From: JacqMath@aol.com
Date: Thu Aug 31 2000 - 20:36:21 MDT
On Aug 31, 2000, Cymm wrote:
>Is the use of antioxidants drugs to extend; average life span; useful
>reproductive life span; and even maximal life span, new?
>
>Haven't I read about such stuff for, like, decades?
>
>Anyway... when someone finds out can he/she post the drugs' names on the
>list? I'm desperate.
There has been a free radical theory of aging for decades but the use of
antioxidants as a cure for aging has been elusive. This really proves
nothing however. The two compounds used mimic the effects of superoxide
dismutase and catalase, two free radical scavengers that are found in the
human body. C. elegans is a much simpler life form and excess of these two
compounds in the human body would probably cause the body to stop producing
it's own. If these did work, however, they would only be useful in
increasing our average life span and useful reproductive life span. Our
maximal lifespan can't be raised unless we rebuild our telomeres or use
another technique to get around this problem.
Jacques Mathieu
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