A research team has discovered a combination of drugs that increases healthy lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans. The team administered combinations compounds targeting different ageing pathways to C. elegans. Results showed that two drug pairs extended the mean lifespan of the worms synergistically, and combined with a third compound almost doubled mean lifespans, an effect larger than any lifespan extension previously reported for any drug intervention in adult animals.From here.
Taking drugs that have been proved effective in roundworms and applying them to humans (or even other vertebrates like rats) can be a long time coming. But, this study is proof of concept that the biochemical aging process can be dramatically slowed down with a particular set of drugs. And, different animals often have more basic biochemistry, such as the biochemistry governing the aging process, in common with each other than they have physiology and anatomy in common.
Also some of the drugs in the mix are further along already: "previous experiments by other research groups showed that it extends the lifespan of many organisms, including the C. elegans worms, fruit flies and mice." Fruit flies have been given similar drug cocktails with positive results.
The paper is:
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