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Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To

Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To

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  • Create Date：2021-04-21 11:54:38
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：David A. Sinclair
  • ISBN：1501191977
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Summary

It’s a seemingly undeniable truth that aging is inevitable。 But what if everything we’ve been taught to believe about aging is wrong？ What if we could choose our lifespan？

In this groundbreaking book， Dr。 David Sinclair， leading world authority on genetics and longevity， reveals a bold new theory for why we age。 As he writes: “Aging is a disease， and that disease is treatable。”

This book takes us to the frontlines of research many from Dr。 David Sinclair’s own lab at Harvard—that demonstrate how we can slow down， or even reverse， aging。 The key is activating newly discovered vitality genes， the descendants of an ancient genetic survival circuit that is both the cause of aging and the key to reversing it。

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Reviews

Sara （BookshelfSOS） ，

I really， really enjoyed this book。 The science was fascinating， but more than that the overall sense of optimism was so refreshing。 It put things in perspective and reminded me that the world is actually pretty amazing and human lives are improving through technology and innovation， no matter how much the news tries to scare you into thinking doomsday is nigh。 David Sinclair was a charming narrator （I listened to him read the audiobook） and I found myself really liking him as a person in additi I really， really enjoyed this book。 The science was fascinating， but more than that the overall sense of optimism was so refreshing。 It put things in perspective and reminded me that the world is actually pretty amazing and human lives are improving through technology and innovation， no matter how much the news tries to scare you into thinking doomsday is nigh。 David Sinclair was a charming narrator （I listened to him read the audiobook） and I found myself really liking him as a person in addition to being very impressed by his work。 。。。more

David Miller ，

Really interesting progress in longevity that I think a lot of people aren't that aware of。 It is hard to take claims like this seriously because for decades the supplement industry has been selling cures and anti-aging bs， but it seems biology has finally caught up to being able to make genuinely effective drugs to reduce aging related disease。 Really interesting progress in longevity that I think a lot of people aren't that aware of。 It is hard to take claims like this seriously because for decades the supplement industry has been selling cures and anti-aging bs， but it seems biology has finally caught up to being able to make genuinely effective drugs to reduce aging related disease。 。。。more

Sukh Saigal ，

Lifespan book is very good book who want young:-） 。。 very knowledgeable and little tough。 A lot of key ideas for life like Aging is a disease ， The information Theory of aging。 ， The longevity genes。， Activating the survival network， chemical and technological routes to longer life ， Implementation for our future。Many more knowledge Dr。 Sinclair is an award-winning in the field of aging。I recommend highly to everyone。

Yugvir ，

Not only should everyone read this， they should also start imagining a world completely different from the one right now。 Even though Dr Sinclair is extremely optimistic about the human condition， he does discuss the risks and concerns regarding his research on aging and these are conversations that realistically don't seem far off in the future。 （Oh and it's not _as_ research heavy as I'd liked it to be but I'm not in that field of research so I think it caters well to a larger audience）Also I' Not only should everyone read this， they should also start imagining a world completely different from the one right now。 Even though Dr Sinclair is extremely optimistic about the human condition， he does discuss the risks and concerns regarding his research on aging and these are conversations that realistically don't seem far off in the future。 （Oh and it's not _as_ research heavy as I'd liked it to be but I'm not in that field of research so I think it caters well to a larger audience）Also I'm definitely going to make some lifestyle changes ！ 。。。more

Paul ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 it's a game changer。 read it！ it's a game changer。 read it！ 。。。more

