In the 14 October 2020 issue of the medical journal, Biogerontology, Leonard Hayflick published an opinion piece titled “The greatest risk factor for the leading cause of death is ignored.” Hayflick is renowned for many important discoveries made over a long career. Perhaps he is best known for his discovery of the so-called “Hayflick Limit,” which contradicted the received wisdom at the time that he made it.
The discovery is that there is a limit to the number of times that a normal cell can divide, and thus all the descendants of a normal cell will eventually cease to divide. When this happens, the organism made up of these cells will die. This behavior differs from the behavior of cancer cells, which do not “age” in this way. Cancer cells are immortal. Given a friendly environment, they can proliferate forever.
Hayflick’s opinion piece is an indictment of the medical establishment for not practicing what they preach. Many of the organizations, both government and private, were founded to address the problems of age and aging. Most of these organizations, in their charters or in plain statements, say something to the effect that “aging is the greatest risk factor for the leading causes of death.” In the United States as well as in much of the world, the leading causes of death include:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Stroke
- Cancer
- Alzheimer’s disease
All these conditions are diseases of aging. The older you are, the more likely you are to contract one or more of them.
If the greatest risk factor for the leading cause of death is aging, why is that fact being ignored? According to Hayflick, organizations such as the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and the American Federation on Aging Research (AFAR), distribute funds to researchers who are studying the diseases that result from aging rather than funding research into the root cause of the aging process itself.
Hayflick contends that in order to have a chance of finding and dealing with the root cause of aging, it is necessary to drop below the cellular level, where most current research is focused, to the molecular level, where the Second Law of Thermodynamics holds sway. The Second Law states that systems inevitably move from a low entropy state to a higher entropy state. For a living system, this means that things become progressively more disordered and disorganized. In other words, the organism ages. The human body has some repair mechanisms that fight against this trajectory from order to disorder, but the repairs are never perfect. Over time the organism becomes progressively less functional, until finally it is unable to continue to perform the minimum functions necessary for life.
Hayflick believes it is entirely appropriate that funding be directed toward alleviating the diseases of aging. However, he strongly disagrees with the prevailing practice that all available funding should be directed to these results of the root cause of death. Instead, a healthy fraction should go toward studying the root cause, a quest which he believes should be looking at what is happening at the molecular level. Effective intervention of the root cause of aging could lead to a cure of not just one, but to all four of the leading causes of death that I listed above: cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. Surely that is a goal worth pursuing.
BIO:
Allen G. Taylor is a 40-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of over 40 books, including Develop Microsoft HoloLens Apps Now, Get Fit with Apple Watch, Cruise for Free, SQL For Dummies, 9th Edition, Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies, Database Development For Dummies, Access Power Programming with VBA, and SQL All-In-One For Dummies, Third Edition. He lectures internationally on astronomy, databases, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also teaches database development and Crystal Reports through a leading online education provider. For the latest news on Allen’s activities, check out his blog at wwwallengtaylor.com or contact him at allen.taylor@ieee.org.