In most Western cultures, aging is not something that folks necessarily embrace. While it’s better than the alternative, society does not make getting older easy.
Age discrimination is rampant, and beauty standards favour youth. So it’s no wonder that people do anything they can to push back on aging, whether that’s using Botox for fewer wrinkles, hair dye to hide greys or fillers to combat age-related face changes.
And people are turning to medication to slow aging, too.
Some medical professionals and social media influencers claim that rapamycin, a pill that’s approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in organ transplants, can also be used for increasing your life span.
The excitement around rapamycin as a longevity drug comes after studies showed years ago that low doses of rapamycin could increase the life span of mice by roughly 14%, said Dr. Elena Volpi, the director of the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
But it remains to be seen whether this is true in humans, too. Clinical trials are ongoing to look into this, but for now, experts “don’t know whether rapamycin can expand life span in humans,” Volpi said.
So although there is science behind rapamycin, there is also more to the story. Here’s what experts say:
Rapamycin is FDA-approved for certain uses, but not for longevity.
Rapamycin was discovered on Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean, where it was found to have antifungal properties, said Stephanie Venn-Watson, the co-founder and CEO of Seraphina Therapeutics. (Venn-Watson studies longevity-enhancing substances and owns a brand of health supplements.)
Since then, rapamycin has been used for organ transplants and other reasons, like certain cancer treatments.
“Rapamycin primarily works by inhibiting mTOR,” or the mammalian target of rapamycin, said Venn-Watson. As we age, mTOR often ramps up and can lead to health issues like inflammation and tissue scarring. “So, if we can control mTOR, we can slow aging, and this is why rapamycin has been so promising to supporting our longevity,” said Venn-Watson.
“We now know that rapamycin can provide a lot of benefits, and this includes having anti-inflammatory, antifibrotic, antioxidant and even anticancer activities,” she said.
Though this sounds promising, the drug is not a free for all. It should be prescribed by a doctor who is treating you for one of its approved uses, like if you’re going through certain cancer treatments or an organ transplant, Volpi said. What’s more, it’s an immunosuppressant and has a host of side effects. Rapamycin is linked to issues like dizziness, chills, constipation and muscle pain, according to the Mayo Clinic.
There have not been large-scale studies in humans.
Rapamycin’s benefits are hotly debated — there haven’t been large-scale clinical trials to test how it impacts healthy people, Volpi said. There have been some small, short-term studies that looked at rapamycin’s impact on humans, but they focused on specific side effects of the drug, and not it’s overall impact on longevity.
And though there have been studies in mice, Volpi pointed out that humans and mice are clearly very different.
“You can eyeball the differences between a human and a mouse,” Volpi said. “And they’re not just physical differences. There may be differences also in how they handle drugs and how we handle [the same drugs] as humans.”
The bottom line? It is not a good idea to take rapamycin for anti-aging at this point.
“I think it’s premature at this stage to say that rapamycin is the drug you should take to reduce the negative effects of aging,” Volpi said.
Between the many side effects and unknowns around its full impact in humans, it’s just too early to say whether it truly boosts longevity.
There are other, science-backed ways to improve your longevity.
“Well, here’s the good news — no matter how it pans out with rapamycin, science continues to strongly support that there are really simple things ... that can meaningfully help us age well,” Venn-Watson said.
These include eating a nutritious diet, prioritising your social connections and getting enough exercise. It’s recommended that adults get 150 minutes each week of moderate exercise, such as a brisk walk, playing doubles tennis or going for a bike ride.
Volpi added that it’s important to refrain from smoking and to limit your alcohol use, too.
“And then if you have a genetic predisposition or family history of certain diseases, you want to get screened for those early on,” Volpi added. For example, if colon cancer runs in your family, you should talk to your doctor about when to start your screenings.
“I know it sounds boring,” Volpi said, but “those are the things that we do know work.”
As far as rapamycin goes, experts are still looking into it. “Hopefully we’re going to have an answer soon,” said Volpi. “But until the answer comes from definitive trials, that’s not exactly something I would push for at this time.”