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Posted on Oct 18, 2006, 12 p.m.
By Bill Freeman
SOME of the world's most respected medical researchers believe they will soon be able to extend the human lifespan. They have already worked out how to slow ageing in animals in the laboratory and they are confident they can now turn the dream of a healthier and longer life into a reality for humans. The scientists, led by Professor S J Olshansky from the University of Illinois at Chicago, have spent the past decade studying the ageing process and they are convinced that ageing is no longer the unchangeable process it was once thought to be.
They have already worked out how to slow ageing in animals in the laboratory and they are confident they can now turn the dream of a healthier and longer life into a reality for humans.
The scientists, led by Professor S J Olshansky from the University of Illinois at Chicago, have spent the past decade studying the ageing process and they are convinced that ageing is no longer the unchangeable process it was once thought to be.
"Advances in our scientific knowledge of ageing have created new opportunities which may allow us to live healthier and longer lives," professor Olshansky said.
'We have reached an historical moment as scientists learn enough about ageing to postpone a wide range of fatal and disabling diseases.
"Interventions at a range of levels not only increase longevity in laboratory organisms, but can dramatically increase the duration of a disease-free life."
Professor Olshansky will be just one of more than 100 leading experts sharing their finding with the Australian medical and scientific community at the Third International Conference on Healthy Ageing and Longevity in Melbourne next month.
Professor Olshansky said the fact that some people already maintained their mental and physical functions for more than a century suggested that the genes associated with a long and healthy life already exist.
He said the scientists were on the verge of identifying and manipulating the mechanisms responsible for this longevity.
"We are now staring to identify the effect of hormones on the cellular pathways which influence ageing.
"Since these pathways are similar in both humans and laboratory animals, we can now evaluate strategies to prolong human life.
"In short we have found that extending the duration of health life in humans by slowing down the ageing process is now a very real scientific possibility."
Professor Olshansky said even a minor slowing down of the ageing process would have profound benefits for both individuals and the community.
