"Silver Bullet" for Age-Related Diseases?

A simple natural compound found in grape juice and red wine seems to have the potential to work on the common root of a variety of age-related illnesses and virtually cure them. And that compound, resveratrol, may become one in a new class of drugs that target the disorders, which include cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, Parkinson's disease and cardiovascular problems.

Resveratrol, which is already being clinically tested on diabetics, and similar biochemicals work by targeting the cellular energy producers known as mitochondria - hundreds of tiny power packets that float around in every cell. Many U.S. researchers are hot on the trail of developing drugs that restore the mitochondria's potency to convert glucose into energy, though their work has so far proven successful only in mice.

But a pharmaceutical version of resveratrol for humans could be on the market in as little as four years. "It's going to revolutionize Western medicine," said Doug Wallace, a mitochondrial medicine pioneer at the University of California at Irvine. "All the things that are common for an aging society, and nobody worried about [centuries ago] when they died of infectious disease," might now be treated, he said.

The mitochondrial theory of disease says the cells' mitochondria wear out over time, becoming less and less efficient. And they produce more and more dangerous free radicals, which damage vital cell proteins and nucleic acids, including DNA. The slow decline of the mitochondria, which is essentially the process of aging, finally crosses a threshold, at which the body sinks into one or more degenerative, chronic illnesses.

The new drugs that are in the pipeline stimulate enzymes that improve mitochondrial function and effectively roll back the aging clock. "Enough evidence has come out to suggest that, since we've now accomplished this successfully in other species [mice], there's reason to think we could do it in people," said Stephen Jay Olshansky, a University of Illinois public health and aging expert.

"We genuinely think it's going to happen," he said. "We said that we not only believe it's possible, but should be aggressively pursued as the new approach to health and disease prevention for this century."