Age-Related NAD+ Depletion Contributes to Disease

NAD+ is a molecule that our body uses for many important functions including energy production and repairing DNA. This substance is so important that its absence can be associated with diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and others. It is becoming clear that our levels of this critical component decrease naturally with age, and this may then lead to the development of disease. Traditional healthcare would then prescribe medication to help control or mitigate the damage of these diseases, while simply replenishing NAD+ levels within the body could help restore good health.

There are many reasons for this decline. Decreased dietary intake is always suspect, but there are also many factors within the body that are likely at play. As NAD+ reacts with its environment it often can get broken up or combined into other molecules, while there could also be a slowing in the cellular ability to make NAD+. Regardless, the relationship between many common diseases associated with aging and the corresponding depletion of NAD+ is becoming clear.

Oral replacement of NAD+ isn’t very effective because it is a large molecule that gets broken apart in digestion and further degraded and/or absorbed by the liver, thereby significantly reducing the amount available to the cells. Oral precursors like NR or NMN are more effective than oral NAD+ but still have limited availability after digestion. Intravenous replacement of NAD+ can result in anxiety, flushing and other adverse effects related to the reactivity of the NAD+ molecule itself. Intravenous NR(Niagen) is becoming the clear frontrunner in NAD+ replacement therapy with little to no adverse effects or risk.

The impacts on diminished NAD+ stores on health are well documented. As it is critical in many aspects of cellular health, a decline in NAD+ is associated with many aspects of cellular disfunction. It will be interesting to see the impacts of IV NR therapy on these myriad disease processes and how it may help people live their best lives.