from Hacker News

Rapamycin: The unlucky history of an anti-aging drug

by theNewMicrosoft on 5/8/23, 4:59 AM with 175 comments

  • by tysam_and on 5/8/23, 6:40 AM

    Anti-aging is a hard problem, Rapamycin is most certainly not the most powerful anti-aging drug from my best understanding, it just targets 1 of 7 or 8 critical areas that are implicated in the aging formula.

    If you want to start down the rabbithole (SENS talks can be trusted and are good, well-backed by science, etc etc. Have been derailed by some drama recently, but still, they've really done a lot) then you can start by going to the rejuvenation roadmap: https://www.lifespan.io/road-maps/the-rejuvenation-roadmap/

    A little further (Aubrey de Grey, from SENS originally): https://www.ted.com/talks/aubrey_de_grey_a_roadmap_to_end_ag...

    If you want to lose 4-5+ hours (minimum -- think TVTropes level of rabbithole addiction here), then here is your next free joyride. It's a fun one, I've been pretty interested in it as it's continued to have developed. Have fun reading the saga: https://www.reddit.com/r/sleephackers/comments/ohfetn/turnbu...

  • by 34679 on 5/8/23, 5:59 AM

    There's a great Radiolab episode on this topic and the person who first isolated it.

    https://radiolab.org/podcast/dirty-drug-and-ice-cream-tub

  • by starchild_3001 on 5/8/23, 5:54 AM

    Many of us know and follow rapamycin's story. There are some Drs in USA who're willing to prescribe it for longevity. I do hope some billionare will be willing to spend a few million on it to test it in clinical trials. Surely one of the most promising molecules out there, and very little sides when dosed intermittently.

  • by CapstanRoller on 5/8/23, 7:33 PM

    Rapamycin is also being studied as a booster drug to ketamine for treatment-resistant depression

    https://www.bbrfoundation.org/content/surprising-clinical-tr...

  • by snvzz on 5/8/23, 1:52 PM

    Tangentially related: Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant[0].

    0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZYNADOHhVY

  • by EdwardDiego on 5/8/23, 6:09 AM

    The part where a compound first investigated as an antifungal improves longevity of fungi wasn't really explored, but eh?

    Is it controlling fungi that infect other fungi or something?

  • by mannyv on 5/9/23, 6:15 AM

    Sounds like this would have been a great candidate for covid patients with immune system issues...like cytokine storms etc.

  • by schmichael on 5/8/23, 5:58 AM

    Sorry for the meta-commentary but…

    HN’s anti-aging obsession is wild.

    I get zero anti-aging content from any other news source, user submitted or otherwise, and yet without fail it seems like there’s at least one anti-aging article a week on HN. Any other topic I find on HN I run into elsewhere: space, JavaScript, crypto, lisp, etc etc. Only on HN do I regularly see anti-aging “news” promoted.

    The discussions are all about the same: it’s a scam! It’s worth a shot! More research is needed! Anti-aging is unnatural! Anti-aging is a biological imperative!

    idk it must have fans to get so consistently upvoted, but I do not get the appeal.