The Czech writer Karel Čapek called it “Makropulos’s remedy”, the Soviet writer Kir Bulychev called it “the Martian potion”, and everyone else was simply the elixir of youth. And one of the leading gerontologists in Europe, Vladimir Khavinson, uses peptide bioregulators.
Vladimir Khavinson
President of the European Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Honored Scientist, Honored Inventor of Russia, Head of the Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Northwestern State Medical University named after I. I. Mechnikova, Director of the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences.
The main scientific interests are associated with the study of the mechanisms of aging, the creation, experimental and clinical study of peptide bioregulators-geroprotectors, as well as with the development of theoretical and practical foundations of bioregulatory therapy.
The developer of 39 peptide bioregulators and six drugs, which are included in the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation, are produced and successfully used in medical practice by more than 15 million patients from all CIS countries.
Vladimir Khatskelevich, why are aging issues relevant now?
Promotional video:
The main problem of our time is to increase the resource of human life. Because the global population aging has begun in the world today. Therefore, the question arose: how to increase the resource of vital activity and working age so that people work not until 60-65, but up to 80-85 years? This is, in principle, realistic, because the bar for physiological aging is 90-95 years, and the upper limit is 110-120 years. The average life expectancy in developing countries is about 70 years or less, in developed countries (especially in Northern Europe and Japan) - 80-85 years.
What determines life expectancy?
I will list all the factors. Our life expectancy depends on genetics by about 25%. Another 25% comes from “ecology” and lifestyle, the remaining 25% comes from other factors. I am talking, of course, about an ordinary person who does not suffer from serious genetic diseases.
Species duration of human life and its biological reserve. The species limit of human life is 110-120 years
The higher the level of culture in the country, including food culture and working conditions - what to eat, what to drink, how and where to work, etc., the more serious the country's intellectual baggage, the longer its average life expectancy.
Last year, Seoul hosted the World Congress on Gerontology and Geriatrics, at which the following information was announced. The factor that ranks first in the world in increasing the resource of vital activity today is the restriction of calorie intake due to sweet and fatty foods. Such restriction in food even by 30% reduces the incidence of diabetes by 50%, and even the risk of developing cancer. Therefore, I always recommend starting your personal longevity program with this, with a culture of eating and limiting unhealthy, fatty and sugary foods. When we see a fat person, the question arises, is everything correct with his understanding of the world? It is simply life threatening, it is not for nothing that there are no fat people among centenarians.
To this same factor of longevity, no matter how banal it may seem, a healthy lifestyle in general: the absence of bad habits such as drunkenness, smoking, drug addiction and, of course, physical education - the usual exercise in the morning, walking, swimming …
Only after that there are “artificial” factors - such as the competent use of antioxidants, vitamins, peptide bioregulators. In this area, very important research is currently underway, studying the effectiveness of melatonin, the use of stem cells and telomerase activators.
Let's move on to peptide bioregulators. What are they, how were they obtained and what is their effect on the body?
I started researching peptides at the Kirov Military Medical Academy of the USSR Ministry of Defense. And for 30 years now, together with the President of the Gerontological Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Vladimir Nikolaevich Anisimov, we have been developing these drugs.
Initially, these compounds were isolated from various organs of calves - from the brain, immune system, liver, eyes, etc. What is a peptide? This is a small protein. What is the value of peptides? Antibodies do not form on them, that is, there is no allergy, which, for obvious reasons, is extremely important and valuable. Moreover, the necessary peptides are in our food: when we consume protein, it is broken down into peptides in the duodenum under the action of enzymes.
Record holder
Jeanne Louise Calment (Jeanne Louise Calment) - French long-liver, who is considered the oldest person who ever lived on Earth, whose dates of birth and death are documented: 122 years, 5 months and 14 days. Kalman also holds several other records related to longevity - for example, she is the only known person who has reached 120 years of age and has held the title of “the oldest living person on Earth” longer than others.
Apart from the addiction to smoking, Kalman possessed all the characteristics characteristic of centenarians. This is good genetics (there were many people in her family who lived to a very old age), and gender (almost all people who lived to be 115 are women), and the absence of problems with being overweight. In addition, Kalman has always been actively involved in sports: she played tennis, was engaged in fencing, and rode a bicycle until she was 100 years old. I have always preferred walks in nature to visiting. Archival data on 68 relatives of Zhanna Kalman confirm that many of them lived more than average, although only she reached 100 years of age.
Short peptides, consisting of two to three amino acids, are absorbed into the bloodstream, from where they can enter the cell, penetrate into the nucleus, and change the regulation of gene activity. But our whole life is the regulation of the activity of genes, which, in turn, control the synthesis of proteins. Proteins are responsible for the functioning of organs. Aging is a decrease in protein synthesis.
An increase in the average RBTL and PHA (The main indicator of cellular immunity is the reaction of blast transformation of lymphocytes with phytohemagglutinin)
Why is this decline happening? By inhibiting gene activity. So, our peptides turned out to be the signaling molecules that again trigger the activity of genes, regulate this process. We have shown and proved all this, everything that I am telling you has a scientific basis, everything is published and patented. The introduction of peptide bioregulators to mice, rats and monkeys invariably led to an increase in average life expectancy by 30-40%. Naturally, these drugs have been used in humans for 15 years already, but while they are alive, it is impossible to say exactly by what percentage the peptides have increased their life. It is worth saying that these 40% are today the maximum resource of all living things, the maximum figure by which life can be extended in principle.