Adam Bregman ，

A science book seeking bestseller status with a revolutionary and future-thinking manifesto， Lifespan furnishes scientific data and humanist arguments to live up to its title thesis: Why We Age -- And Why We Don't Have To。 One of the more prominent scientists working on human longevity， David Sinclair considers ageing a disease and wants the rest of the world to catch up with him in this radical assertion。 There's no telling if Sinclair is correct about the age of humans reaching into the 100s s A science book seeking bestseller status with a revolutionary and future-thinking manifesto， Lifespan furnishes scientific data and humanist arguments to live up to its title thesis: Why We Age -- And Why We Don't Have To。 One of the more prominent scientists working on human longevity， David Sinclair considers ageing a disease and wants the rest of the world to catch up with him in this radical assertion。 There's no telling if Sinclair is correct about the age of humans reaching into the 100s sooner rather than later based on numerous experiments on mice and some anecdotal information， much of it focusing on Sinclair's father， who turned his life around after following the same course Sinclair takes using gene-boosting supplements and living healthily。 Sinclair is so optimistic and his ideas so utopian that it's difficult to share his vision。 Few scientists are as assured about the future。 He does discuss the many possible downsides of humans aging decades more， but he is more concerned with the upsides。 He mentions that it's possible that at first it will be just the very rich who can afford to extend their lifespans， but his perpetual optimism slaps away all negative repercussions in favor of continuous hopefulness。 Through the three sections of the book focusing on the past， present and future， the first including all of his complex genetic research， Sinclair returns to his thesis that human aging is a disease that must be cured by science。 Whatever happens in the future， it's difficult to imagine Sinclair's dreamworld of seniors starting new careers in their eighties and the world's troubles defeated by humans living longer while using less of the world's resources for the betterment of all。 That doesn't mean that many of Sinclair's predictions won't come true。 He does know as much about the subject of human longevity as anyone。 But while the future doesn't have to be an environmental disaster， though that does seem more likely than some of Sinclair's aspirations， it's more likely to play out， as things do， having a lot of bad with the good， somewhere in the middle， neither Valhalla， nor Armageddon， with people living longer， some of them healthily， while others are miserable。 。。。more

Manisha Rao ，

A wonderful， optimistic book that aligns with a lot of my mother's predictions about genetics。 A tad bit too technical and a few things seemed repetitive but the story-telling/anecdotal format makes it a good read nonetheless。Bookmarked all the things that'll help slow down ageing :D A wonderful， optimistic book that aligns with a lot of my mother's predictions about genetics。 A tad bit too technical and a few things seemed repetitive but the story-telling/anecdotal format makes it a good read nonetheless。Bookmarked all the things that'll help slow down ageing :D 。。。more

Alex Artamonova ，

A whole lot to process， but concrete evidence as to why we might soon be living past 120 and a good argument for keeping our bodies healthy until then！

William Adams ，

Advances in understanding the human genome have led to some remarkable findings that could change medicine。 David Sinclair is a biomedical researcher who concludes that the human lifespan could be extended by at least 40 years relatively soon。 Aging is a disease， he says， not inevitable。 Like any disease， aging can be cured。 Sinclair describes recent and ongoing scientific research in genomics， nutrition， and pharmacology that might extend the human lifespan。 Some of the applications have been s Advances in understanding the human genome have led to some remarkable findings that could change medicine。 David Sinclair is a biomedical researcher who concludes that the human lifespan could be extended by at least 40 years relatively soon。 Aging is a disease， he says， not inevitable。 Like any disease， aging can be cured。 Sinclair describes recent and ongoing scientific research in genomics， nutrition， and pharmacology that might extend the human lifespan。 Some of the applications have been shown to significantly extend the lifespan of mice， fruit flies， and other laboratory animals。 In humans， not so much。 Doing hard， scientific research on the human lifespan is not easy。 You can’t knock out a gene or two to see if the person dies。 Sinclair is exuberantly optimistic about extending the human lifespan by applying extrapolations of suggestive laboratory findings。 While the book describes many important scientific outcomes in detail， speculation and personal anecdotes run way ahead of the facts。 Built into the book’s thesis are two critical assumptions hardly questioned。 One is that everyone wants a fountain of youth。 Who wouldn’t like to live 40 years longer – healthy， active， self-aware years， Sinclair says。 The presumptive answer is that everyone wants that。 But it is a question that deserves serious discussion。 Does a drug addict want 40 more years？ Does a prisoner with a life sentence？ What about someone deep in debt？ Does a hungry refugee in a war-torn relocation camp want 40 more years？ Could you afford your ever-increasing insurance premiums for 40 additional years？ Will the cities have enough food， housing， water， and medicine for a population that doesn’t die “on time？” Will the planet support that kind of increase in population？ Will younger people find jobs and advance their careers when the "elders" don’t die （don't even age）？ The second unquestioned assumption is that human life is best measured by counting Earth’s orbits around the sun。 No consideration is given to the arc of developmental psychology。 When I recall my self-awareness at age 25， I cringe。 If I stopped aging， would I stay 25 ？ Would I continue to develop psychologically for a hundred more years， even working at a meaningless job in a 25-year-old body surging with hormones？ It's imponderable。 A good meal and a hot bath sound more attractive than being dead， for sure， but there’s more to life than biology。 Most troubling， the term aging is not well defined in the book and does not appear in the glossary。 In the index， its main entry refers to a page describing “markers” of aging。 “Marker” is not defined， but we might take it to be similar to a symptom， since the author believes that aging is a disease。 “Disease” is not defined and does not appear in the glossary or the index。 Other undefined terms include “life” and “death。” The closest the author comes to a definition of his subject matter is on page 20， where he boldly declares that “Aging， quite simply， is a loss of information。” That sounds pretty clear until you learn that “information” is defined as entropy reduction， following Claude Shannon’s famous 1948 paper。 But that definition is tautological: The better you can determine the value of a probabilistic variable， the more information you have about it。 The book is an exercise in superficial futurism more than a serious essay about the meaning and possibilities of the human lifespan。 It is naïve about economics， politics， demographics， sociology， psychology， agriculture， urban planning， history， and much else。 As a science popularization， it does not succeed， though it is worth a skim for its thought-provoking moments。Sinclair， David A。， with Matthew D。 LaPlante （2019）。 Lifespan: Why we Age and Why we Don’t Have To。 London: Thorsons， 404 pp。 。。。more

