As most people want to live longer and with good health, Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer will open in September on its campus the worlds first public hospital longevity center to provide advanced, research-based medicine for maintaining and improving peoples physiological and mental functions.

The Sheba Longevity Center is being planned to promote longer, healthier lives, built on multidisciplinary fields of healthcare and technology.

It will first focus on a pilot study and treatment for some 2,000 patients aged 40 and over in the fields of cognition, sleep, frailty and menopause before branching out to other fields. This effort will pioneer a new type of patient care.

Longevity is an international issue that requires global cooperation, said Prof. Tzipi Strauss, the founder and creator of the center. Today, Sheba has brought together players from across the globe to share knowledge, collaborate and raise awareness of the possibilities this field brings. Through this new annual conference and our clinic, we hope to continue our mission of democratizing the field of longevity, making it accessible to all.

The Sheba Longevity Conference, held this week, united global longevity stakeholders to discuss advances and breakthroughs in medicine for healthier, longer lives. The event featured discussions on how multidisciplinary fields of healthcare, including genomic testing, dieting, stem cell aging and artificial intelligence (AI), could be applied to longevity practice. Attendees included leading researchers from the US, Europe, Africa, the Gulf region and East Asia alongside senior Israeli government officials and health tech leaders.

The Sheba center will build on the existing strong foundations of the hospital, and benefit from its multidisciplinary experts, said internal medicine Prof. Evelyne Bischof at the Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences who will be the director and manage day-to-day operations. Built on a base of clinical evidence, using AI and the latest cutting-edge health tech, the Sheba Longevity Center will combine the best elements of modern-day medical care. Based in Sheba, the city of health, our partnerships across the world will help us achieve a truly global impact.

The Longevity Center will collaborate closely with Shebas innovation arm, ARC (Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate) to promote innovation in the field and incubate start-ups that will contribute to longer, healthier lives. The center will also establish an educational hub working closely with academic institutes, longevity associations and regulatory bodies to build the next generation of longevity scientists.

In 10 years time, due to changing demographics and rising costs, we will not be able to provide the same level of care that we are providing today; we need transformation to continue providing quality care, added Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, the director-general of Sheba, Israels largest hospital. The approach being pioneered by Prof. Strauss will see a shift from treating diseases to promoting health, building towards longer, healthier aging within a center that will provide world-leading, clinically backed, integrative medicine.

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Sheba to launch worlds first dedicated longevity clinic - The Jerusalem Post

Aging happens. While the rate may vary from species to species and even person to person, targeting aging may extend the average life expectancy more than prevention or treatment of diseases, according to Northeastern experts.

Researchers and pharmaceutical companies continue to search for treatments for chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. But while medicine has helped reduce mortality, it doesnt look at the larger picture of aging.

Aging plays a crucial role in the onset of many diseases that affect the bodys organs.

Preventative measures to treat aging at the molecular level may provide more benefits than reactive therapeutic approaches that target a single disease or organwhich do not extend lifespans, says Ramkumar Hariharan, a senior scientist at the Institute for Experimental AI at Northeastern University.

Hariharan focuses on human longevity, advanced statistical data analyses, data visualization, and machine learning. He also has experience in building AI applications, with research directed at using large and genomic datasets in biomedicine.

I think aging is the emperor of all maladies, Hariharan says.

Even if scientists cure cancer, the most it would add to the average life expectancy would be two to three years, Hariharan says. Why? Because, like in the movies, if cancer doesnt get you, something else willsuch as a car crash, heart disease or Alzheimers.

The reason is that aging is the single biggest risk factor for developing any one of these diseases, Hariharan says. If you can slow down aging, you get a life-expectancy increase of 30 to 35 years.

So, what exactly is aging other than another day closer to your next birthday? Hariharan defines it as things falling apart at the molecular level, at the cellular level, and the organismal level.

The chances of getting diseases increase as one ages and other functionalities decrease, such as the bodys immune systemmeaning the older you are, the more likely you are to get infectious diseases.

A scientific hypothesis states, Aging is one of the biggest risk factors for developing any of this plethora of diseases, Hariharan says. By slowing down aging or by halting aging, or in the ideal case reversing aging, you must be able to prevent or stave off the initiation of these diseases.

Hariharan is interested in extending the health or cell span, which refers to the years of life that one spends not taking pills to stave off disease.

There may be a finite age in humans from 120 or 130 years old. After all, Jeanne Calment lived to be 122 years old and is considered to have lived the longest life. But what will it take to get there? Unfortunately, the answer is still unclear.

Thats where artificial intelligence can help.

With the help of Pramod Nagare, a senior data engineer working at Northeasterns Institute for Experiential AIs Solutions Hub, Hariharan explained that they are creating a toolbox for biologists studying longevity to input their data and receive meaningful insight.

Called the Artificial Intelligence Longevity Toolbox, or AI-LOT for short, Nagare explained that the AI-assisted program will make it easier for biologists to understand their data.

A prototype of the toolbox will be available to the public in about six months and the team is hoping to build out AI-LOT within three years.

Biologists dont have to look into the technical aspect of whats going on behind the scenes, Nagare says. However, at the same time, theyre getting a feel about knowing their data in much more detail through exploratory data analysis.

There are three main tools Nagare and Hariharan are developing. The first uses data in predictive analytics, allowing researchers to see what will happen next in a pattern of data. The second is a hub of research on longevity medicine, allowing users to summarize key studies and ask questions on what medicines are the most effective.

The third use is to develop new drugs. For example, a researcher can narrow down a list of the best molecule candidates for a potential drug from a list of millions with the help of AI. The tool will also be able to suggest molecules that will work.

Instead of completing a sentence, it can complete the structure of a molecule, Hariharan says.

Measuring aging, such as using a thermometer for fever or a sphygmomanometer for blood pressure, is still being developed for biological age. The goal is to use data at the molecular level.

Beth Treffeisen is a Northeastern Global News reporter. Email her at b.treffeisen@northeastern.edu. Follow her on Twitter @beth_treffeisen.

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Can AI Help Scientists Slow the Aging Process? - Northeastern University

This article has been reviewed according to ScienceX's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

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by Ten Bridge Communications

A new publication in the May issue of Nature Aging by researchers from Integrated Biosciences, a biotechnology company combining synthetic biology and machine learning to target aging, demonstrates the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to discover novel senolytic compounds, a class of small molecules under intense study for their ability to suppress age-related processes such as fibrosis, inflammation and cancer.

The paper, "Discovering small-molecule senolytics with deep neural networks," authored in collaboration with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, describes the AI-guided screening of more than 800,000 compounds to reveal three drug candidates with comparable efficacy and superior medicinal chemistry properties than those of senolytics currently under investigation.

"This research result is a significant milestone for both longevity research and the application of artificial intelligence to drug discovery," said Felix Wong, Ph.D., co-founder of Integrated Biosciences and first author of the publication. "These data demonstrate that we can explore chemical space in silico and emerge with multiple candidate anti-aging compounds that are more likely to succeed in the clinic, compared to even the most promising examples of their kind being studied today."

Senolytics are compounds that selectively induce apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in senescent cells that are no longer dividing. A hallmark of aging, senescent cells have been implicated in a broad spectrum of age-related diseases and conditions including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Despite promising clinical results, most senolytic compounds identified to date have been hampered by poor bioavailability and adverse side effects. Integrated Biosciences was founded in 2022 to overcome these obstacles, target other neglected hallmarks of aging, and advance anti-aging drug development more generally using artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and other next-generation tools.

