Sandler initially dismissed the idea that rapamycin was a longevity drug, but after researching it online he decided it might have some meaning and sold it to an Indian supplier for about $200. I ordered a year’s worth.
“If I was younger, I would have shied away,” said Sandler, a 77-year-old retired accountant who lives in Bergen County, New Jersey. “But at this age, you become part of the experiment yourself,” he says.
Researchers found that rapamycin alters a type of cellular communication system that causes cells to grow in a specific direction, growing when the body has plenty of food and slowing down when nutrients are scarce. I discovered that it is possible to give the following instructions. This drug can weaken the signal to proliferate, forcing cells to clear out accumulated junk, allowing them to work more efficiently.
Despite the buzz surrounding the drug, it is unlikely that the Food and Drug Administration will approve it as a longevity drug. The agency does not consider aging a disease, and the fact that rapamycin is a generic drug means there is little economic incentive to conduct expensive clinical trials to test for age-related diseases. . As a result, doctors and entrepreneurs are increasingly selling rapamycin beyond the regulatory label, believing that a potentially life-prolonging drug is effectively hiding in plain sight. .
More than 20 medical practices are prescribing rapamycin as a treatment for aging, and telemedicine companies are providing it to thousands of patients across the country, according to a review in the Washington Post. Prices vary widely, but some online suppliers offer typical doses for about $10 per week or less. Alan Green, an internist in Little Neck, New York, said he has personally treated about 1,500 patients with rapamycin since 2017 and calls it “the most important drug in the history of medicine.”
But scientists and longevity influencers remain divided over rapamycin’s promise as a longevity drug.
Enthusiasm for the drug’s anti-aging properties comes from studies that have repeatedly shown it to be effective in multiple species of animals, including yeast, worms, and mice. Some doctors and researchers believe that low doses of intermittent rapamycin can extend human lifespans, similar to animal studies. But doctors also say that no one knows the optimal dose for humans, and that taking a certain amount of rapamycin can make the body more susceptible to infections, as well as cause reproductive problems and insulin resistance. He also warns.
“Mice may be a little different than humans when it comes to drug resistance, disease, and response,” said Elena Volpi, a professor and longevity expert at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
“I think this drug can be taken safely under certain conditions, but there are enough side effects that I wouldn’t want to take it to extend my life at this point,” said neuroscientist Andrew Huberman. To tell. He said on an October podcast that he has a large social media following.
Los Angeles physician Brad Rosen says he believes rapamycin’s potential is attractive enough to give it a try.
Rosen, who has prescribed longevity drugs to about 250 patients, said, “At 60 years old, I hope that research that can test the benefits of longevity drugs will be completed before my own rapid decline occurs.” I can’t afford to get my hopes up.” Promising animal studies, combined with rapamycin’s long history as an immunosuppressant, make it “one of the few drugs where it makes perfect sense to take a calculated risk,” he said.
Drugs from the ends of the earth
Rapamycin’s growing popularity reflects the rise of longevity drugs. Altos Labs, which has raised $3 billion, aims to reverse the diseases of aging by rejuvenating cells, inspired by research that won a Nobel Prize in 2012. The Saudi-based Hevolution Foundation has pledged to spend up to $1 billion a year to accelerate research on aging. Longevity medicine experts like Peter Attia have amassed large followings on social media and have built excitement about rapamycin.
Rapamycin was collected by a scientific expedition in the 1960s from the soil of Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, one of the most uninhabited places on Earth. The FDA approved it in 1999 to help transplant patients tolerate their new organs. But scientists continued to study how the drug worked, eventually making it popular in the field of longevity medicine.
“It was strange,” Attia writes in his best-selling book, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. “This exotic molecule, found only in isolated patches of land in the middle of the ocean, acts like a switch that inhibits very specialized cellular mechanisms present in almost all living things.” , adding, “Every time I think about this fact, I’m still shocked.”
A shocking 2009 study found that rapamycin extended the lifespan of older mice by 14 percent, marking the first time a drug has been shown to help mammals live longer. And in 2014, researchers revealed a new finding that older adults who took drugs similar to rapamycin had a stronger response to the flu vaccine, overturning the widely held belief that rapamycin weakens the immune system. did.
Ten years later, the low intermittent dose (5 milligrams per week) used in the 2014 study remains popular among people who take rapamycin for longevity.
In a recent study of 333 people who used rapamycin off-label, researchers found that most people reported improved quality of life since they started using rapamycin. The only side effect that was statistically different among rapamycin users compared to a cohort that did not take the drug was stomatitis.
“Rapamycin is probably the best-in-class longevity drug we have right now,” said Matt Kaeberlein, a professor at the University of Washington who has studied rapamycin for 20 years and studied its anti-aging effects in dogs. said. . In his own experience, he credits rapamycin’s anti-inflammatory properties with curing persistent shoulder pain.
Adoption of rapamycin into the mainstream
Joan Manick recognizes what she calls a “gold rush” in longevity medicine. As the researcher who led her 2014 study, she doesn’t exactly accept that her own research became the basis for administering rapamycin to people.
“We still don’t know what the right dose is, what the right duration is, what the risks are, and what the benefits are,” Manik says. Now CEO of Tornado Therapeutics, she aims to develop rapamycin-like compounds that are even more effective and patentable. “I think we can get there, but we’re not there yet.”
Some people don’t like to wait. “Get rapamycin online,” the longevity-focused telemedicine company AgelessRx advertises on his Google.
Healthspan, a telemedicine service whose main product is rapamycin, sells rapamycin mainly for longevity purposes, but also for cosmetic purposes, and says, “Scientific research shows that it is possible to reverse skin aging at the molecular level.” The company claims that it is the only skin cream that has been proven to be effective. The company on Tuesday announced a new rapamycin product that stimulates hair growth.
Daniel Tawfik founded Healthspan in 2022 after seeking to support his wife’s fight against cancer and observing “the gulf in what’s happening between the research community and the clinical world.” The term refers to the part of the body when one is in good health). Tawfik said more than 2,000 patients have signed up for the drug and the company’s rapamycin service, which includes routine testing (Healthspan estimates it is prescribing the drug to 15 to 20 percent of prospective patients). (No, he said).
Healthspan relies on Manik-led research and canine research for longevity medication. Regarding skin creams, Tawfik cited a small study by Drexel University researchers and a rapamycin-like gel approved by the FDA in 2022 to treat benign facial tumors. Regarding hair treatment, the company highlighted a 2019 study in mice.
“The potential for extending health spans and quality of life as patients age is enormous,” Tawfik said, adding that his company’s experience shows that “rapamycin can be safely prescribed with few side effects.” It shows,” he added.
Attia, whose medical practice focuses on helping people live longer, healthier lives, dedicates a chapter of his 2023 book to rapamycin, which he himself uses. It states that With over 600,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, Mr. Attia has become one of the most influential voices in longevity medicine, and many doctors believe that their patients have heard from him. states to learn about rapamycin.
Brian Johnson, who founded and sold the mobile payments company Braintree, has also emerged as a prominent user of rapamycin in his current project to develop a protocol to reverse the aging process.
After his team examined the scientific literature and ranked different strategies for what could improve longevity, Johnson found that the combination of rapamycin and the diabetes drug metformin was “the 10th most effective of all time.” said. Johnson, whose videos of his extensive treatments have been viewed millions of times, captures his quest for longevity on a grand historical scale, like Magellan circling the Earth. . He is aggressively adjusting his dose of rapamycin.
“I don’t think we have any definitive observations yet,” he said.
Eric Burdin, chief executive officer of the Buck Institute on Aging, hastened to add that while there are strong claims that rapamycin is an anti-aging drug, “the field should not recommend its use in humans.” He and many other doctors say rapamycin is not a substitute for exercise or a healthy diet.
“People who are using it as a substitute for a healthy lifestyle continue to do it, but it’s a bridge too far for me,” Vardin said. Then he offered a disclosure: he’s on rapamycin.
“I’m doing everything I can to maximize my lifespan,” said Vardin, 66. As for rapamycin, she “doesn’t feel any difference either way,” she said.
