Ageing explained and debunked as part of National Science Week

A professor of immunology will explain why we age and what we can do about it during a talk at Athlone IT tonight.

"We won't slow it down, but there are ways to have a healthier old age," said Professor Luke O'Neill of Trinity College Dublin, who is giving the talk during the ongoing Science Week 2014.

“A big problem with ageing is inflammation or ‘inflammageing’. As you get older, your body gets more inflamed. Your body doesn’t break down toxic by-products as readily, and toxic by-products irritate tissue and cause diseases like Alzheimer’s and diabetes,” he explained when speaking ahead of tonight’s (tues)talk.

Anti-inflammatory medicines, like rapamycin, have been shown to extend life in mice and seem to limit inflammatory damage. But O'Neill said drugs have side effects and are not the answer.

“Another big way to reduce inflammation is to eat less. Isn’t that a terrible thought? It’s called caloric restriction. If you eat a bit less, you live longer and have less toxic by-products.”

He hopes to "get people out on a wet Tuesday night to listen to a talk about science". He will join scientist Sile Lane, who will encourage people to ask for evidence in every claim they see because many claims are pseudoscience or clever marketing.

Lane works for London-based charity Sense about Science, which helps people make sense of science and evidence. The group challenges misinformation and misuse of evidence in policy and media.

The charity has an interactive database (askforevidence.org) as part of its Ask for Evidence campaign that allows people to do just that with a few simple clicks.

If people do not ask for evidence, “authorities, policymakers, politicians and companies will get away with making any claims they want. They’ll sell us products that don’t do what they say and bring in policies that haven’t been tested and won’t work, wasting public money.”

“We’ve seen extraordinary impacts from ordinary people demanding evidence,” she said. One local gym withdrew nutrition supplements after a member asked about a dubious health claim. “Making businesses and authorities question themselves is a fantastic step.”

“If anyone wants us to buy their product, vote for them or believe them, then we as voters and consumers, patients and citizens, should demand they supply evidence for the claims they’re making,” she said.

Originally from Cork, Lane studied stem cells and regenerative medicine as post-doctoral researcher at Imperial College London before taking up her current post.

The "Alchemist Café" talk is part of the Midlands Science Festival, running parallel to the nationwide science week. The Midlands Science Festival will take science out of the lab and into the world to promote the relevance of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in everyday life. It also promotes STEM subjects as a career choice for young people.