Marios Kyriazis

Marios Kyriazis (Greek: Μάριος Κυριαζής) (born 11 March 1956 in Larnaca, Cyprus) is a medical doctor and gerontologist who helped launch and formalise the concept of ‘Anti-aging medicine’ worldwide.

Marios Kyriazis.

Education

Marios Kyriazis received primary and secondary education in Larnaca (Cyprus), and after military service, he studied Medicine at the University of Perugia and then the University of Rome (Italy). In 1982 he received his medical degree and went on to train as a junior doctor in a variety of hospital posts in Cyprus, New York (USA), Sheffield and Northampton (UK). In 1987 he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree and then studied for a Master of Science degree in gerontology at King's College London (1990). He was awarded a Diploma in Geriatric Medicine by the Royal College of Physicians in 1990, and subsequently became a Chartered Biologist, Member of the Institute of Biology (UK).

Medical Work

In 1992 Kyriazis founded the British Longevity Society, a non-profit organisation aiming to provide research-based information on healthy ageing to the general public. He wrote on the subject of free radicals and antioxidants, and his paper on ‘Free Radicals and Ageing’ (Care Elderly 1994;6(7):260-262), was the first to address the subject in a formal mainstream UK medical journal. He was the medical columnist for the consumer periodical ‘Yours magazine’ for a period of four years, reaching over one million readers every month. In a series of almost 700 articles, lectures and media appearances worldwide, he discussed the subject of ‘Healthy Ageing and Longevity’ both for scientists and for the general public.

His work received media attention nationally (2-13) and internationally (1, 14-15). He has been interviewed widely by the daily and weekly national newspapers, television and radio in the UK on matters related to healthy ageing. He has also featured on other media in several countries.

Anti-ageing medicine

As a Biogerontologist Kyriazis did not share the view that antiageing medicine comprises cosmetics, beauty products and quick-fix remedies. Instead, he defined antiageing medicine as (16): a branch of medical science and clinical medicine, aimed at treating some of the underlying processes of ageing and at alleviating or postponing any age-related ailments, with the ultimate goal of extending the healthy lifespan of humans.

Kyriazis wrote several books, including The Anti-Aging Plan (Element Books 2000 (republished as 'Stay Young Longer', Vega 2001), The Age Defying Cookbook (Lorenz Books 2001, and several editions worldwide), The Look Young Bible (Foulsham 2002), and Anti-Aging Medicines (Watkins 2003, and Italian edition 2007).

He introduced the di-peptide carnosine as a general antiageing supplement to the lay public (http://www.antiaging-systems.com/extract/kyriazis.htm). His two books on this subject were ‘Carnosine and other Elixirs of Youth’ (Watkins Publishing, London 2003, and Chinese edition 2005) and The Cataract Cure, iUniverse, New York 2005).

Applying the concept of hormesis on anti-ageing medicine, Kyriazis controversially suggested that leading a stressful, irregular and constantly stimulating lifestyle may be a way of reducing the impact of age-related disfunction http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article520077.ece).

In the book Mavericks of Medicine (17) he was collectively described as “a creative and controversial thinker who is changing the future of medicine” and, one of those who “are shaping and re-defining the limits of medical thinking” http://www.smart-publications.com/articles/MOM-kyriazis.php

References

1. World interest in theory of Cypriot scientist. Phileleftheros 30 April 1992

2. Put the bite on age. Robert Dobson, Sunday Times, 7 June 1998

3. Can these doctors really hold back the clock? Victoria McKee, The Express, 3 August 1998

4. How long will you live? Daily Mail 24 November 1998

5. How to live to 100. Sharon Collins, Sunday Mirror 20 June 1999

6. Who is going to die first? Men’s Health magazine, Oct 1999 p123-128.

7. Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. Jenny Knight & Tony Dave. Times 1 February 2000

8. Memories are made of this. Bonny Estridge, Evening Standard, 23 April 2002

9. I am going to live for ever. Craig Brown, Telegraph, May 2005

10. Get stressed – stay young. Sarah-Kate Templeton, Sunday Times, 8 May 2005

11. 1.2 m people will reach 100th by 2074. Paul Lewis, The Guardian, 8 February 2006

12. Disappearing celebrities. Ali Harris, OK!, 26 January 2007 p60-65.

13. How long will these stars twinkle. Grace Macaskill, Red Orbit News agency. 14 January 2007

14. How to fight ageing. Mary Katsanopoulou. Ta Nea (Greece) 14 December 2006, p31-33

15. Cumbre de genios que estudian celulas madre. Sonia Perilla Santamaria. El Tiempo (Colombia) 27 August 2005, p1-7

16. What is Anti-aging Medicine? Int Antiaging Mag, March 2006, p33-36.

17. Mavericks of Medicine. David Jay Brown, Smart Publications, California 2006.