Has Resveratrol Research Hit a Wall?
Heart Failure Reviews Journal is slated to publish an article titled, “Erratum to: Resveratrol and red wine, healthy heart and longevity.” The author is a scientist by the name of Dipak Das; he is with the University of Connecticut’s Cardiovascular Research Center. Das’s objective in his article is to point out the doubt that has arisen over resveratrol as an anti-aging compound. He agrees that substantial research data has been produced in the hundreds of studies that resveratrol cuts the dangers of deadly diseases, i.e. diabetes, cancers and heart failure. The whole problem is that the pharmaceutical companies cannot support the research data produced by David Sinclair and so they have quit researching resveratrol. Das says he has arrived at his conclusions after reviewing over a hundred published research studies on resveratrol and life extension. I am sorry but reviewing a small number of resveratrol studies does not really prove anything. Since almost every country on this planet has produced hundreds of studies, large and small, a hundred or more does not really give you any in-depth awareness of resveratrol.
Das refers to Sinclair’s success in extending the life span of fruit flies. Then he talks about how the research moved on to mammals and did not show any increase in life span. I consider this is the first problem I have to deal with. How do you measure the extension of life in an organism such as a fly or a mammal? Depending on what specie of fly you are talking about, it normally only lives a fixed number of days or months. If the fly’s life span has been extended, it is not hard to get an accurate measurement of success. But how do you measure the successful life extension of a mammal. I do not care if you are working with monkeys or humans. You can become involved in all kinds of activities in the laboratory, but that is not giving you any solid or accurate data to prove there has been any kind of life extension. Today, humans live a normal life span of some seventy years. No, I think what we are talking about in terms of the positions taken by the pharmaceutical companies is that they know if they could produce a drug capable of extending life, their financial return on investment would be amazingly huge. This is all the motivation they need. I do not believe they have quit doing research on a potential compound similar to the naturally-produced chemical compound we call resveratrol.
I have no evidence that anyone is aware of the fact that the pharmaceutical companies have to synthesize resveratrol. To put it another way, science has to find a way to reconstruct the chemical and atomic structure of the resveratrol molecule. This challenge becomes more difficult as the scientists set their work to accomplish a specific set of goals. For example, having the ability to manipulate the key human SIRT1 gene because you need SIRT1 gene to stimulate calorie restriction, which evidence shows is necessary to accomplish life extension. They are also against the wall because how do you measure a human or mammal’s life extension if you have to wait years before you can test your results in real human clinical trials.
I cannot accept the idea that science or the pharmaceutical companies have given up. No, I am sure there is plenty of action going on quietly in their laboratories and also in the field. When they are ready, new advances will be announced.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a Doctor and do not give medical advice; this is a news report and cannot substitute for the advice of a medical professional.
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