Medical Tourism And Human Rejuvenation

We live at the dawn of the age of real scientific rejuvenation. There is a significant body of science demonstrating lifespan extending techniques available today. In some non-human organisms, extending lifespans 3-, 4- or 5-fold and more is routine. Nevertheless, extending the lifespan of a healthy human is an entirely different scenario.

CREDIT

As real anti-aging therapies appear on the horizon, medical tourism may afford an opportunity to take advantage of a rejuvenation modality at greatly reduced cost and years before it’s available in the West.

Metformin was discovered in 1922 and introduced as a medication in France in 1957. However, it was not introduced in the United States until 1995. Even as late as 1995, suggesting life extension possibilities for metformin would probably have gotten you laughed out of the room for being a crank.

But, 2 decades later, new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds metformin may slow the aging process and increase lifespan. Furthermore, TAME (Targeting/Taming Aging With Metformin) is an example of a novel study recruiting elderly subjects and, in a double-blind, placebo-control study, it will test if metformin can delay the onset of multi-morbidities including cancer, CVD, T2DM, cognitive decline, and mortality.

The problem with medical tourism is the potential for profiteering on unproven methods. All through history there have been myriad false medical claims, intentional or not, and too numerous to mention here. In general, medical procedures and pharmaceuticals in the East are not as tightly regulated as they are in the West. For example, embryonic stem cell research was prohibited in the U.S., but not in Asia. Also, CRISPR-Cas9 modification of human-embryo-DNA has been experimented with in Asia, but is considered unethical in the West.

Another concern with medical tourism is: what recourse do you have if something goes wrong? Does the Asian practitioner have malpractice insurance? Are you going to hire foreign legal expertise to gain compensation for your losses? Do you even have legal recourse in a foreign court? Have you been scammed?

In conclusion, medical tourism is problematic for the emerging rejuvenation biotechnology industry because of the potential for scams. As time goes by, more and more parts of the world will allow anti-aging modalities in a wide range of choices, but it is up to the consumer to be aware of potential pitfalls and problems; caveat emptor! One should work toward a scientific solution to the problem of aging ASAP. Encourage life extension activism and even occasionally entertain controversial life extension concepts but within reason, and if only to disprove and debunk them.

Medical tourism is a reality and has the potential to grow significantly. It is a viable option for the medical consumer to consider as the rejuvenation biotechnology industry accelerates it's pace. As a result, there is an increasing need to police the medical tourism industry and I propose we seriously evaluate medical tourism options, pro or con, and provide consumers with information on it’s merits as well as the dangers.