Could another root cause of aging be buildup of autoimmune problems? It seems like that would be a form of irreversible damage, though admittedly I know of no way for it to connect to ROS. (Maybe it would become Aging 2.0, a relevant constraint for health and longevity once aging is solved?)
That hypothesis predicts that immunosuppressed patients (that don’t die from infection) live longer. It looks like that isn’t the case. It is a plausible idea though, and I’m glad that people are still thinking about this post.
Could another root cause of aging be buildup of autoimmune problems? It seems like that would be a form of irreversible damage, though admittedly I know of no way for it to connect to ROS. (Maybe it would become Aging 2.0, a relevant constraint for health and longevity once aging is solved?)
That is one of the more interesting hypotheses I’ve heard! Thankyou for promoting it to my attention.
That hypothesis predicts that immunosuppressed patients (that don’t die from infection) live longer. It looks like that isn’t the case. It is a plausible idea though, and I’m glad that people are still thinking about this post.
I wouldn’t predict that particularly confidently. The prediction requires multiple unlikely-seeming assumptions:
Immunosuppression is not caused by something that is harmful in other ways
The body does not assume the immune system is functioning for various routine tasks
Infections cannot cause damage unless they observably kill you
Further, it should be noted that I said “another root cause”—as in, the immune effect wouldn’t be the only one.