"One of the most promising routes to treat age-related diseases is to identify therapeutic interventions that selectively remove these cells from the body similarly to how antibiotics kill bacteria without harming host cells. The compounds we discovered display high selectivity, as well as the favorable medicinal chemistry properties needed to yield a successful drug," said Satotaka Omori, Ph.D., Head of Aging Biology at Integrated Biosciences and joint first author of the publication. "We believe that the compounds discovered using our platform will have improved prospects in clinical trials and will eventually help restore health to aging individuals."

In their new study, Integrated Biosciences researchers trained deep neural networks on experimentally generated data to predict the senolytic activity of any molecule. Using this AI model, they discovered three highly selective and potent senolytic compounds from a chemical space of over 800,000 molecules. All three displayed chemical properties suggestive of high oral bioavailability and were found to have favorable toxicity profiles in hemolysis and genotoxicity tests.

Structural and biochemical analyses indicate that all three compounds bind Bcl-2, a protein that regulates apoptosis and is also a chemotherapy target. Experiments testing one of the compounds in 80-week-old mice, roughly corresponding to 80-year-old humans, found that it cleared senescent cells and reduced expression of senescence-associated genes in the kidneys.

"This work illustrates how AI can be used to bring medicine a step closer to therapies that address aging, one of the fundamental challenges in biology," said James J. Collins, Ph.D., Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science at MIT and founding chair of the Integrated Biosciences Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Collins, who is senior author on the Nature Aging paper, led the team that discovered the first antibiotic identified by machine learning in 2020.

"Integrated Biosciences is building on the basic research that my academic lab has done for the last decade or so, showing that we can target cellular stress responses using systems and synthetic biology. This experimental tour de force and the stellar platform that produced it make this work stand out in the field of drug discovery and will drive substantial progress in longevity research."

More information: Felix Wong et al, Discovering small-molecule senolytics with deep neural networks, Nature Aging (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s43587-023-00415-z

Journal information: Nature Aging

Provided by Ten Bridge Communications

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Artificial intelligence identifies anti-aging drug candidates targeting 'zombie' cells - Phys.org

In a post-Roe world, Amazons newest series Dead Ringers is unapologetically visceral and poignantly clinical. A gender-flipped, highly divergent remake of David Cronenbergs 1988 film follows the complicated relationship of Elliot and Beverly Mantle (both played by Rachel Weisz), twin obstetrician-gynecologists whose brilliance tests the equilibrium of their bond, the lens through which the disequilibrium between women and their bodies is explored.

Warning: Spoilers for Dead Ringers below!

Channeling the psychosexual thriller qualities of its cinematic progenitor, Dead Ringers rides its science hard at times. At the Mantles holistic birthing center, where babies and bioethical conundrums are very much thematic twins, uber-wealthy women want to use the Mantles intellect to skirt legal regulations around surrogacy and create bespoke services that promise everlasting youth and longevity.

In particular, Elliot Mantle, the more scientifically driven of the pair, boasts that menopause a natural biological process marking the end of an individuals reproductive years with the permanent cessation of menstruation is as easily malleable as a magician bending a spoon.

We can postpone it. We can delay the onset of it, says Elliot at a dinner meeting with potential investors for the new birthing center in the second episode. Its a good example of something that we technically know how to do, but were limited by law, ethics, finances, bodies to experiment on.

Elliot makes an even bolder claim that menopause could be prevented indefinitely through a real-life procedure called ovarian tissue freezing. Such a technique, the twin insists, would have women preserving their own ovarian tissue when theyre brimming with estrogenic youthfulness and re-implanting on the rainy days of hot flashes and unsexy infirmity.

Its a not-so-subtle dig at the booming anti-aging culture so dependent on making us feel bad for sprouting a crows feet or two. But is it really possible to counter menopause really, reproductive aging with a simple tissue implant? The prospect of that feminine fountain of youth is much closer than you think, although it is questionable whether its even worth it.

Also known as ovarian tissue cryopreservation, its a still-experimental procedure where a portion of an individuals ovarian tissue is surgically removed and then placed into cold storage for fertility preservation and future use, Elizabeth Rubin, an obstetrician-gynecologist and reproductive endocrinology fellow at Oregon Health and Science University, tells Inverse.

Typically, [its done] in situations in which people with ovaries are about to undergo an extremely gonadotoxic therapy, such as certain types of chemotherapy, or are known to have a condition, usually genetic, in which they will go through menopause, either around or even before the time of puberty, she explains.

While there are other routes to preserve future fertility, such as egg or embryo freezing, these arent options for individuals who are too young, cant delay their cancer treatment, or recently had chemotherapy.

The ASRM [American Society for Reproductive Medicine] still considers ovarian tissue cryopreservation or freezing experimental, Michelle Roach, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, tells Inverse. Its not something routinely done except at a few centers the best way to preserve fertility, its still egg freezing or oocyte preservation.

The magic is in the anti-freeze solution and technologies, explains Kutluk Oktay, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale School of Medicine and medical director of Innovation Fertility Preservation and IVF.

You cannot just take the tissue and stick it in your fridge or freezer, Oktay tells Inverse. He says that when you freeze a cell this way, ice crystals form and damage the delicate components of the cell. Instead, you prepare very thin slices [of ovarian tissue] that fit into test tubes fitted to specialized machines, and then you mix them with cryoprotectants.

Once locked away like Han Solo in carbonite according to a specific freezing formula, these slices of mostly the ovarian cortex the outer layer of the ovary containing primordial follicles (aka immature eggs) are kept under watchful eyes for several years in specially equipped storage facilities.

When someone is ready to use their iced eggs for pregnancy, the tissue is thawed and then placed back into the body near any remaining ovarian tissue or where it was initially removed. It may also be placed, as suggested by Dead Ringers Elliot Mantle, in the armpit, which is nicely vascularized and rich in blood, but more on that later.

According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, around 200 babies worldwide have so far been born from preserved ovarian tissue, with half of those pregnancies occurring naturally and the other half with help from assisted reproductive technology techniques like in vitro fertilization (or IVF).

In his clinic, Oktay who performed the first reported ovarian tissue autotransplantation (going back into the tissue donor versus someone else) in 1999 says hes seen it work for patients in whom ovarian tissue was harvested when they were teenagers, a decade and one ovarian tissue transplant later were able to have two or three children, either naturally or through IVF.

But as with anything in science, theres always a catch. One impediment to the success of ovarian tissue cryopreservation is that when the tissue is reimplanted, the number of eggs you start with isnt the number of eggs you end with. This is crucial because every individual with ovaries, for the most part, is born with a set number of eggs that slowly dwindle with age.

The one hurdle we have, which were overcoming with time, is that freezing and thawing doesnt kill that many eggs, says Oktay. But when you transplant, theres an ischemic stage by the time the blood vessels are formed, according to animal models, you could lose 60 percent of all the eggs [in the transplanted tissue].

Oktay and his colleagues at Yale are investigating pharmacological ways to stave off primordial follicle death We predict we can reduce those losses to about 20 percent, he says. But even before that, theres the risk this fertility preservation could, ironically, trigger menopause, which brings us to the much-anticipated answer.

