04 / RESEARCH AREAS
Drug research
From promising pathways to human trials, with benefits and risks in view.
QUESTIONS WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND
What has been tested in humans, and for which outcomes?
How do observed benefits compare with harms and uncertainty?
Which gaps remain between a mechanism and a clinical claim?
These questions describe the scope of this area. They are not findings or a list of active studies.
Research in this area
Newest published first
1–11 of 11 articles
Do two longevity drugs add their benefits, or act synergistically?
A 2025 mouse experiment supports longer survival with rapamycin plus trametinib than with either drug alone under the tested strain, doses and schedule. Exceeding a single treatment, exceeding a…
- Joint survival benefit in the specified mouse regimenLimited
- Lifespan interaction and mechanistic attributionNot yet determinable
- Mouse function and molecular changesLimited
- Combined benefit in normally aging humansNot supported
Does Shingles Vaccination Reduce Dementia Risk?
The evidence supports a signal worth testing seriously: eligibility for live shingles vaccination is associated with fewer recorded dementia diagnoses, and birth-date discontinuities make this…
- Live-vaccine eligibility policyModerate
- Receipt and relative efficacyLimited
- Recombinant vaccination in humansLimited
- Disease-mortality signalLimited
- Mechanism, onset and lifespanNot yet determinable
Can lowering blood pressure protect cognition?
Randomized trials support benefits for some cognitive outcomes, but fewer cognitive diagnoses, better test performance and prevention of dementia are different findings. Certain blood pressure…
- Clinical cognitive outcomesModerate
- Mean cognitive scoresLimited
- Vascular mechanismsLimited
- Specific safety outcomesModerate
What does menopausal hormone therapy improve? Timing and longevity evidence
Menopausal hormone therapy can relieve some menopausal symptoms and reduce certain fractures. Those benefits do not directly establish slower ageing or longer life. Whether earlier initiation is…
- Arterial imagingModerate
- CognitionModerate
- Disease and composite outcomesModerate
- Overall mortalityModerate
- Observational inferenceLimited
Do GLP-1 Drugs Reduce Disease—or Slow Ageing?
Semaglutide reduced major cardiovascular events in the population enrolled in SELECT. Interpreting that result as broadly slower ageing requires additional evidence: whether benefits transfer to…
- Primary cardiovascular endpointStrong
- Mortality and mechanismLimited
- Cognitive evidenceLimited
- Safety and tolerabilityModerate
- General ageing and life-yearsNot yet determinable
Does blocking IL-11 extend life? Mouse survival, function and human evidence
Blocking IL-11 extended survival in one study of naturally ageing mice and improved frailty and body-mass-normalized grip in a separate cohort. Reanalysis of the individual mouse records supports the…
- Mouse survivalModerate
- Autopsy and mediationLimited
- Mouse functionModerate
- Mechanism attributionLimited
- Human translationNot yet determinable
Metformin: Do Metabolic Changes Improve Function in Older Adults Without Diabetes?
Metformin can alter metabolism and tissue molecular readouts. Whether those changes help older adults without diabetes walk faster or become stronger requires direct functional trials. Findings are…
- Molecules and methodsLimited
- Training adaptationModerate
- Clinical functionLimited
- Healthspan extrapolationNot yet determinable
Does lowering inflammation slow aging?
Some anti-inflammatory interventions reduce disease events in specific populations, but that does not establish a slower rate of whole-body aging. Target pathways, inflammatory measurements, clinical…
- Disease eventsModerate
- Pathways and mediationLimited
- Inflammatory measurementsLimited
- General slowing of agingNot yet determinable
Clearing Senescent Cells: When Could It Help or Harm?
Clearing senescent cells improves function or survival in some mouse models, but can also disrupt particular stages of tissue repair. The result depends on the cells, intervention, tissue and timing…
- Animal function and survivalModerate
- Human randomized skeletal evidenceLimited
- Attribution to tissue clearanceNot yet determinable
- Repair cost of clearanceModerate
- Human safetyLimited
Does Living Longer Mean Ageing More Slowly?
Longer life is a valuable outcome, but it does not by itself show that every organ ages more slowly. We reanalysed public ITP mouse data on function, body composition and pathology, and independently…
- Mouse survivalModerate
- Specific mouse functionLimited
- Selected pathologyLimited
- Attribution to overall ageing rateNot yet determinable
Rapamycin: the mouse lifespan effect is real. What is missing in humans?
Rapamycin extends survival in multiple cohorts of genetically heterogeneous mice, a result that deserves serious attention. Human trials have yet to connect that evidence to longer life or…
- Mouse survivalStrong
- Human functionLimited
- Human lifespan and long-term safetyNot yet determinable