Lucas Wilson ，

The first half of this book is inspirational and incredibly clear， the second half is quite wishy-washy， and frankly a bit disappointing， but overall the book is definitely worth a read and it is definitely one of the better pop-sci books I've read The first half of this book is inspirational and incredibly clear， the second half is quite wishy-washy， and frankly a bit disappointing， but overall the book is definitely worth a read and it is definitely one of the better pop-sci books I've read 。。。more

Katney ，

Listened to this one。 Interesting reading on the thoughts behind aging: why it happens， how to reverse it， how to classify it， the concept of living well after your first century of life。 Ideas for supplements （resveratrol， nmn， metformin for example）。 What happens to quality of life if humans start living so long: the state of the earth and its resources to sustain us， how humans behave towards each other， etc。

Greg Mork ，

This kind of book is right up my alley （that is， the Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande alley）。 Sinclair can get pretty technical for an average fella like me， but most of the content is accessible and it's an easy read with plenty of anecdotes and humor。 Brb， gonna go fast now。 This kind of book is right up my alley （that is， the Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande alley）。 Sinclair can get pretty technical for an average fella like me， but most of the content is accessible and it's an easy read with plenty of anecdotes and humor。 Brb， gonna go fast now。 。。。more

Alex Smith ，

David Sinclair writes in an engaging and relevant manner on a topic that we all experience， aging。 His approach to treating aging like a disease rather than an inevitable part of life is very though provoking and inspirational。 His optimism on what the future of humanity holds is a breath of fresh air in what is otherwise a wildly negatively based world of scientific doom and gloom。 Some practical behaviours that most of us can adopt makes this book not only entertaining but also very useful as David Sinclair writes in an engaging and relevant manner on a topic that we all experience， aging。 His approach to treating aging like a disease rather than an inevitable part of life is very though provoking and inspirational。 His optimism on what the future of humanity holds is a breath of fresh air in what is otherwise a wildly negatively based world of scientific doom and gloom。 Some practical behaviours that most of us can adopt makes this book not only entertaining but also very useful as a guide for lifestyle changes to slow our biological clock。 Will I begin to see less greys on my beard。。。 I hope so。 。。。more

Vinicius ，

Great book， don't agree with a lot of it， but a lot of important questions were raised， concerning the coming years and the research on longevity。 Great book， don't agree with a lot of it， but a lot of important questions were raised， concerning the coming years and the research on longevity。 。。。more

