevated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood, gastrointestinal problems, skin issues, headaches, fatigue and drug interactions.
4 Prominent anti-aging enthusiast Bryan Johnson, 47, admitted to recently dumping rapamycin from his regimen.
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Johnson had experimented with different doses of the drug over five years before he stopped taking it in September.
'Despite the immense potential from pre-clinical trials, my team and I came to the conclusion that the benefits of lifelong dosing of rapamycin do not justify the hefty side effects (intermittent skin/soft tissue infections, lipid abnormalities, glucose elevations, and increased resting heart rate),' Johnson wrote in January.
Rapamycin, along with trametinib, worked wonders in the new study.
4 The one-two punch of rapamycin and trametinib influenced gene expression differently than each drug by itself.
K. Link / Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing
Trametinib is used to treat certain types of melanoma and low-grade glioma, among other cancers. It interferes with the signals that tell cancer cells to multiply.
Trametinib extended the mouse lives by 5% to 10% alone — and it was even better with rapamycin.
'Trametinib, especially in combination with rapamycin, is a good candidate to be tested in clinical trials as a geroprotector,' study author Sebastian Grönke said.
'We hope that our results will be taken up by others and tested in humans. Our focus is on optimizing the use of trametinib in animal models.'
4 Combination therapy was found to be more successful than the individual drugs.
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The one-two punch of rapamycin and trametinib influenced gene expression differently than each drug by itself.
Researchers found lower amounts of harmful inflammation in the tissue and brain, and cancer didn't develop as fast.
The findings were published this week in the journal Nature Aging.
'While we do not expect a similar extension to human lifespans as we found in mice, we hope that the drugs we're investigating could help people to stay healthy and disease-free for longer late in life,' co-senior author Linda Partridge said.
'Further research in humans in years to come will help us to elucidate how these drugs may be useful to people, and who might be able to benefit.'
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Miami Herald
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- Miami Herald
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'It's fine, except this cough I've had since junior high,' Ellen said. Ellen had been diagnosed with vascular dementia, peripheral vascular disease, and Type 2 diabetes. Last fall, doctors made the difficult decision to operate on her foot. Before the surgery, Ellen was always colorful, wearing purple, yellow, blue, pink, and chunky necklaces. She enjoyed talking with the half-dozen other residents at her adult family home in Washington state. She had a hearty appetite that brought her to the breakfast table early. But lately, her enthusiasm for meals and socializing had waned. Johnson got down to eye level with Ellen to examine her, assessing her joints and range of motion, checking her blood pressure, and listening to her heart and lungs. Carefully, Johnson removed the bandage to examine Ellen's toes. Her lower legs were red but cold to the touch, which indicated her condition wasn't improving. Ellen's two younger sisters had power of attorney for her and made it clear that, above all, they wanted her to be comfortable. Now, Johnson thought it was time to have that difficult conversation with them about Ellen's prognosis, recommending her for hospice. 'Our patient isn't just the older adult,' Johnson said. 'It's also often the family member or the person helping to manage them.' Nurse practitioners are having those conversations more and more as their patient base trends older. They are increasingly filling a gap that is expected to widen as the senior population explodes and the number of geriatricians declines. The Health Resources and Services Administration projects a 50% increase in demand for geriatricians from 2018 to 2030, when the entire baby boom generation will be older than 65. By then, hundreds of geriatricians are expected to retire or leave the specialty, reducing their number to fewer than 7,600, with relatively few young doctors joining the field. 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'If we have a geriatrician shortage, then hiring more nurse practitioners trained in geriatrics is an ideal solution,' Wagner said, 'but there are a lot of barriers in place.' In 27 states and Washington, D.C., nurse practitioners can practice independently. But in the rest of the country, they need to have a collaborative agreement with or be under the supervision of another health care provider to provide care to older adults. Medicare generally reimburses for nurse practitioner services at 85% of the amount it pays physicians. Last year, in more than 40 states, the American Medical Association and its partners lobbied against what they see as 'scope creep' in the expanded roles of nurse practitioners and other health workers. The AMA points out that doctors must have more schooling and significantly more clinical experience than nurse practitioners. While the AMA says physician-led teams keep costs lower, a study published in 2020 in Health Services Research found similar patient outcomes and lower costs for nurse practitioner patients. Other studies, including one published in 2023 in the journal Medical Care Research and Review, have found health care models including nurse practitioners had better outcomes for patients with multiple chronic conditions than teams without an NP. Five states have granted NPs full practice authority since 2021, with Utah the most recent state to remove physician supervision requirements, in 2023. In March, however, Mississippi House Bill 849, which would have increased NP independence, failed. Meanwhile, 30 Texas physicians rallied to tamp down full-scope efforts in Austin. 'I would fully disagree that we're invading their scope of practice and shouldn't have full scope of our own,' Johnson said. She has worked under the supervision of physicians in Pennsylvania and Washington state but started seeing patients at her own practice in 2021. Like many nurse practitioners, she sees her patients in their homes. The first thing she does when she gets a new patient is manage their prescriptions, getting rid of unnecessary medications, especially those with harsh side effects. She works with the patient and a family member who often has power of attorney. She keeps them informed of subtle changes, such as whether a person was verbal and eating and whether their medical conditions have changed. While there is some overlap in expertise between geriatricians and nurse practitioners, there are areas where nurses typically excel, said Elizabeth White, an assistant professor of health services, policy, and practice at Brown University. 'We tend to be a little stronger in care coordination, family and patient education, and integrating care and social and medical needs. 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'I do feel sadness,' Johnson said, 'but there's also a sense of relief that I've been with her through her suffering to try to alleviate it, and I've helped her meet her and her family's priorities in that time.' Jariel Arvin is a reporter with the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He reported this article through a grant from The SCAN Foundation. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
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New York Post
2 days ago
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Kate Middleton shares a a heartfelt statement after pulling out of Royal Ascot
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