Red wine drugs could stem ageing
Monday March 11th, 2013
Drugs based on a red wine chemical are set to provide radical new anti-ageing treatments, helping to prevent diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease, researchers have revealed.
Scientists
say they have shown how a new class of drug could boost a critical chemical
in the body that prevents the ageing process.
The effect is to mimic the effects of a healthy diet and plenty of exercise, they claim.
The drugs are based on the chemical resveratrol, which spawned thousands of synthetic versions, each up to 100 times as powerful as a single glass of red wine.
Reporting in the journal Science, the researchers say they have tested 117 of the new drugs and they all worked on the single enzyme, SIRT1.
SIRT1 is normally activated by reducing eating and undertaking exercise.
Professor David Sinclair, from the University of New South Wales, Australia, said: "Our drugs can mimic the benefits of diet and exercise, but there is no impact on weight."
He added: "Now we are looking at whether there are benefits for those who are already healthy. Things there are also looking promising.
“We’re finding that ageing isn’t the irreversible affliction that we thought it was. Some of us could live to 150, but we won’t get there without more research.”
Science March 8 2013
Tags: Australia | Cancer | Diet & Food | Elderly Health | General Health | Heart Health | Pharmaceuticals
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