If you spend time following life science research, you'll see a fair amount of work in which scientists remove a piece of biological machinery in laboratory animals so as to try to figure out what it does - the changes that occur in the studied animals will hopefully allow researchers to piece together the surrounding biology and place the machinery in the full context of what is already known. In many cases this reduces life span or accelerates the pace of some form of damage that normally increases with aging - but that outcome doesn't necessarily mean that the machinery removed is connected to aging in any significant way, or that it has any relevance to ways to slow aging and extend healthy life.

I'm sure, if you put your mind to it, you could think of a dozen ways to slowly ruin the type of machine you are most familiar with (clog up the spark plugs, remove the oil, pull out the filter head, and so forth), and few of them can be extrapolated the other way into ways to make a perfectly maintained machine last much longer than it normally does.

So it is with the biochemical machinery of life. The only true test of relevance to aging is to demonstrate that you can use the mechanism in question to extend life beyond the normal limits for a healthy individual in that species, or reduce some form of biological damage to levels far below what is normally the case at a given age. If all you are showing is that you can increase damage and shorten life span, then there's no doubt interesting science involved, but it's too soon to be getting excited.

This is why I think that the title and summary of a recent news item is absolutely wrong:

Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Mainz have discovered a previously unknown function of the cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1): it can protect against aging processes. Cannabinoids, such as THC (the active agent in Cannabis sativa) and endocannabinoids, and those formed by the body bind to the CB1 receptors. ... The animals in which the CB1 receptor had been switched off genetically [showed] clearly diminished learning and were less successful in their search for the platform. In addition, they showed a clear loss of nerve cells in the hippocampus, the researchers said.

The original paper, which is a matter of increasing damage only, has nothing but inference on how this applies to aging while CB1 is active and normally operational, and it's speculative to say that anything could come from this to move the needle in the opposite direction.

The reason I noticed this work at all is because it's possible that endocannabinoids are involved in calorie restriction in some way, based on work in nematode worms:

Not only have we been able to identify some of these molecules for the first time in the worm, but we have also been able to show they act as a signal of nutrient availability and ultimately influence the worm's lifespan. What makes this important is that the same molecules are present in both humans and C. elegans, so these molecules may play similar roles in both organisms. ... The molecules identified in the new study are N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), a group of signaling molecules derived from lipids that help indicate nutrient availability in the environment and maintain an animal's internal energy balance. [Researchers showed that] NAE abundance in the worm is reduced during periods of dietary restriction, and that NAE deficiency in the presence of abundant food is sufficient to extend the animal's lifespan. ... Importantly, this particular NAE is similar to endocannabinoids in mammals, which regulate many different physiological processes including nutrient intake and energy balance, as well as inflammation and neuronal function.

The CB1 paper above adds nothing much in the way of weight to that conjecture, however, and so I'd say it remains a fairly tenuous connection at this time. You'd need a study that shows extended life in mice through something very similar to NAE deficiency in worms, but engineered using endocannabinoids. So further research is required - and there are a great many more important things that researchers could be doing with their time.

I'm always pleased to see more good writing on the topic of longevity science: "To extend our longevity, we'll have to advance in stages. ... With a healthy lifestyle and some luck (absence of accidents and natural disasters) we not only can increase our lifespan, we can increase the health in that lifespan and postpone debilitating illness to the very end of our life ... To go beyond this achievable life extension, we need more advances in the basic sciences. Considering aging as a disease is new concept. It will take time before we accept this not just as wishful thinking but as a real possibility in our lifetime. The end of aging does not mean that we will never die; we will still die of other diseases, accidents, or natural disasters but no longer of aging itself. ... Aging is not yet recognized as a disease. Some among us would like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recognize it as a disease so that we could get funding for basic, translational, and clinical research on aging. ... These changes will be implemented incrementally. The unprecedented biological and technological evolution we face today will be the driving force for social, economic, and even political changes. Working conditions will change significantly: retirement will be changed, people will no longer retire after a certain age, they will take time off from work every few years and then return to it afterwards. Our goal is not to reach immortality but to postpone and eventually prevent aging. For now and the immediate future we can change our lifestyle toward healthier living. This will buy us time so that we can survive long enough for the advances in basic sciences, which will be made in the next 15 to 20 years, helping us move to the next stage where aging will no longer be the biggest killer of our species."

