A Sensible Consideration of the State of the Art in the Treatment of Aging as a Medical Condition

It used to be the case that one could write up a summary of where the research community stood on the treatment of aging as a medical condition (which was varying shades of "not that far along towards practical applications, but definitely promising if they get their act together") and then not have to update it all that much for years. Research is slow and uncertain, for one, and secondly there was, for decades, a strong cultural prejudice in the scientific community against trying to apply what was learned about aging to the treatment of aging. Little progress was made as a result. Matters are proceeding much more rapidly nowadays. The prejudice is vanished, that change the result of a great deal of hard work by advocates, philanthropists, and researchers. Many of the potential approaches to treating aging as a medical condition hypothesized in past decades have either become practical, such as the selective destruction of senescent cells, or are within a few years of making the leap from laboratory to clinical development. The state of the art in the treatment of aging in 2010 already looks quaintly dated. More activity in research and development means more attention given to the subject, faster progress, a greater need for summaries and explanations that are more up to date. It is good to see more people trying their hand at learning the state of the art and explaining it to others. One can always disagree with some of the selections when it comes to pickin...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs