Is the Fountain of Youth on the Horizon? Scientists Say They're a Step Closer to Halting Ageing

The fresh anti-ageing ideas range from the use of special drug treatments to rather peculiar procedures, including injections with a young person's blood.

It appears the time has come to bid farewell to monkey glands or goat testicles as something that is thought to help you remain young forever.

The world's most prolific researchers are already exploring every gene and cell in the human body to try and tackle the ageing process with the help of so-called "rejuvenation science".

The main focus of the research, which by the way, is sponsored by billionaires such as Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, has been placed on extending something called healthy life expectancy, or "healthspan".

Professor Dame Linda Partridge, a geneticist at University College London, stressed that "there is an ethical imperative to try to find ways of keeping people healthier longer, to try to reduce this period of loss of function at the end of their lives".

One method being explored by scientists aims to give healthy people medicines that treat serious diseases such as cancer and diabetes years before they develop. The medicines, among them rapamycin and metformin, researchers believe, can increase overall life expectancy and have a rejuvenating effect on a person's immune system.

According to scientists, the effect of these drugs on the body is similar to that of fasting diets, which have long been known for their anti-ageing benefits.

Previous studies showed that restricting calories had a rejuvenating impact because the lack of nutrients prompts the body to break down its own cells for energy, including those cells that are already damaged or malfunctioning. The research also indicated that the number of dead cells a person has is directly linked to the risk of the development of age-related conditions such as cancer, dementia, and diabetes, among other problems.

You may now wonder whether there are other fresh ideas concerning anti-ageing aside from the use of special medicines. The answer is yes, and the research is based on a host of studies in the early 2000s that involved animals such as mice. The experiments showed that older mice injected with the blood of a younger creature saw a boost in the proteins responsible for repairing damaged tissue, as well as better brain, muscle, and liver function.

Right now, the US government's National Institutes of Health is funding independent research into such a treatment, which is expected to help scientists stave off the problem of ageing.