“We’re at the point where we’re starting to understand ageing at a cellular level,” says Greg Macpherson. “There is so much research out there, but it’s quite complex. I wanted to make it more accessible, to encourage people to think—and begin doing something—about it, because we have strategies to slow the ageing process, and the sooner people get cracking, the better.”
Making “specific, healthy lifestyle choices”, Greg says, may dramatically affect “how well we age and how long we live”, theories he delves deeper into in his recently published book, Harnessing the Nine Hallmarks of Aging: To Live Your Healthiest Life. The tome tells of DNA’s vital role in the repair of damaged cells, and how by adopting certain habits such as eating well, fasting regularly and being mindful of sun exposure, may stifle—or even reverse—the ageing process.
Greg is a pioneering pharmacist who founded Aotearoa’s first online pharmacy, Pharmacy Direct, in 1997. Seven years later, he then also founded the nation’s first robotic medication dispensing service for aged care, before becoming CEO of a world-renowned Kiwi biotechnology company in 2012. Greg’s latest endeavour, SRW Laboratories, is a science- and research-based company that creates all-natural products designed to slow ageing.
“We’re healthy when we’re young, because we’ve got the hormones and the molecules and the energy to repair and maintain and all of these things,” continues Greg. “So, the only difference between a 10-year-old that falls over and cuts their knee and bounces back, and a 90-year-old that doesn’t, is the fact that the DNA and the energy is not working as well.”
Greg tells Verve that the knowhow is now there to get elderly bodies to respond to illness and injury as efficiently as a young person’s body would. There is, he adds, no reason why we shouldn’t be regularly reaching triple figures while still in “reasonably good shape”: “This is the paradigm shift.” So, could the solution to curing age-related ailments such as cancer and Alzheimer’s also rest with stalling ageing?
“Billions of dollars are being spent on research for Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and the like, and to some extent they’re making progress,” says Greg. “But within the past decade, scientists have started to realise that they are symptoms of ageing, so why not deal with that. It has kicked off a lot of research, and that’s where the ‘nine hallmarks’ come from. They’re targets that people can focus on to slow down ageing.”
How important is our genetic makeup in defining how we age?
“Genes account for 20 percent of the picture. In terms of such things as, say, your height, you can’t change that. But the other 80 percent concerns how we act, which turns on and off certain genes. So, if you’re sitting on the couch consuming too many pints and pies then you’re activating different genes to the ones associated with running and cleaner lifestyles. Those are the genes that lower inflammation and stimulate hormones which improve brain function. The trick is to ‘switch on’ as many of the good ones as you can for them to become fixed compounds over time.”
Greg wants us to take the same attitude to health and ageing as we do to finances and retirement: “You use interest to compound the effect of that money over time. Well, you can do the same thing with your health—the work you do in the early days will compound, meaning that you can remain healthy well into your 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond.”
What’s more, he insists that’s it’s never too late to make a start. One of SRW’s most fascinating products is a DNA test that tells you your biological age—essentially whether your cells are ageing faster than your chronological age.
“Some people in their 50s can have a biological age of 70, and others of a 30-year-old,” says Greg. “It’s about good management, about turning on those good genes. If you’re at the wrong end of the scale, it’s changeable. You can start to lose weight, get exercising and eat cleaner to drag that biological clock in the right direction.”
“Some people in their 50s can have a biological age of 70, and others of a 30-year-old.”
What role does positive thinking plays in ageing?
“There are two elements to that. If you tackle ageing with a positive frame of mind, you literally will age more positively. But if you’re chronically stressed then the telomeres, which are the protective caps on the end of your chromosomes, will shorten faster which increases the chances of ill health, while reducing the chances of surviving disease or a heart attack. It’s really important to remain positive for your healthiest self.”
Does gender also play a role?
“No-one’s quite worked that one out. There are definite health advantages with oestrogen—it’s interesting that when women reach menopause then their risk of having heart disease very quickly catches up with the men’s. So, it may be that those extra 40 years of having oestrogen might slow the ageing process down. But there are reasons for everything in nature, and maybe just for a social construct there are benefits to having women live longer. Maybe it’s their prize, getting a bit of a break from us for a few years!”
Greg also talks of the social implications of a world full of “youthful 100-year-olds”.
“I think it’s a positive thing. If you are healthy and in your 90s, not a burden on the healthcare system, then just think of the wisdom and the mastery that you can contribute to society. On the flip side, there will be population growth, but in the developed world, we are not actually replicating enough to sustain our population, so this may all be perfectly timed. The world population is going to be 9.7 billion by 2050, and mostly in South Asia, Africa and South America. Much is happening to increase education and empower women in those regions, which will lead to a drop in fertility rates, so that will ultimately level it all out.”
At its most basic, human level, Greg believes “healthy ageing” is simply about making the world, “a richer and more diverse place”.
“It’s not just you, it’s about the people around you. If someone can experience their daughter or son getting married, then the planet will be all the better for it. Too many people go too young and maybe just by starting a strategy around healthy ageing when you’re younger, or even in your 50s or 60s, then that can impact the people around you in a positive way. At its core, that’s what this is all about.”
