What to Make of David Sinclair and NAD?

I first covered Harvard University’s Australian professor Dr. David Sinclair very briefly in a “brief items of interest” post in August 2016. I then covered him in a bit more detail in a post from March 2017. At that time, he presented some groundbreaking findings regarding anti-aging research, specifically in relation to Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD, sometimes written in its NAD+ form).

Dr. David Sinclair has all the credentials of a reputable and brilliant scientist. For well over a decade, he has promoted the benefits of resveratrol, which is found in small amounts in red wine, grapes, berries and other related fruits. However, many of Dr. Sinclair’s peers accuse him of being overoptimistic and impatient. Not always a bad thing in the hair loss world, where we typically have the opposite situation.

The resveratrol angle has had some hiccups over the past decade and Dr. Sinclair seems to have shifted his focus to other anti-aging research in recent years.

Dr. David Sinclair and NAD Update

Yesterday, Dr. David Sinclair’s work on NAD and its anti-aging properties was back in the news in a big way (h/t Christopher and AndyOz). There are some very fantastical points made in the article, with the most striking being:

Dr. Sinclair is using his own NAD molecule. He has supposedly reduced his biological age by 24 years after taking the pill.
The good doctor’s father is 79 years old, and has been white water rafting and backpacking since starting to ingest the molecule a year-and-a-half ago.
Dr. Sinclair’s sister-in-law is now fertile again after taking the pill. This despite that fact that she started to transition into menopause in her 40s. (My note: I assume this implies that she is in her 50s now).
Potential increase in human lifespan to 150 years of age.
The pill leads to a decline in age related hair loss. (My note: Ironically, I find this to be the most believable of all the above claims).
Human trials still two years away, but Dr. Sinclair aims to release the product into the market in five years.

Dr. Sinclair states that his team does not recommend people taking NAD precursors, since they have not yet been formally tested for safety. On Amazon, it seems like NAD+ pills can be purchased legally, although they seem to be a form of Vitamin B3 (brand name Niagen). Edit: Seems like a company named Tru Niagen also sells them directly.

Note: make sure to not confuse Dr. David Sinclair and Dr. Rodney Sinclair (who is also from Australia). The latter is a well known dermatologist and hair loss expert, who I have covered a few times on this blog in the past.

Today’s @dailytelegraph discusses the fascinating longevity research of Harvard’s David Sinclair https://t.co/nLYYwrB3ut ($). For my hour-long podcast chat with David, check out the Good Life podcast https://t.co/PVD2cqdYuD pic.twitter.com/XLCIfOZdFd

— Andrew Leigh (@ALeighMP) September 2, 2018