The phenomenon of aging has gained widespread attention in recent times. Although significant advances have been made to better understand aging and its related pathologies including cancer, there is not yet a clear mechanism explaining why diseases and cancer are inherent parts of the aging process. Finding a unifying equation that could bridge aging and its related diseases would allow therapeutic development and solve an immense human health problem to live longer and better. In this review, we discuss NAD+ reduction as the central mechanism that may connect aging to its related pathologies and cancer. NAD+ boosters would ensure and ameliorate health quality during aging.
Keywords: L-tryptophan/kynurenine pathway; age-related diseases; aging; cancer; de novo NAD(+) synthesis; nicotinamide; nicotinamide mononucleotide; nicotinamide riboside.
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