Mifepristone is already used to treat cancer, Cushing’s syndrome, as a contraceptive, and for medical abortion. It has been shown to be safe and effective, which could speed up the development of a new treatment for humans, according to John Tower of the University of Southern California. – Mifepristone can prove to extend lifespan in both men and women, as it has been shown to have beneficial metabolic effects in both sexes, says the research leader. The research is still in an early phase and for now the medicine has mostly been tested on banana flies. Photo: Martin Cooper / Flickr One of the positive effects is that the body probably becomes better at breaking itself down. Which is a positive thing if you want to live a long time. Tower’s research team tested mifepristone on banana flies. The result was that the flies lived between 76 and 150 per cent longer with the correct dose. The controversy surrounding mifepristone The abortion pill mifepristone received a lot of attention when a judge in Texas, who is against abortion, decided last year that the pill should no longer be legal. This happened after the US Supreme Court decided in 2022 that the judgment Roe v. Wade, which for more than 50 years had guaranteed all women in the US the right to abortion, should be overturned. The Supreme Court thus said that there was no longer a constitutionally protected right to abortion in all states. The Supreme Court later overturned the Texas ruling, but several states that have abortion bans have worked to prevent people from getting mifepristone. Mifepristone is often used together with another medicine, misoprostol, and can be taken up to 9 weeks after the last period to terminate a pregnancy. Although it has also been shown to be effective after 9 weeks, it can then lead to more and more serious side effects. Sources: AP, Vox, BBC, Although the research has not been done on humans, it shows high effectiveness in safe doses for the lifespan of banana flies, according to Evandro Fei Fang at the University of Oslo. – This was an exciting discovery. Further investigations in people who have taken mifepristone should be studied, says Evandro. The researchers have several theories as to why the medicine works to prolong life. Sex affects Compared to a competing drug, which also extends life, the flies given mifepristone lived almost thirty percent longer. The researchers have developed a way to see if the mitochondria are being cleaned. The more red color, the more mitophagy. Photo: John Tower / USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences The researchers looked at how the drugs increase the cleaning of the mitochondria, the cells’ powerhouse. The body’s energy plant is cleaned Illustration: DataBase Center for Life Science (DBCLS) Mitochondria are the cells’ power plants and are similar to bacteria. Sometimes they stop working properly. Then the body can break down the mitochondrion and reuse the substances it is made of. This process is called mitophagy and is important so that the cells do not end up with many broken or inefficient power plants. With aging or a number of diseases, the body is unable to eat up its own damaged mitochondria. This causes the body’s immune system to no longer function as well and increases harmful inflammation. Source: Nature, Wikipedia – Our findings suggest that improving mitochondrial health may be central to how both substances extend lifespan, says Tower. Both medicines have certainly shown the greatest effect on fertilized banana fly females. But also in virgin females, the lifespan increased by 30 per cent. The picture shows two pairs of banana flies mating. The medicine was most effective in fertilized houseflies. Photo: Francisco Romero Ferrero / Flickr It may be that mifepristone only targets unique properties of female cells, says Fang at UiO. The researchers have also experimented with doses and in combination with other drugs that appear to shorten life spans, not increase them, in the little reptiles. So trying abortion drugs on yourself to prolong life is still far too premature. The lifespan of mice given mifepristone is now being investigated in a new study, but the results are not yet clear, according to John Tower. The studies on mice can give a better indication of how effective abortion pills can be in extending life in humans. Published 17.11.2024, at 17.51
ttn-69
Abortion pill doubled the lifespan of flies – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