Link: http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?id=41234

Dental tissue engineering is one of the most advanced areas in the broader field, as illustrated by work on growing teeth from stem cells. Several groups over the past five years have successfully implanted stem cells that led to the growth of replacement teeth in mice, and other forms of procedure such as the reattachment of teeth via engineered ligaments have also been demonstrated in laboratory animals.

In a more recent project, researchers grew mouse teeth outside the body, implanted them, and produced a very satisfactory end result as the teeth grew in and became functional:

In this proof of concept study [a] bioengineered tooth unit comprising mature tooth, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone, was successfully transplanted into a properly-sized bony hole in the alveolar bone ... Partial bone integration was observed at 14 days after transplantation, and full bone integration around a bioengineered tooth root was seen at 30 days after transplantation ... [The] engrafted bioengineered tooth displayed physiological tooth functions such as mastication, periodontal ligament function for bone remodeling and responsiveness to noxious stimulations.

...

These findings indicate that whole tooth regenerative therapy is feasible through the transplantation of a bioengineered mature tooth unit. This study also provides the first reported evidence of entire organ regeneration through the transplantation of a bioengineered tooth.

The age of bad teeth, old teeth, and artificial teeth will soon enough be coming to a close, I think. For my money, the most interesting parts of the paper relate to the challenges inherent in coaxing suitable dental stem cells into growing into teeth that have the right shape. The methodology that the researchers found worked was as follows:

To generate the shape- and length-controlled bioengineered tooth unit so that a suitable size was obtained, [the] tooth germ was inserted into a ring-shaped size-control device and then transplanted into a subrenal capsule.

Width was controlled by placing a barrier around the growing material, and the length controlled by how long the tooth was grown for - though the researchers also touched on other potential means of fine-tuning tooth shape and size. I look forward to seeing how well this methodology works when they move on to human teeth.

Another good reason for researchers to better understand the biochemical roots of regeneration in lower animals such as newts and salamanders: "Goro Eguchi has shown that a newt's healing powers don't diminish with age. As long as they live, they retain the ability to efficiently regrow their body parts (or at least, the lenses of their eyes), even if they have to do so over and over again. We've known about the abilities of newts and other salamanders for over 200 years, thanks initially to Lazzarro Spallanzini, an Italian biologist and Catholic priest. But the limits of this ability have been unclear. Spallanzani once amputated limbs from a salamander six times over three months, and watched them grow back. ... The salamanders could repeatedly regrow their limbs, but eventually, abnormalities crept in. For example, the animals would occasionally develop missing bone structures. Both Spallanzani and Bonnet (and, indeed, Charles Darwin after them) held that newts regenerate their body parts less efficiently as they get older, especially if they accrue repeated injuries. But Eguchi thinks that these experiments, while historically important, were also flawed. The exposed stumps of the severed legs would have been exposed to the messy environment, which might have scuppered a clean regeneration. To truly test the extent of these animals' powers, Eguchi set up a 16-year-long experiment. In 1994, he collected several Japanese fire-bellied newts (Cynops pyrrhogaster) and successfully kept them in captivity. During that time, Eguchi periodically anaesthetised the animals and carefully removed the lens from their eyes. The surgeries involve a small nick to the cornea that quickly sealed, creating a protected environment where the lens could regenerate without any influence from the outside world. This happened 18 times in total. Eguchi found that the 17th and 18th lenses were exactly the same as the original ones, and those from untouched newts of the same age."

Link: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/07/12/newt-healing-factors-unaffected-by-age-and-injury/

From the New York Times: "In the 100 years since the first moose swam into Lake Superior and set up shop on an island, they have mostly minded their moosely business, munching balsam fir and trying to evade hungry gray wolves. But now the moose of Isle Royale have something to say - well, their bones do. Many of the moose, it turns out, have arthritis. And scientists believe their condition's origin can help explain human osteoarthritis - by far the most common type of arthritis, affecting one of every seven adults 25 and older and becoming increasingly prevalent. The arthritic Bullwinkles got that way because of poor nutrition early in life, an extraordinary 50-year research project has discovered. That could mean, scientists say, that some people's arthritis can be linked in part to nutritional deficits, in the womb and possibly throughout childhood. The moose conclusion bolsters a small but growing body of research connecting early development to chronic conditions like osteoarthritis. ... Nutrients, experts say, might influence composition or shape of bones, joints or cartilage. Nutrition might also affect hormones, the likelihood of later inflammation or oxidative stress, even how a genetic predisposition for arthritis is expressed or suppressed."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/health/research/17moose.html

