The results of this study make for an interesting comparison with research that demonstrates lack of blood vessel dilation in muscles to be a root cause of age-related loss of muscle mass, or sarcopenia: researchers "have determined that moderately and temporarily restricting the flow of blood through muscles - a practice adopted by bodybuilders who noticed that it made light weights feel heavier - can be combined with low-level resistance exercise training to produce muscle-mass increases in older men. ... investigators studied changes in the thigh muscles of seven older men (average age 70) when they performed four minutes of low-resistance leg extension exercises both with and without inflatable cuffs that reduced blood flow out of the muscles. Muscle protein synthesis was measured in each of the men by monitoring changes in a chemical tracer infused into the bloodstream. In addition, a series of biopsies yielded muscle samples that were analyzed to track alterations in biochemical pathways critical to muscle growth. ... We saw that when we put the cuffs on, they responded similarly to young people doing traditional high-intensity resistance exercise."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100514151926.htm

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

From Life Extension Magazine: "the name 'regenerative medicine' came from Bill Haseltine, then of Human Genome Sciences, one of the early leaders in genomics and DNA technology. Back in the 1990s, Bill learned that researchers in aging were making important progress on turning back the clock of aging in human cells through cloning, and then creating young cells that could potentially regenerate or repair all the tissues of the aged human body. And so, upon hearing of that realistic prospect, he christened the field 'regenerative medicine' in the belief that it would one day become a major part of medical practice. So, based on its origins, I would define regenerative medicine as that collection of technologies that utilizes embryonic pluripotent stem cells and their derivatives to regenerate tissues in the body ravaged from disease, primarily degenerative disorders associated with aging. ... The problem with human biology is that the immortal reproductive cells that built you and me develop into differentiated cells within our bodies and as a result, lose the capacity to proliferate (divide) forever. So, the cells of the body are mortal, meaning they have a finite life span, and as our tissues age, or deteriorate from disease, our body has a finite capacity to regenerate and repair those tissues. As a result, we suffer progressive declines in function that lead to our death." There is more to aging than this, however.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/jun2010_Immortal-Stem-Cells-for-Anti-Aging-Therapies_01.htm

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

A lot of work has taken place in recent years on killing cancer cells by heating targeted nanoparticles. Here is an example of the present state of the art: "When irradiated with light, gold nanoparticles become hot quickly, hot enough to generate explosive microbubbles that will kill nearby cancer cells ... To boost this approach, researchers [have] developed a method for creating supramolecular assemblies of gold nanoparticles that function as highly efficient photothermal agents of a size designed to optimize their delivery to tumors. ... They first took gold nanoparticles, 2 nanometers in diameter, and decorated the nanoparticles' surface with adamantane. They then added two other constructs: cyclodextrin attached to a biocompatible polymer known as polyethylenimine, and adamantane linked to polyethylene glycol, another biocompatible polymer. When combined in various ratios, these three constructs quickly assemble into nanoparticles with well defined sizes ranging from 40 to 118 nanometers in diameter. Once the complexes were purified, the researchers then attached a tumor targeting molecule to the surface of the resulting supramolecular complexes. ... when irradiated with a laser beam, the temperature of the assemblies rapidly soared above 374 C, the temperature at which explosive microbubbles form."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.physorg.com/news194078270.html

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Another step forward for tissue engineers: "scientists have created an eight-layer, early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells, the first step toward the development of transplant-ready retinas to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affect millions. ... The retina is the inside back layer of the eye that records the images a person sees and sends them via the optic nerve from the eye to the brain. Retinal diseases are particularly damaging to sight. More than 10 million Americans suffer from macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 55. About 100,000 have retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive, genetic disorder that usually manifests in childhood. ... To mimic early stage retinal development, the researchers needed to build microscopic gradients for solutions in which to bathe the stem cells to initiate specific differentiation paths. ... creating transplantable retinas from stem cells could help millions of people, and we are well on the way. ... researchers are testing the early-stage retinas in animal models to learn how much they improve vision. Positive results would lead to human clinical trials."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://today.uci.edu/news/2010/05/nr_retina_100526.php

