What is Longevity Medicine?

• Experts discuss how longevity medicine targets old cells and extends healthspan.
• Treatments like rapamycin (Rapa), metformin, and acarbose aim to prevent and reduce the harmful impact caused by aging or damaged cells (senescent cells).
• Gest Daniel Tawfik shares what got him started on this journey after health problems in his own family. He tells how longevity treatments made a big difference.
• Compelling scientific research and robust evidence support the use of these groundbreaking longevity pharmaceuticals to manage age-related conditions.

Exploring Longevity Medicine with Daniel Tawfik

In the 96th episode of the Wise Athletes Podcast, hosted by Joe Lavelle and Dr. Glenn Winkle, the show dives into the world of longevity medicine with Daniel Tewfik. Tewfik is the co-founder of Healthspan, a telemedicine provider, also known as distance healthcare. The company specializes in treatments aimed to extend healthspan. The upshot of being active and healthy for longer results in a longer lifespan.

This talk explores drugs that fight a key part of aging called cellular senescence. Daniel shares his personal journey with the audience and the motivation behind Healthspan. He highlights the potential of these treatments to fight aging and improve well-being.

Daniel Tawfik explains, “The interventions they focus on, which include rapamycin, metformin, and acarbose, target three areas to prevent, resolve, and reduce the impact of senescent cells.

1:29

Beyond Lifespan: Optimizing Your Healthspan 

Before we dive in, let’s go over some of those medical terms used by the speakers. One that comes up quite often is cellular senescence. Daniel explains that cellular senescence is a natural part of the aging process. It’s a bodily function where damaged cells accumulate, leading to inflammation and dysfunction. Healthspan focuses on three interventions to tackle this.

#1 Autophagy (ah-tah-fah-gee”). A natural occurrence inside the body that removes or reuses aging and damaged parts from cells. There are multiple parts to each of your cells, all needed for optimal functioning. As these parts become defective, age, or simply stop working, they form cell junk, which has to go. That is why autophagy is critical to cell health.

#2 Targeting senescent cells. This means reducing inflammation and chemical signaling from damaged cells. Doing this prevents the recruitment of healthy cells into a dysfunctional state. When that happens, the aging process slows down at the cellular level.

#3: Boosting metabolic efficiency is akin to revving up metabolism. Mitochondria is the powerhouse found inside every cell. Think of it as a natural battery. Now, dysfunctional cells love blood sugar (glucose), but they hate mitochondrial efficiency. So, less blood sugar and improved mitochondria enhance health and lead to a longer lifespan. 

As we get older, our body’s ability to clear out senescent cells through our immune system gets diminished, says Tawfik.

10:52

The Personal Journey Behind Healthspan 

A background in molecular biology and a family health crisis. The latter refers to his wife’s battle with lymphoma. Tewfik felt compelled to seek out innovative ways to address chronic age-related conditions. He emphasizes the importance of experts testing new drugs carefully before their widespread use. This approach, he stresses, is the only way to provide safe, effective treatments for patients.

Here’s a summary of studies on the potential longevity medicine rapamycin.

Study	Focus	Key Findings
Human Studies	Elderly Individuals	Improved immune function; Reduced respiratory infections, including COVID-19.
	Clinical Studies	Pearl study at UCLA: Observing effects of Rapa on health markers and healthspan.
Animal Studies	Mice	National Institute for Aging’s intervention testing program: 26% lifespan extension.
	Mice	Matt Kaeberlein study (University of Washington). A brief 90-day rapamycin treatment in middle-aged mice extended lifespan by up to 60%.
	Various Animals	Extended lifespan and improved healthspan in worms, flies, mice, and potentially dogs.
How it Works	Cellular Senescence	Cleans out damaged cells; promotes healthier tissue.
	mTOR Inhibition	mTOR pathway; slows cell growth to fight aging diseases.
Practical Observations	Healthspan Patients	1000+ patients on Rapa; favorable safety profile; minimal side effects; no significant infections noted.

Real-World Influence: Healthspan Patients’ Experiences 

Tawfik shares anecdotal evidence from Healthspan patients. These are people who experienced major improvements in their quality of life. For instance, a 65-year-old marathon runner reported reduced joint inflammation after rapamycin treatment. As a result, he was able to continue running in competitions.  Another patient mentioned overcoming brain fog, showcasing the drug’s potential benefits beyond longevity.

There are folks with pathologies that are, with chronic issues particular to inflammation, that have remarkable effects.

33:06

Expert Insights: The Science Behind Longevity Medicine

This section gets into the science of longevity medicine. Tawfik explains how tweaking certain processes inside cells helps make treatments better. That could include hitting the brakes on a cellular process called mTOR. Another is to boost “cellular recycling” (autophagy). He also mentions there is a lot of research going on to improve these treatments and find even more ways to use them.

Fears and False Beliefs

The dialogue moves on to tackle common concerns and myths surrounding longevity medicine. They address the ethical and safety matters of using pharmaceuticals for aging. For example, the importance of medical supervision and favorable safety profiles. A safety profile basically means minimal side effects and no or low infection risks. Also noted was the difference between healing and recreational use. Lifestyle factors play a major role as well. In fact, a healthy diet and exercise regime remain crucial alongside any drug interventions.

Prospects for the Future of Longevity Studies

Tawfik shares his optimistic outlook for the field of longevity medicine. He talks of the possibilities for novel drug discoveries and tailored therapies. Using technology to track and improve treatments for the entire lifespan is another cause for excitement.

This is one area of research in which we all have a vested interest.

As Tawfik notes, “We really want to bolster that process. As opposed to slowing down the progression of damage itself, we have so much damage that occurs. Billions of cells are put to death every day, and we really want those processes to be bolstered.”

37:49

Wrapping Up

This podcast is a blend of compelling personal stories and robust scientific research. Daniel Tawfik explains in detail how preventing and reducing age-related damage is fast becoming a reality. Longevity medicine is no longer the stuff of fantasy, nor is it a magic bullet. But with tailored treatments, it may soon offer solutions to extend healthspan and lifespan. Various studies have shown how it works by targeting aging at the cellular level. With treatments like rapamycin, metformin, and acarbose, the potential is huge.