5 Anti-Ageing Treatments Which Claim To Drastically Prolong Your Life

Could people one day pop pills to extend their lifespans as easily as we take paracetamols to get rid of headaches?

Such a pill would change the way we live forever - and make its discoverer rich beyond imagining.

But there are not one, but several, promising treatments currently in development - some of which have already been shown to work in animals.

One scientist - Dr Alex Zhavoronkov - has even confidently said that he will be the first human to live to 150, using drugs, exercise and a controlled diet regime.

Here’s the treatments which could ensure you’ll be drawing a pension for seven or eight decades…

Easter Island’s ‘fountain of youth’

A drug hidden in the soil near Easter Island’s mysterious statues might be a genuine, working ‘fountain of youth’ scientists believe - and a recent trial showed it worked in dogs.

The drug - rapamycin - was found in the shadows of the statues nearly 50 years ago - and new studies suggest that it might have powerful anti-ageing effect.

A University of Washington study recently completed its first stage - and researchers now aim to study the drug’s effects on cognitive function, cancer and kidney function.

Previous studies on mice showed that male mice treated with the drug lived an extra 9% - and females an extra 14%, compared with mice who didn’t take the drug.

A 2014 human trial by Novartis also showed promising results.

The antioxidant which ‘postpones ageing’

A Russian researcher claimed in 2014 that a mysterious new antioxidant could ‘postpone ageing’ - and that it was already showing remarkable results in animals.

The treatment - a new antioxidant - could extend human lifespans to 120 by slowing down the onset of age-related illness, Dr Maxim Skulachev claims.

Skulachev claims that ‘A lot of ageing diseases developed much slower,’ in his test subjects, which have so far included rats, mice, fish and dogs.

Do pomegranates hold the key?

Pomegranates are often touted as a ‘superfood’ - and has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years.

But there is actually something to it, scientists say - after a study found that a chemical derived from pomegranates could actually slow the ageing process.

The research has been touted as a ‘milestone’ in anti-ageing research - after mice fed the molecule had lifespans up to 45% longer.

Researchers in Switzerland isolated a molecule derived from pomegranate - urolithin A - which they believe drives a process called ‘mitophagy’, where cells renew themselves.

The drug which turns 70-year-olds into 50-year-olds

Scientists are already testing the world’s first anti-ageing drug on humans - and it could mean that people will live healthily into their 120s.

The drug - a diabetes treatment called metformin - has already been shown to extend the life of animals.

Prof Gordon Lithgow, of the Buck Institute for Research on Ageing in California, is said, ‘If you target an ageing process and you slow down ageing then you slow down all the diseases and pathology of ageing as well.

Can face cream actually make you live longer?

Face cream companies often sell the dream of eternal youth - but it turns out they could be onto something.

An ingredient commonly used in face creams can actually extend life - with a similar effect to the life-extending properties of a restricted diet, according to University of Liverpool researchers.

The researchers found that allantoin - used in many anti-ageing creams - can mimic this effect by up to 20%, using genetic data analysis.

The researchers found that worms treated with the chemical lived longer - and stayed healthier longer.