Maximum Lifespan vs. Healthspan (Alan Tomusiak)

[RapAdmin]

Alan is a longevity-focused researcher that came out of the Buck Institute’s PHD in the Biology of Aging program, and who was at Age1 VC until recently, but who is now working on a really interesting cancer-prevention oriented startup: From cleaning bathrooms to raising $3.1M for a cancer prevention startup

Subscribe to his substack here: Home | Substack

Source: https://x.com/alantomusiak/status/1920263119823339968

A common saying in the longevity world

How do you live to be 90?
Eat well.
Exercise.
Sleep.
Avoid alcohol.

How do you live to be 100?
Have parents that lived to be 100.

This speaks to an underlying biological truth - extending lifespan is not just about optimizing healthspan. We likely all know someone who was extremely healthy for their age until they, within a short period of time, died from a surprise illness. The aging vector that ultimately kills you is largely separate from the one that keeps you free from being sick.

Read the full story:

Maximum Lifespan vs. Healthspan

[KarlT]

Pretty much agree, except not sure about the numbers. Without good genetics 90 is a bit optimistic.

[Viracocha]

If life expectancy is 80+ and you take care more than the average, why wouldn’t you reach 90?

Even the 100s don’t seem impossible for the people in this forum that try taurine, astax, etc. only 2 of these compounds has to work to reach it.

[John_Hemming]

I think there are two key biological factors driving aging:

a) mtDNA damage causing deterioration in mitochondrial efficiency
b) the presence of senescent cells issuing SASP which causes further problems.

Hence if you remove senescent cells, you are not fixing the mitochondria.

However, dealing with senescent cells does improve health, it does not really extend healthspan properly although it conceals some of the problems.

To deal with healthspan properly involves sorting out both a) and b) which have slightly different targets, but both impact on the acetyl-CoA pathway.

Hence I disagree with the article by Alan Tomusiak.

[DeStrider]

Here in Hong Kong 90s-100s is common enough. I doubt it’s all genetics.

Most Hong Kongers originally came from Mainland China and there’s a large yet shrinking disparity in life expectancy between HK and Mainland.

[ORRAPA]

I expect the second half of that may be stem cell exhaustion imposing the maximum lifespan constraint.

[John_Hemming]

What I think happens is that stem cells fail to differentiate and become senescent. Hence the normal process that causes a supply of cells gets blocked by the cells stuck in senescence. If that blockage is cleared then you don’t get exhaustion