On Lost Youth

Fight Aging!

Do you want to live a longer life in good health? Simple practices can make some difference, such as exercise or calorie restriction. But over the long haul all that really matters is progress in medicine: building new classes of therapy to repair and reverse the known root causes of aging. The sooner these treatments arrive, the more lives will be saved. Find out how to help »

You, like me, were young once. Leaving the vigor of youth behind feels like a great loss - especially after you've worked your way up to freedom, self-esteem and a life you like, but the only way your body wants to go is downhill, one failing piece at a time. Pining for lost youth is futile; it won't bring anything back. Putting aging out of your mind is self-destructive: you can't waltz through life in a state of willfull, unprepared self-delusion and not expect to run into trouble. Flailing around in the grip of airy promises made by the "anti-aging" marketplace is just as bad, and for a whole slew of similar reasons.

A thousand and one people out there in the world are trying their hardest to convince you they have a silver bullet that will prevent, slow or cover up aspects of degenerative aging. From the perspective of the radical life extension that will be possible in the years ahead, none of these folk are selling anything worth a damn.

Face the facts: you're not young anymore. Life is change, and making the best of today is not the same as making the best of yesterday. Fail to internalize that and you'll trash the present - and the foundations of your future - in the name of self-pity and nostalgia. Don't sacrifice yourself to the past; it's not as though you have to.

So what are you going to do about all this? What do you do with any failing machinery? If you're smart, you'll recognize that you are lucky enough to live in an age in which you can do more than rearrange your feelings about aging. The biotechnology revolution will deliver therapies capable of restoring your lost youth by repairing the molecular damage that causes aging - but it is up to all of us to determine the time that passes between now and the advent of this real rejuvenation medicine.

We can neglect advocacy and the support of determined, serious rejuvenation research, in which case progress will be slow - and many or all of us will age, suffer and die. But if we put our shoulders behind the wheel of progress, we have a chance at recapturing our lost youth - not just in our state of mind, but for real, in our bodies. Think about that.

Technorati tags: aging, life extension, rejuvenation