Anyone who decides to take an HIV drug for anti aging better hide the bottle whenever a woman (or man) comes over. Imagine having to explain that one 
8 Likes
They are living a lot longer it seems (even longer than we straight males).
But, It’s probably extremely difficult to parse out the data to distinguish between people living longer because they are HIV positive but not getting full blown AIDs (due to all the different drugs that have come on the market), vs. taking the drug prophetically, vs. other confounding factors…
5 Likes
Striking chart. Straight up from 1995. That must be when HIV drugs came on the market.
4 Likes
Of course, the biggest issue with this paper is that we don’t see any functional measures and benefits.
So - I thought I’d dig deeper into this paper and related evidence:
Prompt:
Given the mechanisms of actions highlighted in this paper for FTC/TAF (Descovy), what would be any potential, hypothetical functional benefits that might be seen in humans given the significant reductions in biological aging clocks?
Google Gemini 3 Pro / Thinking Mode:
Based on the mechanisms of action and the system-specific biological aging clock reductions identified in the Anderson et al. (2026) paper, the following hypothetical functional benefits can be extrapolated. These benefits are centered on the suppression of the retrotransposon-inflammation axis and the subsequent reduction in systemic inflammatory tone .
1. Restoration of Immunological Resilience
The study observed a significant shift in immune cell composition, specifically an increase in the proportion of naive CD4+ T cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs), alongside a decrease in neutrophils .
-
Hypothetical Benefit: In older populations, the depletion of the naive T-cell pool is a primary driver of immune senescence, leading to poor vaccine responses and increased susceptibility to novel pathogens . A pharmacological intervention that restores these pools could theoretically enhance immunological “youthfulness” and defense capabilities.
-
Inflammatory Control: The increase in Tregs combined with reduced neutrophils suggests a shift toward a more immunoregulatory and less pro-inflammatory environment . This may reduce the chronic “bystander” tissue damage caused by hyper-active innate immune responses.
2. Neuroprotection and Cognitive Maintenance
The analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in Systems Brain Age (-2.18 years, p=0.039).
-
Hypothetical Benefit: Broader research into reverse transcriptase inhibitors (like 3TC) has shown protection against age-related cognitive dysfunction in animal models by suppressing brain-specific inflammatory signatures .
-
Mechanism: In humans, suppressing LINE-1-triggered type I interferon signaling in the central nervous system could mitigate neuroinflammation, which is a proximal driver of neurodegenerative decline and cognitive impairment .
3. Cardiovascular and Metabolic Optimization
The FTC/TAF group showed robust reductions in Systems Heart Age (-3.23 years, p=0.009) and Systems Metabolic Age (-3.38 years, p=0.005) .
- Hypothetical Benefit: These epigenetic shifts may correlate with improved arterial function and enhanced metabolic flexibility.
- Inflammatory Proxies: The study identified a significant reduction in DNAm-derived IL-6 levels . Because IL-6 is a key driver of atherosclerotic plaque progression and insulin resistance, suppressing its signaling through retrotransposon inhibition could theoretically delay the onset of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome .
4. Slowing the Pace of Biological Decay
The DunedinPACE clock, which measures the “speed” of aging, showed a significant reduction of 0.061.
- Hypothetical Benefit: A roughly 6% reduction in the pace of aging, if sustained, could theoretically delay the simultaneous onset of multiple age-related chronic diseases (the Geroscience Hypothesis).
- Systemic Resilience: The 6.33-year reduction in the PhenoAge clock suggests an improvement in the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis under stress.
Critical Analysis and Knowledge Gaps
While the mechanistic data is compelling, several factors limit the immediate translation of these findings into clinical practice:
-
Cohort Age Bias: This study used healthy adults with a mean age of approximately 28 years. It remains unproven whether the same magnitude of effect—or any effect at all—would occur in older adults whose silencing mechanisms for transposable elements are more severely degraded.
-
Absence of Functional Testing: The trial relied entirely on molecular biomarkers (epigenetic clocks) . There was no direct measurement of physical strength, cognitive speed, or organ function to verify that “younger” clocks result in improved physical performance.
-
Exploratory Status: As a post-hoc analysis of studies not originally designed for aging, the results were not corrected for multiple testing . Consequently, these benefits should be viewed as informed speculation that requires validation in prospective, placebo-controlled trials .
3 Likes
Was Magic Johnson taking Descovy? Pictures are from 1980, 1995 and 2024 (yes, lighting conditions, etc). They show him 44 and 29 years older. I’m no judge, so does this look like normal aging to anyone who might be?
2 Likes
High levels of melanin is the ultimate natural sunscreen!
3 Likes
There’s that. Plus, he never frowns. I trust one of the face experts here will see more.
1 Like
I do have PrEP at home because I am irrationally afraid of HIV but it’s hidden in my household meds cabinet and next to the condoms. The package is unassuming.
3 Likes
Here’s a paper from Japan from 2022 that showed
Resveratrol blocks retrotransposition of LINE-1 through PPAR α and sirtuin-6
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11761-0
It was an in vitro trial, however.
3 Likes
Any idea of a pulse method ?
1 Like
Any active young person… would you really trust anyone today? Not wanting to be paranoid but HIV is horrible. Hoping for a cure… some great research and a few successful outcomes… but, not there yet.
Prevention through prophylactic - Prep and Doxy pep.
2 Likes
When you have that much money, and have had that much sex, there is no need to frown 
See: Stunning revelation: Magic Johnson had sex - NBC Sports
Of course, he also has / had HIV, so perhaps he’s been taking Descovy…and thus another factor in his youthful appearance.
2 Likes
He look pretty normal to me, looking at his face, I guessed his age, and wasn’t far off.
3 Likes
Actually, I read somewhere that lines that appear in our face as we age are mainly from laughing/smiling .but the fact that he’s still alive and looking this good for his age 67 ang living with aids for last 40 years should mean whatever drugs he’s taking they must be contributing to him first being alive and then looking pretty good for his age.
2 Likes
True but living with a monster inside him for 40 years and still looking normal/good for his age I’d say that’s a big win,
4 Likes
Fair point, thanks for pointing that out.
2 Likes
Globally like 80% of people with HIV are on medication already. It’s the remaining 20% who cause pretty much all the other infections. Yet another reason to keep Russians at distance who don’t seem to believe in using medication.
1 Like
Is this a thing? Didn’t realize that was a stereotype
3 Likes
Russophobia is a thing, apparently…
2 Likes