Resveratrol Known To Counteract Aging

Experts are studying a chemical called Resveratrol, found in red wine, said to benefit health and counteract aging.

Ongoing studies suggest that medical breakthroughs in later stages of research can find key to an extended life and cancel out aging effects.

"The general public has no idea what's coming," said David Sinclair, a Harvard Medical School professor who is researching health benefits of resveratrol. Addressing a panel of aging experts, Sinclair confirmed that tests on lab animals proved increased longevity and better health. He declared that drugs will be soon introduced for people.

"It's not an if, but a when," said Sinclair, who co-founded Sirtris Pharmaceuticals to practice such drugs.

Sinclair claimed that the treatments will be entering medical arena soon and that it is no more a science fiction or a next generation issue now. According to him, the treatments are just a few years away from now.

Aging, aging well and staying fit, is progressively a most discussed issue as the people grow older.

Robert Butler, a pioneer of aging research who also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his paperback "Why Survive? Being Old in America," said that medicine and biology are important for longevity but social integration plays an important role too.

Richard Weindruch, a professor at University of Wisconsin and director of LifeGen Technologies is studying effects of low-calorie diets on aging.

Weindruch has researched successfully that planned and restricted diet can increase the life spans of mice and monkeys that can live up to 40 years. He hopes to publish his findings soon.

His research found that mice given hefty dose of resveratrol "live longer, they're almost immune to the effects of obesity. They don't get diabetes, cancerdefine, Alzheimer's as frequently and delay the diseases of aging."

Sinclair proved this with a video of mice taking resveratrol running on a treadmill more energetically than those who take it. A large dose is equivalent to 1,000 bottles of red wine.

The inference of his study for humans is uncertain, the but dietary supplements containing resveratrol are selling fast. Some experts raised safety concerns on resveratrol intake too.