Reversing Human Aging - Hardcover

Fossel, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688143245 ISBN 13: 9780688143244

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1996

Synopsis

A tour of the intimate science of aging explains the affects of aging on the human body and describes groundbreaking medical advances in age reversal, citing their potential cures for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and stroke. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Michael Fossel is currently professor of clinical medicine at Michigan State University.

Reviews

Optimism knows no bounds in this fantastic extrapolation from current research on aging. Fossell (Clinical medicine/Michigan State Univ.) foresees a wonderful future in which not only will human aging be reversed but cancer will be vanquished and heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer's prevented. The key, it seems, is learning how to manipulate the clock of aging, which has now been identified as the telemere, the end segment of DNA on chromosomes. Fossell reports that in the laboratory researchers have been able to reset the telemeric clock in cells. Next, he says, will come development of safe and effective means of doing so in human beings. He cheerfully predicts that within the next ten years telemerase inhibitors, which prevent cells from dividing, will provide a cure for cancer, and by the year 2015 telemerase inducers, which keep cells from aging and thus prevent degenerative diseases, will be available. Fossell devotes most of his text to explaining the basic mechanisms of aging on the cellular level, and he does this adroitly, using black-and-white drawings, simple analogies, and plain English. The consequences of a greatly enhanced life span (the actual number of years remains uncertain) are far less thoroughly considered. The author's predictions of how society might be transformed are diverting but simplistic, touching lightly on, among other things, population growth, the economy, retirement, education, the environment, marriage and the family, and crime and punishment. While acknowledging that there will be some problems, or ``growing pains,'' as he calls them, his view is decidedly rosy, almost Panglossian. Valuable for its lucid explanations of current knowledge about aging, and entertaining in its speculations about the future. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The telomere--the far end of a chromosome "arm" --has recently been found to be involved with aging. Fossel describes the pertinent investigations, then turns to picturing a world benefiting from telomere therapy, reversal of aging, and a considerable increase in human life span. He describes how the different body systems age and how telomere therapy would affect each. He points out that extended life must include having a healthy, well-maintained body and a broad, flexible mind to be worthwhile and that a major danger of extending life is the increasing risk of cancer, which must be overcome. Telomere therapy will not be able to take care of all problems: some diseases and accidents will still occur. But since it will have only good results, he maintains, the gains will be tremendous. Although his prose is sometimes heavy going, Fossel yet turns out some neat comments; for instance, "If we live long enough, the future will become our home, rather than an ever-expanding landfill." William Beatty

In a report that's sure to interest those who worry about wrinkles and receding hairlines?i.e., nearly everyone?the aptly named Fossel (clinical medicine, Michigan State Univ.) reports that modern science is poised for a breakthrough that can stop the aging process.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

THIS BOOK IS a promise and a warning. It is a promise of a time when we will live longer and much healthier lives--of one hundred, two hundred, possibly five hundred years. It is also a warning of what could happen when we do. It tells little about diet, very little about coping with aging, and nothing about whether one should choose to age or not. What it says is that we will have a choice.

We will be able to prevent, even reverse, aging within two decades. At the same time, and as part of the same process, we will also cure most of the diseases that now frighten and destroy us. Cancer, a disease in which malignant cells refuse to age, will be among the first to go. Instead of being a source of terror and tragedy, it will become a bad memory, an inconvenience. Diseases that we think of as part of growing old could soon disappear. By profoundly increasing our "health span," we will also increase the human life span. When we do, we will change human society in ways we will applaud, ways we will regret, and ways we cannot foresee. This book is the story of how we are conquering aging and of what the consequences will be. It is the story of our hopes and our fears, and of change that will soon shake our world. We are about to change history forever.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688143245
• ISBN 13: 9780688143244
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 307