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

Thoughts on the impact of better technology on free radical theory: "The role of oxidative stress in aging proposed by the free radical theory has been the focus of investigations for more than fifty years. The results of a large number of these investigations provide support for this theory. However, numerous recent findings point to the existence of unexpected complexity in the relationships between oxidative stress and aging. This complexity is highlighted by the discovery [that] a key element of oxidative stress defenses in the model organism budding yeast, shortens lifespan in concert with enhanced resistance to oxidative stress. In addition to the implications of this finding for understanding aging, identification of this mutation by massively parallel sequencing of whole genomes emphasizes the enormous utility of next-generation sequencing technologies as investigative tools that will likely revolutionize genetics. ... In some cases, the apparent disconnect between experimental results and predictions of the free radical theory regarding connections between oxidative stress and lifespan is related to hormesis effects that elevate oxidative and other stress defenses in response to low levels of oxidative stress. ... The more transparently clear lesson here is that not all forms of oxidative stress are equivalent in their effects on aging. This isn't surprising in the context of the multitude of pathways that respond to different forms of oxidative stress and the numerous mechanisms by which oxidants can modify different macromolecular targets. Whatever the explanation, [research findings] emphasize the enormous complexity of relationships between oxidative stress and aging."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v2/n8/full/100188.html

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

Accelerated aging conditions may result from individual aspects of "normal" aging run wild and out of control. This means we can potentially learn more about those mechanisms. For example: "a gene shown to play a role in the aging process appears to play a role in the regulation of the differentiation of embryonic stem cells. ... researchers identified a protein interaction that controls the silencing of Oct4, a key transcription factor that is critical to ensuring that embryonic stem cells remain pluripotent. The protein, WRNp, is the product of a gene associated with Werner syndrome, an autosomal recessive disorder hallmarked by premature aging. ... We showed that the depletion of WRNp blocked the recruitment of Dnmt3b to the Oct4 promoter, and resulted in reduced methylation. The reduced DNA methylation was associated with continued Oct4 expression, which resulted in attenuated differentiation. ... These results reveal a novel function of WRNp, and demonstrate that WRNp controls a key step in pluripotent stem cell differentiation. Our data support the emerging hypothesis that attenuated stem cell differentiation is involved in aging. This lack of differentiated cells may contribute to failure to maintain organ or tissue function in the later stages of life."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://sify.com/news/aging-related-gene-plays-role-in-stem-cell-differentiation-news-international-kgfnOiabcdj.html

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

A review paper: "Mitochondrial disorders can no longer be ignored in most medical disciplines. Such disorders include specific and widespread organ involvement, with tissue degeneration or tumor formation. Primary or secondary actors, mitochondrial dysfunctions also play a role in the aging process. Despite progresses made in identification of their molecular bases, nearly everything remains to be done as regards therapy. Research dealing with mitochondrial physiology and pathology has [greater than 20 years] of history around the world. We are involved, as are many other laboratories, in the challenge of finding ways to fight these diseases. However, our main limitation is the scarcety of animal models required for both understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the diseases and evaluating therapeutic strategies. This is especially true for diseases due to mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), since an authentic genetic model of mtDNA mutations is technically a very difficult task due to both the inability of manipulating the mitochondrial genome of living mammalian cells and to its multicopy nature. This has led researchers in the field to consider the prospect of gene therapy approaches that can roughly be divided into three groups: (1) import of wild-type copies or relevant sections of DNA or RNA into mitochondria, (2) manipulation of mitochondrial genetic content, and (3) rescue of a defect by expression of an engineered gene product from the nucleus (allotopic or xenotropic expression)."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20571866

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

A person’s weight has more bearing on his predisposition to developing high blood pressure than his current fitness level, Texas study says.

In a new study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, researchers established a concrete link between a person’s weight and the incidence of high blood pressure.

It appears that exercising is not enough to keep blood pressure down, because according to Susan Lakoski, MD, obese or overweight individuals are still at high risk for hypertension if they do not get their weight down, despite of their continued efforts at being physically fit.

What does this mean?  According to the researchers, the main target when you want to lower your blood pressure is to get your weight down with your best efforts.

