Scientific American: Special Editions

Special Editions

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The Science of Staying Young

Merely accruing additional years beyond the biblical span of three score and 10 would be unwelcome if they just prolonged suffering from illness and infirmity. No, we want to live better, more youthful days while we're living longer. Diet, exercise and a lucky draw from the gene pool can take us only so far, however. That's where science comes in. In this special edition from Scientific American, you'll find firsthand reports from the researchers leading the efforts to understand the mechanisms of aging. They are teasing out ways to slow the biological clock as well as the degradation that time imposes on our bodies and minds. They are battling the diseases of age, including cancer and heart disease.

Medicine will continue to advance, and, we expect, society and policymakers will have to learn to adapt to the challenges of longevity--both providing it and providing for it--that await us all. --The Editors

The Oldest Old by Thomas T. Perls
People in their late 90s or older are often healthier and more robust than many who are 20 years younger

Making Methuselah by Karen Hopkin
Immortality may not be in the cards, but worms, flies and pigeons may be able to teach us a thing or two about living better longer

Longevity: The Ultimate Gender Gap by Harvey B. Simon
An American man's average life span is more than five years shorter than a woman's. Hormone levels and lifestyle choices may help explain the disparity

Will Human Aging Be Postponed? by Michael R. Rose
In theory, it certainly can be. Yet no single elixir will do the trick. Antiaging therapies of the future will have to counter many destructive biochemical processes at once

A Radical Proposal by Kathryn Brown
There may be a way to prevent ourselves from rusting from the inside

The Serious Search for an Antiaging Pill by Mark A. Lane, Donald K. Ingram and George S. Roth
In government laboratories and elsewhere, scientists are seeking a drug able to prolong life and youthful vigor. Studies of caloric restriction are showing the way

Times of Our Lives by Karen Wright
Whether they're counting minutes, months or years, biological clocks help keep our brains and bodies running on schedule

Atherosclerosis: The New View by Peter Libby
It causes chest pain, heart attack and stroke, leading to more deaths every year than cancer. The long-held conception of how the disease develops turns out to be wrong

Untangling the Roots of Cancer by W. Wayt Gibbs
Recent evidence challenges long-held theories of how cells turn malignant--and suggests new ways to stop tumors before they spread

Restoring Aging Bones by Clifford J. Rosen
The bone decay of osteoporosis can cripple, but an improved understanding of how the body builds and loses bone is leading to ever better prevention and treatment options

Spare Parts for Vital Organs by David Pescovitz
Engineers are creating artificial replacements for failing hearts, kidneys, pancreases and livers

Preventing Good Brains from Going Bad by Mia Schmiedeskamp
The fight against two life-robbing diseases, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, has just begun

Promised Land or Purgatory? by Catherine Johnson
Whether old age is worth living depends largely on mental health

No Truth to the Fountain of Youth by S. Jay Olshansky, Leonard Hayflick and Bruce A. Carnes
Fifty-one scientists have issued a warning to the public: no antiaging remedy on the market today has been proved effective. Here's why they are speaking up