David Sinclair’s Lifespan — some key takeaways
So when I started researching agelessness, it is very easy to stumble upon David Sinclair on the internet. He has done talks at Google, TED and many other internet podcasts. He clearly is one of the leading voices in the internet in the field of age research. So, I read his book “Lifespan”. These are the list of things that stood out for me in this book.
Who is David Sinclair?
This Guy: https://twitter.com/davidasinclair
A researcher and Harvard prof who has spent more than a couple of decades studying ageing. This is purely through a biological lens and looking at what constitutes our makeup and is there one central unified theory that we could apply to being the root cause of all ageing.
The book at a high level covers a list of his successful experiments his lab at the Harvard Medical School had conducted over the years. The most Significant scientific take-aways from the book are the following:
The Unified theory of Ageing
The genome is codified from our birth and is not altered through our life. We have the same DNA pretty much in every cell of our body. The epigenome is the tuning of our genetic codes based on what we do in our lives. He draws a parallel between your epigenome and a DVD disc where he says over time, your epigenome gets scratched like a DVD and hence slowly becomes unreadable. Each cell has a different identity based on the list of genes that are turned on and off in those specific cells. However, as we age, the cells start losing their identity because of the wrong genes being turned on and off. This is the fundamental cause for ageing. Technically, if you can maintain each cells identity from youth, you can be immortal. He also says that just like in the case of a scratched DVD, it is completely possible to recover the contents of the disc and even reverse ageing.
Sirtuins and the The Immune system
Sirtuin proteins and in particular SIR2 are the guys that are constantly working to make sure that any kind of breaks in the epigenome are fixed. Their primary job when shit is not broken is to maintain existing cells and cell balances in our body. However, in the event of a stressful situation like a disease or even general damage due to day to day factors like radiation, these guys go to work to fix the broken epigenome. This in turn means there is a massive backlog on other jobs that they have missed out and this snowballs into a crazy level of irreversible mutation in the cells. This can be fixed by keeping the sertuin enzyme levels in check.
Why is wine good for you?
In the 2000s, if you remember , there was an explosion of media coverage on why red wine is good for you…total click bait. This was based on an experiment conducted by Sinclairs lab where , a substance called resveratrol that was found in wine(fermented grapes)was found to be great for your longevity. Of course, this was blown out of proportion by the media who came to the conclusion that wine is good for you, totally ignoring that wine contains alcohol. The take away by Sinclair was that plants and animals under stress produce …. which has proven signs on increased longevity. A side note — wine is not good for you.
Practices to Slow ageing?
- Run / HIIT — keep your cardio vascular health in check, 30 minutes of running a day/ 15 minutes of HIIT per day = 10 years added life
- Sleep — 6–8 hours, very obvious one. Never cut sleep.
- Intermittent fast/ general fast — take body into state of starvation/ hunger either every day or once in a while for prolonged periods
- Eat less animal protein — amino acids take your health into a state of abundance — while it might help in immediate tissue repair, they dont bode well for longevity. Substitute with plant based proteins
- Supplements- Resveratrol, Metformin, NMN
Can you reverse ageing?
One of the ground breaking experiments that was performed in Sinclairs lab involved a rat that regenerated dead nerve tissues in it eyes. This was done by introducing 3 of the 4 Yamanaka genes in the right combination and introduced into the damaged optic nerves of mice by Gene therapy through adeno-associated viruses, an FDA approved way of gene therapy that is currently used in the treatment of sickle cell anaemia and other treatments for vision loss.
Besides the scientific experiments that he has covered, Sinclair’s main purpose in the books seems to be to inspire people to get into the field of ageing research and to make a case for why ageing research should be prioritised in the general sphere of medicine. He keeps re-emphasising the point that ageing is a disease. He also goes into the politics and philosophy behind why anti-ageing is a massive leap forward and why the pros far outweigh the cons.
Personally, even before getting into the field of ageing research, I was already sold on these aspects and though these thoughts did reinforce a lot of my existing thoughts, I was not particularly interested in this section of the book as I am more keen to understand the nuts and bolts of the scientific research conducted. I am glad there are people like David Sinclair who are making it more exciting to the public and to increase funding in the space in general. I am glad to stick to the Science.
Drugs and Research to Lookout for
Metformin: Been around for a while , used for type 2 diabetes, but also shown signs to help with Alzheimers, Cancers and other old age related diseases. Could have side effects but has already been used on millions. So reasonably safe if prescribed.
Resveratrol: Found in Wine, been around for a while, normally taken as a supplement and anti oxidant. Freely available and is generally safe for consumption.
NMN : Gets converted to NAD which directly boosts sertuin protein levels in the body which in turn help repair our broken cells hence slowing the ageing process.
Conclusion
Overall, it was definitely a good starting point into ageing research and I do recommend the book to anybody else who might be generally interested in the potentials of agelessness and generally want to just dangle your feet. However, if you are already in the field and are just interested in the science, I would say you could almost skip the second half of the book and even say read the first half twice instead. There is a lot to digest in the first half.
Just a quick note on how I l learn. It is like playing a football, you first play the game, then you start learning each of the techniques further. I pretty much read this entire book in one sitting. I did not understand everything that was written. So while this blog might seem very fundamental and simplistic to some of the readers and I might have missed out something more critical in your view, I will revisit this blog in the future after I read this book again in a few months time to make it more substantial and more informative. Hopefully, I would have many more points of reference then and can do a better job of a more informed analysis on the contents of the book.
References:
https://www.amazon.com/Lifespan-Why-Age-Dont-Have/dp/1501191977
