Weight loss drugs are all the rage these days. They were originally developed for severe diabetes that does not respond to older therapies. Then it was discovered that they also cause effortless weight loss as a beneficial byproduct. The data is not yet conclusive but by aiding in weight loss they may also increase longevity by reducing weight-related heart disease. They are pricy. The holy grail for drug makers and obese people alike is to get enough evidence of health benefits to force health insurers to pay for them. The list prices range from $900 to $1400 every four weeks, about 13 times a year. That equates to $11,700 to $16,800 a year. Prices after insurer discounts are lower but still expensive. You better be wealthy if you do not suffer from diabetes but carry too much weight that stubbornly refuses to respond to diet and exercise. If you want to take the easy way out and take a weekly shot to lose weight the likely cost is around $10,000 a year.
You know what else money will buy you? A longer life. It has long been known from study after study that health and wealth are positively correlated. It may be that the wealthy have healthier lifestyles and engage in healthier habits and behaviors. There, however, is a more sinister reason the wealthy may live longer. Besides being able to afford a weight loss drug long before it is shown to be beneficial, they can buy more of other types of medical care.
Around the year 2000 Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in a movie called The 6th Day. In the movie the super wealthy could clone themselves and back up their brains like a hard drive and restore their consciousness into a newly cloned body. Granted, that’s pretty far-fetched. However, Bryan Johnson, a 45-year old millionaire, is spending about$2 million a year to slow his aging process. He follows a strict regimen, including his daily workout routine and a strict diet. He oversees a team of about 30 doctors, who monitor his progress and advise him on the latest drugs and longevity elixirs. Most of what he does you and I could do but his health routine is a full-time job. In addition, he has access to things most people probably would not, at least without money and doctors on staff willing to help him. What kind of things? The following is a potential candidate.
A study reported in ScienceDaily found that modified T-cells de-aged old mice and inhibited aging in younger mice.
Scientists have found a way to reprogram T cells to fight aging. After using them to eliminate specific cells in mice, the scientists discovered they lived healthier lives and didn’t develop aging-associated conditions like obesity and diabetes. Just one dose provided young mice with lifelong benefits and rejuvenated older mice.
Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory found a way to reprogram T-cells to fight senescent cells. Senescent cells stop replicating and build up over time. They are thought to be responsible for many age-related diseases.
While several drugs currently exist that can eliminate these cells, many must be taken repeatedly over time.
As an alternative, Amor Vegas and colleagues turned to a “living” drug called CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T cells.
They discovered CAR T cells could be manipulated to eliminate senescent cells in mice.
As a result, the mice ended up living healthier lives. They had lower body weight, improved metabolism and glucose tolerance, and increased physical activity.
All benefits came without any tissue damage or toxicity.
A single dose can confer lifelong benefits, protecting against age-related conditions like diabetes and obesity (at least in mice). These types of cells, known as CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T cells, have been available since 2017, when they received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Do not expect them in a pharmacy anytime soon, however. They were approved to treat cancer of the blood, not old age.
CAR T-cells are expensive. They are used to treat patients with cancer of the blood, at a cost that ranges from $400,000 to $1 million. The FDA does not consider aging to be a disease. Thus, neither insurers nor Medicare would have an incentive to pay for this drug in asymptomatic people not suffering from blood cancer. Individuals are more price sensitive than insurance companies. Insurance companies and health plans only reimburse medically necessary therapies that lack cheaper substitutes. That means drug makers will lose money if they offer lower prices to individuals for anti-aging therapies, since insurers would buy the cheaper version at lower prices too. That suggests individuals wishing to experiment with chimeric antigen receptor therapy as a longevity elixir will also have to cough up $400,000 to $1 million.
I was telling people enrolling in MSAs in 1996 that they are saving, tax free, for a distant medical expense that may not be invented until 2020. Well Devon, here we are and medical care is expensive! I was correct. The 2024 Election will get us larger tax-free HSAs, $12K for Singles and $24K for Families. Everybody knows that money that is NEVER taxed will last longer in retirement. HSAs are a tool to help the masses remain self-reliant longer. The new http://www.Save101.com in online and explains Republican Health Insurance Reform of President Trump’s Executive Order for Individual Health Insurance [coupled] with President George W. Bush’s tax-free HSA.
I would think that CAR T-cells programmed to fight cancer differ from the ones used to reverse aging. They would likely be sold as different products, or produced by different companies. Expensive, but not necessarily artificially so.
But widespread availability of a treatment for aging would be sure to mess up Social Security projections.