Anti-aging medicine at eleven years: reflections and projections as a new era begins

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, July, 2004 by Robert Goldman, Ronald Klatz

"The end of the beginning"

The American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) proclaims in Science magazine's February 28, 2003 issue that current aging research has reached its concluding point. Explaining that "[Scientists who study aging] have focused on physiological mechanisms underlying the processes of aging, rather than on the large array of debilitating and costly disorders that so commonly emerge during the latter half of the lifespans of human beings," AAAS points to "the 'one disorder at a time' approach" as "having limited power to ... extend the human lifespan." Rather, Dr. Martin et al. submit that while curing individual diseases can achieve a gain in life expectancy on the order of 30-40 years, slowing down aging offers "the biggest bang for the buck" by adding 60-70 years. As a result, those who celebrate their 50th birthday attain the opportunity to live to 120 years. (1)

The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M, Chicago, Illinois USA; www.worldhealth.net and www.a4minfo.net) salutes this declaration because it hails a new era for preventive medicine specifically aimed at improving health as we age that is consistent with the anti-aging medical model. Since its inception a decade ago, the A4M has advanced an innovative healthcare model involving the detection, prevention, and treatment of aging-related disease and the promotion of research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process. A4M's model for anti-aging medicine embraces a multi-disciplinary approach for wellness-based healthcare, as our membership includes specialists in areas such as endocrinology, neurology, oncology, gynecology, pain management, and cosmetic surgery--as well as general and family practice physicians. A4M continues to unite physicians and scientists across specialties in a spirit of cooperative research and application to promote a scientifically-validated whole-body approach to aging intervention.

Indeed, Science magazine's special Aging issue (February 28, 2003) contains a testimonial to the important near-term applicable advancements being made in human aging intervention. Dr. Valter Longo and colleagues at University of Southern California reported that animal research on longevity is very near its transference to human application. Dr. Longo's article in Science remarks that viable techniques to extend the human lifespan by 20 years or more could be "standard procedure 30 or 40 years down the road," but by prompting "as many people as possible to get into this novel way of looking at disease prevention, anti-aging drugs could be available in the next ten years." (2)

Prestigious Recognition

A4M continues to be the world's leading professional organization dedicated to advancing research and clinical pursuits that enhance the quality, and extend the quantity, of the human lifespan. The 12,000 physician, scientist, and health practitioner members from over 70 countries who belong to the A4M are forging an innovative model of healthcare that alleviates the mounting social, economic, and medical woes otherwise anticipated to arrive with the rapidly growing volume of an aging population. This movement is no longer denied, rather it is becoming a widely embraced resource being explored by many public health and public policy experts who seek to minimize the impact of old-age disability and dependence to burden individuals and societies at-large.

The February 2003 issue of San Francisco Medicine, published by the San Francisco Medical Society, was devoted entirely to the subject of anti-aging medicine. Featured was an article authored by A4M's president Dr. Ronald Klatz, in which he reviewed the broad-ranging benefits of anti-aging medicine. Dr. Klatz's article concluded that we are now "ushering in a new reality ... in which 75 years old may well be considered middle age." (3) San Francisco Medical Society's all anti-aging issue continues the affirmation of this medical specialty that was conferred by the San Francisco-based American Society of Aging one year ago in that organization's all anti-aging issue of Generations, that society's bimonthly journal.

"Winning the War Against Aging" by Dr. Joao Pedro Magalhaes at the University of Nemur (Belgium) and appearing in the March-April 2003 issue of The Futurist extends the ongoing recognition of anti-aging medicine by The World Future Society, a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational and scientific organization of 30,000 individuals who are interested in how social and technological developments are shaping the future. A microbiologist studying the biology of aging, Dr. Magalhaes reports that "many advances in antiaging science have been made at the cellular level," and suggests that "aging may soon become nothing more than a scary bedtime story." (4) Commenting in Dr. Magalhaes article, Dr. Steven Austad, biology professor at the University of Idaho remarked that "the prospects of dramatically increasing human longevity are excellent."4 Dr. Austad is one of anti-aging's most ardent independent supporters, previously expressing that by January 1, 2150 it will be documented that a human has reached the age of 150 or more. His confidence in this prediction is so steadfast that he's wagered $500 million dollars to that effect. (5)