Life Extension

From vitamins and beauty creams there are countless products on the market designed to help us live longer and look more youthful. Our society is seemingly obsessed with the pursuit of the fountain of youth. Perhaps one of the most respected voices in the battle to live longer is Ray Kurzweil, an inventor and author.

Kurzweil has invented several products to assist the blind, including the first reading machine for the blind and the first text-to-speech synthesizer. He is the founder and developer of nine companies. His genius has been recognized and rewarded by numerous institutions and governments. But it is Kurzweil's role as a futurist which gains him the most attention.

Through his website, KurzweilAI.net, books, articles, lectures and speaking engagements, Kurzweil proposes cutting-edge combinations of science and human life. He boldly challenges traditionally held views on the future of mankind and the role that computers will play in that future. In a recent book that he co-authored with Dr Terry Grossman, Kurzweil explains the science involved in a radical view of life extension.

The notion of life extension has been around for several decades. It refers to efforts to increase a person's lifespan by slowing down or in some cases even reversing the natural aging process. Life extension scientists look at aging as a disease that will be cured in the foreseeable future. The goal of these believers is to extend their lifespan long enough and to be healthy enough to benefit from the cure.

Some of the ways to promote life extension are widely accepted. They include good diet, exercise and the avoidance of dangerous practices like smoking. One of the somewhat radical theories of life extension is calorie restriction. In this practice the person reduces their calorie intact to approximately two-thirds of the currently recommended amounts. This diet is heavily supplemented with vitamins and other nutrients. Tests with animals support this theory and suggest it works in both extending life span and delaying the onset of typically age related illnesses like cancer and diabetes.

Kurzweil and other researchers who share his goals are called biomedical gerontologists. They study the nature of the aging process and look for ways to reverse the process while improving health and youthful energy. And Kurzweil is more than a researcher; he actively practices this lifestyle through calorie reduction, supplements and a meticulously monitored life. He has documented his diet and exercise routines for decades in an effort to understand the impact on his health.

Far beyond the realm of diet and exercise, Kurzweil and others believe that science will play an ever-increasing role in the life extension arena. Potential advancements in tissue rejuvenation and organ replacement (either with artificial organs or transplants from other species) will aid in the maintenance of the human body. And in case science takes a little longer than they can wait, many life extensionists are opting for cryogenic preservation upon their death. They believe that scientific advances will be able to bring them back to life and reverse the aging process or other disease that lead to their death.