Another telomere length correlation, adding data to a relationship known for some years: "A process linked to natural cell aging has now also been associated with knee osteoarthritis, researchers say. Telomeres - lengths of DNA on the ends of chromosomes, sometimes described as being like the plastic cap on a shoelace tip - naturally shorten with age, but can also shorten due to sudden cell damage. Abnormally short telomeres have been found in some types of cancer and preliminary research has suggested that the average telomere length is also shortened in osteoarthritis. In this new study, Danish researchers used new technology to closely examine the telomeres of cells taken from the knees of osteoarthritis patients who had joint replacement surgery. The cells had abnormally shorted telomeres and the percentage of cells with ultra-short telomeres increased with proximity to the damaged area in the knee joint ... The telomere story shows us that there are, in theory, two processes going on in osteoarthritis. Age-related shortening of telomeres, which leads to the inability of cells to continue dividing and so to cell senescence [deterioration], and ultra-short telomeres, probably caused by compression stress during use, which lead to senescence and failure of the joint to repair itself. We believe the second situation to be the most important in osteoarthritis. The damaged cartilage could add to the mechanical stress within the joint and so cause a feedback cycle driving the progression of the disease."

Link: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/pain/articles/2012/01/17/knee-arthritis-may-speed-up-process-linked-to-cell-aging

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

A study conducted by CSIRO researchers found that a minimal intake of 3.8 grams of salt, which is equivalent to the salt content of most meals, can affect blood circulation.

Salt is an essential food ingredient needed to keep the body functioning properly. Sodium, a major extracellular ion, is needed by the cells to regulate mechanisms such as muscular contraction and water-base balance. In other words, the nutrients in salt helps maintain the right balance of water and other fluids in the body, influence the relaxation and contraction of muscles, and transmit nerve impulses.

The kidneys are responsible for maintaining the balance of sodium in the body in order to maintain optimal health by excreting it as urine. But these tiny organs that’s just as small as a common computer mouse has its limitations; it can only take a maximum of 2 to 3 tablespoons of salt in a day. Salt that fails to be excreted will start to accumulate in the blood and this could ultimately result to higher blood volume. In effect, the heart will have to work harder in order to properly circulate blood through the blood vessels. This results to higher blood pressure. Diseases linked to this condition are chronic kidney disease, cirrhosis, hypertension, congestive heart failure and a few others.

Immediate Effects of Sodium to Blood Circulation

A study published in the American Journal of Nutrition showed that salty foods can start to adversely affect blood circulation 30 minutes after consumption. The researchers found that eating foods containing 3.8 grams of salt of can inhibit the ability of blood vessels to expand and added that blood flow mediated dilation is reduced within 30 minutes after the meal.

The researchers from CSIRO, or the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, in Australia reported that eating meals rich in sodium can reduce the ability of the blood vessels to dilate by 50 percent compared to low-sodium meals. But they added that normal blood vessel function was restored after 2 hours. The lead author of the study, Kacie Dickinson, said that they were surprised to see a similar response to eating foods rich in saturated fats which has been known to damage the blood vessels on a long-term basis.

In the study, the researchers gathered a group of sixteen healthy volunteers and observed the postprandial effects of high salt intake to the endothelial function of study participants which, if impaired, is linked to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and hypertensive disorder. The researchers found that eating either high or low sodium meals can affect the natural ability of blood vessels to expand.  But meals higher in sodium can result to a more significant change.

Food Sources

Knowing the foods that are high in sodium content is the best way of keeping an eye on your sodium intake. Some of the foods richest in sodium are kelp, garbanzo beans, some fruits, dry lotus stems, corn meal, chick peas, cheese, celery, canned foods, buttermilk, black-eyed beans, beets and meats. Fast foods like fries and burgers are high in salt.  People with hypertensive conditions needs to be more wary about their sodium intake due to the risks involved. Healthy people, on the other hand, need to take as much care to prevent the development of the disease. Though sodium from salt offers the body numerous health benefits, the adverse effects of too much sodium are enough reason to read food labels and be well-educated about how to maintain a healthy balance of sodium in the body.

