If you are over forty and could take a pill that would reverse physical aging by twenty or thirty years, would you take it?

[heikeemilia]

My question is purely theoretical, for fun and out of curiosity as obviously such technologies don't currently exist (although with advancements in AI some of them seem to be on the horizon). I have been surprised by how many friends have eagerly jumped on the GLP1 drugs for weight loss and how successful they have been so this has made me ponder how people would respond to such an anti-aging pill.

If you are forty or over and a pill existed which you could take that would reverse physical aging over a number of months (both internally and on a vanity/skin level) by twenty to thirty years, so you looked like a younger version of yourself, would you take it?

I absolutely would take such a pill if it was considered safe and effective, clinical trials had been successful and the treatment was approved by the relevant government agencies overseeing drug roll-outs.

YANBU - Yes, I would take a pill that would reverse physical aging.
YABU - No, I would not take such a pill.

As long as you didn’t decline cognitively it would be worth considering

I”m 57, would I want to have a healthy 27-37 year old body, without all the post menopause aches and pains, without all the niggles of getting older, with the energy I had back then?

Can’t think of any reason why not, I wouldn’t even care if I still had the wrinkles, saggy bits and grey hair if I had the health and energy.

I so would!

I am a LONG way over 40 and I want the beginnings of arthritis banished, eyesight decline stopped, hearing decline stopped, I want to eat what I could in my early 40s and not put on weight.

I don't care about being a woman of mature years and looking it but I want all the increasing creakiness reversed.

And I definitely don't want a constant groundhog day where I was back with another 20 years to work!

One thing I have thought about a lot (I am over fifty) is that I don't remember what it felt like to be in a young body and I would absolutely love the novelty of being able to enjoy that with the knowledge of what it feels like to not have it and how we take it for granted when we are young and it slowly creeps up on us along with all the ailments that come with it. I would love not to have fucking dry, painful eyes and wrinkly skin and to not feel exhausted by 6pm.

If that’s the case, I change my answer and I wouldn’t take the pill 🤣

I would rather keep aging and looking the way I am rather than have to face another 25-30 years of periods.

There’s a dystopian novel broadly about this. Stopping the aging process turns out to have sinister consequences

Oh that is interesting. What is it called?

@heikeemilia it’s The End Specialist by Drew Magary

I am sure there would be absolutely load of unforeseen (and foreseen) societal consequences to such a pill, I mean, a few I can think of the top of my head - it would completely change how society approaches things like mortality, and the meaning of life, and what it means to be human on a fundamental level but also practical things like pensions, how long life would be funded, would people still want to have children. There would be so many unpredictable consequences to such a pill, some good, some not so good.

No because I don’t want to look 15 years old

@heikeemilia yeah that’s basically the plot

Please no. Not periods!

Definitely no to periods and to fertility, if I can keep the DCs I already have

Well, does it make you young and healthy like an idealised version of yourself or make you look as you did in your actual twenties?
I was very ill in my twenties, physically and mentally. I was on a tonne of medication with awful side effects including weight gain. I had cystic acne and psoriasis.
I was in much better health in my thirties. I’d lost a lot of weight and was the fittest I’ve ever been. It didn’t last long though
Do you get to choose how far back you want to go and just stay there?
I am in my forties now and I’ve never cared less how I look. It makes me feel so free.
Honestly, since I’ve never had a great figure or good skin etc, I don’t think I’d be arsed. I’m happy as I am.
Men largely leave me alone now. No more mixture of insults, intimidation and lechery which I got a lot of when I was younger. That’s a big positive.
So, no I wouldn’t.

I'm early 60s so yes, I'd like to look 40 again with softer hair, tighter skin, joints that don't hurt. Like others though, I don't want periods back, or to go through meno all over again.

Yes with bells on. So many health issues with menopause, so many things I’d capitalise on now that I didn’t then with my healthy young body. Bliss.

You wouldn't be able to go back that far. The pill would only reverse aging to early/mid twenties at maximum.

Like a shot! I want my flat stomach and pert bottom back

Without hesitation. I'd love to have a body that was young, fit and healthy enough to do everything I'd like to do at the pace I want to do it. I'm doing OK at 57, but the idea of living my whole life with a young body, no aches, pains or worries about age related illness would be amazing. If you could take the pill every 30 years, in theory, barring accident or unexpected illness, you could live as long as you liked too.

Of course. As long as there were no known side effects.

Yes!

I'm 70 and my joints are fucked. I was more or less pain free at 50, now I have to be really careful how much I do, or I am in a hellish amount of pain for days afterwards.

Sure would.

OMG yes please. I’m early 50s and in pain every day and fed up of it.

I have health issues which have severely impacted my quality of life since my early 20's affecting everything in my life such as work, having a family, social life and other life goals. Poor health as robbed me of many of the things many people take for granted. There are now treatments that can help with my condition and vastly improve quality of life. I'd very much appreciate the chance to go back and have a shot at a more average life.

In my sixties, made my peace with aging long ago. So no.