I will add a little on the experiment on humans. This experiment, as I said, was carried out for 15 years, together with scientists from the Institute of Gerontology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. One part of the patients received vitamins, and the second - peptide bioregulators. The survival rate in the group receiving peptides was 45% higher than in the control group receiving vitamins - due to an increase in the functions of the immune system and brain, restoration of bone density, the level of melatonin and some other hormones. This is an absolute world record.
Interestingly, significant differences appeared only five years after the start of peptide intake. We can say that peptide bioregulators are drugs of strategic action.
I would like to note that today in Russia we are the institution that has the largest number of foreign patents - we only have 25 American ones. Why are such patents so valuable? Because for them a state examination is carried out - the degree of novelty, the quality of technical solutions and authorship, of course. Therefore, such a patent is, in fact, a state license. In total, today we have more than 200 patents, half of which are foreign.
Are there any side effects from the use of peptide bioregulators?
Over 25 years of use, more than 15 million people have received our drugs, and we have not observed a single serious side effect. Although there can be no such effects, because these are not even drugs, they are bioregulators! Peptides are very well absorbed into the skin, therefore peptide creams act both from the inside and outside, allowing the skin to remain young.
I will clarify again: peptides are found in our food, just in very small quantities, so they are usually completely harmless. But the best medicine is, after all, proper nutrition, good water and exercise. It is necessary for the metabolism of cells, which determines everything. If the metabolism had not "broken down", we would have lived for more than a hundred years.
How to take peptide bioregulators, from what age, and how available are they?
An individual course of treatment is prescribed for each person. In this case, it is very important to know your heredity, your "genetic passport", predisposition. It is not so difficult, it is enough to conduct a study - in particular, to check what you have with genes that cause a tendency to diabetes, strokes, heart attacks … You can also determine individual markers of aging - such as the level of melatonin, telomere length, the activity of the antioxidant system, which are by far the most reliable indicators. After all this, it is best to choose a course of peptide bioregulators for yourself. Then it will be the most effective prevention of problems that might arise in the future.
With regard to age: if the human body is under severe stress, as, for example, in athletes, then it is necessary to start taking peptides earlier. If not, then you can be 40 years old.
All drugs are available, their cost varies from 300-500 to 1500-3000 rubles. It is recommended to take them in combination, 5-6 peptides, two or three courses per year. I think it is quite affordable for almost everyone - at least it is cheaper than the “usual” costs of tobacco and alcohol.
What is the average life expectancy in Russia today? How much lower or higher compared to developed countries?
In terms of life expectancy, equal population groups in different countries live the same way. Almost everything depends on the level of culture, upbringing, education, financial capabilities … savages do not live long!
The influence of the thymus preparation on the metabolic parameters in elderly patients (60-74 years)
The average life expectancy in Russia compared to developed countries is not very high, because it is influenced by such factors as a large number of suicides, road accidents, in which about 25-30 thousand people die annually, criminal showdowns (15-20 thousand people), poisoning with low-quality alcoholic products (about 300 thousand people). Moreover, we are talking about middle-aged and young people.
Effect of the pineal gland preparation on the level of melatonin in the blood of the elderly
As a result, statistics are emerging: the average life expectancy for men in Russia is about 65-67 years, for women - 72-76, in different regions it is different. This has more to do with social factors than biological ones. If we make a sample - take, for example, professors who have a high level of culture, who take care of themselves, eat carefully, then their life expectancy will be higher.
What other directions are being developed today in the field of gerontology and aging problems?
I have already mentioned this briefly: melatonin is being studied, telomerase activators, an enzyme that increases the length of the terminal DNA fragments, for the discovery of which the Nobel Prize was awarded, are being studied. The effect of stem cells is being studied, however, there is not a single reliable publication on them in terms of life extension yet … Of course, the effect of antioxidants, vitamins, etc. is being studied. There are many different things that restore metabolism.
Can we say that a person, at least in the distant future, with the development of new technologies, will be able to live up to 300 or even 1000 years?
Real scientists, to whom I include myself, cannot be denied anything, just as it is impossible and in anything to blindly believe. There is a concept of scientific methods - control, experience, statistics - if all three elements are present in the experiment, it can be considered reliable. So, everything I talked about was achieved using these methods.
Now Vladimir Khavinson is 70 years old, but he does not look his age. He has been taking peptide bioregulators for 15 years.
To date, the record holder of the planet is the Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Kalman, who lived for 122 years. By the way, the Bible says that God gave a man 120 years to live. A unique case of coincidence, of course, but really, none of the people who have lived and are living today have not been able to overcome this line.
At the current level of knowledge, life expectancy is, I repeat, 110-120 years, no more. But with the use of new technologies that are still unknown to us, anything is possible. This will probably be facilitated by the replacement of organs and tissues with new ones, and maybe even individual cells. Perhaps cryonics will play an important role. All of these can significantly increase life expectancy. But today we cannot speak either about immortality or about life even up to 200-300 years.