Detecting High Sodium: how to Read Food Labels

Not all foods rich in sodium taste salty. A typical bagel, for example, has 532 milligrams of sodium. So it is always important to read food labels and scan through the Nutritional Facts to know if the food contains more sodium than what your body needs. If you are reading the ingredients, some of the substances that contain sodium are monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, sodium alginate, disodium phosphate, baking powder and baking soda. These ingredients are present in most processed goods.

Some foods also have sodium labels on them. “Unsalted” or “no salt added” means no salt was added in the processing of these foods. But these foods may still have sodium in them. “Light” or “light in sodium” means sodium content has been reduced by 50 percent to the regular variety, “low sodium” products contains 140 milligrams of sodium at most, “very low sodium” indicates 35 milligrams of sodium per serving, and “sodium free” means the food has less than 5 milligrams of sodium.

Healthy and Natural Alternative to Salt

It is possible to supply the body with sodium without taking too much salt. Sodium is a natural occurring nutrient in plants. So using certain plant ingredients like celery and beans in cooking can give dishes a salty taste and at the same time give you just the right amount of sodium. Organic sea salt, on the other hand, can be a better and healthier alternative.

Table salt and organic sea salt has the same nutritional value both consisting of two major mineral components namely sodium and chloride. They contain similar amounts of sodium but the difference primarily lies in the way there were processed. Table salt is usually mined underground and it needs more processing to remove harmful trace minerals and is commonly fortified with iodine. Chemicals are also added to table salt to avoid clumping. Organic sea salt is harvested from evaporated sea water. It undergoes minimal processing and only contains minimal amounts of trace minerals. Sea salt also naturally contains iodine. But regardless of where you are getting your sodium from, it is always important to keep it at a minimum.

Natural Ways to Lower Risk of Hypertension and CVD

The risk factors of hypertension and cardiovascular disease are high alcohol intake, excess weight, lack of exercise, high sodium intake, and high blood cholesterol level. So in order to avoid hypertension, it is only appropriate to keep an active lifestyle, maintain a diet that’s low in sodium and bad cholesterol, keep a healthy body mass index and keep liquor to a moderate. These habits do not only keep the circulatory system health, but they have other health benefits like reduced risk of diabetes, obesity and chronic diseases.

Sources
foodnavigator.com
mayoclinic.com
lifestyle.iloveindia.com
associatedcontent.com
mayoclinic.com

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!

For everyday, average, healthy people, leading a good lifestyle makes a sizable difference both to your life expectancy and your chances of suffering the common age-related diseases in years to come. Refrain from smoking, regular moderate exercise, and a diet low in calories that still provides optimal nutrition - thereby avoiding the build up of visceral fat that happens on the way towards obesity - and you will gain a greater benefit than any presently available medical technology can offer.

For example:

A study of more than 100,000 men and women over 14 years finds nonsmokers who followed recommendations for cancer prevention had a lower risk of death from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and all-causes.

...

The participants were scored on a range from 0 to 8 points to reflect adherence to the American Cancer Society (ACS) cancer prevention guidelines regarding body mass index, physical activity, diet, and alcohol consumption, with 8 points representing adherence to all of the recommendations simultaneously.

After 14 years, men and women with high compliance scores (7, 8) had a 42% lower risk of death compared to those with low scores (0-2). Risk of cardiovascular disease death were 48% lower among men and 58% lower among women, while the risk of cancer death was 30% lower in men and 24% lower in women.

The best we can presently do for our health and longevity in this grand age of biotechnology is still exactly the same as the best was for our grandparents, and that is disappointing. There is a gaping chasm between the exciting advances and technology demonstrations taking place in laboratories and what becomes available for commercialization - or rather what the regulators grudging permit to become available for commercialization. The future will include rejuvenation biotechnology that can repair the damage of aging. That technology is clearly envisaged and understood today, but progress towards its development and deployment remains frustratingly slow.

As always, the way to change this situation lies in money and action: help out, persuade people to help out, and give your time and resources to speed matters along.

Dietary supplements elbow their way into discussions of human longevity in a very unhelpful way. The loudest voice in the room when it comes to aging is not the research community, but rather the collective megaphone wielded by the salespeople of the "anti-aging" marketplace - a well-funded army ever ready to puff up thin evidence, misrepresent research, propagate outright lies, and sell you whatever happens to be sitting in their warehouses right this instant. They're just as good at deceiving themselves as anyone else; the best salespeople are the true believers.

