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  • 🧬 The Future of Aging Is Bigger Than You Think

🧬 The Future of Aging Is Bigger Than You Think

PLUS: Why memory-boosting supplements, moonshot biotech, and entropy theory are reshaping the longevity frontier

Welcome to ThriveWire!

Most people don’t die of old age, they die of preventable conditions that accelerate aging. The goal isn’t just to live longer. It’s to delay decline. To push back disease, frailty, and cognitive loss as far as humanly possible.

This week, we’re covering:

  • šŸš€ Why We Need More Than Just ā€œBetter Drugsā€ for radical longevity

  • 🧠 The supplement boosting memory in older adults

  • 🧪 Inside Retro Biosciences, a longevity startup on a mission to add 10 healthy years to the human lifespan

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šŸš€ Radical Longevity: Why We Need More Than Just ā€œBetter Drugsā€

The big idea: If we want to truly extend human lifespan, beyond 120 years, we need to stop thinking like doctors and start thinking like physicists.

Peter Fedichev, physicist-turned-longevity researcher and founder of Gero, argues that most current longevity efforts (think metformin, rapamycin, and senolytics) are like strapping wings on a bicycle: useful, but they won’t get us to the moon.

Here’s the framework:

Fedichev proposes a three-level model for anti-aging interventions:

  • šŸ”¬ Level 1: Today’s standard approaches - CR mimetics, senolytics, reprogramming. These target the symptoms of aging or individual diseases. They might help us live a few more healthy years, but they don’t touch the root cause.

  • šŸ“‰ Level 2: The next leap - therapies that reduce physiological noise, the random biological fluctuations that destabilize health over time. By calming this noise, we could potentially square the curve and extend healthspan up to ~120-150 years (the estimated upper limit of human resilience).

  • ā™¾ļø Level 3: The moonshot - interventions that actually halt or reverse the entropic damage that drives aging itself. This is the kind of breakthrough that could enable negligible senescence in humans, aging that’s so slow it’s almost imperceptible.

Why this matters:

  • We already know what slows aging in mice (CR and rapamycin), but these don’t scale well in humans.

  • Physiological resilience begins to collapse after age 120. Without addressing this, we’re just prolonging frailty.

  • Level-2 and Level-3 therapies could finally push us beyond the current lifespan ceiling, but they’ll require new biomarkers, new models, and new thinking.

Thrive Tip: Don’t get distracted by flashy headlines. Most current longevity ā€œmiraclesā€ are still Level-1. While the science pushes forward, your best bet is still building resilience: move your body, sleep deeply, and reduce stress.

🧠 Creatine: A Simple Supplement That Boosts Memory in Older Adults

A 2022 meta-analysis published in Nutrition Reviews found that creatine supplementation significantly improves memory performance, particularly in older adults aged 66–76.

The details:

  • Researchers reviewed 10 randomized controlled trials involving healthy participants.

  • While younger adults saw little change, older adults experienced a large improvement in memory scores (SMD = 0.88).

  • Benefits were observed regardless of dose (ranging from ~2 to 20 grams per day) or duration (from 5 days to 24 weeks).

Why it works:
Your brain is a metabolic powerhouse, and creatine helps it meet energy demands by enhancing ATP production. This energy boost may support memory formation, especially in aging brains where mitochondrial efficiency declines.

Thrive Tip: If you're over 60 and looking for a safe, evidence-backed cognitive edge, consider supplementing with 3–5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily. It’s well-tolerated and may help you stay sharper for longer. As always, check with your doctor first.

🧪 Inside Retro Biosciences: Can Lab Mice Help Us Live Longer?

What’s happening: Retro Biosciences, a longevity startup backed by $180 million from OpenAI’s Sam Altman, is on a mission to add 10 healthy years to the human lifespan, and they’re moving fast. Their work blends cutting-edge cellular reprogramming with Silicon Valley speed and startup grit.

What they’re doing:

  • 🧬 Cellular recycling drug: They're developing an oral drug that restores the body’s natural ability to clear out damaged proteins, a process that declines with age.

  • 🧫 Cell replacement therapies: Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), they aim to generate fresh, young cells to replace aging or malfunctioning ones. Think ā€œrejuvenatingā€ your bone marrow from a skin biopsy.

  • 🧪 Mouse models show promise: Early results in mice are encouraging. In one test, older mice on treatment regained youthful coordination on a rotating balance beam (yes, that’s a thing).

Why it matters:

This isn’t sci-fi anymore. Reprogramming old cells, reversing biological age, and regenerating tissue could shift healthcare from treating disease to preventing aging itself.

Thanks for reading this week’s ThriveWire! šŸ’”

Most people age faster than they should, not because they’re genetically doomed, but because they’re unaware of the daily levers they control. You don’t need perfect genes or futuristic tech to thrive. You need consistency with the fundamentals.

🟢 Get sunlight
🟢 Eat whole foods
🟢 Move your body
🟢 Sleep 7–8 hours
🟢 Stay socially connected
🟢 Keep learning and stay curious

The tech is coming, but your habits are already here.

Stay healthy,
Andrew Courtney
Founder, ThriveWire

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Disclaimer: The information provided in ThriveWire is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise routine, or health regimen.