Book Summary:
In 1998, scientists discovered an enzyme, telomerase, that had the astonishing ability to "immortalize" certain kinds of cells that normally died within a short time. When that discovery was announced to the public, the press put an almost inevitable spin on it: aging was about to become an artifact of the past. Never mind that the scientists in question never claimed that telomerase had anything to do with the lifespan of humans: the discovery became a story because it appealed to our ancient interest in cheating death and living forever. A huge, lucrative industry now caters to that interest, offering the public pills, potions, and powders that are meant to reverse and undo the effects of aging. Such fixes do not, will not, and cannot work, write scientists Jay Olshansky and Bruce Carnes in this book-length argument against the claims of "prolongevists," those who believe that the fountain of youth is just around the corner. "Short of medical interventions that manufacture survival time," the authors argue, "there is very little you can do as an individual to extend the latent potential for longevity that was present at your conception." In the aggregate, they continue, we have already passed the far limits of our life expectancy, as is evident by the fact that many of the diseases that plague us today, such as certain cancers and neuromuscular disorders, are the expression of genes that have long been with us but were not often manifest, because humans did not live long enough for them to become a problem. Adding still more years will do nothing to improve the quality of life, Olshansky and Carnes suggest. The better approach is to guard our health during the years that are ours--and to regard all claims to immortality and life extension, no matter how attractive, with a skeptical eye. --Gregory McNamee Two leading experts offer an antidote to the maximum-lifespan hype. A multi-billion-dollar industry today offers a bewildering array of herbs, vitamins, hormones, or lifestyle changes that are supposed to slow aging, prevent disease, and lengthen life. These "discoveries" are big news to the aging baby-boom generation. Unfortunately, the touted benefits of many of these treatments are either unproven, grossly exaggerated, or just plain false. S. Jay Olshansky and Bruce A. Carnes provide a comprehensive account of the real science of aging, from a historical overview of religious and philosophical thinking about aging and death, to the biology behind the changes we see in the mirror, to the promising but frightening future of genetic engineering. The Quest for Immortality demystifies the complex language and concepts of science, explains how to distinguish real science from media hype in order to help readers make informed health decisions, and offers a powerfully optimistic vision of aging and health in the twenty-first century. |