The simple truth is that no (presently available) supplement or collection of supplements can be shown to achieve anything close to the benefits to health and longevity produced by exercise and calorie restriction. Everyone should take a decent multivitamin, as it costs next to nothing and there is much evidence, both historical and contemporary, in support of the negative effects brought on by a diet lacking one or more essential micronutrients. The more adventurous can do as they please in the vast wilderness of studies showing very narrow statistical benefits in mice or specific populations - but only spend the money you can afford to throw away, and bear in mind you'd be better off donating it to efforts like the SENS Foundation that aim to actually repair and reverse aging rather than just slow it down. You'll never know whether or not all your investigations and supplements did any good: based on a broad reading of the work out there to date, any plausible effects from supplementation will be washed out by the consequences of your specific level of calorie intake and exercise.

This focus on supplements is, I think, some kind of oral fixation aspect of magical thinking. It's a mythic inheritance from the days of consuming a beast's heart to gain its courage. Researchers learn something about our biochemistry, spread the word, and that then manifests in our broader culture as an urge to consume some aspect of that knowledge - and so the pill sellers and potion manufacturers prosper in every age, regardless of the actual merits of what they sell.

I have to say that I am disappointed that Ray Kurzweil places so much emphasis on supplements in his thoughts on engineered longevity. He should throw that all out and focus on exercise and calorie restriction - that's where the science is far more settled, and the effects on health are large, noteworthy, and inarguable. But of course that isn't going to happen now that he has a business in the Life Extension Foundation vein going on that side, selling thin evidence to people who would rather follow the mythic path of eating knowledge than actually get up and exercise, or sanely reduce their intake of calories.

Follow the links below for a little photography for an otherwise slow Tuesday:

My Visit to KrioRus - the First Cryonics Company in Europe and Asia

Yesterday I visited the facilities of the Russian cryonics company KrioRus, which are located just outside Moscow. That's the huge dewar flask where the cryopreserved bodies are stored. It's so big that one needs to climb up a ladder to peek through the steamy nitrogen. And in the picture below Alexei Turchin, a renowned futurologist and expert on global risks, and I are in front of the other dewar flask, now empty and waiting for the new cryo patients. Cryonics is an amazing opportunity to get a chance to find yourself in the future. I believe cryonics is the choice of truly smart people.

SENS Foundation 'Lab Warming'

One of the Foundation's achievements last year was our Research Center's moving to a larger laboratory space, in Mountain View, California. Earlier this month we held a small opening event. It gave us a chance to thank our Research Operations Manager, Tanya Jones, and her team, for all their work in yet-again increasing the capabilities of the Foundation to pursue its core research interests. Anyway ... I took some snapshots during the afternoon, and thought I'd share them.

KrioRus and the SENS Foundation are two amongst a wide range of modern ventures in longevity science - although very different in focus, both are just a few years old and spring from overlapping communities of supporters, most of whom have been involved in the space for a decade or two at most. The longevity advocacy and interest community has a much longer history, and has become generational in nature over time. The folk who were most active in the early 90s are largely not the folk who are most active now, and progress in the form of new initiatives and public interest tends to arrive in waves. This I see as a good thing: life is change, and all broad movements need the influx of new faces and new movers and shakers in order to progress.