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

CNN Money is running a longer piece on calorie restriction mimetic research and the goal of slowing down aging to extend healthy life: "In early 1934, Depression-weary Americans were beginning to see tendrils of hope poking out of the bleak landscape. ... But one of the new year's most promising developments passed almost unnoticed. ... researcher Clive McCay was nearing the end of a four-year study that showed that rats' life spans were greatly extended when they were put on near-starvation diets. To many of his scientific peers, McCay's data made no sense at all. A glorious new chapter in nutrition science had been opened not long before by the discovery of dietary deficiencies behind scourges such as rickets, pellagra, and beriberi. In the wake of such progress, it seemed almost subversive to suggest that a bunch of rodent Oliver Twists, raised on such short rations that their growth was stunted, could live radically longer than well-fed ones. ... Over the next several decades, his discovery was all but forgotten outside of the back halls of science - a laboratory curiosity that didn't actually spark much curiosity. Most scientists were reluctant to risk wasting time probing an anomaly that seemed as baffling as aging itself. Calorie restriction (CR), as it's now called, eventually was shown to extend many species' life spans by a third or more. Now that anti-aging research is hot, it seems bizarre that CR spent decades on science's back shelf."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/24/retirement/retire_rich_anti_aging.fortune/

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

A review paper: "The definition of sarcopenia continues to evolve, from an observational phenomenon to a differential diagnostic approach. Clinical relevance for sarcopenia is defined by a loss in lean muscle mass and impairment of functional status. A therapeutic approach to the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength in older persons depends on correct classification. The term sarcopenia is reserved for age-related decline in muscle mass not attributable to the presence of proinflammatory cytokines. For persons with sarcopenia, the primary intervention should include resistance exercise. An improvement in muscle mass and strength has been demonstrated with resistance exercise, even in the very old. Targeting the hormonal changes with aging is an attractive intervention. However, testosterone replacement in elderly hypogonadal men has demonstrated only modest increases in muscle mass and strength. Administration of growth hormone in pharmacologic doses increases muscle mass but not muscle strength. Nutritional therapy is promising, but the effects in clinical trials have been small."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20497850

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

A brace of popular science books on gerontology and engineered longevity have been written in past years - one of the many signs that the field is growing in profile in the public eye, an important step on the way to obtaining funding for more rapid progress. Here the Village Voice notes an irreverent forthcoming addition to the portfolio. Per the article, we probably shouldn't take it seriously as anything but a sign of the times: "Along with the origin of life and the nature of consciousness, why and how we age is one of the weightiest questions out there. It's one Weiner tackles in his new book Long for This World, a brilliant and improbably funny look inside the mind-bending science of immortality ... These people are asking what makes us mortal. It's something everyone's curious about, whether they're scientists or not. ... Human life expectancy has doubled over the past 200 years, Weiner writes, thanks primarily to advancements in medicine. And while prominent gerontologists argue that we can expect another seven years fairly soon, the most fervent members of the field are gunning for the total eradication of death. Chief among the latter is Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey, Weiner's arch protagonist."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-05-25/books/jonathan-weiner-follows-search-for-immortality/

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

From Impact Aging earlier this year, an open access paper on some of the mechanics of hormesis: a little stress on your system improves longevity. "Oxidative stress constitutes the basis of physio-pathological situations such as neurodegenerative diseases and aging. However, sublethal exposure to toxic molecules such as reactive oxygen species can induce cellular responses that result in stress fitness. Studies in Schizosaccharomyces pombe have recently showed that the Sty1 MAP kinase, known to be activated by hydrogen peroxide and other cellular stressors, plays a pivotal role in promoting fitness and longevity when it becomes activated by calorie restriction, a situation which induces oxidative metabolism and reactive oxygen species production. Activation of the MAP kinase by calorie restriction during logarithmic growth induces a transcriptional anti-stress response including genes essential to promote lifespan extension. Importantly enough, the lifespan promotion exerted by deletion of the pka1 or sck2 genes, inactivating the two main nutrient-responsive pathways, is dependent on the presence of a functional Sty1 stress pathway, since double mutants also lacking Sty1 or its main substrate Atf1 do not display extended viability. ... We propose that moderate stress levels that are not harmful for cells can make them stronger."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v2/n4/full/100133.html

