Mikhail Batin: “Yes, aging is a disease”

Psychologies: The title of your talk is «Old Age is a Disease». Sounds provocative.

Mikhail Batin: Why?

Still, we are used to the fact that aging is a natural part of life. Everyone gets old.

M. B .: Indeed, everyone gets old. But should it be? Is it good? Old people walk worse, think worse. Most people die from cardiovascular disease. In particular, from myocardial infarction. Most deaths occur in this case. If people die from a heart attack or from cancer, should it be considered natural? The loss of a person’s abilities — physical and mental — is bad. Looking worse is bad. Thinking worse is bad. I propose to call a spade a spade: aging is a disease. Like any disease, aging has symptoms. In particular, dysfunction of internal organs. But it turns out that all this can be treated. There are dozens and hundreds of experiments when it was possible to extend the life of laboratory animals. Slow down aging. All this suggests that aging is something that can and should be fought.

But we’re talking about symptoms. Is it possible to finally defeat old age?

M. B .: Today, aging is inevitable. But how inevitable is it in principle? For example, there are animals that do not age. In which age-related changes do not accumulate in the body. Maybe see how they do it? Previously, people could not fly. But then, looking at the birds, they invented different things — first balloons, then heavier-than-air devices that could lift us. It is human nature to solve problems. But first we need to identify them. We are getting old. Yes, it’s bad, we’re breaking down. Let’s think about what can be done so as not to collapse.

And what can be done?

M. B .: The scientific community has already decided and developed a view on what needs to be done to increase human life expectancy. First: learn to measure the rate of aging. We age very slowly, and in order for our intervention in this process to be effective, we must understand what is happening at the level of the genome, the epigenome. In general, the whole organism. We must learn to measure the aging of the body. Or diagnose it. The second is to find ways to influence. The most effective now is genetic engineering. We must learn to correct those genes that are associated with longevity and make us more resilient. In particular, genes that activate their own stress resistance system. The next approach is inhibition, slowing down inflammation in the body. Basically, aging is a continuous inflammatory process. Then — a decrease in the number of senescent, decrepit, cells. They often cause inflammation. On the other hand, there is an increase in the number of stem cells. In particular, through the impact on the stem cell microenvironment. That is, in principle, it is clear what needs to be done. If only because these approaches have already yielded results in various experiments. For example, it was possible to extend the life of mice from 20% to a tenfold level. It is high time to move on to human clinical trials.

What about centenarians? Are there so-called «blue zones» where people live longer on average than others?

M. B .: Of course, there is the island of Okinawa, where the average life expectancy is under a hundred years. There is Sardinia and so on. Of course, it’s incredibly interesting. This is the result of the interaction of the external environment and our genome. What unites long-livers? Physical activity, low-calorie diet. Even now, quite a lot can be done to delay the onset of age-related diseases. In particular, influence your own diet. In addition, it is noticed that people in these enclaves have many friends.

You are talking about the negative processes that come with age. But with age, the brain generally rebuilds. We learn to separate the main from the secondary, we become wiser.

M. B .: The same processes take place in the brain as in other organs. The same age-related diseases, including cognitive ones, increase exponentially with age. Take, for example, memory. I do not believe in wisdom if it is associated with an inability to remember information. If a person loses his memory, I cannot call it a positive trend. Or concentration. In old age, it is more difficult for us to concentrate. It always comes with age — for someone earlier, for someone later. And to say that we are acquiring some kind of wisdom… You see, we need to somehow justify what is happening to us. Well, let’s call it wisdom. But that just means we know more. But we forget even more. If we can’t remember the phone number, is that a bad situation?

Yes.

M. B .: This is aging. This is bad.

But such changes may not be associated with aging.

M. B .: Yes. It’s a loss of ability. We can forget something in our 20s and 30s. But with age it happens totally. If we feel we can’t do anything about aging, we think, well, let’s justify it. I don’t believe in the idea of ​​a happy old age. Yes, in 10% of cases, older people experience some kind of euphoria. But in 90% a person will get senile depression.

Does this mean that ten percent still have a happy old age?

M. B .: Maybe some people are happier, but that doesn’t change the situation. If you are in euphoria, this does not mean that the situation is good. It is possible to achieve a good mood with medication. But objectively, it’s not good. A positive attitude towards old age is a learned feeling. Love for cancer — is it normal? Cells break down, cancerous tumors arise, we die. Is it possible to love this? Aging is also a set of diseases. Why feel love here?

And what about the image of old age? Respect for gray hair is in our culture. An authoritative philosopher, scientist, mentor — all these images are associated with the appearance of an elderly person.

M. B .: These are just images. And this is one of the problems. We have come up with an excuse for what we do not dare to fight.

The fight against aging is the task of scientists. They have not yet succeeded in defeating old age.

M. B .: But scientists are not outside the context of society. How much money is allocated for the fight against aging? In Russia — almost nothing. This means that the social order has not been formulated. Recognition of aging as a disease is not so much the prerogative of the biomedical community as of society as a whole. What is considered the norm is an ethical position. Previously, society believed that homosexuality was not normal. They tried to treat him. Then society became more tolerant, and now there is no cure for it. This is the achievement of humanity. Obesity, on the contrary, was not recognized as a disease. Now it’s considered a metabolic disorder. And how society perceives the norm depends on how science moves. Today, science is an expensive business. It requires budgets. The budget is allocated when the society decides that it is necessary.

How would you like to change this rule?

M. B .: By spreading ideas. Here I am telling you. You can now jump fifty meters. Then barely a meter. And you will continue to experience such changes. Let’s think about how to make sure that this situation does not worsen. Or worsened at least not as fast as you expect.

What would you say to those who have very little time left to old age?

M. B .: First of all, be bold. People with age due to the loss of neuroplasticity are more conservative. On the contrary, they should take more risks. For example, take part in gene therapy trials. Donate your brain to science. We will save the body for the technologies of the future, which may be able to restore the vital functions of the body.

• Are you afraid of old age?

Do you believe this is possible?

M. B .: I know that even now it is possible to preserve the brain by freezing it in liquid nitrogen. It remains to find a way to revive it. Scientists have already been able to restore the bioelectrical activity of rabbit brain tissue. Science is also developing exponentially. It is possible that in the future we will learn how to restore neural connections — with the help of some kind of nanorobots. You just need to understand how neural connections work and how to restore them. Next is the case of nanorobots.

Somehow you get it right…

M. B .: It’s not easy for me. For me it is logical. I say: well, let’s at least try. We are moving very slowly now. Let’s increase the speed of the fight against aging at least a thousand times. Maybe it will happen that we will not know what can be done. But it’s absurd not to try.

Watch the recording of Mikhail Batin’s speech on the channel TEDxSadovoeRing.