Excerpts from "Position Statement on Human Aging"
by
S. J. Olshansky, L. Hayflick, and B. Carnes
Scientific American
June, 2002

    "Past and anticipated advances in [aging] interventions only influence the manifestations of aging--not aging itself. The biomedical knowledge required to modify the processes of aging that lead to age-associated pathologies confronted by geriatricians does not currently exist."
    "Eliminating all aging-related causes of death currently written on the death certificates of the elderly will not increase human life expectancy by more than 15 years."
    "Relatively little evidence from human studies that supplements … lead to a reduction in either the risk of these conditions or the rate of aging."
    "No product currently sold has been demonstrated to reverse aging. No hormone, has been proved to slow, stop or reverse aging. Growing younger is a phenomenon that is currently not possible."
    "It is unlikely that scientists will be able to influence aging directly through genetic engineering because … there are no genes directly responsible for the processes of aging."
    "Suggestions have been made that the complete replacement of all body parts with more youthful components could increase longevity. Though possible in theory, it is highly improbable that this would ever become a practical strategy to extend length of life."
    "Optimum lifestyles, including exercise and a balanced diet along with other proven methods for maintaining good health, contribute to increases in life expectancy by delaying or preventing the occurrence of age-related diseases. There is no scientific evidence, however, to support the claim that these practices increase longevity by modifying the processes of aging."
    "Despite intensive study, scientists have not been able to discover reliable measures of the processes that contribute to aging. For these reasons, any claim that a person's biological or "real age" can currently be measured, let alone modified, by any means must be regarded as entertainment, not science."
    "Dramatic claims made by those who advocate antiaging medicine .. .are … not supported by scientific evidence, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that these claims are intentionally false, misleading or exaggerated for commercial reasons."
    "There are no lifestyle changes, surgical procedures, vitamins, antioxidants, hormones or techniques of genetic engineering available today that have been demonstrated to influence the processes of aging."