It’s not enough that you get some minutes of exercise per week, though this has not been discredit.  What the researchers are saying is that you have exert every healthy effort to keep your weight down and keep it from going up.

Weight, according to the Texas study, takes precedence to physical activity when it comes to determining the risk for developing high blood pressure.  According to the CDCP, nearly 1/3 of all adult Americans suffer from high blood pressure.

Half of those who suffer from high blood pressure are within the 55+ years range, which means more and more of our seniors are at greater risk of suffering from stroke, coronary heart disease and other dangerous medical conditions.

According to the study’s data, it appears that only the people within the normal weight range experience palpable blood pressure benefits when they exercised.

The bottom line?  People should focus on getting their weight within the normal range and start moving.  Because obesity and a sedentary lifestyle can increase mortality and risk for many negative health conditions, including heart problems.

Natural ways to keep your blood pressure down

If you have high blood pressure, follow these guidelines to naturally keep your blood pressure down:

1. It would do your heart a world of good if you quit smoking today – because cigarettes have been proven to contribute to the development of hypertension in both men and women.

2. If you are presently overweight, cut down on fatty foods and start exercising to lose the extra pounds.

3. Exercise 30 to 40 minutes everyday.  Experts recommend 150 minutes of exercise for both men and women for general wellness.  Regular exercise is also a general preventive for many diseases and negative health conditions.

4. Cut down on your coffee intake, as caffeine has been shown to increase blood pressure.  Limit your intake of regular coffee to 1 to 2 cups per day to reduce your caffeine load.  Substitutes to coffee like green tea are a good idea, because green tea only has half of the caffeine content of regular coffee.

5. Reduce your salt intake, because sodium directly increases a person’s blood pressure.  More than 2,300 milligrams of the stuff per day can cause your blood pressure to spike.

6. Control your stress level, because stress can cause hypertension and can also affect your mental health in the long term.  Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, stretching, meditation and aromatherapy are options that you can explore when it comes to de-stressing.

7. Natural supplements like fish oil, garlic, hawthorn and folic acid have been known to reduce oxidative stress of the heart and the other organs in the body, which may help in your overall effort to reduce your blood pressure.  Coenzyme Q10 or Co-Q10 has also shown great promise when it comes to protecting the heart and reducing a person’s blood pressure.

Sources:
familydoctor.org
newsmaxhealth.com
altmedicine.about.com

Temple’s Center for Obesity Research is studying the link between emotional eating and the ability for people to keep weight off long-term.

It is no secret that people trying to lose weight seek to control their eating habits.  However, many people don’t realize that their emotions play into their ability to control their food choices.  Unfortunately, many weight loss programs neglect to address this issue.

While dieters may try to choose better foods and exercise, often they are unable to do so effectively.  If people can’t cope with their emotions, how can they really change their eating habits?  Emotions can make people give up on their diets and turn to things like junk food.

A recent study at Temple’s Center for Obesity Research seeks to answer this question by putting together a treatment that teaches people skills to address emotional eating.  This study is funded by the National Institute of Health.

The idea behind this new treatment program is that emotional skills will be taught to people who are chronic overeaters.  This education will be added to this weight loss treatment program that focuses on behavior.  The program teaches different techniques that seek to break the cycle of emotional eating. Researchers are interested in creating a program that addresses emotions and helps participants to achieve long-term weight loss success.

Janet Williams is part of one of the first groups to go through this treatment. She stated, “”The program doesn’t just help you identify when you eat,” said Williams. “It helps you recognize triggers that make you eat, to help you break that cycle of reaching for food every time you feel bored, or frustrated, or sad.”

Sources:
medicalnewstoday.com

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!

A new report from the Mayo Clinic points out that your cholesterol levels can reflect details about your overall health including the quality of your diet and exercise plan.

Your cholesterol levels can tell you more than just your levels of triglycerides!  Researchers have now determined that cholesterol levels can now also report on a person’s lifestyle choices.  The Mayo Clinic Health Letter recently released their findings that a person’s level of overall health is reflected in their good and bad cholesterol levels.

While cholesterol is normal for our bodies and is found in all of our cells, too much cholesterol can put your blood vessels at risk.  Bad cholesterol can cause our blood vessels to narrow and blood flow to be restricted.  Obviously this is a problem that can lead to health problems like heart attack and stroke.