When we jump to episode three, Elliot performs ovarian tissue freezing on a young 24-year-old woman named Stacy to a live audience watching behind a glass window amid the dark lighting and eerie red surgical gowns.

When Stacy is on the precipice of the menopause, her frozen ovarian tissue will be thawed out and grafted back into her body thus restoring her declining sex hormones and delaying the menopause for potentially 20 years, says Elliot in the show.

For women experiencing symptoms associated with the transition to menopause, there are hormonal and non-hormonal therapies available.

Oktay says in his own clinic, hes definitely seen ovarian tissue transplantation (OTT) stall menopause in some individuals, but never as long as 20 years. In one small 2020 study where about four healthy menopausal women around 47 years old had their banked ovarian tissue successfully grafted back, the tissue was functional for at least six months.

Theres also a possibility that ovarian tissue freezing can trigger early menopause, rendering efforts to safeguard future reproductive health kind of futile and impractical.

For example, if you were under 18 and we took a whole ovary, you may experience early menopause earlier by seven years, based on some studies looking at people who had their ovaries removed for medical reasons, says Oktay. But as you get older, that number is less and less.

For example, shooting for ovarian tissue freezing between ages 30 and 40 may harken menopause a year or two earlier than expected. However, you have to balance that with the fact nothing trumps younger eggs when it comes to quality and survivability and, in turn, what will be more effective at keeping menopause at bay for longer when youre older.

Were working with mathematicians, and weve put together molecular and clinical information and mathematical formulas in a model, which would be available to patients to enter their age, the desire [time] of delay, and that will tell them whether [going with ovarian tissue freezing] makes sense for them or how much tissue to take out, says Oktay.

(In the show, the character Elliot mentions the possibility of grafting tissue from one individual to another unrelated individual. Oktay and Rubin of OHSU say, just like you need matching between donors, you would run into the same challenge with OTT.)

Rubin and Roach of VUMC feel that ovarian tissue freezing as a means to delay menopause is a bit much. Thanks to modern medicine, individuals experiencing this completely natural life transition have many therapies available to help cope with symptoms like hot flashes, low sex drive, or other mood symptoms. These therapies include exogenous hormone replacement with estrogen or progesterone, whats known as hormone replacement therapy, as well as antidepressants and even cognitive behavioral therapy.

Whether the future holds a cure for reproductive aging, the researchers say thats hard to determine. Aging is inevitable, and so too could be our attitude of whole-hearted self-acceptance if we so choose.

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The Trippiest Psychological Thriller on Amazon Showcases a ... - Inverse

Stem cells taking out the trash. This illustration is from Emma Vidal of DrawImpacts. Credit: Emma Vidal

Scientists at UC San Diego have discovered that stem cells unique method of discarding misfolded proteins could hold the key to preserving long-term health and avoiding illness.

As humans continue their search for the fountain of youth, stem cells keep emerging as a key player in the quest for longevity. Studies increasingly suggest that preserving the fitness of stem cells leads to a longer healthspan, and new research highlights the importance of keeping stem cells clean and tidy.

According to a study recently published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine discovered that blood stem cells employ a surprising technique to eliminate their misfolded proteins. The researchers found that this process decreases with age and believe that boosting this specialized garbage disposal system could help fend off age-related illnesses.

The study focused on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), the cells in our bone marrow that produce new blood and immune cells throughout our lives. When their function is weakened or lost, this can lead to blood and immune disorders, such as anemia, blood clotting, and cancer.

UC San Diego researcher Robert Signer, Ph.D., describes how stem cells contribute to aging and age-related diseases. Credit: UC San Diego Health Sciences

Stem cells are in it for the long haul, said senior study author Robert Signer, Ph.D., associate professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Their need for longevity requires them to be wired differently than all the short-lived cells in the body.

A key to keeping stem cells happy is maintaining protein homeostasis. Previous work showed that stem cells, including HSCs, synthesize proteins much slower than other cell types, prioritizing quality over quantity. This helps them make fewer mistakes in the process, as misfolded proteins can become toxic to cells if allowed to build up.

Still, some mistakes or protein damage are inevitable, so the researchers set out to understand how stem cells ensure these proteins are properly discarded.

In most cells, damaged or misfolded proteins get individually tagged for disposal. A mobile protein destroyer called the proteasome then finds the labeled proteins and breaks them down into their original amino acid components. But in the new study, the researchers found proteasome activity was especially low in HSCs. This left the team puzzled: if getting rid of damaged proteins is so important to stem cells, why is the proteasome less active?

UC San Diego scientists found misfolded proteins were aggregated and caged into a single area (green) within stem cells before being disposed of. Credit: UC San Diego Health Sciences

Through a series of subsequent experiments, the team discovered that HSCs use a different system entirely. Here, damaged and misfolded proteins are collected and trafficked into clusters called aggresomes. Once corralled into a single location, they can be collectively destroyed by the lysosome (a cell organelle containing digestive enzymes) in a process called aggrephagy.

Whats very unusual here is this pathway was thought to only be triggered as an extreme stress response, but its actually the normal physiological pathway thats used by stem cells, said Signer. This emphasizes how critical it is for stem cells to prevent stress so they can preserve their health and longevity.

So why this different system? A main advantage of the proteasome method is that it breaks proteins down immediately, producing amino acids that the cell can reuse to build new proteins. But stem cells are less interested in building new proteins. Thus the authors suggest that by storing a collection of damaged proteins in one place, stem cells may be creating their own cache of resources that can be used at a later time when they are actually needed, such as after an injury or when it is time to regenerate.

The body really cant risk losing its stem cells, so having this stockpile of raw materials makes them more protected against rainy days, said Signer. Stem cells are marathon runners, but they also need to be world-class sprinters when the circumstances call for it.

When the researchers genetically disabled the aggrephagy pathway, the stem cells started to accumulate aggregated protein, which impaired their fitness, longevity and regenerative activity.

The team then discovered that while almost all young stem cells had aggresomes, at a certain point in aging, they were almost completely gone. The authors suggest that stem cells inability to efficiently destroy misfolded proteins during aging is likely a key contributing factor to their declining function and the resulting age-related disorders.

Our hope is that if we can improve stem cells ability to maintain the aggrephagy pathway, we will preserve better stem cell fitness during aging and mitigate blood and immune disorders, said Signer.

The authors suspect that other types of stem cells and long-lived cells like neurons have a similar requirement for strict regulation of protein homeostasis, suggesting therapeutics to boost this pathway may be beneficial across multiple organs and pathologies.

Enter your journal: Reference: Hematopoietic stem cells preferentially traffic misfolded proteins to aggresomes and depend on aggrephagy to maintain protein homeostasis by Bernadette A. Chua, Connor J. Lennan, Mary Jean Sunshine, Daniela Dreifke, Ashu Chawla, Eric J. Bennett and Robert A.J. Signer, 21 March 2023, Cell Stem Cell.DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2023.02.010

Co-authors of this study include: Bernadette A. Chua, Connor J. Lennan, Mary Jean Sunshine, Daniela Dreifke and Eric J. Bennett at UC San Diego and Ashu Chawla at La Jolla Institute for Immunology.

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Clearing Out the Trash Stem Cells' Battle Against Aging - SciTechDaily

A 102-year-old doctor who still works has shared her tips for living a long and fulfilling life as she continues to focus on the future with her 10-year plan.

