[ExI] How effective is caloric restriction likely to be in humans?

[spike]

> ...On Behalf Of Max More
> Subject: [ExI] How effective is caloric restriction likely to 
> be in humans?
> 
> spike:
> 
> >Here's where I am going with this:  I am trying to figure out why CR 
> >apparently is somewhat less effective in life extension for modern 
> >humans than it is for other mammals.  With those guys the delta
> 
> Have you read Aubrey's thoughts on why calorie restriction is 
> unlikely to extend human life spans by more than 2 or 3 
> years? See pages 28 to 30 of Ending Aging.
> ...
> http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?doi=10.1159/
000082192
> 
> ... Max

Thanks Max!  Ja I agree mostly with his conclusions.  With humans there are
so many confounding and conflicting factors, the whole model just gets too
complicated to even estimate a benefit to CR.  For instance, there are so
many factors that may benefit one aspect of health at the expense of
another, such as running.  If one runs every day on pavement for instance,
it is really good for the heart and lungs, but bad for the knees and hips.
If one has access to one of those nifty modern rubber tracks, that helps the
knees but implies one lives in the big city, increasing the risk that some
prole will run over one with his Detroit or knife one for his cell phone.  

If one is extreme enough to do CR, one likely also does their risk
management more carefully, sees the medics more often and is more likely to
make expensive medical interventions to extend life.

That being said, one of my most memorable exercises in high school was in
dissecting a cat, and marvelling at how similar or analogous it was to
humans.  One can find a direct analogue to every human organ in the cat, and
the tissue characteristics are remarkably similar.  Cat lung tissue for
instance really is a lot like a human lung tissue; rather we should say they
sure look about the same, both at the macro level and under the microscope.
Consequently, the conclusion is compelling that since CR works for mammals
and other beasts, it should work for proles.  The way I explain the apparent
lower benefit is that we already reap some of the CR benefits by our
lifestyles.

Final note: brains are an example of an organ that works fundamentally
differently in humans vs non-human beasts.  I have personally witnessed what
I think is an example of obsessive compulsive behavior in a cat.  The
details of this I will share if anyone expresses interest.  If brains and
other organs show similarities between humans and non-humans, and CR extends
life in every beast in which it has been measured, it stands to reason it
should work to some extent in humans.

spike