And it’s not just anyone who says it, it’s Michael N. Hall, a Frontiers of Knowledge laureate, a clear candidate for the Nobel Prize and, above all, one of the people who have contributed the most to our understanding of the development of cancer. Moreover, he says it in a very interesting context.
A few days ago, Hall received the 2024 Balzano Prize for his research on cell growth, and Irene Hernandez Velasco was lucky enough to interview him for El Confidencial. In this interview, a journalist asked him if he would take new drugs that would “prevent aging” using the same TOR he discovered.
Prevent aging? We must remember that “aging” is not at all simple. Almost the opposite: for years we thought that cell development had a lot to do with nutrition, but we underestimated the complexity of the process. Hall precisely worked with a series of proteins that “help control various cellular functions, including cell proliferation and survival.”
We now know that inhibiting the levels of these proteins extends the life of individuals. Therefore, Hernández’s question is very well asked.
And the scientist was emphatic. “I don’t take them and I wouldn’t take them.
Because? First, he explained, “there’s always a risk with drugs.” But mainly because they are not necessary. “I’m doing well, I eat well, I don’t smoke, I like wine, but I drink it in moderation. That’s enough. Eating in moderation is very important because it’s the nutrients that activate TOR,” he continued. .
And it makes sense. Because “little food slows down aging.” As we gradually understood, it is precisely “restriction of food that reduces the activity of TOR, which leads to metabolic changes that, in short, have an effect on a longer and healthier life”
After all, “there are many diseases, such as cancer or diabetes, that are diseases associated with aging and related to TOR.”
It’s not exactly a surprise. We have known for almost a decade that light diets and the consumption of low-calorie foods are able to “reduce the mortality of the population by up to 15%, mainly from cardiovascular causes”. Of course, it’s not just about that: lifestyle, prevention of risk factors (e.g. tobacco consumption) or control of infectious diseases also play a key role.
Of course, it’s no surprise, it’s reassuring to hear one of the world’s leading experts on the subject advocate that these types of simple actions can have a very important impact on everyday life.
Image | Ingrid Singh / Denmark Franco
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