S. Jay Olshansky - The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging

Copyright 2001 by S. Jay Olshansky and Bruce A. Carnes

All rights reserved

First published as a Norton paperback 2002

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this
book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 10110

Book design by Judith Stagnitto Abbate

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Olshansky, Stuart Jay, 1954

The quest for immortality : science at the frontiers of aging /
S. Jay Olshansky and Bruce A. Carnes.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-393-04836-5

1. Longevity. 2. Aging. I. Carnes, Bruce A. II. Title.

QP85 .0474 2001

612.68dc21

00-058391

ISBN 0-393-32327-7 pbk.

ISBN 978-0-393-24588-2 (e-book)

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd. Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street,
London W1T 3QT

For Sara, Jessica, and Ricky [S.J.O.]

For my wife Linda and our children Laurel, Rachael, and Nathan,

my brother Michael, and in loving memory of my parents

Mark B. and Donna Mae [B.A.C.]

Out of the darkness of the womb, into the darkness of the grave,

man passes across his narrow strip of life. Two vast

eternities stretch oceanlike on either side of the

island of individual existence, and through

the darkness that enshrouds them no

human eye, it has been thought,

could ever pierce.

ANNIE BESANT, 1886

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:26

Just remember, once youre over the hill,

you begin to pick up speed.

CHARLES SCHULZ

I T IS ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE when my in-laws come to visit. The day before they arrive, I am sent out in search of foods high in vitamins and fiber, and free of fat, sugar, salt, and taste. Once they have distributed gifts to their grandchildren, a large sack containing every vitamin, mineral, antioxidant and the latest scientifically proven antiaging substance reported on the news is emptied on the counter. Pouches of fresh oatmeal and bran are placed neatly on the kitchen counter next to containers of prunes and other dried fruits. Pointing to the countertop, my eighty-year-old father-in-law boasts that each of these dietary supplements will do nothing less than prevent heart disease and cancer. He proudly proclaims that he is feeling fit, and ready to go on his daily forty-five-minute power walk. My mother-in-law asks whether she would be better off buying copper rings or magnets to wear around her joints to alleviate the nagging pain of her arthritis. Her latest health kick is a breakthrough discovery that will clear out arteries and eliminate the risk of heart diseasesoy protein. Variations on this scenario have been played out for over ten years.

My in-laws are alive today not because they take vitamins, eat oat bran, or ingest hormones. Both were saved by medical technologies that successfully treated the cancer and cardiovascular diseases that occurred in spite of following dietary practices they were led to believe would prevent these diseases. To their credit, they have been physically fit throughout most of their lives because they exercise almost every day.

The quest for immortality, the war with disease, and the fear of death have preoccupied humanity for thousands of years. Today is no different. Can aging-related diseases be eliminated, the aging process reversed, and an ageless body achieved, as some experts claim.? Is there a longevity strategy people can follow that will lead us all down the path to a healthy and happy 100-year lifespan? Can a combination of home remedies, herbs, and antioxidants forestall aging indefinitely and serve as miracle cures for heart disease and cancer? Can you grow younger with growth hormone, experience the miracle anti-aging properties of melatonin, and find the antidote to aging by replenishing other lost hormones? Does your biological age actually decline when you floss your teeth and avoid using cell phones? Can a lifetime of caloric restriction lead to a 120-year lifespan? What does science have to say about these approaches to extending longevity? Can the science of today offer alternative strategies for increased lifespans?

The news media perpetuates confusion about aging and disease by presenting conflicting messages to the public. We are bombarded by reports that just about everything but pure spring water causes cancereven tap water is declared dangerous by some people. In the 1960s, the late Nobel laureate Linus Pauling extolled the health benefits of ingesting large doses of vitamin C, an idea quickly snapped up by others to promote the belief that antioxidants can slow down the aging process. Today, news reports suggest that more than 500 milligrams of vitamin C per day may damage the genetic material of our chromosomes (DNA) rather than protect it. It is no wonder that some people are confused and ignore all health advice while others believe everything they hear or read. Scarcely a week goes by without some new book or news report on the latest scientifically proven way to extend life, reverse aging, or prevent heart disease and cancer. Extensive marketing campaigns attempt to convince baby boomers and the elderly that the secret to combating disease, maintaining health, retaining youth, and extending longevity has been discovered. Fads that were once restricted to health-food stores have mushroomed into a multi-billion-dollar industry that taps into the human obsession with aging, health, and disease.

The life extension industry begins with a grain of truth but quickly gets mixed with a tablespoon of bad science, a cup of greed, a pint of exaggeration, and a gallon of human desire for a longer, healthier lifea recipe for false hope, broken promises, and unfulfilled dreams. The quest for immortality has produced countless chefs who have cooked up fantastic stories about aging, and people are consuming their products in massive quantities.

Our goal in writing this book is to help you understand how and why aging occurs so that you can make informed decisions about your health, longevity, and quality of life. Thanks to modern-day technology, the proponents of extreme longevity spread their slick messages more widely than ever before. The bad news is that these new messages contain the same false promises that have been marketed and sold for thousands of years. The good news is that falsehoods, deceptions, and exaggerations are unnecessary. Scientists are on the threshold of discoveries about aging that are likely to have consequences for personal health and longevity that we could only have dreamed of just a few decades ago. We are optimistic that aspects of the aging process will eventually fall within the control of the biomedical sciencespermitting humanity, for the first time, an opportunity to influence the biological forces that govern life and death.

In this book, we offer a vision of human aging and longevity that is more realistic and far more promising than the false images and messages about aging that are so prevalent today. If we tell the story of aging correctly, then this book should give you a much better understanding of how and why we age, an expanded awareness of disease and death, and a greater appreciation of health and longevity. You will certainly be awed and maybe even frightened by the advances in biomedical technology that are going to change the meaning of life and death as they are currently understood. Perhaps more important, we hope that you will learn from this book that aging is far more than a biological process of decline and decay that culminates in death. Growing older can and should be a rewarding physical and emotional journey. For most of us throughout the majority of our lives, the passage of time can and should be marked by good health, improvement in physical fitness, emotional growth, and enhanced wisdom.