What is a disease? If there is an inevitable process everyone is subjective to, could that be a disease?
A disease, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is:
a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms
The Oxford dictionary defines a disease as:
a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.
While both these definitions are not clear, and also bring in the necessity to define other concepts such as "normal", a disease is understood to mean a condition that affects only some people and not everyone, meaning that aging is not recognized as a disease.
Why is this significant, though? My friend N told me that being a good lawyer means you need to be good at finding your way through loopholes, and this instance seems similar. Well, in order for anti-aging drugs to be developed and approved, the condition it is treating for-aging- needs to be recognized as a legitimate disease. Currently, regulators in Europe & the U.S. such as the FDA do not recognize ageing as a disease, meaning that anti-aging drugs will not be approved and marketed in the U.S. For example, rapamycin, a compound shown to increase the lifespan in model organisms, is only approved in cases of recognized cases such as in patients after organ transplants. So if such an anti-ageing "drug" is developed, it may be sold as a dietary supplement, but not as a drug marketed to "treat" a condition.
Lately in the news, in 2008, GlaxoSmithKline bought Sirtris (Forbes article here), a company developing anti-aging drugs based on SIRT1 activators such as resveratrol, found in red wine. So far, while other rival companies have not been able to match initial findings that Resveratrol does indeed activate SIRT1, there have been clinical trials with the SIRT1 activator(?) SIRT501. Phase I clinical study of SIRT501 was completed in January of 2010, showing that SIRT501 is indeed safe, even at high doses. However, a Phase II study was suspended in May 2010, because some patients (who had white-cell center) developed kidney problems.
David Gobel and Aubrey de Grey founded the Methuselah Foundation in 2010, a non-profit organization promoting study of & supporting extension of human life. The foundation awards "The MPrize" to researchers who produce mice that can live abnormally long. Current record holder is Andrzej Bartke of Southern Illinois University who used dwarf mice without growth hormone, prolactin, or thyroid stimulating hormone. His mice lived for ~1800 days (~1.5 times normal lifespan for mice).
While studying ageing is fascinating because well, it was shown only recently that ageing is regulated by genes & the subject is all too personal for any living/breathing/mortal human being. Will living to ~100 years be the normal, a certain future as we age? The exciting spark is not only that lifespan can be extended, but that ageing can be slowed down. Sure, you may be 100, but you may be running around shooting hoops like a 30-year-old. Imagine that.
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