Dr. Gladys McGarey, from Scottsdale, Arizona, is known as the mother of holistic medicine, a form of healing that takes the patient's mind, body, and spirit into account during treatment.

She co-founded the American Board of Holistic Medicine and had a family practice for more than 60 years. The mother of six continues to work as a consulting doctor and writer.

McGarey was 100when she started penning her new book,The Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctors Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age, which was published last week.

She makes an effort to move daily, including reaching her daily step count and riding her tricycle. In her free time, she knits, listens to audiobooks, and talks with friends.

As she lifts the lid on her keys to longevity while promoting her latest book,FEMAIL has highlighted her best advice below.

Discover your life's purpose

McGarey believes that one of the most important things you can do to live life to the fullest is to find your 'juice' your purpose for living.

In her book, she wrote about how she discovered she was meant to be a doctor when she was just eight years old.

She grew up in India with her parents, who were medical missionaries, and spent years thinking she was 'stupid' because she struggled with dyslexia.

McGareyrecalled how her father took her older brothers hunting one fateful day, leaving her and her younger siblings to help their mother in the medical tent.

A young man brought over a wounded elephant for treatment. Even though her mother wasn't a veterinarian, she removed a splinter of bamboo from the animal's foot and irrigated the infection.

Assisting her mother that day made her realize that she was meant to be a doctor.

'Each of us is here to connect with your unique gifts, this is what activates our desire to be alive,' she wrote. 'Achieving this connection isn't necessarily the point. The search counts for far more. The process of "finding our juice" keeps us vital.'

McGarey is also an advocate for having a 10-year plan and looking to the future.

She told Insider that her current plan involves creating a village for 'living medicine' where people of all ages can care for each other and practice wellness.

'A 10-year plan makes space for everything,' she explained in her book. 'It's a far enough reach that it keeps our life force activated. Yet it's close enough that we can achieve it, dust ourselves off, and plan anew.'

Know there is a lesson in everything

McGarey has had her fair share of struggles over the years, including surviving cancer and grieving the death of her daughter.

She was almost 70 when her husband of 46 years and clinic partner, William McGarey, left her for another woman.

The authortold Today that the painful experience was 'a huge teacher' that helped her find her own voice and led her to start anew holistic medical practice with her daughter.

'Up to that point, I had depended on [his] support in the things that I was saying. After that, I had to believe that what I was saying had strength and was important,' she explained.

'Once I could actually find my own voice, I wrote him a letter and thanked him for giving me my freedom. Because up until that time, I did not feel that my voice was strong enough.'

McGarey also takes cues from her dreams because she believes they are the key to the unconscious and advises others to do the same.

In her interview with Today, she explained that when she is wrestling with a decision, she asks for a dream before going to bed. She immediately writes down the dream after waking up and searches for messages from her unconscious.

Let go of anything that doesn't serve you

McGarey combats unnecessary stress in her life by letting go of things or experiences that no longer serve her.

She explained in an interview with CNBC Make Itthat the happiest and healthiest people she knows understand the importance of releasing whatever isn't working in their lives.

'My mom taught me an easy way to release things that dont matter. She would raise her hand gently in front of us, fingers held loosely, palm up. Then swoop it down and back and say, "It doesnt matter,"' she told the outlet.

McGarey adopted the same practice and has grown to understand the significance of the symbolic gesture.

'I realize that theres great empowerment in knowing that whenever I notice something coming toward me, I can choose whether to take it in,' she said. 'And if its something I dont want, I consciously give the energy back to wherever it came from.'

Keep moving

McGarey makes sure she keeps moving, both literally and figuratively.

She is consistent with her daily fitness goals, which include walking 3,800 steps a day with the help of her walker.

The doctor also rides an adult tricycle around her yard and neighborhood. She recently shared footage of herself riding the bike on her Instagram page.

'I do things that I can do, that I want to do,' she told Fortune.

When it comes to moving through life, she follows her mother's motto: make do.

'Look for what you can do, not what you cant do,' she said. 'Our bodies are our teachers if we pay attention to it, we learn lessons.'

Find what works for you

McGarey follows a daily routine, but she doesn't believe there is a one-size-fits-all approach to living.

She told Insider that on most days she wakes up and does a morning prayer before heading downstairs and starting her day.

McGareylikes to havea bowl of Raisin Bran and a glass of prune juice for breakfast, while lunch is typically a salad and soup.

However, she explained in her interview with Today that she eats whatever she wants to eat, including the occasional hamburger.

She doesn't smoke or drink alcohol, but she isn't opposed to the latter.

'I think wine for some people is a lovely thing. Its what works for you,' she said.

'The individual person has to live their own individual life, so as you find what works for you, bless it and use it and work with it.'

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102-year-old doctor shares her secrets to longevity as she looks to the future with her 10-year plan - Daily Mail

Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia, causing up to 70% of dementia cases. According to the Alzheimers Association, it affects some 6 million people in the United States, and around two-thirds of those affected are women.

Increasing age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimers disease, and women, on average, live longer than men. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2021, womens life expectancy at birth in the United States was 79.1 years, compared with 73.2 for men.

Dr. Emer MacSweeney, CEO and consultant neuroradiologist at Re:Cognition Health, told Medical News Today that the risk of developing Alzheimers disease is multifactorial, with a higher incidence in women than men, even when adjusted for the longer average life span for women.

Those extra life years alone cannot fully explain the difference in Alzheimers disease risk between women and men. Recent research has suggested that hormonal changes after menopause may contribute to risk.

And women may have a greater genetic risk, too the APOE e4 gene variant, which increases dementia risk and is carried by around 15% to 25% of people, seems to have more effect in women than men.

Also under investigation are societal and lifestyle factors. The Alzheimers Association recently reported that women who undertook paid employment had slower memory decline in late life than those who did not.

Recent research has focused on whether stress is a contributing factor. It has been shown that stress can accelerate symptoms of Alzheimers, but how might it increase the risk of developing Alzheimers disease?

A new study has found that stress leads to a rise in beta-amyloid in female mice, and not in males. Beta-amyloid forms plaques in the brain that interfere with nerve impulses and trigger inflammation and are widely thought to be responsible for many of the symptoms of Alzheimers disease.

The study, from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, is published in Brain.

Stress can have a profound effect on the body and we are understanding more about the implications it can have to our mental and physical health both positive and negative, explained Sebnem Unluisler, genetic engineer and chief longevity officer at the London Regenerative Institute in the United Kingdom, not involved in the study.

Stress triggers the release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which, if produced excessively or over a prolonged period of time, can have a hugely negative effect on the body, causing inflammation, damage to DNA and cells, and accelerating the aging process, which of course can affect the brain and cognition, she added.

Dr. John Cirrito, co-lead study author, and a professor in the Department of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, also told us why stress might play a role in Alzheimers risk in women:

Many other studies have demonstrated that women are more likely to be stressed, that stress is linked to increased risk of Alzheimers disease, and that women are at higher risk of Alzheimers disease. We are not the first to put together this possible link. However, there could many possible reasons that link stress, women and Alzheimers disease, including correlational, comorbidities, and lifestyle.

Our study demonstrates a direct link between stress and Alzheimers disease in women at a cellular level, he told MNT.

