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Anti-Aging Enthusiasts Are Taking a Pill to Extend Their Lives. Will It Work?

But while users are optimistic and the evidence that rapamycin can increase longevity in animals is promising, the research in humans is thin and long-term side effects are uncertain. In the few studies in which rapamycin has been compared to a placebo, tangible benefits are hard to come by... Scientists think rapamycin increases life span in animals, and maybe people too, by inhibiting the mTOR complex, a fundamental biological pathway that is involved in many aspects of cellular health. Suppressing mTOR sets off a domino chain of events, altering several key processes in ways that appear to be beneficial for long-term survival. For example, it seems to decrease inflammation and ramp up a cellular…

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 Rapamycin: the popular drug for longevity among biohackers

Rapamycin is a drug used to suppress the immune system in transplant patients, but scientists have found that it may have another use. The drug has been shown to have anti-aging properties, despite no official research being done on humans as of yet. Researchers are now looking to investigate the drug and determine whether it could be officially employed to treat some of the natural symptoms of aging.

Articles of Interest

How a cheap, generic drug became a darling of longevity enthusiasts

Rapamycin, a drug for transplant patients, has extended the lives of animals but is unproven in people. Despite the buzz surrounding the drug, it is unlikely that the Food and Drug Administration will ever approve it for longevity. The agency doesn’t consider aging to be a disease, and rapamycin’s generic status means there’s little financial incentive to run expensive clinical trials to test it on age-related afflictions. So doctors and entrepreneurs are increasingly marketing rapamycin beyond the scope of its regulatory label, believing a potentially life-extending drug is effectively hiding in plain sight.

Rapamycin for longevity: opinion article

Rapamycin is not much more dangerous than ordinary drugs If used properly, rapamycin is not much more dangerous than ordinary aspirin. Aspirin, one of the most widely used nonprescription medications, may cause numerous side effects, including life threatening gastric bleeding.

Rapamycin is being studied to see if it can slow down age-related diseases in humans

By testing the drug rapamycin as a way to prevent gum disease — often associated with heart disease and dementia — researchers may learn more about if it slows age-related diseases.

Rapamycin may slow aging. Here's one way the drug will be tested

Rapamycin was first approved by the FDA for use in transplant patients in the late 1990s. At high doses it suppresses the immune system. At low doses, Kaeberlein says it seems to help tamp down inflammation. It works by inhibiting a signaling pathway in the body called mTOR — which seems to be a key regulator of lifespan and aging.

Rapamycin: An InhibiTOR of Aging Emerges From the Soil of Easter Island

Rapamycin (sirolimus) is a macrolide immunosuppressant that inhibits the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein kinase and extends lifespan in model organisms including mice. Although rapamycin is an FDA-approved drug for select indications, a diverse set of negative side effects may preclude its wide-scale deployment as an antiaging therapy.

Rapamycin: The First Anti-Aging Drug

A midlife longevity drug... Rapamycin is effective when given later in lifespan.

We have a drug that might delay menopause — and help us live longer

Ovaries age faster than the rest of the body. Figuring out how to slow menopause might help all of us age better.

Why has rapamycin gained such a following among longevity enthusiasts?

Your patients may be hearing more in media reports about rapamycin’s promise as a longevity drug; indeed, some researchers have dubbed the current interest in this drug as “a gold rush” in longevity medicine.

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Rapamycin News

We are dedicated to healthier, longer lives through a good diet, regular exercise, and longevity medicines and therapies as they become identified and available. We are your "early adopters" of new longevity technologies and seek to help speed their validation and adoption.

Rapamycin

If you like the idea of living as long as possible, rapamycin may be the drug for you. Originally developed as an immunosuppressant for organ transplant patients, it has found a new lease on life as a potential anti-ageing drug. Rapamycin has not been approved for that use in humans but many gerontologists see it – or similar drugs – as the best hope we have for pharmacologically slowing down the ageing process. Doing a clinical trial of rapamycin in humans is considered almost impossible – it would take decades to detect any longevity effects. But a trial has just begun in pet dogs, which suffer similar age-related decline as humans but live much shorter lives.