The discovery of the key genes that slow the ageing process could create in the treatment of many illnesses ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to a number of heart conditions.
Some mutations of the genes have been able to prolong the lifespan of animals in the lab such as worms, fruit flies and mice. It is quite possible that the mutations play the same role in humans as well.
Professor Linda Partridge, director of the Institute of Healthy Ageing at University College London, said such research could help treat or delay many diseases while simultaneously providing treatment through medication.
She believes these scientific advances such as these are offering hope to improve health during ageing in humans and inspiring a new wave of research related to ageing.
So far, “pathways” in the human body, along which nutrients have to pass, have proven to have the most robust effect on healthy lifespan.
She said: “Research on the diseases associated with ageing is generally done by separate communities of research workers who read different journals, attend different conferences and generally do not communicate with each other.
“But by tacking the causes of ageing itself we could treat, or at least delay, a broad spectrum of conditions simultaneously.”
According to the professor, even dietary restriction, which is a simple environmental intervention, can also extend life in a range of animals.
Prof Partridge said this research means a new approach to the treatment of age-related conditions.
She added: “The major burden of ill health is in the older section of the population.
“The new discoveries about ageing have raised the prospect of increasing the number of years that people enjoy in good health, with broad-spectrum preventive medicines for the diseases of ageing.”
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