Dr. Nir Barzilai is the director of the Institute for Aging Studies at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York). As well as a professor in the field of medicine, genetics, and endocrinologist. That is, on the one hand, he deeply understands the device of our body, understands all the subtleties of the action of drugs. On the other hand, Professor Barzilai is a scientist, researcher, one of the world classics of life extension studies. We first met him at an international conference on the genetics of aging and longevity in Sochi in 2014. And now, when exactly five years have passed, I met again at the largest conference “Undoing Aging” (to cancel aging, in English) in Berlin. This Congress, where more than 500 participants from all over the world came, organized international research support funds to combat aging SENS Research Foundation and Forever Healthy Foundation. Visit thetribuneworld.com for more in this matter.
Five years for science is probably a short time, but still: what has changed in the field of life extension over the years?
There are changes, and even what. Previously, I had only hope that serious research on aging would appear and someday practical attempts would begin. And now we are talking about the embodiment of scientific discoveries in life. We are preparing full clinical trials. Still, aging itself has never been recognized as a target for prevention at the state level.
And you want to prove that aging can actually be slowed down, be engaged in its prevention, including with the help of special preparations?
Yes. It is now reliably known that for the most dangerous diseases, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, aging is the main risk factor. With age, these diseases piled on a person in a crowd. That is, aging starts them, serves as a driver for the development of diseases. If we slow down aging, we will achieve progress immediately in the treatment of all age-related diseases, and not only of cancer or dementia.
How to Get Fda Approval
Many foreign media outlets write that you are starting the world’s first clinical research on anti-aging drugs. And for this, we received official permission approval of the world’s most strictly controlling authority, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, Food and Drug Administration, USA).
We agreed with the FDA goals, the methodology of the study. And if it is completed successfully, the results will be officially approved.
How did you formulate the purpose of the test, if aging is not officially recognized as a target for prevention?
We stated to the FDA that our task is to prevent specific age-related diseases. Clinical studies should confirm that cardiovascular diseases, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes, and overall mortality are significantly reduced by using a particular drug. For some reason, the FDA told us: no need to include diabetes in this list (all other diseases included. Author). For me, this is amazing. Indeed, approximately 40% of patients with diabetes develop severe complications within 10 years. To achieve their prevention is really very important.
English 