The problem of eternal youth has occupied the human mind for more than one century. During all this time, they tried to extend life in a variety of ways. Alchemists, scientists, priests and just interested people tried to discover the secret of eternal life. Futurists of the last century predicted the emergence of technologies that would allow one to gain immortality and get rid of diseases. However, modern science still does not officially have a reliable way to significantly extend human life.
Who can become a long-liver
The phenomenon of longevity is known from the very beginning of human history. It is a phenomenon during which a person can live to an age much higher than the average life expectancy of other people. So, there are cases when people lived for 120 years and even more. At the same time, no definite inclination of any one people to longevity was revealed. But later it turned out that such a people still exists. He lives in a remote area, in a mountain valley lying between the Hindu Kush, Himalayas and Karakorum ranges. This people is called Hunzakuta, after the name of the river flowing through the valley.
All representatives of this tribe are distinguished by excellent and good health, almost not susceptible to diseases, including infectious ones. The highest percentage of centenarians per capita was also revealed among them. Most of them live to be 115-120 years old, while maintaining clarity of mind and good physical capabilities. The phenomenon of this people has been repeatedly investigated by Western scientists in an attempt to find the reason for such an amazing longevity. Many researchers are inclined to believe that the long life of hunzakuts is explained by a combination of factors such as high mountain air, ecologically clean environment and menu, as well as the special location of the valley. The menu of the residents of the Hunza Valley deserves special attention - it consists mainly of raw vegetables, fruits and unleavened wheat cakes. Hunzakut meat is consumed, but rarely,and in periods of famine, they are saved by apricots, which they eat both fresh and dried.
Therefore, in order to reach the same venerable age, enthusiasts dealing with this problem are advised, first of all, to switch to a similar diet and diversify your regime with physical activity.
Technological attempts to achieve immortality
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In an attempt to achieve immortality, scientists are trying a variety of methods - from studying stem cells to creating an artificial body into which the saved human brain could be transplanted. Such fantastic projects have not yet been implemented, but today work is underway on other equally amazing things. For example, back in the 40s of the last century in the USSR, Dr. Demikhov conducted experiments on transplanting not only internal organs, but also the head. This was done with the aim of renewing the human body by analogy with mechanisms, when repairing which, parts are replaced. As a result, scientists dreamed of extending a person's life indefinitely, from time to time replacing old organs with new ones. The experiments were carried out on dogs - as a result of a head transplant, a two-headed chimera was obtained, which lived for several days. In the United States, work was also underway on similar projects, but when transplanting a human brain into a donor's body, the surgeons failed.
Surgeon from Italy Sergio Canavero continues research in this area. Its main task is to transplant a person's head onto the donor's body, as a result of which a person who has received serious injuries can live a full life. Canavero believes that if successful, in this way it will be possible to achieve practically eternal life for a person, if necessary, replacing certain organs, or even the entire body.
The first experiments were carried out by him on mice and monkeys and gave different results - both positive and negative. In the near future, a surgeon from Italy plans to perform an operation on a living person. A voluntary candidate was also found for such an experiment - a Russian programmer suffering from a rare disease, as a result of which he can hardly move. However, Canavero announced at the last moment that the head transplant would be performed on another patient, since the experiment would be carried out in a Chinese clinic.
According to the scientist, if the head transplant operation is successful, the possibilities of modern medicine will significantly extend the life of a person. In addition, it will become possible to give life to people who, as a result of trauma, have only the head, or only the brain.
This problem is fraught with many questions, including ethical ones. Many people known with this project consider it wrong, since it contradicts the natural course of things and does not guarantee the preservation of the very person whose head is implanted. The situation can be even more complicated if a donor head is transplanted to the patient. Therefore, many people are still very cautious about such experiments.