Roy Foley ，

Unreal book 👌

Jurate ，

Pati autoriaus nagrinėjama sritis labai įdomi - juk turbūt daugelis iš mūsų norėtume ne tik tiesiog gyventi ilgai， bet iki pat pabaigos gyventi pilnavertį gyvenimą ir nebūti našta kitiems。 Būtent ta kryptimi eina jo tyrimai， kai ieškoma ne tik būdų prailginti gyvenimo trukmę， bet padaryti tai taip， kad gyventi ilgiau išties būtų verta。 Nes pratęsti gyvenimą dirbtinai tik tam， kad ilgiau kankintum ir save ir artimuosius， kaip ir D。 Sinclair rašo， joks ne laimėjimas， o tiesiog nuodėmė。 Tik jei kal Pati autoriaus nagrinėjama sritis labai įdomi - juk turbūt daugelis iš mūsų norėtume ne tik tiesiog gyventi ilgai， bet iki pat pabaigos gyventi pilnavertį gyvenimą ir nebūti našta kitiems。 Būtent ta kryptimi eina jo tyrimai， kai ieškoma ne tik būdų prailginti gyvenimo trukmę， bet padaryti tai taip， kad gyventi ilgiau išties būtų verta。 Nes pratęsti gyvenimą dirbtinai tik tam， kad ilgiau kankintum ir save ir artimuosius， kaip ir D。 Sinclair rašo， joks ne laimėjimas， o tiesiog nuodėmė。 Tik jei kalbant apie pačią knygą， kas man kiek kliuvo， kad lyg neapsispręsta， kam ji rašoma - kai kurie skyriai lyg visiškai populistiniai， kiti - tokie， kur， turėdama tik mokyklinius biologijos pagrindus， turėjau sau pripažinti， kad skaitau， bet iš tiesų nesuprantu。 Nors， tiesą sakant， paskutinė dalis lyg aiškiausiai parodė tos knygos tikslą - įrodyti， kad jo sritiems tyrimams verta skirti finansavimą。 Nesakau， kad nereikia - tik mane kiek suerzino toks gana tiesmukas lobizmas。 Bet šiaip， kad ir suprantant tik paviršių， tikrai buvo įdomu sužinoti， kiek jau bent teoriniame lygmenyje nuveikta ieškant būdų sustabdyti senėjimą ir kur mes， kaip visuomenė， galime keliauti toliau。 Jei， kaip autorius žada， greitai nieko nebestebins 120 metų gyvenimo trukmė， galėsiu kokį dešimtmetį pasilikti ir giliau toms temoms panagrinėti ir išties suprasti :） 。。。more

David ，

What if we could lead healthy and productive lives well past the age of 100？ This type of question was considered silly and not worthy of considering just a little while ago。 Dr。 Sinclair has been using the latest in biotechnology， genetics and pharmacology to attack this very question for decades now。 His basic assertion is that we age not because of a failure in our DNA but due to the weakening of the epigenetic components in cells that keep our DNA doing what it is supposed to do。 Dr。 Sinclai What if we could lead healthy and productive lives well past the age of 100？ This type of question was considered silly and not worthy of considering just a little while ago。 Dr。 Sinclair has been using the latest in biotechnology， genetics and pharmacology to attack this very question for decades now。 His basic assertion is that we age not because of a failure in our DNA but due to the weakening of the epigenetic components in cells that keep our DNA doing what it is supposed to do。 Dr。 Sinclair is not a flake。 He is the co-director of the Paul F。 Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School。 He is also an advisor to the TB12 Scientific Advisory Board， the one helping Tom Brady do what he does。 He touches on the darker side of longer lifetimes on society， but addresses these concerns fairly well。 This book presents a largely optimistic perspective on a number of actions that people can do to give them better odds of living longer and healthier lives。 Well worth reading！ 。。。more

Robert Banovský ，

Not having read other books about modern theories of ageing， this was a breathtaking read for me。 Ideas like ageing is not inevitable， it is real to reach 150 years and more and such are really worth poring over

Annalisa ，

Parts are technical and require understanding of scientific jargon but he does a good job of paraphrasing and using metaphors to help you understand the concepts。 The content is so eye opening！

Damian ，

Mildy interesting for the most part。Key take aways:* science will provide us with incredible longevity therapies* starting now you can fast， exercise， eat properly and you'll already get many benefits Mildy interesting for the most part。Key take aways:* science will provide us with incredible longevity therapies* starting now you can fast， exercise， eat properly and you'll already get many benefits 。。。more

Ernie ，

Exicting survey of research & progress on ageing。 Easy to read and interesting content。

Vasco ，

I was fascinated by all the research， claims， and predictions on what’s coming to help us stay healthier for longer and live longer lives。 It changed my expectations of what my next decades could look like in terms of health， vitality and lifespan。 It is also a thought-provoking book on what the consequences of longer lives could be on so many different aspects of our world。

Guoda Sakalauskiene ，

It was a pleasure to read， to rethink the ideas and to believe！ I am waiting what will look my old age。🙂

Stef ，

Interesting Book but if you took a shot every time this guy told you he Works At Harvard， your lifespan would be cut drastically short by liver failure。

Marcelo Montes I ，

Great book。 Crack-opened my mind and my view of life and how to live it。 I have an improved conviction of the possibilities the future and how to get to confront them。 Recommended read， full of wisdom and scientific perspective。 I am sure I will get back to it and will constantly follow the author's updates。 Actually I listened to the audiobook read by the author。。。incredible way to connect directly to all the ideas and arguments。 Loved it。 Great book。 Crack-opened my mind and my view of life and how to live it。 I have an improved conviction of the possibilities the future and how to get to confront them。 Recommended read， full of wisdom and scientific perspective。 I am sure I will get back to it and will constantly follow the author's updates。 Actually I listened to the audiobook read by the author。。。incredible way to connect directly to all the ideas and arguments。 Loved it。 。。。more

