Eric Verdin, CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging (the world’s leading independent biology of aging research center), has revealed that he takes Rapamycin
Eric Verdin, chief executive of the Buck Institute on Aging, says there’s a strong case to be made for rapamycin as an anti-aging drug but hastens to add: “We should not as a field recommend use on people.” He and many other doctors say rapamycin is no substitute for exercise and a healthy diet. “People going on it, using it as a substitute for a healthy lifestyle, it’s a bridge too far for me,” Verdin said. Then he offered a disclosure: He takes rapamycin. “I’m doing everything I can to try to maximize my longevity,” said Verdin, who is 66. Of rapamycin, he said, “I haven’t felt any difference one way or the other.”
Eric Verdin is the president and chief executive officer of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. A native of Belgium, Dr. Verdin received his Doctorate of Medicine (MD) from the University of Liege and completed additional clinical and research training at Harvard Medical School. He has held faculty positions at the University of Brussels, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Picower Institute for Medical Research. Dr. Verdin is also a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Verdin joined the Buck in 2016 after spending the previous 20 years as a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, where he served as associate director from 2004 to 2016.
Dr. Verdin’s laboratory focuses on the role of epigenetic regulators in the aging process. His laboratory was the first to clone a family of enzymes called HDACs, which regulate histone acetylation. Dr. Verdin studies how metabolism, diet, and small molecules regulate the activity of HDACs and sirtuins, and thereby the aging process itself and its associated diseases, including Alzheimer’s. He has published more than 210 scientific papers and holds more than 15 patents. He is a highly cited scientist and has been recognized for his research with a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging and a senior scholarship from the Ellison Medical Foundation. He is an elected member of several scientific organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He also serves on the advisory council of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the NIH.
I would agree… taking rapamycin without muscle resistance and a healthy amount of protein in a healthy diet… would seem to be less effective for the user.
The same needs when doing TRT. No amount of testosterone will improve you if you are a couch potato eating processed snacks and food.
The difference is night and day!
Staying young and healthy is consistent work. I workout every other day…even though I only enjoy it… when its done. Knowing I get a free day after.
Actually that’s not true. Testosterone alone is more effective than resistance exercise but of course the combination is the best. I don’t have time to find the paper now but maybe in 1-2h
Okay… hahaha. I am not meaning supraphysiologic dosages of testosterone … injections of 600 mg lol.
I take 200 mg weekly. lol
Lower TRT… and no effort would do something… just as rapamycin might do something without any life style changes.
However, for full impact results it takes effort and commitment.
Why settle for 50%… if you can get !
I am a firm advocate for TRT to get high normal testosterone levels as we age. From my GP… healthy no issues from TRT.
Surprisingly muscle gain TRT over just muscle resistance. Doing both TRT and muscle resistance is food for thought to keep muscle size and strength as we age.
Matt and Eric agree it’s more likely to help than harm as evidenced by their usage. There’s a very real chance it can give 10 additional healthy years, and less time spent in aging related deterioration. But they advise against recommending it to patients because they are afraid to be wrong. I think that is a mistake.
I think the primary reason that Matt and Eric advise against recommending it to patients is because they are both researchers (not practicing physicians).
It will be interesting to see if/when Matt’s new Optispan clinics start offering rapamycin prescriptions to its patients. While Matt may be hesitant to too strongly endorse rapamycin to patients simply because he’s not a physician, I wonder if his Chief Medical Officer (the main MD at Optispan) will be as hesitant… anyone know? Dr. George Haddad, Optispan Chief Medical Officer / Co-Founder Company — Optispan
First of all, I was up at the Buck Institute for the Longevity Summit in December, and I spoke with many of the researchers who work at the Buck Institute. Virtually every researcher I spoke to there seemed to be taking it, from the younger late 20’s or “30 something” PostDocs, to the other leaders of the labs within The Buck Institute. So its not like Eric Verdin is an outlier at all terms of rapamycin use at the Buck Institute. Everyone who works there has read the rapamycin research and is aware of its potential.
I agree with this take on rapamycin use. Get your health in order before you start messing with what we think may be longevity drugs. Make sure you’re exercising at a reasonable level (at least a few hours a week), have your weight and lipids under control, and have a general healthy baseline to start with.
My approach is that only then do you start layering on the suspected longevity drugs like rapamycin, acarbose, SLGT2 inhibitors, etc.
I think the fear is that people in bad shape, doing little for their health currently, suddenly think that they can continue on an unhealthy lifestyle and make up for it by taking rapamycin. I suspect that is not true and won’t be very helpful.
Sure, but it is a 10 week study. I don’t think it will be comparable in maximum muscle mass achieved. For example, compare someone who doesn’t exercise but takes testosterone every week for years with someone who strength trains for multiple years but without supraphysiologial levels of testosterone.
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