Do you wish you could have more time with your parents?
Not feel helpless at 90?
See your grandchildren grow up?
It has become clear in the past decade that aging is not inevitable.
Please take 10 minutes to read everything.
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What is aging?
Aging is not a ticking biological clock that counts down the time we have left.
Like an old car, your body accumulates damage due to normal wear and tear.
This means as you get older, the chance that you will die from certain diseases goes up dramatically as shown below.
Disease occurance by age
Chart comparing age-related diseases.
To view disease occurance graphs with data click here.
Most death is due to aging
~150,000 people die each day across the globe.
About two-thirds - 100,000 per day - die from age-related diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and others.
Global deaths per day
Chart comparing age-related deaths to non age-related deaths
150,000 can't be visualized well in the mind.
Click here to grasp 150,000 deaths
Most suffering is due to aging
Modern medicine has increased our lifespan a bit, but this has also increased the number of unhealthy years.
The last years of a long life usually involves battling cancer, recovering from a heart attack, losing memories due to Alzheimer's, or other age-related suffering.
The chart below is taken from a 2010 study on the prevalence of symptoms in the last year of life.
Symptom prevalence during last year of life
Chart showing symptoms in the last year of life.
Nearly everyone across the globe will suffer in some way in their old age.
We now understand the damages that make up aging
Thanks to the hard work of many people we now understand the fundamental damages that make up aging.
Some of the most notable individuals include:
Headshot of Peter Attia
Peter Attia
M.D. from Stanford. Founded Attia Medical, PC, which focuses on longevity and optimal performance.
Headshot of George Church
George Church
Professor at Harvard Medical School, Harvard, and MIT. Leads Synthetic Biology at the Wyss Institute.
Headshot of Laura Deming
Laura Deming
Started Longevity Fund, the first VC firm dedicated to funding high-potential longevity companies.
Headshot of Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey de Grey
Cofounded SENS Research Foundation which funds research at universities and their own Research Center as well as invests in early stage companies.
Headshot of Cynthia Kenyon
Cynthia Kenyon
VP of aging research at Calico Research Labs. Emeritus professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF.
Headshot of David Sinclair
David Sinclair
Harvard Medical School professor in Genetics and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging.
With the rapid advancement of technology we now understand the 9 causes of aging.
You can read the seminal paper published in 2013, or the simple explanations provided below:
1. Our genes get damaged
Genetic instability
As we age the damage to the genome from external sources like radiation or pollution, or internal sources such as free radicals builds up over time.
2. The caps on our DNA get shorter
Telomere attrition
Telomeres are sequences of DNA that protect the ends of chromosomes. Normal cell division and damage to the DNA shortens telomeres. When they get too short, cells sense it and permanently stop replicating.
3. The way our genes act changes
Epigenetic alterations
The epigenome is chemical compounds that attach to DNA and direct such actions as turning genes on or off, controlling the production of proteins in certain cells. As we age the epigenome changes and gene activity is compromised.
4. Proteins fold incorrectly
Loss of proteostasis
Proteostasis is the maintenance of all proteins in their original form and abundance. As we age proteins begin to fold incorrectly so they fail and clump together becoming toxic.
5. Standard or excessive nutrient consumption causes damage
Deregulated nutrient sensing
When nutrients are scarce the body focuses on repairing itself. Tricking the body into thinking there are fewer nutrients available extends longevity.
6. Our mitochondria start to fail
Mitochondrial dysfunction
The “powerhouse of the cell” produces energy but also produces damaging free radicals that need to be kept in check. A decline in mitochondrial quality and activity is closely linked to aging and age-related diseases in general.
7. Some cells stop dividing but refuse to die
Cellular Senescence
Senescent cells are those that do not divide anymore but also do not die. We accumulate them as we age which causes damage.
8. Our reparative cells replicate less
Stem cell exhaustion
Healthy stem cells must replicate when required to regenerate and repair damage to our tissues and organs. Stems cells replicate less and replicate at the wrong time when we get older.
9. The way cells communicate starts creating damage
Altered intercellular communication
Communication among cells and tissues is important for maintaining health. As we age, the chemical messages across the body tends to become more inflammatory, inhibiting the immune system and causing damage.
Aging is not inevitable
There are many new promising categories of therapies that counteract aging.
Most likely there is not a single answer or “cure” but a wide range of therapies that can reduce or fix the different damages from the causes above.
Some of these therapies are:

Reasons we should end aging
Some people assume that because aging has always existed it somehow a good thing. Because we have never been able to stop aging we have chosen to accept it.
Below are some reasons we should end aging:

Myths & misconceptions about ending aging

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