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The Longevity Medical Research Fund "More Life, More Life Worth Living" |
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SENS vs. Other Aging Theories
One premise of SENS important to its success is that its list of seven early precursors of all age-related pathology is complete, or at least complete for a normal lifespan. Close scrutiny of the best-regarded competing theories determines whether they undermine this assertion.
Some of the theories below have pointed out the obstacles to extending healthy lifespan, serving to argue the inevitability of the ill effects of aging, including death. SENS doesn't address the question of whether aging is inevitable or not, but instead accepts it, and its production of benign damage and molecular accumulations -- but proposes intervention before the benign becomes pathogenic. SENS is therefore not an aging theory as much as an engineering plan, proposing solutions to fit what is already known. It certainly questions the inevitability of any ill effects of aging! Much time has been lost while some theories, at least to the extent that they've argued the quixotic nature of anti-aging medicine, discouraged medical research funding. Closer scrutiny shows that SENS can work around the problems they indicate -- evolutionary arguments for instance. Some theories, far from antagonistic, are central to ENS strategy, such as the free radical theory of aging. Some theories, such as the non-cancerous mutation theory of aging, just haven't survived. |