Whilst stress has been accepted as a significant risk factor, Edwards et al have provided new data from studies on mice to explain why a different response to stress may account for the higher incidence of Alzheimers disease in women, compared to men, said Dr. MacSweeney.

Using mice, the researchers in the current study investigated the effect of stress on levels of beta-amyloid in the interstitial fluid of the hippocampus. The hippocampus is an area of the brain that is affected in the early stages of Alzheimers disease and continues to deteriorate as the disease progresses.

They exposed mice to one of two stressors restraint stress or olfactory stress for 3 hours.

Restraint stress involved placing the mouse in a small, clear, plastic container with air holes that restricted their movement.

For olfactory stress, a small tube containing 0.1 milliliters (ml) of urine from a predator (fox, bobcat, or coyote) was placed in their normal cage. The urine was swapped every 30 minutes so the mice did not become accustomed to the scent of one predator.

Beta-amyloid levels were measured before, during, and after stress, for a total of 22 hours.

The researchers measured levels of stress hormones in the blood of the mice, and found that males and females were experiencing similar levels of stress. But there was a significant difference in beta-amyloid levels.

In female mice, beta-amyloid levels in the interstitial fluid rose by around 50% within the first 2 hours of stress, and stayed elevated for the rest of the monitoring period. Only about 20% of male mice exhibited a small, delayed increase in beta-amyloid.

Dr. Cirrito explained the importance of raised beta-amyloid in the interstitial fluid: In mice there is a tight correlation between the concentration of [interstitial fluid] beta-amyloid within a brain region and if/ how much that region develops beta-amyloid plaques. Elevated [interstitial fluid] beta-amyloid also drives plaque formation (vice versa with suppressed [interstitial fluid] beta-amyloid).

However, he added that it is difficult to make that direct comparison in humans since we cannot measure [interstitial fluid] as readily in people.

Key to the difference between males and females was the cellular response to the stress hormone, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF).

In female mice, nerve cells take up this hormone. The cascade of events that follows increases levels of beta-amyloid in the brain. The nerve cells of male mice do not take up the hormone.

The researchers suggest that this is due to the CRF receptor acting differently in males and females.

Whilst the study strongly suggests stress is one potential factor that may influence risk, quite significantly, it is still only one of many factors. However, the authors are the first to determine, at the cell signaling level, why stress differentially affects disease-related proteins in males and females.

Dr. Emer MacSweeney

While this finding in mice is important, the researchers recognize that the mechanism may not be the same in people. However, their findings may help show directions for further research and treatment, as Dr. MacSweeney explained.

It is not possible to extrapolate, with confidence, that this differential response to stress in mice translates precisely to humans, she told us. However, the physiological explanation in mice is interesting, and could provide, at least in part, the explanation for the gender differences between men and women for risk of Alzheimers.

The finding is, in turn, important in guiding future pharmaceutical research towards new treatment options, that may differ between males and females, she added.

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Alzheimer's disease: Stress may increase risk in females - Medical News Today

Network Television is no stranger to medical dramas, from the cynical genius offered by Fox's House to the more humorous approach of NBC's Scrubs and everything in between. As much as the police procedural has been a staple of television, viewers have long since proven themselves to be engaged in the happenings of hospital life too. Perhaps the most successful instances of audience captivation are seen in ER and Grey's Anatomy, which boast high ratings of over 38 million viewers for their top episodes. However, despite their similarities in the rankings department, ER takes the crown for the best rendition of a medical show.

Currently sitting at 416 episodes, Grey's Anatomy officially surpassed ER as the longest-running medical drama on television in 2019 with its 332nd episode. Although both shows are their own entities and have carved out distinctive spaces within the evolution of network television over the last twenty years, ER remains the superior medical drama to this day.

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While Grey's Anatomy offers a wide scope in the halls of the hospital, often providing viewers with moments for an intersection between different departments, ER widened the net to provide a larger worldview on medicine. From the backstory painted by Dr. Luka Kovac of life in Croatia to John Carter's trips to Africa, ER allowed viewers to see the struggles of medicine in other parts of the world. On the other hand, Grey's Anatomy remains insular in this field by rarely leaving Seattle, let alone America. Even when Meredith and Amelia spent time in Minnesota for a small stint of research work, the set is not wildly different from Seattle Grace's white walls and state-of-the-art technology.

Additionally, the medical jargon spewed out by characters in ER left little room for doubt that the characters knew exactly what they were talking about and subsequently doing in moments of trauma. Faith was bestowed upon the actors in ER that they could handle themselves in a real emergency. This faith was furthered by the broader perspective shifts when the episodes showcased traumas and medical emergencies outside Chicago.

Furthering the parochialism, Grey's Anatomy heightens the drama by utilizing major disasters. Viewers are encouraged to become entangled in plane crashes, hospital explosions, ferry crashes, shootings, and natural disasters regularly, often overriding the stories of the patients and the doctors. Conversely, ER took a more localized approach and highlighted the chaos of every day in an emergency room setting; the world around County General did not need to be on fire for the episodes to feel high-stakes. The personable storylines allowed viewers to entrust their attention to the show while remaining enveloped in reality. Every patient brought their own catastrophe, which grounded ER in this respect as it mirrored the conflict and emotionally fraught moments of humanity.

RELATED: Grey's Anatomy Empowers Bailey in Meaningful Abortion Care Storyline

Romance is another element that remained parallel with reality in ER as they adhered to the notion of not letting relationships get in the way of the medicine, which juxtaposes with Grey's Anatomy, where they try not to let the medicine get in the way of romance. In the show's fifteen-season run, ER had little more than a handful of relationships between co-workers within the halls of County General -- with Dr. Doug Ross and Nurse Carol Hathaway quickly setting the tone for a slow-burn progression. However, Grey's Anatomy has submitted to the idea that medical professionals spend more time hooking up in on-call rooms than they do treating patients. It's hard to keep track of who is with whom from one week to the next at Grey Sloane Memorial, with the romance on the show losing its appeal due to its frequency.

This is not to say that Grey's Anatomy has not blazed several trails in its own right -- the show is popular and long-standing for a reason -- but it progresses on a path forged by ER. Ultimately, for viewers, ER offered a glimpse into the life of an emergency room, striking an enjoyable balance between the severity of medical emergencies and the more light-hearted elements. Grey's Anatomy relies on its soap operatic tendencies and romantic entanglements too much, whereas ER favored the complexities that impair the fabric of life.

Originally posted here:
The Grey's Anatomy and ER Parallels are Obvious But One Is ... - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Despite a push toward work-life balance in the medical field, physicians continue to dedicate more time to work and less time to themselves, their loved ones, and their outside interests. On average, physicians reported in the Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2023 that they worked 50 hours per week. Five specialties, including critical care, cardiology, and general surgery reported working 55 or more hours weekly.

But there's a small segment of physicians that has bucked the norm. They've scaled back their hours to part-time, clocking in only 25-30 hours a week.

In 2011, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that part-time physician careers were rising. At the time, part-time doctors made up 21% of the physician workforce, up from 13% in 2005.

In a more recent survey from the California Health Care Foundation, only 12% of California physicians said they devoted 20-29 hours a week to patient care.

Amy Knoup, a senior recruitment advisor with Provider Solutions & Development (PS&D), has been helping doctors find jobs for over a decade, and she's noticed a trend.

