The Youth Pill: Scientists at the Brink of an Anti-Aging Revolution [Hardcover]

David Stipp (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 8, 2010

In The Youth Pill, journalist David Stipp explores the scientific battle against aging and the pioneers of the movement to extend lifespan for everyone. He takes readers behind the scenes and introduces us to the key players who are experimenting with the most promising cutting-edge research. It is an informative and provocative read that shows how a small group of optimistic and determined scientists are closing in on drugs that will change the way we live forver.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The possibility of even a decade more of healthy longevity still makes for an engaging study of recent breakthroughs in gerontology. Former Wall Street Journal science reporter Stipp surveys contending theories of aging--such as antioxidants--and their pitfalls before focusing on promising research into the so-called CR mimetics, drugs that mimic the possibly life-extending benefits of calorie restriction without the unpleasant semistarvation. (Lab mice, rejoice: the CR mimetic resveratrol may even prevent cancer and keep your coat glossy.) The book morphs into a business potboiler, with researchers forming biotech startups and selling IPOs--adding hype but little light to the story. But if this is a more conventional and prosaic account than Jonathan WeinerÖs in Long for This World, StippÖs lucid and spry exposition of the science is tantalizing enough on its own.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Medical journalist Stipp explores humankind's obsession with postponing death, a pursuit as old as humankind. Whether it be by vasectomy, magical rejuvenating waters, or downing potions comprising ground-up monkey testicles, humans have been willing to resort to extreme measures in pursuit of extending life. It is not just life we desire; it is a long, vigorous life that exerts an irresistible siren call. For much of history, those efforts have suffered the bad reputations of charlatans. However, and more so recently, standing apart from the cranks (vasectomy) and hustlers (monkey gonads) is an ever-expanding number of earnest, credentialed scientists and gerontologists who are making daily strides toward the elixir so many seek. Stipp's experience as a popular Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine writer have blessed him with a singular style, crafting complex explanations of scientific discoveries (and failures) into eminently enjoyable reading. Whether or not the notion of living energetically to the age of 150 appeals, Stipp makes the research compelling. --Donna Chavez

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Current Hardcover (July 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1617230006
• ISBN-13: 978-1617230004
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #809,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Stipp has written about science, medicine, the environment and biotech since 1982 for The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Salon, Science and other publications. He led Fortune's science and medical coverage from 1995 to 2005 as a senior writer, and from 1982 to 1995 covered science and medicine as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal. Over the past decade he has written extensively on the science of aging, and during his career he has also covered, among other things, the Pentagon's growing concern about the risk of abrupt climate change, the application of Darwin to medicine, childhood lead poisoning, new treatments for impotence, animal intelligence, and the effects of birth order on personality. In 1998 he won a National Association of Science Writer's award for best magazine article, and in 1993-4 served as a Knight Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good news about aging July 22, 2010

By billinboston

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I just finished reading "The Youth Pill" by my former colleague David Stipp. It's a terrific piece of science writing, and it's good news to boot. It shows that scientists are well on their way to developing pills that we can take daily in order to prolong the active, healthy part of our lives by ten years or so.
Full disclosure: David is a good friend and if I didn't like the book, I wouldn't write about it. But I did and I will.
Stipp makes a believable case that researchers can create pills that create the same effects inside our cells that calorie restriction does. As has been repeatedly proved, animals that exist on low calorie diets -- at least one-third less than normal -- live 20% or more longer than their normally fed peers. This isn't unalloyed good news. Very few humans want to live on such restricted diets all their lives.
But calorie restriction doesn't make us live longer through some Calvinist trade-off of happiness for age. It makes us live longer because it changes certain processes in our cells. Stipp explains that the search for the youth pill involves understanding those mechanisms and then finding chemicals that will promote or block those processes.
Stipp is a terrific reporter and writer who makes the science feel accessible, even for those of us who last took biology before the chemical structure of RNA was decoded. He is particularly endearing when describing research subjects like naked mole rats, -- long lived, long-toothed African rodents that live in colonies underground -- and a worm called a nematode that is transparent and reveals "a rich inner life."
The book acknowledges that we're still some years away from having a youth pill. But it makes a strong case that one or more will be developed and they will do a lot more to prolong and improve our lives than curing cancer or heart disease ever will.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best introduction to the field of anti-aging August 15, 2010

