(ANSA) - Italian scientists said this week they have found the biological key to longevity, but warned people wanting to live longer to forget elixir drugs for the moment and go on a diet.
Milan University Professor Michele Carruba told reporters on Friday that experiments with mice have shown biological mechanisms involving nitric oxide (NO) can boost cell energy and slow the aging process when combined with a reduction in calorie intake.
He said nitric oxide has a direct impact on the calorie restriction mechanism that, on a molecular level, plays a crucial role in keeping cells alive longer. "Now we know the mechanisms of longevity we will be able to build molecules capable of interacting with them," he explained.
"Specific drugs that increase the quantity of NO to strengthen the mechanisms that help us live longer and get ill less."
Unfortunately Carruba added that: "It's no use waiting for results soon, as these studies take a very long time." Carruba said his team's work had shed new light on the effect diet has on our health and why being overweight is dangerous.
"Obesity is the prime mover in all these processes," he said. "A drug that increases NO does not exist yet and it won't for some time. In the meantime, we can do a lot with prevention, which means eating less. Don't go without anything, as some false food gurus say, eat everything, balancing your diet and reducing portions.
"If we worried more about the intrinsic harm in the quantity of fats and sugar we eat every day, we would have achieved a lot."
The NO molecule is already widely used to combat cardiovascular conditions . It is also an essential component of Viagra. Nitric oxide should not be confused with nitrous oxide (NO2), widely known for its past use in dental surgeries, from which it gained the nickname 'laughing gas'.
