Myths and facts of anti-ageing medicine

Abstract

The anti-aging industry treats the body like a glass with evaporating liquid that needs replacement. We inject hormones to counteract hormonal deficiency. We forget that hormones must be in the optimal range to be functional. More is not better. Then we inject stem cells to replenish the body’s decline. We forget about immunorejection or tumorigenesis. We perform these treatments without longitudinal research that confirms the compatibility of specific individuals with the injected hormones or stem cells in their bodies. Marketing touts “virtually instant results” and “magically reversing aging,” but more often than not, truth and marketing are incompatible. Inflammation is generally considered to be one of the main reasons for ageing, along with increased toxicity and oxidative damage. Energy devices, stem cells or hormone injections must provide us with 10-15 years of longitudinal research that investigates the long-term results of these procedures by examining several inflammatory variables and other health factors, before touting their safety and efficacy. Anti-ageing should focus on cellular repair without interfering with or traumatising the body. We should capitalize on effective health-enhancing interventions like caloric restriction, novel exercise methods, nutrition, lifestyle and other alternative medicine modalities that can reduce age-accumulated toxicity and inflammation to reinforce immunity and delay aging.