Martial Trevett ，

He describes a bunch of ways that we are aging and several promising "drugs/supplements" that can help。 None of them are truly proven in humans since there hasn't been a double blind study completed。 It would take many years to obtain the results of such a study。 His descriptions are explained well and are funny in many cases。 I did get board after about 150 pages and began to skim through many of his world solutions。 He thinks we should treat old age as a disease and not just an inevitable thin He describes a bunch of ways that we are aging and several promising "drugs/supplements" that can help。 None of them are truly proven in humans since there hasn't been a double blind study completed。 It would take many years to obtain the results of such a study。 His descriptions are explained well and are funny in many cases。 I did get board after about 150 pages and began to skim through many of his world solutions。 He thinks we should treat old age as a disease and not just an inevitable thing。He takes 1 gram of NMN every morning， 1 gram of resveratrol， and 1 gram of metformin。 It seems to be working for him。 He also eats very healthy and exercises often。 。。。more

Nikolett ，

I love books that back up their writing by research and science。 The author makes you think about aging and the future of human longevity。 I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would。

Robert Sanek ，

Listened to just over half。 I got tired after hearing to the nth description of a research result about SIR2 or mTOR -- interesting to find out about， but ultimately I have no conceptualization of how these proteins fit into a broader story so it's hard to really grok what's being explained。Overall though I thought there were a few interesting ideas。 One is that we should start seeing aging as a disease similar to any other; it sounds like a few countries are starting to do so but the idea was m Listened to just over half。 I got tired after hearing to the nth description of a research result about SIR2 or mTOR -- interesting to find out about， but ultimately I have no conceptualization of how these proteins fit into a broader story so it's hard to really grok what's being explained。Overall though I thought there were a few interesting ideas。 One is that we should start seeing aging as a disease similar to any other; it sounds like a few countries are starting to do so but the idea was mostly new to me。 Two is that much of this research is way early -- there were a bunch of research results on mice or tapeworms， but the best Sinclair could do in terms of humans were anecdotes of his friends or family。 It's great that his 70-year-old father started feeling better after supplementation， but that should be very far from a recommendation for people generally to start using NMN。 I felt like there was also a willful conflation here of some results in non-humans -- a paper might come out about fruit flies， and Sinclair would cite it as "that result in humans would mean 20 years of extra life"; feels a little deceiving to me。The final piece that I'd like to follow up on is the link between longevity and stress， particularly around hunger and thermoregulation。 The book didn't focus too much on it， but from the sound if it there are actually human trials on this stuff with potentially interesting results。Probably would not recommend other than to folks that are already interested in longevity assisted by exogenous supplementation。 。。。more

Will M ，

Lifespan is a fascinating read。 The prospect of living 10-30% longer， healthier lives， or living in perpetuity seems highly suspect。 Sinclair lays out what we know about aging， what we are hoping to soon learn， and lastly the societal， economic and moral implications of a dramatic increase in human’s lifespan。 I found the first part of the novel to be utterly fascinating。 I found myself wanting more of the hard science and technicality that I felt was missing later on。 The studies mentioned tend Lifespan is a fascinating read。 The prospect of living 10-30% longer， healthier lives， or living in perpetuity seems highly suspect。 Sinclair lays out what we know about aging， what we are hoping to soon learn， and lastly the societal， economic and moral implications of a dramatic increase in human’s lifespan。 I found the first part of the novel to be utterly fascinating。 I found myself wanting more of the hard science and technicality that I felt was missing later on。 The studies mentioned tend to apply to mice and bacteria - this book could benefit largely from a future revision when human clinical trials are completed。 How much to mice and fungi relate to our own biology？ Sinclair seems to be confident of direct correlation。 He’s the scientist and one of the leading experts on the topic， I am not。 The second part of the book， what we are learning and hope to learn， was also a great read。 I found it interesting but here is where Sinclair slowly starts to work in more and more tangential territory。 The final section of the book discussing the implications of further aging was my least favorite part of the book。 I commend Sinclair for addressing both view points（the negative and positive）， but it seemed to drag on a bit for me。 Leave it up to the reader to determine what the implications could be and provide more science。 Overall， I am glad I read this book and would gladly return to it again someday。8/10 。。。more

Filip Cvetko ，

Very good and different from what I had expected。 It's not exactly generic。 Very good and different from what I had expected。 It's not exactly generic。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0