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Death is inevitable, but is the decline in function we experience as we age a sure thing? A new study out of the McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario is making scientists question whether aging is something that can be “cured.” Mice given a cocktail of commonly know vitamins and nutrients experienced some very surprising anti-aging results.
It might be possible to cure aging, say scientists who’ve found that lab mice get smarter and more agile as they age when fed a mix of nutritional supplements.
The diet and supplement plan isn’t a conventional “cure.” But the animal results at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., illustrate how investigators aim to slow down the aging process to avoid the physical and mental declines that often come as more candles are added to the birthday cake.
At Prof. David Rollo’s biology laboratory, mice that ate bagel bits soaked in a cocktail of supplements such as B vitamins, vitamin D, ginseng and garlic lived longer than those not taking the special mice chow.
“If you put them on a supplement, they actually learn better as they age,” Rollo said. “They still don’t live much longer but their brain function is remarkable.”
The mice also acted like restless teenagers showing “spontaneous motor function” that fades in humans in a universal sign of aging, Rollo added.
The supplemented mice maintained their memory function in tests, such as remembering a familiar object. Their learning abilities were like those of very young mice, he said. Mice of the same age that were not supplemented behaved in lab tests like a frail 80-year-old woman.
Investigators turned to the cocktail of ingredients based on their suspected ability to offset five key mechanisms involved in aging.