If you are looking to reduce your LDL levels, be sure to eat less saturated fats, trans fats and increase your intake of healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil and flax seed oil.  Also foods high in soluble fiber, such as oatmeal,  are recommended to reduce the LDL.

HDL levels reflect good cholesterol. If you have low HDL, this fact means that you may very well have a sedentary lifestyle.  Also, more than likely, you don’t exercise enough.  Exercising, of course, has a number of health benefits including raising your levels of good cholesterol.

According to P.K. Shah, MD, director of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “Boosting HDL is the next frontier in heart disease prevention.”  Reducing your calories, sugar, and alcohol consumption can also improve your HDL levels.

Fish oil can also go a long way in helping people with low HDL.  Other suggestions include red yeast rice supplementation, taking a niacin supplement, and eating foods that have lower glycemic levels.

Sources:
medicalnewstoday.com
webmd.com

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!

Transdifferentiation is showing up more often of late - the ability to switch somatic cells directly between types without having to go through an intermediate stage of reprogramming into stem cells. It should in theory make obtaining specific cells for research and therapy a cheaper and more reliable process in the future: "it has become possible to directly convert cells of the body into one another - without the time-consuming detour via a pluripotent intermediate stage. However, this method has so far been rather inefficient. [Scientists] have now developed the method to the point that it can be used for biomedical applications. ... [Researchers] are interested in the biomedical utilization of artificially produced human nerve cells for disease research, cell replacement, and the development of active substances. ... By blocking the so-called SMAD signaling pathway and inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3ß), they increased the transformational efficiency [of skin cells to neurons] by several times - and were thus able to even simplify the means of extraction. Using only two instead of previously three transcription factors and three active substances, [the] researchers were able to convert a majority [of] skin cells into neurons. In the end, their cell cultures contained up to more than 80% human neurons. ... We were able to demonstrate how the genes typical for skin fibroblast were gradually down-regulated and nerve-cell-specific genes were activated during the cell transformation. In addition, the nerve cells thus obtained were functionally active, which also makes them interesting as a source for cell replacement."

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120411084044.htm

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

Sylmar CA Technical and Trade Schools

Find local trade schools in Sylmar California. We also display nearby cities when their are no trade or vocational schools in a particular city. If you have comments or feel there are errors on this page please contact the website admin and necessary corrections will be made. We strive to provide free and accurate information to all prospective students.

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Air date 10-05-13

Dr. Mixon and Dr. Ummat respond to your calls. First information on proper womens Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), and why Premarin is not the answer. Then side effects and treatments of low estrogen. Later more on HRT particular to progesterone, and how low levels can cause cognitive decline. Also the doctors explain male HRT, and why testosterone shots both help and hurt. Plus can statins be taken with CoQ10? This week on Leading Edge Medicine.

Air date 06-01-13

Dr. Mixon responds to your calls. This conversation starts on proper female hormone replacement therapy with estrogens and why Premarin is not the answer. Later the doctor shares several causes of fainting spells and when it signals something serious. Also information on the Vegas Nerve and how it can trigger slowing of the heart. Plus information on the damage of Diabetes to blood vessels in causing Erectile Dysfunction. On this weeks Leading Edge Medicine.

What is better than anti-aging? Dr. Jerry Mixon reveals to Margaret Larson on New Day Northwest that anti-aging does not exist. We do age, but instead of settling for whats normal, many of the effects of aging, one should seek out optimizing their health. Dr. Mixon emphasizes how the essence of treating for optimal health lies in measuring hormone levels as a first step. And that is exactly how Longevity Medical Clinic begins to tackle optimal health for every patient. After measuring, LMC guides patients through proper diet, exercise and supplementation as each are additionally vital in bringing health beyond the doctor assuring you, youre normal. When treated properly, a normal 50-year old can function as well as a normal 20-year old, says Dr. Mixon. Listen to exactly how.

Leading Edge Medicine on KTTH Radio (9am 10am) by Dr. Jerry Mixon

Dr. Mixon and Dr. Ummat respond to your calls. Listen in as Oxytocin, the attachment hormone is explained, and why it is important. And is there any treatment to reverse the process of Scleroderma? Later a discussion on Herpes and its viral property, and possible alternatives to Acyclovir treatment.Also a list of simple remedies for chronic sinusitis and cough. Plus more on Asbestosis, hCG and neuropathy. On this weeks Leading Edge Medicine.

