A few years back, was diagnosed with a frozen shoulder. 鈥淚t was really bad,鈥� he recalls. He wasn鈥檛 sleeping well and couldn鈥檛 throw a ball due to the pain. His doctor recommended physical therapy, and told him that it may to get better.
Feeling frustrated, he decided to try rapamycin. In recent years, some high-profile have started taking the drug in hopes of fending off age-related health problems. So far, it鈥檚 untested in people taking it for anti-aging, but rapamycin has been shown to .
鈥淚 decided to try it,鈥� Kaeberlein says. It was his "first foray into biohacking,鈥� and he was very pleased with what happened next. 鈥淲ithin two weeks, 50% of the pain was gone,鈥� he says. And by the end of 10 weeks, he had regained range of motion and the pain was completely gone.
鈥淎nd it hasn鈥檛 come back,鈥� he says.
Kaeberlein is no stranger to rapamycin. He鈥檚 a biologist and co-founded the to study how rapamycin influences dogs鈥� healthspans. He鈥檚 also the former director of the at the University of Washington.
Rapamycin was for use in transplant patients in the late 1990s. At high doses it suppresses the immune system. At low doses, Kaeberlein says it seems to help tamp down inflammation. It works by inhibiting a signaling pathway in the body called 鈥� which seems to be a of lifespan and aging.
The drug is not approved for pain or anti-aging, but some physicians prescribe rapamycin off-label with the aim of fending off age-related conditions. Kaeberlein and his colleagues of these patients, who take low doses, and many report benefits.
But anecdotes are no replacement for science. To figure out the risks and benefits of a drug, research is needed. And that's where a dentist comes in.
, at the University of Washington, has been granted FDA approval to test rapamycin in patients with gum disease 鈥� a common condition that tends to accelerate with age. When he treats patients with gum disease, he says there鈥檚 not much he can do beyond cleaning and removing the plaque 鈥� a buildup of bacteria. 鈥淎ll we鈥檙e doing is putting a bandage on,鈥� he says. His goal is to find and treat the underlying cause of the disease.
There鈥檚 already some evidence from transplant patients that rapamycin may help improve oral health. And as part of the study, An and his collaborators will also measure changes in participants鈥� microbiomes and their biological clocks.
The study will who have gum disease. They will take the drug, at various doses, intermittently for 8 weeks. Then, An will be able to determine if the drug is safe and effective.
If rapamycin has a beneficial effect he says, it will help demonstrate that it鈥檚 possible to target the root cause of the disease. 鈥淚t really comes down to targeting the biology of aging,鈥� he says.
Dr. An thinks gum disease may be a kind of canary in the coalmine of age-related diseases. For instance, gum disease is linked to a and maybe . Scientists say it鈥檚 possible that bacteria in the mouth linked to periodontal disease causes inflammation, which may cause a 鈥渃ascade鈥� of damage to blood vessels, leading to problems in the heart or brain.
鈥淚f we can target that underlying biology, we predict that it might address a lot of these other underlying conditions,鈥� An says.
Rapamycin is a generic drug, so pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to fund new research. An and his collaborators have received a to conduct the trial, which could open the door to further studies to determine whether rapamycin can help prevent or slow down other age-related diseases.
, a physician who heads the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, says his group is fundraising for more research on rapamycin. He says there are a lot of unanswered questions, for example 鈥渨hat is the effect of different concentrations in a single dose?鈥� And he wants to look for a 鈥渕olecular signature鈥� in people taking rapamycin. He wants to know more about doses and intervals, since many doctors prescribing it off-label recommend cycling on and off the drug.
Researchers are also working on other drugs that may work in similar ways, and there鈥檚 a push for new drugs 鈥� or other interventions that target biological aging. There鈥檚 a new $100 million , aimed at accelerating the research in the field supported by and other funders.
For now, XPRIZE founder a physician who writes about longevity, says he takes rapamycin. 鈥淚 do six milligrams every Sunday night, so once a week," for three months, he explains. Then he takes a month off. "I believe that rapamycin 鈥� in the way I'm utilizing it 鈥� is safe and has more upside potential than downside,鈥� he says.
Diamandis constantly monitors his body with many health metrics, and he acknowledges it鈥檚 hard to determine the effect of rapamycin given all the other things he does to stay healthy, including eating well, eliminating sugar, working out every day and prioritizing sleep.
His plan is to continue with healthy lifestyle habits while supporting research into interventions and strategies that can help people add more healthy years to their life.
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This story was edited by Jane Greenhalgh
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