Document Detail


Antiaging treatments have been legally prescribed for approximately thirty years.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  15246996     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
There is an interesting divergence between the achievements of geriatrics and gerontology. On the one hand, during the last 30 years physicians in many developed countries have successfully prescribed several medicines to cure various symptoms of senescence. On the other hand, the influence of such medicines on human life span practically has not been studied. The most common of the relevant medicines are nootropic piracetam, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), selegiline, Ginkgo biloba, pentoxifylline, cerebrolysin, solcoseryl, ergoloid, vinpocetin, sertraline, and estrogens, among others. Available data from human clinical practices and experimental animal studies indicate that treatments with these drugs improve learning, memory, brain metabolism, and capacity. Some of these drugs increase tolerance to various stresses such as oxygen deficit and exercise, stimulate the regeneration of neurons in the old brain, and speed up the performance of mental and physical tasks. This means that modern medicine already has "antiaging" treatments at its disposal. However, the influence of such treatments on the mean and maximal life span of humans, and on the age trajectory of a human survival curve has been poorly studied. The increase in human life expectancy at birth in the second half of the last century was mostly caused by the better survival at the old and oldest old rather than at the young ages. In parallel, the consumption of brain protective and regenerative drugs has been expanding in the elderly population. We provide evidence in support of the idea that the consumption of medicines exerting antiaging properties may contribute to the increase in human longevity.
Authors:
Svetlana V Ukraintseva; Konstantin G Arbeev; Anatoly I Michalsky; Anatoly I Yashin
Related Documents :
16098326 - New trends in the management of colonic trauma.
7705046 - The greek medical texts and the sexual ethos of ancient athens.
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Review    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences     Volume:  1019     ISSN:  0077-8923     ISO Abbreviation:  Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.     Publication Date:  2004 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2004-07-12     Completed Date:  2004-08-20     Revised Date:  2008-11-21    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7506858     Medline TA:  Ann N Y Acad Sci     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  64-9     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, 18057 Rostock, Germany. ukraintseva@cds.duke.edu
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Aging*
Brain / drug effects,  pathology
Cognition
Drug Prescriptions*
Humans
Longevity
Oxygen / metabolism
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / metabolism
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
56-12-2/gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; 7782-44-7/Oxygen

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Digital transcriptome analysis in the aging cerebellum.
Next Document:  Aging of cardiac myocytes in culture: oxidative stress, lipofuscin accumulation, and mitochondrial t...