More here:
hormone replacement therapy | Longevity Medical Clinic Blog

A study published by The Cochrane Collaboration revealed that taking zinc supplements can reduce the severity of cold symptoms and shorten the length of the illness.

Your Body’s Natural Defense

The body is naturally built with its defense mechanism against infection and diseases. From the day that we were born, the immune system is already a little familiar with the things that can harm the body. After the detection of such threats, the immune cells immediately act to destroy and remove the threat from the body. This process of familiarization with the different disease-causing bacteria, virus and other antigens will take time. In the case of the common cold, for example, you would oftentimes need to get sick first before the immune system can effectively fight the virus causing the illness. But there are hundreds of cold strains and new strains evolve from old strains every time that it is impossible to come up with a universal vaccine that would repeal all cold viruses. The best approach is to keep the immune system in pristine condition in order to reduce the severity and length of the symptoms if the illness cannot entirely be avoided.

How Common is Common Cold?

The common cold is considered as a seasonal epidemic that can be transmitted through direct contact with droplets from an infected person, objects and surfaces. People are advised to avoid contact with people and surfaces that could possibly be infected with the common cold virus, especially during an outbreak. Keeping the body healthy, on the other hand, will serve as your first line of defense. Proper diet and sufficient exercise will help strengthen the immune system and help it better fight infection. Certain nutrients from food can also help boost the immune system. A study from The Cochrane Collaboration observed that the supplementation of zinc can reduce the severity and length of the common cold symptoms.

Zinc Against The common cold

The Cochrane Collaboration published a study suggesting that the intake of zinc-enriched syrup, tablets and lozenges during the onset of the common cold can reduce the length and severity of the symptoms. The study consisted of 15 clinical trials and found that, after a week, study participants who took zinc supplementation had cleared their common cold symptoms compared to the group taking placebo pills.

Head researcher Meenu Singh of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in India said that the results of their study indicated that the intake of zinc supplements within 24 hours from catching the common cold reduced the severity and duration of the symptoms. He added that taking the supplement for no less than five months can reduce the incidence of the condition, use of antibiotics and school absenteeism in children. The results of the study further provided evidence of the efficacy of zinc as a treatment for common cold. But Singh also added that it is difficult to recommend zinc at the present due to the lack of studies regarding optimum dose, length of treatment and formulation.

Health Benefits of Zinc

The production of more than 300 enzymes relies on the sufficient amount of zinc in the body. With the deficiency of this micro-mineral, health conditions like connective tissue disorder can develop. A study conducted by researchers from UC Davis found that pregnant mice with deficient amounts of zinc produced offspring with a dysfunctional immune system. Deficient levels of zinc has also been linked to cataracts, muscular degeneration, defective connective tissue, acne, high risk of  pneumonia, diarrhea, short stature and dwarfism, mental lethargy, rough skin, subsequent infection, slow skeletal maturation and weight loss. Though a few of these observations were acquired in animal studies, zinc deficiency still poses as a great threat to human health.

The various health benefits of zinc, on the other hand, include the prevention and reduction of the severity of flu. Several studies have found that zinc has the ability to enhance the function of immune cells and reduce the body’s susceptibility to infection. Zinc is also essential in maintaining taste and smell sensitivity, preventing osteoporosis, promoting healthier skin, better weight management, keeping a balanced blood sugar level, promoting healthy eyesight, and preventing prostate diseases.

The richest natural source of zinc are oysters, peas, nuts, chicken, eggs, liver, meats, mushrooms, oats, sardines, whole grain, wheat germ and bran and soy beans. The RDA or Recommended Dietary Allowance of zinc for adults is 10 to 15 milligrams. Anything in excess to this can result to zinc poisoning. Too much zinc in the system can lead to gastrointestinal disturbances, chills and uncontrollable shaking, fever, liver dysfunction and skin irritation.

Natural Ways to Prevent and Reduce the Incidence of the Common Cold

The key to common cold prevention is living healthy – nutritious diet, regular exercise and avoiding unhealthy habits. The Centers for Disease Control said that people with the highest risk of catching cold are pregnant women, children aged 5 years and younger, older adults aged 50 years and above, people with chronic medical conditions like diabetes and asthma, people living in long-term care facilities like nursing home, and health-care workers who are frequently in contact with flu-infected individuals.

