From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Feb 15 2003 - 19:07:11 MST
Robert Bradbury wrote:
> Rather than hurling statements back and forth that selegiline does
> or does not work
Actually that is not what we've been doing.
> I would much rather see comments on the exact
> mechanism that selegiline is supposed to work from and an evaluation
> as to when it might and might not work for individuals with specific
> brain chemistry.
I have posted about 8 or 12 research abstracts about the subject, most
of which describe possible mechanisms of action in some detail. I
suggest you go back and read them.
At one point in this discussion I suggested to Rafal that we should be
debating how selegiline is neuroprotective, not whether it is
neuroprotective, but he has continued to stonewall on the subject of
whether it works for this purpose at all. This despite my having posted
numerous animal studies and one human study showing evidence of
neuroprotection and life-extension by selegiline.
Rafal hangs his hat on a single study in which selegiline (deprenyl)
slowed the progression of Parkinson's disease symptoms (a remarkable
result!) but in which the drug was not found to actually extend the life
of those same Parkinson's patients. Meanwhile, a large number of studies
in animals (and one admittedly less well controlled study in humans)
give us strong evidence that it does in fact protect neurons and extend
life. Other studies show that it enhances cognitive ability -- in fact
selegiline is approved for this purpose for veterinary purposes under
the trade name Anipryl. If your old dog is acting senile, you can tell
your vet about it and get a prescription for Anipryl (selegiline). No
doubt it would be approved for human cognitive enhancement as well if
only our conservative medical establishment were more willing to
consider as valid the pursuit of life enhancement by pharmaceutical
means in people not formally diagnosed with disease. The pharmaceutical
industry and the researchers they sponsor are interested in finding
cures and treatments for sick people -- they are not very interested in
bettering the health of well people, and so almost no research dollars
flow toward that end.
As I've mentioned here in the past, the most likely mechanism by which
selegiline (deprenyl) extends lifespan is via neuroprotection by
upregulation of SOD and catalase in the central nervous system. These
are two natural antioxidants that have been shown to be associated with
increased life-expectancy in other anti-aging experiments totally
unrelated to selegiline.
The theoretical pieces of the puzzle all fit together to me, but then
enhancement of human life by nutritional and pharmaceutical means is my
business. I am a consultant in this field.
-gts
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