The extreme arrogance of anti-aging medicine.
The anti-aging medicine movement proposes to alter the human body in order to achieve extreme longevity. To do this it has to reverse or by-pass the multiple causes of human aging. These include a large number of age-associated pathologies, each of which is being studied in great detail in research laboratories around the world. The protagonists of anti-aging medicine claim that it will be far more successful than the combined efforts of the innumerable scientists carrying out this research. Aging has an extremely long evolutionary history, and the anatomical structure and physiology of animals is directly related to their finite lifespan. The anti-aging movement proposes in a few decades to reverse what has been the result of millions of years of evolution.
Holliday
Robin
R
Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, Australia. RandL.Holliday@bigpond.com
D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005075:Biological Evolution; D035843:Biomedical Research; D005853:Geriatrics; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D012108:Research Personnel