Scientists have extended life in worms and mice, but have yet to do so in humans, former BMJ editor writes; aging researcher de Magalhães accepts criticism of the hype and remains confident that human aging can be slowed

Scientists have extended life in worms and mice, but have yet to do so in humans, former BMJ editor writes; aging researcher de Magalhães accepts criticism of the hype and remains confident that human aging can be slowed

On 8 October, BMJ published Richard Smith’s column on physician Seamus O’Mahony’s book The Longevity Delusion. On 19 October, University of Birmingham professor João Pedro de Magalhães and the Rapamycin News forum responded.

The opinion column describes the longevity market as a “gold rush”: baby boomers, many of them wealthy, fear death and dementia and are willing to pay for longer lives, with aging researchers, pharmaceutical companies, clinics and influencers sharing the proceeds. Scientists have extended life in yeast, worms, flies and mice, but have yet to do so in humans.

De Magalhães wrote on X that he disagreed with some points but accepted that the column raised concerns about hype and unfulfilled promises, and that success in animals does not guarantee benefits for humans. He offered this objection:

“The absence of proven ways to extend human life does not mean that aging cannot be modified. I remain convinced that we will develop effective ways to slow human aging.”

A response to the column was published under the administrator’s account on Rapamycin News, a forum for users of rapamycin, a drug used to suppress the immune system after kidney transplantation. The response acknowledges the hype and argues that Smith and O’Mahony mistake the failures of people selling longevity products for failures of the science. In the forum’s view, the statement that “human life has never been extended” reflects a lack of trials: no anti-aging drug has been tested for its effect on human lifespan, because such a trial would take decades and has never been funded. Such trials have been conducted in mice: rapamycin at three times the previous dose extended median lifespan by 23% in males and 26% in females.

Smith challenges the “compression of morbidity” hypothesis, proposed by a Stanford University physician in a 1980 paper: lifespan has a fixed limit, healthy living can delay disease, and the period of frailty can therefore be shortened. Over nearly half a century, he writes, the opposite has happened: people live longer, but the period of illness at the end of life has increased even more. Rapamycin News cites an analysis of WHO data from 183 countries showing that the gap between total life expectancy and healthy life expectancy grew over two decades to 9,6 years. The forum notes, however, that the gap is calculated from years lived with a diagnosed disease, so earlier diagnosis and longer survival with treatment widen it even when people remain able to function independently. In support of the hypothesis, the forum cites an observational study involving its originator: over 19 years, 15% of runners older than 50 died, compared with 34% of the control group, and the runners developed difficulties with daily activities more slowly.

Public policy could extend life, Smith writes, but the benefits would go to poor people, with no money to be made from it. O’Mahony tells the Telegraph: “The two most powerful longevity medicines are money and education.” The forum argues that social conditions and medicines should be considered together: poverty and stress appear to accelerate biological aging in part, and understanding its mechanisms complements social policy.

According to Smith, the immediate goal of aging research is to have aging recognized as a disease, opening the way to new drugs and funding. Once aging becomes a disease, O’Mahony concludes, it will create “a new secular version of the doctrine of original sin: to be human is to be sick.” The forum sees disease status as a prerequisite for rigorous drug trials: high blood pressure and bone loss were also considered normal aspects of aging until they were recognized as diseases.