Studies conducted on animals have revealed that clioquinol can slow the aging process. The drug was used to treat diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal disorders.

But the startling revelation came to fore when it was found that it could reverse the progression of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. Scientists have various explanations as to how a single medicine could reverse the progress of three unrelated neurodegenerative disorders.

According to Dr. Siegfried Hekimi and colleagues at McGill's Department of Biology, the drug effects a protein called CLK-1, often informally called 'clock-1.' This might be the reason for slowing down the ageing process.

Clioquinol affects a gene. This gene when inhibited leads to decreasing the ageing speed. This could be the reason of the drug having an effect on a diversity of diseases that are all age-dependent.

Strangely enough the drug had been withdrawn from the market after it led to an outbreak of subacute myelo-optic neuropathy in Japan in 1960s. The physicians warn that "clioquinol can be a very toxic substance if abused, and far more research is required."

The real hazard of the drug lies in self treatment by the people. If people start self experimentation and buy the drug in bulk it could lead to disastrous results.