By bro

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have now read three books on anti-aging research [(1) "Ending Aging" by DeGrey, (2) "Eternity Soup" by Critser, and now (3) "The Youth Pill" by Stipp]. Hands down,"The Youth Pill" is the best book out there today. This book succeeds where both DeGrey and Critser failed. Critser's book, in my opinion was an outright dud, providing little substantive information and an immature writing style to boot. DeGrey's book was very informative, but it mainly focused on DeGrey's own work and opinions, some of which are controversial, and in a few cases, scientifically outlandish. Stipp has written the most objective overview of the field, and has done a masterful job. For a business writer, Stipp is surprisingly accurate at describing the scientific history of this field. He gives credit to almost everyone who deserves it, without any overly positive or negative biases. The book is not too long, and each chapter is fulfilling (unlike DeGrey's and Critser's books). I congratulate this author on a fine addition to this field which should be THE FIRST book that anyone truly serious about getting a broad perspective on anti-aging research should read. Well done!

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Quite Informative and Interesting Subject August 5, 2010

By D_shrink VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

A very informative book on the subject of gerontology or the study of aging [senescence]. The book is inundated with facts, some important but many of a trivial nature. and, therein, lies its biggest problem. The book reads more like a college text or a review in NATURE or SCIENCE than a narrative for general consumption. But let there be no doubt that the author is knowledgeable about his subject matter and has researched the area of discussion well.

For some background, the author begins with the premise that for all living species there is a trade-off between fertility and longevity, meaning the longer a species is expected to live the lower will be its fertility. As with humans who have a relatively long lifespan, females are normally expected to have one child at a time and for a relatively short period of their overall lifespan. As opposed to say insects, dogs or cats, who may lay hundreds or thousands of eggs for insects and have litters of 8 to twelve commonly for dogs and cats. Also the larger the animals mass the fewer offspring they NORMALLY have.

The author goes on to discuss mitochondria which are the key sites of free-radical formation [the types of things that anti-oxidant vitamins are supposed to help alleviate]. But the problem with mitochondria is that they developed as an invasive species of bacteria in cells several billion years ago. For their protection, they developed a protective barrier, so that the cell wouldn't kill them immediately. This is the reason that anti-oxidants don't work better than they do, as they can't pass through the mitochondrial layer.

Hormesis [the idea that even something that is bad for us taken or forced upon us in small doses that doesn't bring our demise will cause an organism to build up a tolerance or resistance to it and make the organism impervious or less likely to succumb to future insults from the same organism. This may be characterized in Fredrich Nietzsche's colloquy "What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger."

Some other interesting points were that centenarians are increasing in developing countries at a rate of approximately 7% annually versus an overall human lifespan increase of about 1% annually. It also seems that female centenarians outnumber male centenarians by a ratio of about 3 to 1. Another interesting point is that a lower body temperature and a decreased blood glucose level are two of the most important indicators of extended lifespans in humans.

However, the raison etre of the book is the discussion of resveratrol and calorie restricted diets [CR]. It seems that RESVERATROL is found in abundance in the skin of red grapes [think red wine for those oenophiles in the crowd]. It seems that it is one of the sirtuin boosters and the subject of much scientific study for the last seven years or so. The SIR of the word sirtuin stands for SILENT INFORMATION REGULATOR. It seems that there are several genetic variants of the Sirtis and the discussion gets bogged down IMHO about the founders of a company Sirtis which got bought out by Glaxo a few years ago for 720M, which seemed to be a minor focal point of the book. The background of the scientists involved, the various animal studies, and how this biological discovery was made takes up more time. You can buy resveratrol in some health food stores and on the internet. The biggest problem that I see with the pills commonly sold at present is that they are minuscule in dosage per kilogram of body-weight in comparison to what was used in the animal experiments. Therein lies the problem, in that the effects of resveratrol appear to be very much DOSAGE DEPENDENT.

There is much more to the story the author tells and about the discovery of resveratrol [it is not a drug as it is naturally produced in various vegetable matter] so can't be patented in its natural state as a drug. It can be patented if its form is changed slightly to supposedly make its action more efficacious.

I liked the information derived in the book, but I just felt it was filled with too much trivia and overly long. I think the scientifically minded will like it, but I do not think that most people wanting to sit down and read it in a couple of evenings are going to find the insight that they hoped to gain. It will take a little more research and understanding. But again, you won't know what you will gain if you don't read it.