#9

Of course you cannot see cancer inside of you…mostly. But even if you could spot it today it could be lurking beyond detection and kill you in a short time.

I agree rapa is the way to go, but is 10 mg a day enough or is 45? I think that is the real issue for people who believe it works, not all or none or all the time or never.

At this point in time you are seeking too much from anything and worrying about something you really cannot solve with the tools at hand.

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#10

Agreed, cancer scares me the most also. I’ve seen far too many patients die from it. Also, I got a zero on a coronary calcium score which put my mind at ease on that one.
In that vein, I heard a Peter Attia podcast a few years ago on a cancer screening device called Prenuvo.

It’s an MRI advanced technology that picks up cancer as small as 1 cm. Very curable even for pancreas/ lung/ ovary, etc.

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Prenuvo full-body MRI scan
#11

Wow…price is certainly reasonable.

I am going to dig a bit and check it out.

Now I can worry about not getting one. Always something.

#12

Haha. Yeah, that comment is priceless. Always something.

#13

Here’s another potential cancer screening test to consider:

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#14

@ rivasp12

Thanks for sharing the Prenuvo link, sounds like a great tool to do cancer screening! They have a site opening up in my area this spring.

MRI is generally not as high sensitivity/specificity as PET/CT, but uses no xrays.

If one is to live an extended lifespan, they must “escape” the chronic illnesses that most people die from in old age. This is how centenarians reach a 100.

Until we have magic pill interventions, prevention is critical. In cancer and CVD, if one can diagnose very early, the chances of a curative intervention are far higher, allowing one a higher chance of “escapism”

I’ve had a volumetric brain MRI, Coronary Calcium, and thinking about a PET/CT scan for prostate cancer this summer (and I can get a relatively very lost cost test done at an academic institution) They are generally prohibitively expensive outside the funded/insured system. My dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer at 57, and although his treatment delayed his death, it came with side effects, and he still passed at 79. His diagnosis puts me at higher risk, and although my prostate markers do not indicate anything untoward (Urologist on my care team), I am being proactive at 57.

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Severe CR starting in young adult mice has produced 60% extensions of total lifespan
#15

@ brandy111

Another great suggestion.

“It’s able to detect about 50% of cancers in people ages 50 to 79 whereas our current screening only picks up about 15%, so that’s another 35%,” said Dr. Suresh Nair with Lehigh Valley Health Network. Grail says the test is also finding signals related to aggressive cancers that currently lack screenings, like pancreatic cancer. The Galleri test is available by prescription. It costs $949 and is not covered by insurance."

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#16

No doubt that liquid biopsies are the wave of the future in early cancer screening and detection. After prevention, early detection is most important.

#17

@ rivasp12

Did you learn anything further about the Early Detect screening product?

#18

No, but I’ll call them again tomorrow.

#19

Congratulations Mac, it takes a lot of research and guts to be as proactive as you are. Prostate cancer drives me nuts because the studies are very conflicting and PSA screening is so controversial.
Prevention is always key and so I think rapamycin is very important . Maybe exercise. Maybe green tea. Maybe a healthy weight.
Definitely has a genetic component so you’re smart to not just ignore it.
Ten years ago my PSA was 3.5 and now at 67 it’s 4.5. I checked a free percent PSA and it’s 23.3 ( not bad but over 25 is ideal) . Also got a prostate health index score which is 34 ( ideal under 35). All ok but not great. FH of uncle with prostate cancer.
Now I’m contemplating MRI, which at Hopkins is pretty decent.
My biggest pet peeve is that prostate cancer , after biopsy, is given a Gleason score. The range is 6-10. A score of 6 is essentially a histology diagnosis but it really doesn’t behave as a clinical cancer. It shouldn’t even be called cancer. The designation just scares men to death.
Same with basal cell skin cancer. Worry about melanoma.

Cancer prevention is probably the thing I love the most about rapamycin. The evidence keeps growing. That, along with really good early detection, will soon make cancer preventable and detectable.

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#20

I think this is a trap that many may fall into is that they try to gauge antiaging based on feeling well, because its more true that someone can base health and fitness on feeling well. You can even base healthy longevity somewhat on feeling well. But if a person has a goal of extreme anti-aging then the wellness & health feeling becomes a very weak metric. Sometimes things that are antiaging make a person feel less well and even lower energy.

It all depends on what person’s goal is , is it decent longevity and health? or to extend life as much as possible (perhaps with the intention of future therapies that may grant additional anti-aging). The risks and sacrifices to each approach may differ.

