Health

Scientists Close in Quest to Find Fountain of Youth Gene, Make Drug

Jan. 1, 2002 – Senior Softball-USA

Special News Report / Part 1

Centuries ago, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon hacked through the snake-infested forests of Florida searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth in a quest for the mythical waters believed to restore health.

He was looking in the wrong place.

Four hundred years later and several hundred miles north, a Harvard scientist, studying families that live far longer than normal men and women, believes that by spring his Boston-based team will have identified the gene responsible for long and healthy life.

"Our hope is that once we discover the gene, we can determine the biochemical pathways and then duplicate it with drugs," said Harvard Scientist Tom Perls.

Researchers hope to develop this "Fountain of Youth" drug in three to five years.

But the drug is only one of the modern medical developments that are proving to be a powerful force in extending human life on Earth and freeing men and women from the debilitating diseases and lingering ailments that have made old age a painful experience.

A number of recent studies have proven that a healthy mix of exercise and moderate diet help seniors extend active lifestyles into their late 80s. Now, the development of replacement parts like new knees, hips, and shoulders, as well as new valves for hearts are extending softball careers for decades.

And the newest development may well help push the average range of normal old age from the 80s past the 100s.

The key for this development is the gem of a gene that nature bestowed on a handful of families that live active lifestyles into their 100s. Harvard's Perls has identified and studied a number of these families and believes his team of researchers is close to isolating a gene that they believe help these people avoid some of the common debilitating diseases striking many people when they are in their 60s.

"Avoiding these diseases allows people to live healthily into their 90s and 100s," said Perls, who is also a research doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

"The average bunch of us have the genes to get us to the mid- to late-80s in very good health," he said. "But we don't take advantage of those genes ˆ and we play the hand we have been dealt poorly.

"Half of the population is overweight, 20 percent are obese and most of us don't exercise regularly," he said. The result is that the average American is dying 10 years earlier than necessary ˆ and their later years of life are painful.

The average life expectancy in the United States was 77 years in 2001.

With proper diet and exercise ˆ and the new "Fountain of Youth" drug potential ˆ researchers are looking at the real possibility of increasing life expectancy to the 100 year mark within a decade.

To put the possibilities in perspective, consider that it took us the entire 20th Century (from 1900 to 2000) to raise the average life expectancy 30 years ˆ from 47 to 77. If the Harvard researchers are correct, it is possible that we can increase life expectancy more than 20 years in the first decade of the 21st century.

But life expectancy and the quality of later life still largely depend on individual habits ˆ especially exercise.

"I have been shocked at how much of a difference exercise makes in seniors ˆ both physically and in terms of mental clarity," said Kris Gebhardt, 38, a fitness consultant to celebrities and author of "A Complete Encyclopedia for Getting Your Mind & Body into Great Shape."

"When people hit 60, they start to slow down," said Gebhardt, who recommends very specific weight-resistance and aerobic exercises.

"One 70-year-old man came to me with severe cardiovascular problems," he said. "He was given only a few months to live and faced the possible amputation of his foot."

Gebhardt put the man on an exercise regime that helped him regain his health.

"Three years later, he is traveling the world and enjoying life," said Gebhardt.

Gebhardt said exercise training can help rehabilitate both new and old injuries and "get senior softball players back in the game.

"A good training program by an expert will clean up life-long nagging injuries in knees, shoulders and backs," he said.

It boils down to the simple premise that medical miracles can help, but it is up to the individual to keep in shape and take care of his or her own body.

Harvard researcher Perls agrees: "It's not the older you get, the sicker you are. It's the older you get, the healthier you have been."