In their never-ending quest to find "magic bullets", pharmaceutical companies are now setting their sites on creating anti-aging medicines, attempting to turn back the hands of time and reverse damage already done.

One of the ways in which they are attempting to do so is to attack and break-up stiff sugar-protein bonds known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs). These substances are formed when blood sugar (glucose) attaches itself to proteins in the body's tissues, becoming cross-linked into hard yellow-brown AGE compounds.

This theory concerning the relationship between sugar and the aging process goes back many years and is based upon the observation of diabetics, who seem to age rapidly. When glucose bonds with collagen, this can result in many negative effects, including thickened arteries, stiff joints, feeble muscles and failing organs.

Diabetics age prematurely because this sugar-driven damage acquires breakneck speed, raising their levels of AGE-infused collagen to those of elderly people. Diabetics suffer a very high incidence of nerve, artery and kidney damage because high blood sugar levels in their bodies markedly accelerate the chemical reactions that form advanced glycation products.

According to this report in Scientific American, "after years of bread, noodles and cakes, human tissues inevitably become rigid and yellow with pigmented AGE deposits."

Food chemists in the early part of this century discovered that adding sulfites prevents browning and hardening and keeps food and beverages looking fresh. This is the theory with which the drug companies are now attempting to stop the production of AGEs by developing a drug that may actually reverse the aging process by cracking sugar-protein links once they form.

"Instead of looking for prevention, we can now administer a compound to reduce the stiffness we see in diabetes and aging," a researcher reported at a recent Novartis Foundation symposium in London. The drug, dubbed ALT-711, can supposedly tear tough AGE bonds apart.

Diabetic animals, old dogs and elderly rhesus monkeys given the compound daily for three weeks yielded positive results, with improvements seen in the heart and major arteries, which became more pliable and elastic.

Researchers see other applications for these new drugs as well. For example, in glaucoma, increasing the elasticity of the draining canal of the eye would prevent the buildup of pressure in the eye. Additionally, lung elasticity could be improved and an enlarged and hardened prostate could be softened if the new research pans out. But it will be at least 10 years until such drugs, currently undergoing clinical trials, are approved for humans.

Scientific American July 2000, page 16

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It is not hard to find evidence of the dangers of sugar, but I must say that I am surprised to find such good evidence coming from pharmaceutical companies. There are many important points that can be gleaned from this report. The first is that, regardless of what is said in the mainstream press, the scientific community and their pharmaceutical benefactors are well aware of the dangers posed by sugar. Corporations would not dedicate millions of dollars for this research if they thought otherwise. Of course, rather than waiting for a drug to attempt to reverse the damage caused by sugar, it makes much more sense to reduce to amount of sugar and grains in the diet, thereby lowering blood glucose levels. Of course this would require effort for most people and is not as easy as simply taking a pill. For those who do hold out for the pill, it will be absolutely no surprise that this "magic" will come with many side effects. I don't have to wait ten years to figure that one out. Just like the diabetic pills that we have now that lower blood sugar but really do very little, if anything at all, to reverse the underlying cause of the disease. It is also interesting to note the fact that these AGEs, at least in foods, can not be formed in the presence of water. Think about the fact that no matter how long food is boiled or steamed, it will not burn or become hard. In the same manner, by saturating the body's tissues with water, we may be able to prevent formation of AGEs. This is more evidence for the critical importance of drinking adequate amounts of pure water for overall health that we have discussed numerous times before. Sugar and Cancer Americans Don't Drink Enough Water