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#21

Can’t really agree. Most very old patients of mine are feeling good both mentally and physically, and have been disease free for most of their lives. For them, it’s not a gradual decline, bot more like feel great and then , somewhere near the end of their life, often between 95-100, they fall off a cliff.
Feeling like your healthy and young, and thinking that you’ll live to a ripe old age in good health, are in my opinion more accurate than any biomarkers, including epigenetic clocks.
I’m also not aware of anti aging interventions that make you feel worse. Certainly rapamycin doesn’t fit.

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#22

@rivasp12

You apply this logic/rationale to cancer as well? By the time you’re symptomatic, it’s often way too late to intervene and think you’re going to “escape” to an extended lifespan?

You’re “most very old…95-100” represents the escapers, not the vast majority of the population at risk! These people had the good “fortune” to bypass major illness, unless you tell me they all did some unique proactive interventions? If so, please share.

The rest of us 99.9%, we’re wondering if we’re going to make the great escape?

I say the risk to longevity attainment is to do NOTHING. Why are people here on this forum?

I have no idea what, if any, of my interventions are going to allow me to escape chronic illness. My philosophy…there is no do over, I am enjoying myself immensely on this planet, why not take it to the max and do everything within my sphere of motivation. My n=1.

My 50 yr old brother in law, super fit, professional athlete younger, started to feel “something” in his rear back. I believe ultrasound was inconclusive, CT showed “something” of concern. So they opened him up, stage 4 NET metastatic cancer to the liver, removed major part of the large colon, ileum, lymph nodes, and liver. This started primary site, ileum, many years before.

They did another CT, didn’t see anything. He qualified for a clinical radionuclide PET scan trial, very specific for NET cancers at the cellular level. They found two more spots in his liver.

We will never know why he got cancer…a drinker, big smoked red meat eater. We will never know.

There are FDA approved radionuclide PET scans for prostate cancer as well. I am getting one of these. I just don’t want to “miss” something. At 57, if anything lights up, my chances for curation are far higher.

Cancer is silent and indolent, you need to (again, this is ALL in the context of maximizing longevity) get way ahead of it with best tools available.

My dad at 57 (my age), Gleason Score 7, PSA 8, T2 cancer palpable bump.

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#23

Yes on the first…the second is a fools goal…you be afraid of death, you’ll die a bit more every day…

the stress that is wrought with this constant need to check every molecule will kill you quicker than a bottle of good Irish whiskey each week…

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#24

Yeah, don’t misunderstand me, I think that prevention and early detection of cancer are absolutely essential. And yes, you can do everything right and still get cancer.
My main point here is that I don’t think that an anti aging regimen will result in a lessening of health span. Quite the opposite. Rapamycin works by delaying age- related diseases and thereby greatly improving health span along with lifespan…
I stand by my observation that most old people have escaped major illnesses, either by behavior, luck, or flat out good genes. They tend to feel very good even late into old age- often without any particular interventions.

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#25

Much to my dismay Dr. Matt Kaeberlein said in an interview with Dr. Peter Attia there is no such thing as a healthy 65 year old - functional decline (atherosclerosis, arthritis - aches and pain, slower recovery, weight gain, memory loss, hearing and vision loss, skin integrity loss, muscle and strength loss… etc.). We have to stop saying that there are healthy 65 year olds. As I thought about it - regretfully it is true. When you have these diminished areas it is very obvious… to then have these reversed - in my case every single one of these - is like a gift back of a decade or more. Having had a taste and been there - I want to do everything to slow the aging process. Sure we will all die, but to gain back 10-20 “healthier” - active years to procrastinate death a bit. And, age at a slower pace without the disease and illness that starts when you hit 60.

I am sure the effects of rapa have a lot of cross over with most people. But, I believe if you were already watching and maintaining good weight and exercising regularly - it might show up stronger and faster in you. For me, the many areas it has tweaked and improved is miraculous. Now just have to avoid getting run over or doing something stupid that kills me. LOL

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#26

yeah, like worrying yourself to death about the 17th cell from the left of your spleen…

I think you have it pretty well put…health is relative…65 year old people are not all the same (actually no one is at any age)…so get better if you are good and pull yourself up a bit (or a lot) if not…

read up on the very really and proven effects of mental attitude towards aging/health and you see what a good life really means…

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#27

Not seeing that though I admire Matt very much. I was a medical director of a large nursing home/ independent living facility. Many of them were very sharp and in excellent health. Running marathons even. I’m 67 and have absolutely none of those things he’s talking about. If they’re sub clinical- who cares.

#28

I did a Prenuvo scan last month. It’s $2500 in Vancouver for a full body scan. Excellent images, a 10 page radiologist report (with images of the things they flagged), and an app where you can go thru all of the images on your own. GREAT peace of mind knowing there’s nothing weird growing inside…

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