The idea of immortality is something that has been fantasized through novels and movies for generations. Today religions all across the board believe that, although the body itself dies, some form of you will live on in a different world. It is said that Alexander the Great was in search of the fountain of youth in the 3rd century when he came across a land that was always dark. In order to get to the fountain of youth Alexander the Great crossed this dark area. In the 5th century BC Herodotus, a greek historian, spoke of a fountain of youth located in the Macrobia that would prolong people’s lives. Even in Japan there is talk of hot springs that will heal people as well as let them live longer. Rumors, myths, and legends have carried some of these beliefs into modern day medicine. Yes, believe it or not there are doctors and scientists out there that believe, through medicine and more research, they will be able to postpone  or possibly even stop death.

Dr. Aubrey de Grey, a medical gerontologist, believes that he can reverse aging through medicine that “undoes years of molecular and cellular damage to the body.”  According to de Grey, over the past few centuries the reason that people are living to a high age is due to the reduction of “infectious diseases.” Thanks to modern medicine people are now able to get rid of these infectious diseases almost entirely. The main cause of death, de Grey says, is molecular and cellular damage the body endures throughout a lifetime. Inevitably we cause damage to our bodies over the course of our lives but through de Greys research,  there are ways to prevent this from occurring. “New regenerative medicines, including stem cell therapies, gene therapies, drugs and vaccines,” according to the article will prevent these molecular and cellular damage to the body. In fact in another article, the enzyme telomerase “slows the shortening of telomeres – sequences of DNA that grow progressively shorter during cell division until the cell eventually mutates or dies.” The article later reports that trials tried on mice can cause aging to be slowed. There are also drugs that affect these telomeres that have not made it to clinical trials.

Obviously a good diet and exercise will help your chances at staying healthy. But could scientific and medical advances possibly create a world with prolonged life? Or could this all be a placebo affect on the medications. There are also many other confounding variables that go into analyzing the health of a humans life. For example, when studying if the drug is helping a person live longer, think of the amount of variables that go into a single day of a persons life. What they eat, what they drink,  and if they smoke are all variables that must be monitored and controlled in order for the research to have any validity.

Sources:

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/can-humans-live-forever-this-scientist-thinks-its-possible/

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/11/the-quest-for-the-fountain-of-youth/

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/g137/sciences-greatest-unsolved-mysteries-progress-report/?slide=3

http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/religion-and-spirituality-immortal-souls/64176.aspx