The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M)

CNN.com has an article on the American Academy of Antiaging Medicine (The A4M). It's general journalism and, while not too flattering, isn't a complete hatchet job. Since there's been a number of comments on this site about forming a recognized body of some sort, I thought I'd link to the CNN article and see what everyone thinks.

The American Medical Association does not consider anti-aging an official specialty. Unlike Casas, who is board-certified in internal medicine and was an assistant professor at Dartmouth Medical School, many anti-aging practitioners are not certified in traditional fields. Robert Goldman and Ronald Klatz, the co-founders of A4M, are osteopathic physicians who were once ordered by the state of Illinois to stop identifying themselves as MDs.

Some observers say the whole field is an expensive hoax. "There is no such thing as anti-aging medicine," huffs Jay Olshansky, a sociologist at the University of Illinois who studies medicine and longevity. "As long as humans have existed, we have always desired to live longer. Every society, every religion, every culture. Of course, they all failed at dramatic life extension." Olshansky was slapped with a $120 million dollar defamation lawsuit by A4M after he accused the organization of promoting quackery. He counter sued and both sides eventually agreed to drop their cases.