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Researchers Take 'First Baby Step' Toward Anti-Aging Drug

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By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter Latest Senior Health News

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers could be closing in on a "fountain of youth" drug that can delay the effects of aging and improve the health of older adults, a new study suggests.

Seniors received a significant boost to their immune systems when given a drug that targets a genetic signaling pathway linked to aging and immune function, researchers with the drug maker Novartis report.

The experimental medication, a version of the drug rapamycin, improved the seniors' immune response to a flu vaccine by 20 percent, researchers said in the current issue of Science Translational Medicine.

The study is a "watershed" moment for research into the health effects of aging, said Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Rapamycin belongs to a class of drugs known as mTOR inhibitors, which have been shown to counteract aging and aging-related diseases in mice and other animals.

Barzilai, who wasn't involved in the study, said this is one of the first studies to show that these drugs also can delay the effects of aging in humans.

"It sets the stage for using this drug to target aging, to improve everything about aging," Barzilai said. "That's really going to be for us a turning point in research, and we are very excited."

The mTOR genetic pathway promotes healthy growth in the young. But it appears to have a negative effect on mammals as they grow older, said study lead author Dr. Joan Mannick, executive director of the New Indications Discovery Unit at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research.

When drugs like rapamycin are used to inhibit the effects of the mTOR pathway in mice, they "seem to extend lifespan and delay the onset of aging-related illnesses," Mannick said.

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Researchers Take 'First Baby Step' Toward Anti-Aging Drug

Atheism, agnosticism and belief: Thoughts on going with or without God

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The Times' front-page article Monday on Ryan Bell, a former Seventh-day Adventist minister nearing the end of his "year without God," prompted dozens of readers to ruminate on religion, spirituality, atheism and agnosticism. The handful of letters published on Christmas Day some encouraging Bell to embrace a less black-and-white version of faith, others advocating for skepticism prompted more discussion among readers.

As with all conversations religious and with the faithful increasingly tailoring religion to suit their own sensibilities the one on Bell's crisis of faith remains ongoing, with letters still streaming in. The reader submissions below continue that discussion.

George Epstein of Los Angeles coins a universal "religion":

The letters responding to the article on Ryan Bell convince me that my concept regarding religion is right on.

Years ago, my then-12-year-old son asked me: "Dad, how do I know there is a God? I can't see him; I can't hear him; I can't touch him." At that moment my own long-term doubts came to mind. Then I realized that the concept of religion, including a God, was created by well-meaning people to help us live together in peace, harmony and justice for all. It's a good concept.

Today, when asked, I tell people, "My religion is conceptualism." As far as others, any form of religion is OK so long as it helps the believers achieve peace, harmony and justice for all. Obviously, with all the turmoil and killing in our world, these haven't been achieved all the more reason to pursue conceptualism.

Jim Johnson of Whittier finds little use for agnosticism:

Letter writer Judi Birnberg offers agnosticism as "the only tenable position," demonstrating how some people have not learned from logic how to recognize where the burden of proof properly resides.

This inability to distinguish an onus probandi from a hole in the ground (the fallacy known as the argumentum ad ignorantiam) should disqualify people from jury duty, where in criminal cases, they would mistakenly think that they had three voting options: guilty, not guilty and undecided.

And whereas science relies on the null hypothesis, those who advocate agnosticism would perhaps mistakenly think it necessary to spend millions of dollars proving that a potential new drug does not cure cancer. "Who can say with certainty that [God] does not exist?," asks Birnberg, when no such certainty is necessary.

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Atheism, agnosticism and belief: Thoughts on going with or without God

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Picture This: Christmas from space

SAN FRANCISCO Evening trips to the mall. Christmas parties. Rooftop lights. The December holidays are bright dazzling enough to be seen by satellites orbiting high above Earth. Researchers recently used satellite data to track when, where and how often we turn on lights. The findings, they say, point to how human activities drive electricity use.Scientists sent radiometers into space and...

What has three eyes, breathes through gills, and may help scientists spot new ways to improve organ transplants? An unusual tadpole living in a lab near Boston, Mass.Researchers removed an eye from one tadpoles head and attached it to the skin of another. Adjusting electric charges in that second tadpoles cells helped its new, third eye connect to its new body. The adjustments triggered the...

Imagine snacking on sweets while wrapped in a cozy bubble. Now picture this happening while floating in a cloud. It sounds like a pleasant dream. But for some lucky bacteria, it also may be a reality.Researchers have discovered that at least one cloud-dwelling microbe a bacterium belonging to the Bacillus genus may dine on sugars while riding the winds in clouds. And this is not just any...

VANCOUVER A magnifying glass can help detectives spy for clues. For environmental sleuths tracking water pollution, spiders living along riverbanks might work just about as well.As spiders eat, their bodies will accumulate some of the chemicals polluting the environment. By measuring what taints their bodies, scientists can discover the types, locations, concentrations and even potential...

A virus may be responsible for turning starfish along the west coast of North America into puddles of slime.Since June 2013, scientists have watched in horror as the dazzling marine creatures have experienced a startling and mysterious die-off. At least 20 species of starfish (also known as sea stars) have been affected. The epidemic has hit the Pacific coast of the United States, Canada and...

Ive baked a lot of cookies for science. Now its time to see what the data show.So far, its clear that my tasters did not like the cookies made with my two gluten-free flours as much as they did the control cookies made with normal flour. When tasters were asked how much they agreed with the statement Overall, I like this cookie, the gluten-free ones got significantly lower scores. But while...

There are lots of holiday gifts out there for people who like science. Everything from your very own remote-operated underwater robot to 3-D printers that can make parts and pieces to build anything you desire. While these gifts would be a lot of fun, they can also cost a lot of money. Luckily, there are options out there that dont cost a lot, but still give your science student or science...

In the New York City subway, its not just the trains that are crowded. Air in the underground stations used by more than 5 million passengers each day also is chockablock with teeny-tiny pollutants, researchers report.The sooty pollution is called black carbon. It is a byproduct of the burning of diesel fuel. The subway trains, which run on electricity, arent responsible. Maintenance trains...

Cough. Wheeze. Gasp!Those sounds echo through the streets of polluted cities. Brown clouds made up of noxious gases, dust, soot and even finer particles hang over buildings and hug the ground. When outside, people cant help but breathe it all in. And in most parts of the world, windows wont keep these air pollutants out.Not all large cities have air pollution like this. But in those urban areas...

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