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Some people do have better genes than others when it comes to a long life, though lifestyle choices do still seem to play a greater role. Here, researchers were looking to "determine whether offspring of parents with exceptional longevity (OPEL) have a lower rate of dementia than offspring of parents with usual survival (OPUS). ... [Participants were a] volunteer sample of 424 community-residing older adults without dementia aged 75 to 85 recruited from Bronx County starting in 1980 and followed for up to 23 years. ... Epidemiological, clinical, and neuropsychological assessments were completed every 12 to 18 months. OPEL were defined as having at least one parent who reached the age of at least 85. OPUS were those for whom neither parent reached the age of 85. ... The OPEL group had a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease. After adjusting for sex, education, race, hypertension, myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, and stroke, results were essentially unchanged. OPEL also had a significantly lower rate of memory decline on the Selective Reminding Test (SRT) than OPUS. ... OPEL develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease at a significantly lower rate than OPUS. Demographic and medical confounders do not explain this result. Factors associated with longevity may protect against dementia and Alzheimer's disease."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20487085

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Raised levels of heat shock proteins can protect against sarcopenia, age-related loss of muscle mass and strength: "HSP10 (Heat Shock Protein), helps monitor and organise protein interactions in the body, and responds to environmental stresses, such as exercise and infection, by increasing its production inside cells. Researchers [found] that excessive amounts of HSP10 inside mitochondria - 'organs' that act as energy generators in cells - can [preserve] muscle strength. ... We studied the role of HSP10 inside mitochondria, as it is here that unstable chemicals are produced which can harm parts of the cell. The damage caused by this is thought to play an important part in the ageing process, in which skeletal muscle becomes smaller and weaker and more susceptible to stress damage. In response to these stresses HSP10 increases its levels and helps cells resist damage and recover more effectively. Our research is the first to demonstrate that age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass is not inevitable." The article is sadly sensationalist, overhyping a slowing of muscle loss as "halting the aging process" when it is of course no such thing. It is unfortunate that university publicists feel the need to do this - it only makes them and the researchers they promote look foolish.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.physorg.com/news193913231.html

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Resveratrol, a naturally-occuring compound in wine, may help reduce cardiovascular disease and prolong life, new human study states.

Resveratrol is a naturally-occurring compound found in wines fermented from grapes.   This compound is a polyphenol and has been studied for many decades primarily because of the French Paradox: there is a low incidence of heart disease in France even though the French generally indulge in high-fat diets.

The French also smoke and drink a lot of wine throughout their lives.  One would expect that cardiovascular problems would be common, given the circumstances; however, something is keeping the French heart strong and healthy.  And according to Dr. Renaud, a French doctor from Bordeaux University, it was resveratrol that was to be given the credit.

Blood flow boost

In the United Kingdom, a human study (note – they used live human subjects for the test and not animals) researchers found out that 250 milligrams of resveratrol can help increase the blood flow to the brain, without producing any negative effects to a person’s cognitive capacity.  This fact alone, according to Dr. David Kennedy, signals a renewed interest in resveratrol and how it can affect vascular activity in the brain.

Another study from Harvard University showed that resveratrol was able to prolong the life of yeast cultures.  This study was done back in 2003, which actually helped increase resveratrol’s popularity with the media as a potential “eternal youth” pill.

Other studies showed that this polyphenolic compound was also capable of prolonging the life of other species such as mice and even nematodes.  What’s amazing about this compound is that it produces so many benefits and yet it’s just one type of molecule. It is as if Mother Nature designed resveratrol as a ‘heal-all’ for all living beings.

