Comment by inglor_cz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by inglor_cz | Hacker News Reader

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I am soon-to-be 44.

I felt the same process creeping on me in my late 30s. Since then, I started experimenting with some OTC drugs (to be concrete: Nicotinamide Riboside, Pterostilbene and Spermidine). It is my impression that the effect has largely gone away. People that I meet after a long time tend to remark that I am noticeably more energetic, too.

A combination of NR and Pterostilbene under the name EH301 was recently trialled in Spain for treatment of ALS (yes, that ALS) with remarkably good results [0], though the study was small. A much bigger study is now underway in Norway [1]. If this combo can influence a neurodegenerative disease positively, it may help the brain in general.

But I do not want to sound as a huckster for both. This is a huge if and it is possible that I am just another case of a placebo effect.

[0] https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/small-trial-eh30...

[1] https://ichgcp.net/clinical-trials-registry/NCT04562831

I'm 44 and don't feel in any way that I need performance enhancing cognitive drugs in order to program effectively.

It's great that you guys are being honest. But it's a shame that the top of the thread is dominated by comments that reinforce ageism.

Agree,

(Also late 40s)

I tend to find it more of a mental stretch to understand what the young ones don’t yet understand and can’t see clearly.

It’s e.g. quite satisfying seeing someone has a bit of a blind spot with understanding handling async code and then being able to point him to the direction to mastering it.

It feels a bit like having on-script glasses in a world where everyone is myopic to some degree.

That said, I’m probably working with too many juniors - a stint with more intermediate/seniors might give me a more humble/humbling report.

I never thought I'd see the day when someone recommends performance enhancing drugs to stay competitive as a software developer.

Unless you're being sarcastic, we must work in very different places. I can't tell you how many times I've had discussions with colleagues at different roles about our Nootropics stack.

I guess the world is a big place.

TBH I wasn't interested in them for my development skills. I was more interested in general effects of NAD+ precursor supplementation. I sometimes hang out with the longevity crowd and try out methods that do not sound too dangerous (intermittent fasting etc.)

The software engineering jobs you get in your 40s and 50s pay more than most NBA of NFL players will every make.

How so?

By "most players" you mean excluding the very top, right?

And the bottom too.

Not everywhere.

Median salary of nfl player is about 850k. Minimum salary of a rookie is 435k. NBA median is 3.8 million. Minimum is 925k Please tell me where I can make this type of money as a software engineer.

Finance in NYC

I'm guessing they meant lifetime earnings. There's a limited number of years you can play competitively in the NFL/NBA, and not all of them successfully transition to the sports desk or small business owner.

Not really drugs. Supplements that the nootropics community are pushing. They might work and they might not - there's not a lot of double-blind studies on these things yet. The ones that have been done show mixed results.

Your thought process also becomes more advanced and include more parameters, as you become more experienced, so it can be slower also because of that.

Notice how doctors say "levels are fine for your age" for various hormones. For whatever reason them declining is considered normal so nothing should be done about it.

What if you are 60 and want to have the muscle strength, metabolism and/or mental acuity of a 40 year old? Turns out, it's possible! You just use the same hormones (or analogues) from external sources.

The downside seems to be a shorter lifespan, but there's been no major studies on it. However, it makes sense - you push your body harder.

I think quality of life:length of life should be left up to the individual. I'm sure many will choose a more active life up to 75-80 years than a slower one up to 90+.

My grandparents and their brothers/sisters basically did nothing after 70ish. Just literally waited to die, too bored and/or tired to do anything more. One of my grandfathers just drank for 15 years until he died. My remaining grandmother is 84 and still doing gardenwork, but otherwise she says "eh, I'm ready anytime".

Length of life should not be as important as it seems to be today. Quality matters, too, for some people - even more.

> Notice how doctors say "levels are fine for your age" for various hormones. For whatever reason them declining is considered normal so nothing should be done about it.

We're trying to do a lot of this about this, all the time. There's a ton of research into aging.

But we can't just do what politicians do and do stuff, nilly-willy, hoping something sticks. In many cases the cure is worse than the disease.

You know, I'm hitting that point now myself. How do you find trusted supplement providers?

So for Pterostilbene, I used a German brand Hepatica which seems to have a good reputation. (I live next to Germany.)

Spermidine is so cheap and easy to manufacture that I doubt that there are fake products out there; yet another German company (Green Naturals.)

As for NR, I chose Tru Niagen (ChromaDex), a well-known brand. It is expensive, though. By far the most expensive of the three supplements.

I'm curious. Can I ask how you encountered these compounds and what made you try them? Articles/Research, credible recommendations from trusted sources? That kind of thing.

Interesting - I was looking into sirtuin boosters mostly from the longevity science point of view, how did you decide between NR (Nicotinamide Riboside) and NAD boosters.

And how long did you do it to notice effects?

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