Aging is inevitable, but there are steps that can be taken to grow older while maintaining your health and healthy outlook. Recently, Prof Brian K. Kennedy, an internationally renowned expert has been appointed to lead ongoing efforts at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to understand the human ageing process and how to extend the period of healthy life or health span. Prof Kennedy was the President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California from 2010 to 2016. Since 2016, he has been contributing to the development of research in ageing in Singapore. During his interview with BioSpectrum Asia, Prof Kennedy spoke on various aspects of human ageing process and how he feels that Singapore is the right place for such clinical interventions. Here are the excerpts from the interview-
Q. What are the major old-age related diseases that are the biggest concern for the Singaporean / SE Asian population?
Ans. The chronic diseases of aging are similar in Singapore population and other places. However, there are some slight differences; for e.g., there are major concerns in Singapore around diabetes as compared to US. Also, the causes of diabetes in the aging population is somewhat different in Singapore as compared to western population. However, dementia and cardiovascular diseases still remain among the main causes of mortality.
Q. Are there any lifestyle changes that people can make, to reverse or slow down such aging related degeneration?
Ans. Now-a-days, people have a general understanding of what is crucial for healthy aging. There are 4 main areas that an average person should focus on; healthy diet (most evidence suggest that this involves food comprised of high fruits and vegetables, low animal protein, low levels of processed food, and relatively low dairy levels); exercise (cardiovascular and resistance exercises); quality of sleep and stress-management. The goal is to live a healthy living and it could be achieved through mindful and sustained lifestyle changes.
Q. Is it medically even possible to reverse / slow / stop the aging process? How close to reality is medical science in achieving such a miracle?
Ans. Through animal models and some early studies in humans, we now know that slowing the process of aging is possible. In mouse, we have been successful in extending life span and health span by about 30%. If humans could do some changes in their lifestyles, it would add 20 years of their healthy life. With the interventions we know, it is quite possible to slow aging and extend life span but we cannot totally stop it. I think, reversing the aging process is still an open question that requires more research.
Q. Please tell something about Sirtuins?
Sirtuins are a class of proteins called deacetylases that modify other proteins and regulate their activity. Sirtuins have been implicated in influencing a wide range of cellular processes including ageing. Research shows that by increasing the activity of multiple sirtuins, health and life span of mice can be increased. Sirtuins can also be activated by small molecules (the best known is resveratrol- found in grape skin and other fruits). This is a very ground-breaking pathway with respect to aging, and is certainly a place to test interventions.
Q. Contrasting your experience between US and Singapore / SE Asia, is the profile and incidence of age related medical issues similar or different? What are these?
Ans. It is interesting to understand the difference in the causes that lead to diabetes in both US and Singaporean population. Again, there are similarities, but the differences are fascinating. Unlike in US, where the primary reason of diabetes is obesity, it is really intriguing to comprehend the rise of the disease in relatively thin Singaporean population. Since metabolic function is closely linked to ageing as well as diabetes, increased understanding will also tell us something important about ageing.
Q. Talking about research, what are the most trending focus areas in the universities and geographies that you have been associated with?
Ans. I have been doing research on aging fo...
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