"Not only are more physicians seeking part-time roles than they were 10 years ago, but more large healthcare systems are also offering part-time or per diem as well," says Knoup.

Ten years ago, the fastest growing segment of part-timers were men nearing retirement and early-to-mid-career women.

Pediatricians led the part-time pack in 2002, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics study. At the time, 15% of pediatricians reported their hours as part-time. However, the numbers may have increased over the years. For example, a 2021 study by the Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, and the School of Medicine, Boston University, found that almost 30% of graduating pediatricians sought part-time work at the end of their training.

At PS&D, Knoup says she has noticed a trend toward part-timers among primary care, behavioral health, and outpatient specialties such as endocrinology. "We're also seeing it with the inpatient side in roles that are more shift-based like hospitalists, radiologists, and critical care and ER doctors," she said.

Another trend Knoup has noticed is with early-career doctors. "They have a different mindset," she said. "Younger generations are acutely aware of burnout. They may have experienced it in residency or during the pandemic. They've had a taste of that and don't want to go down that road again, so they're seeking part-time roles. It's an intentional choice."

Tracey O'Connell, MD, a radiologist, always knew that she wanted to work part-time. "I had a baby as a resident, and I was pregnant with my second child as a fellow," she said. "I was already feeling overwhelmed with medical training and having a family."

O'Connell worked in private practice for 16 years on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with no nights or weekends.

"I still found it completely overwhelming," she said. "Even though I had more days not working than working, I felt like the demands of medical life had advanced faster than human beings could adapt, and I still feel that way."

Today she runs a part-time teleradiology practice from home but spends more time on her second career as a life coach. "Most of my clients are physicians looking for more fulfillment and sustainable ways of practicing medicine while maintaining their own identity as human beings, not just the all-consuming identity of doctor,'" she said.

On the other end of the career spectrum is Lois Goodman, MD, an ob/gyn in her late 70s. After 42 years in a group practice,she started her solo practice at 72, seeing patients three days per week. "I'm just happy to be working. That's a tremendous payoff for me. I need to keep working for my mental health."

Reducing clinical effort is one of the strategies physicians use to scale down overload. Still, it's not viable as a long-term solution, says Christine Sinsky, MD, AMA's vice president of professional satisfaction and a nationally regarded researcher on physician burnout.

"If all the physicians in a community went from working 100% FTE clinical to 50% FTE clinical, then the people in that community would have half the access to care that they had," said Sinsky. "There's less capacity in the system to care for patients."

Some could argue, then, that part-time physician work may contribute to physician shortage predictions. An Association of American Medical Colleges report estimates there will be a shortage of 37,800 to 124,000 physicians by 2034.

But physicians working part-time express a contrasting point of view. "I don't believe that part-time workers are responsible for the healthcare shortage but rather, a great solution," says O'Connell. "Because in order to continue working for a long time rather than quitting when the demands exceed human capacity, working part-time is a great compromise to offer a life of more sustainable well-being and longevity as a physician, and still live a wholehearted life."

Rachel Miller, MD, an ob/gyn, agrees. "Instead of quitting and coming up with something else to do, it [working part time] increases my longevity to practice medicine."

Pros and Cons of Being a Part-Time Physician

Pros

Less Burnout: The American Medical Association has tracked burnout rates for 22 years. By the end of 2021, nearly 63% of physicians reported burnout symptoms compared with 38% the year before. Going part-time appears to reduce burnout, suggests a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Better Work-Life Balance: Rachel Miller, MD, an ob/gyn, worked 60-70 hours weekly for 9 years. In 2022, she went to work as an OB hospitalist for a healthcare system that welcomes part-time clinicians. Since then, she has achieved a better work-life balance, putting in 26-28 hours a week. Miller now spends more time with her kids and in her additional role as an executive coach to leaders in the medical field.

More Focus: "When I'm at work, I'm 100% mentally in and focused," said Miller. "My interactions with patients are different because I'm not burned out. My demeanor and my willingness to connect are stronger."

Better Health: Mehmet Cilingiroglu, MD, with CardioSolution, traded full-time work for part-time when health issues and a kidney transplant sidelined his 30-year career in 2018. "Despite my significant health issues, I've been able to continue working at a pace that suits me rather than having to retire," he said. "Part-time physicians can still enjoy patient care, research, innovation, education, and training while balancing that with other areas of life."

Errin Weisman, a DO who gave up full-time work in 2016, said cutting back makes her feel healthier, happier, and more energized. "Part-time work helps me to bring my A-game each day I work and deliver the best care," she said. She's also a life coach encouraging other physicians to find balance in their professional and personal lives.

Cons

Cut in Pay: Obviously, the number one con is you'll make less working part-time, so adjusting to a salary decrease can be a huge issue, especially if you don't have other sources of income. Physicians paying off student loans, those caring for children or elderly parents, or those in their prime earning years needing to save for retirement may not be able to go part-time.

Diminished Career: The chance for promotions or being well known in your field can be diminished, as well as a loss of proficiency if you're only performing surgery or procedures part-time. In some specialties, working part-time and not keeping up with (or being able to practice) newer technology developments can harm your career or reputation in the long run.

Missing Out: While working part-time has many benefits, physicians also experience a wide range of drawbacks. Goodman, for example, says she misses delivering babies and doing surgeries.Miller said she gave up some aspects of her specialty, like performing hysterectomies, participating in complex cases, and no longer having an office like she did as a full-time ob/gyn.

Loss of Fellowship: O'Connell says she missed the camaraderie and sense of belonging when she scaled back her hours. "I felt like a fish out of water, that my values didn't align with the group's values," she said. This led to self-doubt, frustrated colleagues, and a reduction in benefits.

Lost Esteem: O'Connell also felt she was expected to work overtime without additional pay and was no longer eligible for bonuses. "I was treated as a team player when I was needed, but not when it came to perks and benefits and insider privilege," she said. There may be a loss of esteem among colleagues and supervisors.

Overcoming Stigma: Because part-time physician work is still not prevalent among colleagues, some may resist the idea, have less respect for it, perceive it as not being serious about your career as a physician, or associate it with being lazy or entitled.

Summing it Up

Every physician must weigh the value and drawbacks of part-time work, but the more physicians who go this route, the more part-time medicine gains traction and the more physicians can learn about its values vs its drawbacks.

The rest is here:
Part-Time Physician: Is It a Viable Career Choice? - Medscape

On May 6, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, carefully placed the iconic St. Edwards Crown atop King Charles IIIs head as the new king solemnly sat in the 700-year-old Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey while grasping a golden scepter in each hand.

It was the first time in 70 years for a monarch to be crowned in the U.K. since the coronation of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who shared an almost identical pose, wearing the same crown in 1953.

When his mother died on Sept. 8, 2022, he became the oldest monarch to take the British throne.

KING CHARLES HONORED WITH UNIQUE DISPLAY OF GNOMES ALL OVER UK WOMANS YARD

The king is now 74 (hell turn 75 on Nov. 14, 2023) and many wonder if the monarch will enjoy the same longevity as his parents did.

I expect King Charles reign to be a long one, Dr. June McKoy, professor of medicine, preventive medicine and medical education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, told Fox News Digital.

That he is starting his reign in his 70s will not prevent him from doing as well as a monarch in his 40s, added McKoy, who is an academic geriatrician.

