Originally published August 21 2005
Companies buying more health science stocks
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
As more technological advancements promise longer lifespans for Americans, more investors are buying stocks in companies that focus on health sciences like biotechnology and proteomics.
Americans born in 1959 had a life expectancy at birth of 70 years, while those born in 1999 are likely to stick around for 77 years, according to the Human Mortality Database.
Many of the diseases that used to kill us now merely afflict us.
But plowing cash into companies pursuing remedies for the ravages of age isn't the safest prescription for investors' financial well-being.
If you like profitable companies, try a different sector: Reading the press releases of publicity-seeking medical technology firms, it's easy to get the impression that scientists are on the verge of curing cancer, eliminating Alzheimer's disease and replacing ailing organs with genetically matched substitutes.
Those familiar with the Byzantine process of gaining regulatory approval for drugs or launching a new treatment, however, know that it takes years, if not decades, to translate a laboratory breakthrough into an accepted treatment for humans.
The time lag from lab to public acceptance is one of the key reasons biotech and medical-technology firms largely lose money.
Dr. Terry Grossman, founder of Denver longevity clinic Frontier Medical Institute and co-author of the book Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever, is one such believer.
When asked how a longevity-minded investor might proceed today, Grossman advised investigating companies in the field of proteomics, the study of proteins.
More than a dozen companies associated with proteomics research currently trade on U.S. stock exchanges.
But for truly life-extending breakthroughs, prepare to wait, said Aubrey de Gray, a University of Cambridge gerontologist known for his controversial view that science will find a way to repair damage from the aging process.
"At present, we have nothing that can appreciably extend the lives of people who are reasonably healthy for their age," de Gray said.
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