Proper nutrition and eating foods rich in vitamins and other nutrients that had been found to help protect the body from infection is essential in keeping the body cold-free. Eating food with cold-fighting nutrients is more effective than taking dietary supplements. This way, you are getting all of the health benefits that the food has to offer; you’ll just have to know which foods are rich in what nutrient. Green vegetables, oranges and other citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C which has been proven to help in boosting the immune system’s ability to repeal diseases.

Getting enough exercise also strengthens the immune system. People without or with less exercise had been found to get sick more often that those who exercise in most days of the week. In addition, The National Sleep Foundation has found that people with poor sleeping habits are more likely to get sick than those who always get a good night’s sleep. And lastly, being defensive about getting in contact with the virus is essential in keeping you cold-free. Wash your hands with soap or use a sanitizer as often as you can.

Sources
nutraingredients.com
mayoclinic.com
mayoclinic.com
mayoclinic.com
mayoclinic.com
medicinenet.com
medicinenet.com
healthmad.com
organicfacts.net
naturalhealthtechniques.com
ods.od.nih.gov
ivillage.co.uk

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!

The industry that provides antioxidant supplements to the world has tremendous inertia: enormous income and a very loud voice, and thus little incentive to react to advances in scientific knowledge that might reduce that revenue stream if acted upon. So despite the scientific consensus that ingested antioxidants are not in fact wonderful for your health, and may even be modestly harmful over the long term, the larger players in the industry continue onward as though it's still 1992 outside their offices.

On the other side of the fence, the public at large keeps buying the products as though it's still 1992, just as blithely ignoring what the scientific community has to say on the matter. Everyone wants that silver bullet to be available now rather than tomorrow, and wants it badly enough to buy lead painted up to a nice sheen if that's all there is. All in all it's a good reminder that any institutional knowledge or common wisdom is likely to be a decade or two out of date - it takes time for information to percolate, even in this age of instant electronic overcommunication. There is seemingly so much that everyone has to say, day in and day out, and yet the important data still takes years to get from point A to point B.

Here is a good open access paper on antioxidants and just how far removed from reality the common wisdom is these days. I imagine it will take a few more years of authoring similar review papers for the point to start to sink in:

Antioxidants are assumed to provide numerous benefits, including better health, a reduced rate of aging, and improved exercise performance. Specifically, antioxidants are commonly "prescribed" by the media, supplement industry, and "fitness experts" for individuals prior to training and performance, with assumed benefits of improved fatigue resistance and recovery. This has provoked expansion of the supplement industry which responded by creation of a plethora of products aimed at facilitating the needs of the active individual. However, what does the experimental evidence say about the efficacy of antioxidants on skeletal muscle function? Are antioxidants actually as beneficial as the general populous believes? Or, could they in fact lead to deleterious effects on skeletal muscle function and performance?

...

Experimental evidence does not support the "common knowledge" that antioxidant treatment greatly improves exercise performance and recovery. On the contrary, studies with antioxidant supplementations generally show no effect on muscle function during and after exercise.

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

A novel viewpoint is outlined in this article, though as always it remains to be seen how important the effect is in comparison with other concrete manifestations of aging: "For decades, scientists have looked for explanations as to why certain conditions occur with age, among them memory loss, slower reaction time, insomnia and even depression. They have scrupulously investigated such suspects as high cholesterol, obesity, heart disease and an inactive lifestyle. Now a fascinating body of research supports a largely unrecognized culprit: the aging of the eye. The gradual yellowing of the lens and the narrowing of the pupil that occur with age disturb the body's circadian rhythm, contributing to a range of health problems, these studies suggest. As the eyes age, less and less sunlight gets through the lens to reach key cells in the retina that regulate the body's circadian rhythm, its internal clock. ... Circadian rhythms are the cyclical hormonal and physiological processes that rally the body in the morning to tackle the day's demands and slow it down at night, allowing the body to rest and repair. This internal clock relies on light to function properly, and studies have found that people whose circadian rhythms are out of sync, like shift workers, are at greater risk for a number of ailments, including insomnia, heart disease and cancer. ... We believe that it will eventually be shown that cataract surgery results in higher levels of melatonin, and those people will be less likely to have health problems like cancer and heart disease"

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/health/aging-of-eyes-is-blamed-in-circadian-rhythm-disturbances.html

