80k After Hours Highlights: #181 – Laura Deming on the science that could keep us healthy in our 80s and beyond
Mar 20, 2024
In this podcast, Laura Deming discusses challenging conventional beliefs on aging and healthspan, exploring implications of longer lives and agency over lifespan. The conversation delves into advancing medical research, strategies to extend lifespan in mice, and the potential impact on human health. A fascinating look at the science that could keep us healthy in our 80s and beyond.
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Longevity Is About Agency Over Health
- Laura Deming frames longevity as personal agency over health rather than an abstract scientific question.
- She works backward from desired function at age 80 (e.g., strength, mobility) to cellular targets and interventions.
Chronological Age Shouldn't Dictate Health Outcomes
- Deming argues chronological age should not automatically be treated as an immutable risk factor for poor health.
- She sees technological progress forcing society to reassess biases that accepted age-related decline as inevitable.
No Physical Law Forbids Extending Healthy Life
- Deming says there's no physical law preventing maintenance of biologically healthy states over long timescales.
- She rejects appeals to thermodynamics as reasons aging is impossible, calling the burden of proof on those who claim impossibility.