USSR-born scientist of Russian heritage Alex Zhavoronkov believes that people could live up to 150 years and be productive, if they changed their lifestyle, which for him personally includes giving up sex.
But claims in the media that he advocates sexual abstinence to others as the means to live longer are not true, he said.
Alex Zhavoronkov: I Didn’t Recommend Celibacy for Longevity
A strict diet of healthy foods and regular exercise would not be enough to prolong his lifespan to the desired level and enable him to achieve his goals, believes the 36-year-old professor, who lives and works in UK. In his view, celibacy may be the missing ingredient to achieving a greater efficiency in life, free from worries about a family and child-rearing.
The real life Sheldon Cooper is creating an uproar in social media for his denouncing of bodily pleasures and romantic love, while promoting his struggle to brand aging as a disease.
Zhavoronkov obtained his PhD in Physics from the Moscow State University in Russia and currently heads the Biogerontology Research Foundation in UK.
The author of The Ageless Generation admits that he, too, “has cravings” of being attracted to the opposite gender, but insists that for him feelings for women are “more about their intellect and drive, not their looks”.
Experts of the World Health Organization predicted that we all should be able to live up to the age of 100 as a minimum, reports Daily Mail.
Zhavoronkov judges that those estimates are rather on the conservative side, and living up to 144 should be nothing special. For that, he is using himself as his own test subject, and consumes around 100 experimental and already tested pills on the daily basis, which are designed to prolong life and slow down the aging process.
He exercises to protect his muscle mass and skeleton, which he considers extremely important for a long and healthy life. He strives to work all hours when he is awake, and his life-changing plan for 2015 was to sleep at least 5 hours a day.
“Some people are happier working in their basement than socialising over coffee with their friends”, he stated.
“I don’t want to form a family too early in my life, because there is just too much work. It won’t be fair for the kids or the loved ones,” he wrote on his Facebook page on 12 October 2015, denouncing claims in the media that he recommends celibacy as the means to extend life.
“There are no recommendations like that in the book.”
(Great news, we can still have sex and hopefully live a long, happy, and healthy life.)
The creator of The Ageless Generation doesn’t deny the notion of procreation altogether but advocates delaying it, to utilize our productive years better. He hopes that universities would spend less time on teaching history, and rather attend to teaching the future. His philosophy leads him to the thesis that advances in biomedicine and anti-aging will transform the global economy.
The CEO of Insilico Medicine speaks 4 languages, one of which is Russian, and his group of fellow researchers includes some rather stunning female scientists of Slavic heritage. Zhavoronkov’s aspiration is to attract more women into science by persuading them to delay marriage and kids.
The author of Dating A.I.: A guide to falling in love with Artificial Intelligence doesn’t support the notion of romantic love in the common sense but rather as a hormonal reaction to another human being, to which he admits being susceptible. However, he find post-coital communication rather tedious, unless he is with a fellow scientist.
Human longevity relies on lifestyle adjustments, according to the young professor. Aging must be qualified as a disease, he stated.
“Because of advances in DNA mapping and big data computer processing, aging can be slowed down significantly, adding 20, 30, or even more than 40 years to the human lifespan”, he commented.
The project director of AgingPortfolio.org, who had worked for Colby Pharmaceutical Company and is the head of laboratory at the Centre for Oncology and Immunology, will be attending conferences in Boston and New York in the coming week 14-20 October, his Facebook page informs.
New cellular mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities to slow down and possibly reverse the aging processes should allow each of us to extend healthy years and become centenarians, insists Zhavoronkov.
He even has a $1 million dollar bet with a fellow scientist, who manages to live longer. The bet will be enacted once they pass the 100-year mark, reported Daily Mail.
In Dr Alex’s own words:
“The clock is ticking. Until we defeat aging, life of most individuals has no meaning. And most doctors can not claim to be saving lives; they are marginally extending them. We need to go after aging with everything we’ve got. And I am not talking about basic science. There needs to be more data-driven self experimentation, comprehensive N-of-1 studies and translational medicine centers.”
“Victory over aging will be the greatest single event mankind will celebrate for Millenia. Protecting and augmenting intelligent life is the most noble of all goals.”
“It is time to say “no” to death.”
This sounds rather cool. And his associate scientists look like it would not be too awful to work in their company. Lovely blondes Poly Mamoshina and Elena Rydkina and the cute brunette with the envious mane Evgeniya Schastnaya seem like a company any hot-blooded male would enjoy: They are not only gorgeous but also smart. (Just like so many Russian women on EM.)
What do you think?
Photos: Facebook Alex Zhavoronkov
Video: Alex Zhavoronkov Explains Why It’s Worth To Live Longer
Professor Zhavoronkov on aging being a curable condition and extending life by tens of years, hopefully up to 150 years old.
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Not for me. Better to truly have lived an die before I’m 80 than to give up all pleasurable things and live up to 150.
Would you mind to truly have lived until 150 years?
I wouldn’t 😉
Remember, just 100 years ago men lived only until about 50 years old in the western world (31 years world average).
500 years ago the average life expectancy was 35.
Would you be ok to die at 50 (or 35) today?
I don’t think so. 🙂 🙂
I believe that it is possible to both live a long life and enjoy its pleasures. I am living proof of the power of “all things in moderation”. I can often pass for someone much younger than myself, and remain youthful in my outlook as well as appearance. I take very little to the extreme, except for my passion for life. I am seeking woman half my age or younger, because I am not as compatible with women my age. I want to have more children and pass on my youthful genetics and healthy habits.
It seems that professor Zhavoronkov has decided to conduct a rather scientific experiment. I believe each one of us has a different idea of what’s our purpose in life, and while many can agree with Zhavoronkov some might say what’s the point of living then? For many people life lived to the fullest is a great experiment of it’s own. One is capable of accomplishing many things in 70, 80, 90 years and at the same time experiencing all of life’s stages to its full extend. Aging is a natural process which all must embrace, however aging gracefully will require… Read more »
If sex gives you up do you still get the extra years or does the choice need to be more pro-active in nature? 🙂
Mitchell,
Never give up 🙂
I had a uncle that lived for 103 years. He was not married or had any kids. I guess the professor has a point that those things causes stress.