Life Extension Track Record
Impeccable track record of 40 years of scientific achievement
Life Extension has led the world uncovering new ways to prevent and treat the diseases of aging since 1980. We’ve unveiled innovative treatment protocols in our Life Extension Magazine® years before they were recognized by conventional medicine. Today, many of the advances we’ve championed have become standard medical practice. Below is a chronology of those advances and achievements, spanning over an incredible four decades.
To view Life Extension’s achievements over the past 41 years,
click on any of the decades below:
1990s
- In 1991, Life Extension sued the FDA because the agency failed to approve tacrine to treat Alzheimer's disease. While the lawsuit was dismissed on technical grounds, it forced the FDA to finally approve tacrine seven years after it was shown in a New England Journal of Medicine report to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
- In 1992, Life Extension introduced melatonin to the American public based on evidence that this natural hormone is an effective anti-aging therapy. After several books were published extolling melatonin’s multiple benefits, every health food store in the United States began selling it in 1995.
- In 1994, Life Extension warned that the commonly prescribed estrogen and synthetic progestin drugs could increase breast and ovarian cancer risk. Findings published years later confirmed these dangers. The natural hormone-balancing approaches long recommended by Life Extension have a better safety profile.
- In 1996, Life Extension revealed the crucial importance of monitoring blood levels of fibrinogen, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. Since then, numerous studies have shown that high levels of fibrinogen are a risk factor for heart attack and stroke, just like high LDL cholesterol levels.
- In 1996, Life Extension founded the first mail-order blood-screening service that offered state-of-the-art tests for age-related diseases directly to the public.
- In 1997, Life Extension published a new theory on why cells malfunction as they age (decline in DNA methylation) and introduced several therapies that could help rejuvenate aging cells. These therapies, which have been documented by hundreds of studies, are currently being prescribed for the treatment of depression, liver disease, and atherosclerosis.
- In 1997, Life Extension published the first of its Disease Prevention and Treatment textbooks that integrated hormone replacement, high-dose nutrient supplementation, prescription drugs, and conventional medical treatments for the purpose of preventing and treating 110 diseases that were not being effectively treated by conventional medicine alone.
- In 1997, Life Extension recommended that certain patients temporarily take a combination of statin and COX-2–inhibiting drugs to inhibit cancer cell growth. Since then, several studies have confirmed the anti-cancer effects of these drugs that are not commonly associated with cancer therapy.
- In 1997, Life Extension warned about the dangers of taking only the alpha tocopherol form of vitamin E. Since then, a number of published studies confirmed that aging people would benefit by also taking the gamma tocopherol form of vitamin E that Life Extension has long advocated.
- In 1997, Life Extension introduced a European discovery called S-adenosyl-methionine (SAMe) that safely alleviated depression, arthritis, and certain liver disorders. A Harvard study published in 2010 showed that the use of SAMe increased the response rate to conventional anti-depressant drugs by 105%!
- In 1998, Life Extension introduced to the United States a natural herbal supplement (nettle root extract) that had been used for more than 10 years in Europe to relieve the symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy.
- In 1998, the FDA approved the antiviral drug ribavirin for use in hepatitis C patients. Life Extension fought the FDA for 12 years to force the agency to allow Americans access to this lifesaving medication.
- In 1998, Life Extension warned how excess estrogen levels in aging men may be a causative factor in the development of prostate cancer and provided easy and safe methods to mitigate these effects.
- In 1998, Life Extension introduced Americans to a Japanese drug called methylcobalamin, a form of vitamin B12 that was particularly effective in protecting the brain against damaging excitotoxicity and also reversing the course of certain neurological disorders.
- In 1999, Life Extension showed how vitamin C may prevent nitroglycerin drug intolerance in patients with coronary artery disease.