She recommended that older adults be individually assessed and not by chronology as they age.

To be sure, King Charles has been a great steward of his health and he will benefit from that stewardship.

King Charles III comes from a family of long livers on both his mothers and fathers side, so its likely he inherited their genes, McKoy said.

The latest science on the genetics of longevity suggests that, for most of us, less than 20% of it is passed down through the generations, meaning the other 80% is lifestyle and luck, Andrew Steele, PhD, author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old, told Fox News Digital.

There does seem to be a more significant genetic component when it comes to exceptional longevity.

However, there does seem to be a more significant genetic component when it comes to exceptional longevity the child or sibling of someone who lives to 100 is 10 times as likely to do so themselves as someone from the general population, added Steele, a biologist based in Berlin, Germany.

Charles father lived to 99, his mother lived to 96 and his grandmother, the queens mother, lived to 101 so he may be lucky enough to have some longevity genes in his DNA, he added.

Wealth is known to correlate with long life, too, so even though he ascended to the throne at age 73 the oldest in British history hes still got a shot at a decently long reign, Steele said in an email.

Charlies turned 74 in November 2022. (None of the medical experts interviewed for this article directly examined King Charles III.)

Prince Harry, Charles youngest son, wrote in his bombshell memoir, Spare, that his father used to perform handstands in Balmoral Castle to relieve chronic back and neck pain from old polo injuries.

Prescribed by his physio, these exercises were the only effective remedy for the constant pain in Pas neck and back, Harry wrote.

FOR KING CHARLES CORONATION, WORLDS LONGEST SERVING BRASS BAND PLAYER, 95, CAN TOOT HIS OWN HORN

He performed them daily, in a pair of boxers, propped against a door or hanging from a bar like a skilled acrobat.

Charles aggravated the condition when he fell off a horse at Windsor two years later.

After missing the Royal Ascot, one of Britains most famous horse races, because of a herniated disc in his spine in 1991, Charles aggravated the condition when he fell off a horse at Windsor two years later, according to a Daily Mail report.

Experts speculate that his trademark walk with his fingers interlocked together behind his back is a clever way to relieve his back pain.

On another note, there has been some focus on his posture and its implications for osteoporosis, McKoy told Fox News Digital.

BE WELL: KEEP YOUR BONES STRONG TO PREVENT OSTEOPOROSIS

Given that osteoporosis causes a decrease in bone density and weakening of the bones, it can cause height loss, she added.

A stooped posture might represent height loss, she said but this can be normal or abnormal depending on the individual circumstances.

As part of the normal process of aging, people typically lose approximately 1 centimeter, or 0.5 inch, of height every 10 years which tends to accelerate in our 70s, McKoy said.

She also said, Height loss of [two] inches or more is not considered normal and should prompt a visit to the physician.

King Charles suffered many injuries while playing polo and hunting, including a pivotal fall during a polo match in 1990 that resulted in fracturing his right arm.

After it didnt heal once he had surgery, he had a second operation to fix it three months later, partly due to concern the injury would not allow him to properly salute, per a Daily Mail report.

Charles retired from polo in 2005 when he was 57, after playing the game for over 40 years.

In 2001, Charles was knocked unconscious temporarily when he fell head-first from his horse during a charity match at Cirencester Park in Gloucestershire, England, according to a BBC report.

He retired from polo in 2005 when he was 57, after playing the game for over 40 years, as his biography on his official website said.

He has an interesting pair of hands for a baby, Queen Elizabeth wrote to her former music teacher shortly after her son Charles was born.

They are rather large, but with fine long fingers quite unlike mine and certainly unlike his fathers.

Charles himself referred to them as sausage fingers after Prince Williams birth, according to Howard Hodgsons biography Charles, The Man Who Will Be King.

Dactylitis is a condition where the digits get swollen like sausages, typically seen in the toes and associated with ankylosing spondylitis, Dr. Nilanjana Bose, a board-certified rheumatologist at Lonestar Rheumatology in Houston, Texas, told Fox News Digital.

Its important to examine the hand to distinguish if the swelling is arising from the joint, the tendon sheath or the soft tissue, added Dr. Amy Kehl, rheumatologist with Providence Saint Johns Physician Partners and staff physician at Cedars Sinai in Southern California.

Bose said the look of Charles hands could be his baseline and not suggestive of any underlying disease.

The look of Charles hands could be his baseline and not suggestive of any underlying disease, said one expert.

True dactylitis is most classically observed in patients with a type of inflammatory arthritis known as spondyloarthritis, Kehl told Fox News Digital.

One example of this type of arthritis, she said, is psoriatic arthritis, which is often diagnosed by examining the patient.

There are a variety of medical conditions that can cause swollen fingers, including other types of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, autoimmune causes like lupus, sarcoidosis or sickle cell disease, or infections, such as Lyme disease, syphilis and tuberculosis.

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Typically a rheumatologist can order more diagnostic testing including lab testing or imaging studies of the joints if the diagnosis is unclear, Kehl said.

The typical treatment is geared toward the underlying type of inflammatory arthritis and the degree of symptomatology of the individual patient.

Understanding the biology of people who make it to exceptional ages could be an important way to discover medicines that can help us all live longer and healthier, Steele noted.

For example, while women live longer than men, we know that long-lived men tend to do so in better health, he added.

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Steele also said he hoped that Charles will be a working royal for some time yet.

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As King Charles III, at age 74, assumes British throne, heres what to ... - 1330 WFIN

Could the key to slowing human aging and fighting off ailments like Covid, heart disease, and arthritis be hiding in the wings of bats? A recent study suggests it just might be.

Bats, remarkable creatures that live for around 20 years on average, appear to be unscathed by pathogens that prove deadly to humans, such as Ebola and Covid.

This intriguing fact has prompted scientists to take a closer look at these animals, hoping to uncover the secret behind their resistance to sickness, and see if it can be replicated in humans.

The study, conducted by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, led to the discovery of a protein that forms the backbone of bats extraordinary immune defense.

The protein, named bat ASC2, showed remarkable promise in genetically engineered mice. The research team is optimistic that it may one day be harnessed to save millions of human lives.

Bat ASC2 is a modified version of a protein that halts the inflammatory response in bats, providing them with their unique resistance to viruses. In a statement, the research team explained, Our results demonstrate an important mechanism by which bats limit excessive virus-induced and stress-related inflammation with implications for their long lifespan.

The scientists tested this proteins effectiveness by genetically modifying mice to carry the ASC2 protein. The results were astonishing. The mice demonstrated the same defensive properties against inflammation as the bats, as reported in the study published in the journal Cell.

Further investigation into why bats excel at fending off viruses revealed more about the ASC2 protein. When tested on human cells, these cells became more resistant to disease, showing the therapeutic potential of bat ASC2.

The protein works by dampening inflammasomes the part of the immune system that drives inflammatory responses when infection strikes.

Dr. Linfa Wang, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, spoke to The Telegraph about the potential of bat ASC2 in contributing to human longevity and reducing mortality from viruses.

He cautioned: It may not be the only factor, as biology is never as simple as one molecule or one pathway. But the overall dampening of inflammation most likely plays a role in health aging in bats.

Dr. Wang further explained that this discovery could lead to the development of new medicines that mimic ASC2, offering a potential treatment for various viruses that trigger an inflammatory response in humans.

