Abstract
Aging is a result of Adam's fall. But can we do anything to ease the effects of aging or extend our life span? Who hasn't dreamed what it might be like to live forever young? Over the centuries, many have sought a fountain of youth, a way to delay or escape the debilitating effects of aging and death. They've tried countless diets and chemicals. They've studied the oldest surviving people, looking for common threads. Yet even with the benefits of twenty-first-century science, the secret of eternal youth eludes us. The oldest verified person, outside the biblical record, died in 1997 at age 122. She ate two pounds of chocolate a week and smoked until she was 117. Other centenarians have sworn by their daily portion of chicken soup and asparagus, or two eggs a day and cookies, or any number of other notions. No consistent lifestyles have emerged to explain their longevity.