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New Rapamycin Study Shows the Importance of Good Research and Interpretation

September 19, 2021

While considerable strides have been made in the field of medicine, there are still a number of limitations when it comes to research and interpretation in the field of epidemiology.
In fact, physician Peter Attia believes that poor interpretation of studies poses a major setback in the public’s understanding of advances in longevity and aging.
He gives a detailed example of how a recent rapamycin study highlights this major issue.

There’s no denying that medicine and science have advanced considerably in the past decade alone. Yet despite all the technological advancements we have today, there are still limitations in certain areas of scientific work. In fact, in a recent Tim Ferriss podcast, guest star Peter Attia—a world-renowned physician in the field of longevity—touches on the ‘Studying Studies’ series. This program focuses on some of the shortcomings of epidemiology; which is the discipline that analyzes the health outcomes and causes of diseases within a population. There’s a widespread belief in the medical fraternity that controlled experiments dealing with randomization are more foolproof compared to observational studies. But that’s not entirely true. Experiments have several hurdles that need to be overcome before we gain important knowledge from them. Some of these hurdles include poor interpretation, poor analysis, poor execution, and poor design. And then there’s the whole issue of media exaggeration; where the press loves to exaggerate the medical outcomes of a study in order to make it more interesting and relatable to the general public. A fine example that Attia narrates during the podcast is when he recently came across a study titled: “Rapamycin impairs bone accrual in young adult mice independent of Nrf2.” In the study, a team of researchers were analyzing the impact that rapamycin had on the skeletal structure of young mice. During the experiment, they found that mice that supplemented regularly with rapamycin had lower bone volume and density as compared to control mice. Now, this should obviously ring alarm bells for those who strongly believe that rapamycin is the most geroprotective molecule (a molecule that slows down the root causes and effects of aging and age-related diseases) out there today, right? Most likely. Because, as we know, bone health is fundamental towards reaching our goal of healthy aging. But this experiment also reminds us of one thing we often ignore. As much as rapamycin has remarkable potential benefits to human health, we have to consider some of the risks that it poses to our bodies as well. When we’re dealing with drugs, there’s always a risk. And with rapamycin, it’s no different. Before 2009, rapamycin was used mainly as an immune suppressor for patients receiving an organ transplant to prevent their bodies from rejecting the new organ. But the functions of a drug can vary depending on the context as well as the dosing. Naturally, a daily dose of rapamycin will trigger immune suppression. But once you change the scheduling and dosing of rapamycin, it enhances immune functioning. Now, you simply can’t publish a study and interpret it as black and white without considering other important factors that come into play. For example, what was the age of the mice when they were treated? What were their vitals during the experiment? Were they suffering from any genetic disorders? The moral of the story here is this: understanding the risks of rapamycin is just as important given that it is considered the most geroprotective molecule currently in science. But then again, we shouldn’t rush to create publications of poorly interpreted results of a study just to incite fear, excitement, anticipation, or panic within the public.

References: https://peterattiamd.com/rapamycin-risks/

New Rapamycin Study Shows the Importance of Good Research and Interpretation

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