As a writer I have traveled to many different parts of the world. My work was always to investigate obscure things and write in-depth reports. You encounter a lot of strange, mystical people on such a life journey. You also witness some very miraculous things. More than once I have gotten on a plane home wondering if I was leaving a better life behind. You see things in the world that make you wonder if the life you’ve been leading is the right choice for you.
One thing I’ve never done is ingest some crazy substance because I think it will make me younger. There is no fountain of youth. Maybe one day we’ll make a pill that reverses aging or keeps you young forever but we don’t have one yet.
People are obsessed with staying young. You’ll find thousands of articles that explain how to do it. It’s true that you can avoid some of the symptoms of aging, like protecting your skin from the sun so it doesn’t wrinkle. But there is more to aging than just wrinkled skin and grey hair. You lose muscle mass, your thinking changes, and your body can no longer tolerate many of the toxins you shook off in youth.
Youth Is Wasted on the Young
There is an old saying. I don’t know who coined it. The saying goes “youth is wasted on the young”, meaning we are too naive and ignorant to realize the full benefit of youth while we are still young and inexperienced. By the time you reach 60 you know how to do everything you couldn’t do when you were 25. And you watch in growing sadness and horror as the younger generations plunge ahead without a care in the world.
The wisdom of age isn’t always the best thing in the world. Older people can be cantankerous, stuck in their ways, and lost amid technological changes. But those of us who grew up with technology in a fast-paced society may be in a unique pivotal position. We are used to adapting new toys and we’re still young enough to expect a few more decades of life. But will we stay healthy and strong enough to enjoy those years? One of life’s regrets is that you didn’t do more when you were younger to ensure you keep your health and strength. “If I had only known then what I know now.” Funny thing about that: I can remember my elders warning me to take care for my health and finances when I was that age. Why didn’t I listen to them?
When you read about the leaders of today’s technological society most of them are young, usually under the age of 35. They don’t have enough life experience to be very wise and they make a lot of mistakes. They are easily misled by social media memes and the lies of pretenders. Over time they gradually learn their lessons or pay a heavy price. It saddens me to see the number of people willing to pay that heavy price grow every year.
The Stupid Things Silicon Valley Techies Do to Stay Young
There are two news stories that have captured my attention. The first was this story from Vox that says the Food and Drug Administration is warning young people not to inject themselves with “young blood”. Where do they get this blood? Are they waylaying teenagers as they ride home from school? This is a crazy idea and it do doubt emerged from techies following science news Websites. Some years back I remember there was a story about how young blood might have some positive, youthful benefits. But it wasn’t proven science. Worse, injecting yourself with someone else’s blood is dangerous. It’s not worth the risk.
The other story that made me sit up an take notice is this piece about techies taking metformin to stay young. Metformin is used to treat diabetes and if you read diabetes support forums you’ll find a lot of people cannot tolerate it. It either constipates you or gives you diarrhea, and both symptoms can be life-threatening. Doctors and patients must work together to determine how metformin should be safely used. The fact that a million Websites say metformin is a “safe” drug is misleading. But once again the Silicon Valley geniuses are not taking the time to check the facts.
Science Is Working on the Problem, but It’s Not Yet Solved
Metformin may be a fountain of youth for female mice but the scientists who studied its youthful benefits found that it may contribute to a higher risk of death for young male mice. If I were a young guy working in the tech industry and all my friends started taking metformin to stay young, I’d get their girlfriends’ phone numbers and start taking notes on what they like to eat.
There is real science behind proven methods for slowing the aging process, but that’s all we can do. Science may be able to reverse aging in a few worm species but that’s a far cry from doing it for the human species.
And even if we do find a way to reverse aging you can bet that the pharmaceutical industry will charge thousands of dollars per treatment for the first 10 years, maybe longer. Only the rich will be able to afford any true cure for aging. It will take years to bring such technologies to the market for the rest of us.
So What Can We Do? What Should We Do?
The best way to stay young is to stay healthy. If you put off going to the doctor you’re cutting time off your life. But you should eat better, stay fit, and follow the common sense advice available everywhere: stay off tobacco and alcohol, don’t spend too much time in the sun, and don’t throw yourself into dangerous and extreme situations. You can enjoy life and adventure without dangling from a cliff for a selfie that people will forget.
Preventive medicine is improving but the best medicine is avoiding illness and injury that you don’t need to experience. That goes for people who don’t trust vaccines, too. You’re not just risking your children’s lives but probably shortening their lives. There is no biological benefit to allowing children to experience the full horror and discomfort of disease.
Vaccines teach the body to fight off disease. They give us a step up on life, a biological advantage. But there is no vaccine for old age. Metformin isn’t a drug I would want to take. A smart man should be able to figure that out. A wise man already knows not to believe in every miraculous cure you hear about.