Source:
http://www.longevitymeme.org/newsletter/latest_rss_feed.cfm

Another part of the biochemical mechanisms of calorie restriction is uncovered in nematode worms: "The study [was] conducted on Caenorhabditis elegans (nematodes or roundworms), which are a widely accepted model for human aging research. ... Not only have we been able to identify some of these molecules for the first time in the worm, but we have also been able to show they act as a signal of nutrient availability and ultimately influence the worm's lifespan. What makes this important is that the same molecules are present in both humans and C. elegans, so these molecules may play similar roles in both organisms. ... The molecules identified in the new study are N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), a group of signaling molecules derived from lipids that help indicate nutrient availability in the environment and maintain an animal's internal energy balance. [Researchers showed that] NAE abundance in the worm is reduced during periods of dietary restriction, and that NAE deficiency in the presence of abundant food is sufficient to extend the animal's lifespan. ... It is well known that if you put C. elegans on a restricted diet, you can extend its lifespan by 40 to 50 percent. However, we were amazed to see that if you add back just one of these NAE molecules, eicosapentaenoyl ethanolamide, it completely abrogates the lifespan extension. ... Importantly, this particular NAE is similar to endocannabinoids in mammals, which regulate many different physiological processes including nutrient intake and energy balance, as well as inflammation and neuronal function."

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-05/sri-srs050511.php

I'll point out three recently published papers today, all of which are the fruits of the ongoing studies of long-lived people. There are a fair number of these efforts at the present time, a combination of decades-long longitudinal studies which now consist of a cohort of exceptionally old survivors, combined with new studies launched over the past decade as academic interest in the genetics of human longevity grew. As it turns out, long-lived human lineages differ from the rest of us in a number of identifiable ways - and given that it's really only been a handful of years that these sorts of study have been underway, I would imagine that many more characteristic genetic differences remain to be identified.

A genome-wide association study confirms APOE as the major gene influencing survival in long-lived individuals

We conducted a case-control genome-wide association study (GWAS) of human longevity, comparing 664,472 autosomal SNPs in 763 long-lived individuals (LLI; mean age: 99.7 years) and 1085 controls (mean age: 60.2 years) from Germany. ... Our GWAS failed to identify any additional autosomal susceptibility genes [beyond the APOE gene]. One explanation for this lack of success in our study would be that GWAS provide only limited statistical power ... A recent GWAS in Dutch LLI independently confirmed the APOE-longevity association, thus strengthening the conclusion that this locus is a very, if not the most, important genetic factor influencing longevity.

Mitochondrial Haplogroup X is associated with successful aging in the Amish

Mitochondrial lineages described by patterns of common genetic variants ("haplogroups") have been associated with increased longevity in different populations. We investigated the influence of mitochondrial haplogroups on [health in later life] in an Amish community sample. ... [Healthier old people] were more likely to carry Haplogroup X (OR = 7.56, p = 0.0015), and less likely to carry Haplogroup J (OR = 0.40, p = 0.0003). Our results [suggest] that variants in the mitochondrial genome may promote maintenance of both physical and cognitive function in older adults.

Relationship between plasma ghrelin, insulin, leptin, interleukin 6, adiponectin, testosterone and longevity in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

Caloric restriction (CR) is the most robust and reproducible intervention for slowing aging, and maintaining health and vitality in animals. Previous studies found that CR is associated with changes in specific biomarkers in monkeys that were also associated with reduced risk of mortality in healthy men. In this study we examine the association between other potential biomarkers related to CR and extended lifespan in healthy humans. .... Based on the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, "long-lived" participants who survived to at least 90 years of age (n=41, cases) were compared with "short-lived" participants who died between 72-76 years of age (n=31, controls) in the nested case control study. Circulating levels of ghrelin, insulin, leptin, interleukin 6, adiponectin and testosterone were measured from samples collected between the ages 58 to 70 years. ... At the time of biomarkers evaluation (58-70 yrs), none of the single biomarker levels was significantly different between the two groups. However, after combining information from multiple biomarkers [the] global score differentiated the long- and short-lived participants.

While interesting, and probably the basis for what will eventually be a massive industry of drug development aimed at gently slowing down the aging process, this sort of work is still something of a sideshow. Understanding the contributions of metabolic differences to the pace of aging and resistance to frailty and degeneration will not lead to a true cure for aging. Repair and reversal of aging, the foreseeable biotechnologies that can make the old young once again, can only come from lines of research like those undertaken by the SENS Foundation.