How much can you safely take?

It’s good to be always cautious and careful with anything that we ingest or consume.  Regular doses of resveratrol should not be given to children (that usually means kids below the age of 12) and pregnant or lactating women.  This is a general caution because there are still no conclusive studies done on the potential effects of this compound.

However, many researchers disagree with the warning about the dose.  According to James Betz, MD, tests show that at 1,000 mg of reseveratrol the polyphenolic compound failed to produce any significant negative effects to the test subjects.  Could it be possible that nature’s heal-all also doesn’t produce any side effects?

We leave this question open for the time being – it is up to medical researchers to prove or disprove.  But what we know now is this: resveratrol has a very big potential in prolonging the life of humans by protecting people’s hearts.  That is the main benefit and it is still the most interesting advantage to people who ingest resveratrol supplements.

Other benefits of resveratrol

This tough molecule does more than just protect the heart:

1. Resveratrol reduces inflammation in the body, which might benefit a lot of people in the long term because many medical conditions produce inflammation in the skin, joints, muscles and other body tissues.
2. Resveratrol reduces the incidence of blood clots, which may cause heart attacks, stroke, thrombosis, embolisms, etc.
3. Resvertarol is a natural anti-oxidant that can rid the body of harmful free radicals.
4. Resveratrol may also help in controlling cholesterol levels in the body (LDL cholesterol or bad cholesterol is its main target).

Having a hard time with high blood pressure? This polyphenol has been associated with lower blood pressure, too!

Sources:
nutraingredients-usa.com
mayoclinic.com
mayoclinic.com

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Sulforaphane, an active compound extracted from broccoli, offers hope to breast cancer sufferers as it is capable of killing off cancer stem cells.

According to new research from the US, a compound found in the popular vegetable broccoli is capable of targeting and killing off cancer stem cells.  According to the research, which was published recently in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, the compound sulforaphane was capable of killing off cancer stem cells and prevented new cancerous growths from emerging.

Broccoli vs. cancerous tumors

Collating their data with other earlier studies on the subject, the US researchers noted that sulforaphane was able to reduce the resistance of cancerous tumors to conventional treatment.  Since the compound reduces tumor resistance, a second theory arose: the compound may be the key to solving the problem with relapses, or recurring cancer.

The researchers further noted that people who consumed more broccoli tend to have less risk of breast cancer.  Since the compound is derived naturally from the vegetable, it has very low toxicity and can be utilized by the body easily (high bioavailability).

Bioavailability is an important concept in medical treatments because if a drug has low bioavailability, it becomes less effective and the patient would eventually need to take higher doses of the drug to get the desired results.  To date, sulforaphane has already been marketed as a food supplement.  However, the amount of sulforaphane in supplements is not being regulated.

Broccoli vs. diabetes

It seems that like a few other organic compounds like resveratrol, sulforaphane is enjoying widespread popularity because it provides so many benefits.  In another study published in the medical journal Diabetes, it was found that the same compound may be helpful in reducing the vascular damage associated with long-term diabetes.

As you may know, diabetes causes a lot of problems to diabetics, including damage to blood vessels.  This damage to blood vessels may even cause blindness if the diabetes is not treated and monitored correctly.

Sulforaphane, according to the study in Diabetes, was capable of reducing the damage to body’s blood vessels by activating enzyme production.  The enzyme produced protects the blood vessels from the ravages of diabetes.

The compound also helped the body by helping produce enzymes that disabled free radicals in the body.  In yet another study, the compound offered hope to family lines with histories of cancer.

It appears that the compound was also capable of preventing cells from passing on damaged or corrupted genetic information to the next generation of cells.  In another study (this is the fourth!) sulforaphane was also linked to reducing the chances of aggressive prostate cancer in men by more than forty-five percent.

Sources:
mayoclinic.com
nutraingredients.com

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!