We have filed patents based on this work and are exploring commercial partnerships for drug discovery, said Dr. Wang. We are hoping to develop a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs for inflammasome-driven human diseases.

Interestingly, mice carrying the ASC2 adaptation saw their death rate from a deadly flu virus drop dramatically from 100 percent to 50 percent. In addition, the ASC2 protein substantially inhibited the Zika virus in these genetically engineered mice.

Both humans and bats carry the ASC2 protein, but the researchers speculate that it may have evolved to be stronger in bats due to the immense physiological stress that comes with flight.

Bats, the only mammals capable of powered flight, may have developed a means to suppress their inflammatory immune response as a survival mechanism. This theory suggests the metabolically costly flight could be a key driver for this adaptation.

The research findings have sparked interest among experts worldwide. Professor Gilda Tachedjian, head of Life Sciences at the Burnet Institute in Australia, acknowledged the significance of the study. She told The Telegraph: The researchers have proved the concept that bat ASC2 protein can target the part of the immune system responsible for inflammatory responses, and therefore reducing inflammation in cells in a petri dish and in mice.

However, she tempered her praise with caution, adding, While the findings of this study are intriguing, more work is needed to translate these findings into new therapies that can be used in people to reduce mortality from viruses or increase longevity.

Indeed, the road from promising laboratory findings to effective human therapies can be long and arduous. The discovery of bat ASC2s potential is just the beginning. To fully understand how this protein works and to harness its power for human health, extensive further research is necessary.

The current study does, however, underscore the incredible potential that nature holds for medical breakthroughs. As scientists continue to investigate bats remarkable resilience to viruses, they are gaining insights that could transform our approach to human health and longevity.

In the fight against diseases like Covid and conditions such as heart disease and arthritis, bats could prove to be an unexpected ally. Their unique protein could provide a template for new anti-inflammatory drugs that could not only save lives but also extend them.

The quest for longevity and disease resistance has been a long-standing challenge for humanity. Now, it appears that the solution may be soaring in the night sky, in the form of these winged mammals. As we continue to study and learn from them, bats may just hold the key to unlocking a new frontier in human health and medicine.

As we wait for the next steps of this exciting research, its clear that the humble bat, a creature that has inspired myth and legend for centuries, may soon find itself at the center of a scientific revolution. The study of bat ASC2 has the potential to reshape our understanding of disease, immunity, and the very nature of aging. And who knows? The secret to a longer, healthier life may just be a bats flight away.

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The SuperAgers Family Study demonstrates effectiveness of multi-modal participant enrollment, data collection, and engagement in reaching aging populations

FAIRFAX, Va., May 09, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, just one in every thousand people in the United States reaches the age of 95 or older. While lifestyle may be a factor, researchers believe there could be genetic drivers that influence whether an individual lives an exceptionally long life.

This is the hypothesis behind the SuperAgers Family Study, launched by researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in collaboration with the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) and Boston University School of Medicine, and supported by AFARs multi-year SuperAgers Initiative. The study recently exceeded its initial recruitment milestone, demonstrating early success in reaching this unique population.

The SuperAgers Family Study aims to collect data from 10,000 people, primarily individuals 95 and older, but also including their children and childrens spouses. This target enrollment number makes SuperAgers the most ambitious research program studying the biology behind exceptional longevity to date.

Historically, reaching aging populations for health research has been difficult. Many researchers still rely on face-to-face and clinical interactions and resist the use of digital methods for enrollment and data collection. By exceeding their first recruitment milestone, the SuperAgers study demonstrates that digital approaches can engage aging populations.

"Weve seen that, contrary to popular belief, there is some comfort with technology among this population, although it varies," said Sofiya Milman, MD, MS, who is the director of Human Longevity Studies at Einsteins Institute for Aging Research and the principal investigator of the study. "For those with less comfort, our recruitment of superager offspring in the study helps to foster compliance in superagers using digital methods. When needed, we can also leverage traditional and hybrid methods to perform eConsent and data collection."

Story continues

To meet, engage, and study superagers, the research team chose to collaborate with Vibrent Health, a digital technology company known for its innovation in precision medicine research solutions. Vibrent specializes in providing research teams with multi-modal approaches to eConsent, participant engagement, and data collection the latter of which comprises electronic medical records, genomics, wearables, surveys, and more.

"Studies exploring the contributing factors of healthy aging will be more effective if we can achieve larger numbers of participants in the research. We already see that technology can succeed in reaching aging populations," said Nir Barzilai, MD, Scientific Director at AFAR. "Our collaboration with Vibrent will help amass a data set whose magnitude will significantly move forward the identification of genetic, biological and behavioral factors that affect aging and its related diseases, delivering immediate and significant benefits to the legion of scientists and clinicians dedicated to healthy aging."

The SuperAgers Family Study uses Vibrents Participant Experience Manager to support the eConsent process and complete data collection in a way that meets them where they are, using a mix of digital methods, computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), and paper forms. Study staff also use Vibrents powerful researcher tools to manage communication and appointments with participants. Vibrents platform provides the team with a way to manage, visualize, and better understand the data they collect throughout the study. In the future, the study also plans to provide genomics return of results to the participants and their family members.

"The important research the SuperAgers team is doing demands a participant-centric approach at every step, because the study population is so unique," said Vibrent Health CEO Praduman "PJ" Jain. "The novel discoveries that this research team makes will no doubt set new precedents for research, and for family-based studies. As health research becomes increasingly digital, family-based datasets represent a robust, promising area of precision health research."

Those who wish to be a part of the SuperAgers Study can find study qualifications by visiting superagersstudy.org.

About Vibrent Health

Vibrent Health develops digital health technology and research tools for health organizations, researchers and research participants. Powering the next generation of precision medicine, Vibrents scalable technology platform for individual and population health provides actionable insights to help accelerate medical discoveries. Vibrent Health is proud to serve, since 2017, as the Participant Technology Systems Center for the National Institutes of Healths All of Us Research Program, which aims to collect health data from 1 million or more people to support a wide variety of research studies. Since 2020, Vibrent has also collaborated with numerous organizations to conduct a variety of research initiatives spanning several topics, including precision medicine, cancer, COVID, substance abuse, aging, and fertility, among others. To learn more, visit vibrenthealth.com.

About AFAR - The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is a national non-profit organization that supports and advances pioneering biomedical research that is revolutionizing how we live healthier and longer. For more than four decades, AFAR has served as the fields talent incubator, providing more than $193 million to nearly 4,350 investigators at premier research institutions to dateand growing. In 2022, AFAR awarded over $11,000,000 to more than 60 investigators. A trusted leader and strategist, AFAR also works with public and private funders to steer high quality grant programs and interdisciplinary research networks. AFAR-funded researchers are finding that modifying basic cellular processes can delayor even preventmany chronic diseases, often at the same time. They are discovering that it is never too lateor too earlyto improve health. This groundbreaking science is paving the way for innovative new therapies that promise to improve and extend our quality of lifeat any age. Learn more at afar.org or follow AFARorg on Facebook and American Federation for Aging Research on LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230509005157/en/

Contacts

Molly Bryantmbryant@vibrenthealth.com

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SuperAgers Family Study Reaches First National Recruitment Milestone Using Digital Methods Powered by Vibrent Healths Research Software - Yahoo...