Part 2 Staying Young - BBC Explorations

The human life span may soon be doubled. Some scientists are honing in on a genetic switch to turn off ageing. Others have discovered a hormone which is already producing startling results in the over fifties.
In the war against ageing we meet four extraordinary people who are fighting Time on various fronts. Diane, Donald, Debbie and Michael all have strategies to stay young and live longer. It's a universal desire, and well do almost anything to achieve it, but no-one has yet found the elixir of youth. But now, as this programme reveals, science is unlocking the secrets of ageing.

In New York, fashion designer Diane Gilman believes she has found the answer. Its called human growth hormone. While we're young and growing, human growth hormone helps the body to build muscle and repair tissue. By middle age, the body stops producing it altogether. At 56 Diane injects herself with enough human growth hormone to recreate the levels she had in her twenties. Her two shots a day cost of over $1,000 a month. Human growth hormone is still undergoing clinical trials, but Diane believes it is money well spent. For her, taking human growth hormone has turned back time. It's her victory in the age wars.

Donald and Debbie are in good health and live the Californian dream. Yet they take over one hundred pills a day. This is how they're fighting the age wars - with a complicated mix of vitamins and anti-oxidants. It's to protect themselves against the ravages of oxygen. Donald and Debbie began their regime over a year ago. In this short time, they're convinced that anti-oxidants have given them back the energy of their youth.

In London, Michael Young's weapons arent anti-oxidant pills but a highly restricted vegetarian diet. Michael is 42 years old. He plans to diet for the rest of his life, eating fewer than 1500 calories a day. It seems an unlikely solution but this starvation regime already works for rats and mice. Seventy years ago scientists discovered that halving the diet of a lab rat can double its age. Michael hopes the same is true for humans.

Taking human growth hormone, swallowing over a hundred pills a day, a life-long starvation diet - they all have high risks, and most of us would prefer something less demanding. Could we not simply turn off the genetic switch that makes us grow old? We discover a scientist who believes this is precisely what she can do.




At San Francisco University Cynthia Kenyon has found a switch that can turn off ageing. Its a gene called DAF2. By switching it off, Cynthia has increased the lifespan of her lab animals six fold. If the same gene controls ageing in humans, switching it off could be as simple as taking one pill a day. And whether youre in your seventies or your teens, Cynthia believes the pill would still be effective.

Are we any nearer today to winning our war on age? Does science hold the answer? In this thought-provoking edition of Explorations, we meet people who are convinced they have conquered time.

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[leopardgarden1]

so if you want to live longer you just need to hold your breath

[the26thhour]

lol

You want to stay young, realize you choose to grow old.

I'm just officially middle aged, Anglosaxon & ppl still think I'm in my late 20's, which they have thought since I was 16yrs old.

Yes, really!

[PamelaViktoria]

The key is to be a deep slow breather. You take in less volume of damaging oxygen, but gives your body enough time to take in the needed amount of oxygen.

[MrMan2585]

Hate it when you tell me to "look out for the next part" ugh

[alex3st]

@GA7777777 They need that time more than humans. Its why dogs are fully grown within a year ; they live their lives to the fullest. Humans like me and you spend our days like they are nothing when we should be taking advantage of that time like dogs do.

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I can assist with that since I am a human, not a dog so I can come over to your place and crap on your dining table so you have many ready made snacks in your shack that you can use to fully take advantage of your time, dog!

[alex3st]

@GA7777777 They need that time more than humans. Its why dogs are fully grown within a year ; they live their lives to the fullest. Humans like me and you spend our days like they are nothing when we should be taking advantage of that time like dogs do.

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Yea, and dogs sniff and lick each other's asses as a greeting and they sniff and eat shet, they prefer human shet. So I guess you should start doing that to 'fully' take advantage of your time.

[alex3st]

@GA7777777 They need that time more than humans. Its why dogs are fully grown within a year ; they live their lives to the fullest. Humans like me and you spend our days like they are nothing when we should be taking advantage of that time like dogs do.

Yea, and dogs sniff and lick each other's asses as a greeting and they sniff and eat shet, they prefer human shet. So I guess you should start doing that to 'fully' take advantage of your time.

[OpenRain1]

so yoga isnt good for you and i thought more oxygen the better? i realy dont know which side to believe.

[saivert]

if people live longer there is less need to recreate. you would need strict population control.

[MrPinaka]

stop breathing oxygen and start breathing pot,its medicinal

[AlexCananC]

woah de ja vu

[GuruPePe33]

it will be the end of the world if they find something that doubles our lives....we will b double the pop we r now...it will be like china all over the world...it will b the end....we need people to die in order to keep life moving....and we need religion to go away...we all die then shit ourselves ... thats all we got comin after we die...so enjoy today n if you have a tomorrow enjoy that one too....think about it