Best-seller ‘Life Force’ features Leucadia’s approach to Alzheimer’s

New York Times best selling book offers a glimpse into exciting breakthroughs in health research aimed at extending healthy human life.

“Life Force” interviews more than 100 scientists and doctors in the field of regenerative medicine, who are pioneering diagnostic tools and transformational therapies to help people live longer, healthier and more active lives.

What distinguishes this book from so many others is that it provides both an overview of many achievements in precision medicine today and a practical guide to lifestyle behaviors that people can embrace immediately to start improving the quality and length of their lives.

The authors - motivational speaker Tony Robbins, serial entrepreneur and XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis, and neurosurgeon and serial entrepreneur Robert Hariri - produced a book that both educates and serves as a handy do-it-yourself guide to long health.

At Methuselah Foundation, we are particularly excited that Leucadia Therapeutics’ approach to the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is highlighted in the book!

We made the founding investment in Leucadia in 2015. The company is committed to curing Alzheimer’s disease – but its approach is very different than that of most researchers. For years, the medical establishment has viewed plaques and tangles in the brain as the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Leucadia’s research shows that those plaques and tangles are the effect of a more serious underlying condition.

The company is developing a therapeutic device to restore cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow across the cribriform plate, the portion of the ethmoid bone that forms the roof of the nasal cavity. Leucadia research shows the plate serves as a kind of drain for CSF, which helps to clear toxic metabolites from the regions of the brain affected earliest by Alzheimer’s disease.

The cribiform plate thickens with age and, sometimes, a bony veil covers its pores, blocking the flow of CSF, which allows a protein sludge of amyloids and tau to accumulate over time. This can lead to the death of billions of neurons.  

Leucadia is focused on draining CSF by doing what the book calls “a neurosurgical Roto-Rooter, a low-risk procedure to get things flowing again.” It has patented a device called Arethusta, which can be inserted into the cribiform plate in a minimally invasive surgical procedure to restore the draining function.

The company is poised to take the next steps in its evolution. In coming months, it will begin the process of seeking FDA permission to conduct clinical trials.

Leucadia is an example of our “Get the crud out” strategy, which recognizes that cellular processes result in by-products that are harmful if not cleared by the cell. Lifestyle and environmental factors add to the gradual accumulation of toxic substances in the body. As we age, there is an increasing amount of DNA damage, which leads to ineffective cellular processes, intracellular damage and senescent cells. In this case, research suggests that removal of toxic proteins is essential to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and – potentially – even its cure. 

“Get the crud out” is one of the seven strategies that guide Foundation investments, planning and policies. We came up with our seven strategies because there is no single solution that will lengthen the healthy human lifespan. It will take a combination of things to help us reach our goal of making 90 the new 50 by 2030.

We’re thrilled that “Life Force” recognizes some of the important work we support. Now we look forward to seeing the research lead to life-improving changes.