Can improving the technologies of vaccination lead to gains in the capacity of the age-damaged immune system? Progress in the ability to manipulate the immune system may pay off in unexpected ways when further technologies are built atop a new platform: "Vaccine scientists say their 'Holy Grail' is to stimulate immunity that lasts for a lifetime. Live viral vaccines such as the smallpox or yellow fever vaccines provide immune protection that lasts several decades, but despite their success, scientists have remained in the dark as to how they induce such long lasting immunity. Scientists [have] designed tiny nanoparticles that resemble viruses in size and immunological composition and that induce lifelong immunity in mice. They designed the particles to mimic the immune?stimulating effects of one of the most successful vaccines ever developed - the yellow fever vaccine. The particles, made of biodegradable polymers, have components that activate two different parts of the innate immune system and can be used interchangeably with material from many different bacteria or viruses. ... the yellow fever vaccine stimulated multiple Toll?like receptors (TLRs) in the innate immune system. TLRs [are] molecules expressed by cells that can sense bits of viruses, bacteria and parasites ... the immune system sensed the yellow fever vaccine via multiple TLRs, and that this was required for the immunity induced by the vaccine. ... We found that to get the best immune response, you need to hit more than one kind of Toll?like receptor. Our aim was to create a synthetic particle that accomplishes this task. ... In experiments with monkeys, nanoparticles with viral protein could induce robust responses greater than five times the response induced by a dose of the same viral protein given by itself, without the nanoparticles."

Link: http://www.kurzweilai.net/virus-mimicking-nanoparticles-can-stimulate-long-lasting-immunity

Via EurekAlert!: "Scientists have discovered a way to enhance nerve regeneration in the peripheral nervous system. This important discovery could lead to new treatments for nerve damage caused by diabetes or traumatic injuries. Peripheral nerves connect the brain and spinal cord to the body, and without them, there is no movement or sensation. Peripheral nerve damage is common and often irreversible. ... [Researchers] used a rat model to examine a pathway that helps nerves to grow and survive. Within this pathway is a molecular brake, called PTEN, that helps to prevent excessive cell growth under normal conditions. In addition to discovering for the first time that PTEN is found in the peripheral nervous system, [the team] demonstrated that following nerve injury, PTEN prevents peripheral nerves from regenerating. The team was able to block PTEN, an approach that dramatically increased nerve outgrowth. ... We were amazed to see such a dramatic effect over such a short time period. No one knew that nerves in the peripheral system could regenerate in this way, nerves that can be damaged if someone has diabetes for example. This finding could eventually help people who have lost feeling or motor skills recover and live with less pain."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-07/uoc-ndi070910.php

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

A study from the Wake Forrest University found that weight loss and walking can help older obese adults improve their mobility.

Obesity is a common health problem in various societies and demographics. Though the prevalence of the health condition is higher in certain social backgrounds, the number of obese individuals is continuing on an upward trend. Typically, obesity is seen as an accumulation of excess and abnormal amounts of fat in his body. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a person whose BMI is equal to or more than 30 is considered to be obese. And more than the restricted movements and limited mobility, obesity is also seen as a major risk factor for developing diseases which includes diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and other chronic illnesses.

In the WHO’s latest global data regarding obesity, approximately 1.6 billion adults are overweight and no more than 400 million are obese. They had also projected that by 2015 the number of obese individuals will grow to around 700 million. These numbers is also projected to directly affect the prevalence of certain health conditions linked to obesity. Years back, surveys proved than obesity is a problem limited to high-income countries. But this changed over the years as the number of obese cases grew in low and middle income countries.

There are various factors that significantly affect a person’s risk of becoming obese. The primary reason is the consumption of disproportionate amount of calories against the person’s calorie expenditure. The bad habits of excessive intake of foods rich in fats and sugars but deficient in minerals, vitamins and micronutrients and the lack of physical activities are causing the problem. And these observations can be seen on a global perspective.

People who are clinically overweight are being found to be at risk of developing certain serious diseases like cardiovascular disease, some types of cancer, musculoskeletal disorders and diabetes. The health problem of obesity is more serious during old age. Obese individuals ages 50 and above are finding it more difficult to manage the condition and are at higher risk of permanent disability and serious health complications resulting to increased mortality rate. But one study found natural ways to help older obese adults better cope with their condition.

Walking and Losing Weight Improves Mobility for Older Obese individuals

A study conducted by a team of researchers from the Wake Forrest University observed that weight loss and walking can improve the mobility of older individuals with obesity and cardiovascular conditions by 20 percent. The study lasted for five years and involved 288 study participants. It is published online on the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The popular belief says that losing weight can be harmful to people at old age. But contrary to this, the researchers found that participating in physical activities and losing weight can be the best means of improving their mobility. According to lead researcher and Professor of Health and Exercise Science, Jack Rajeski, their research is one of the first large scale studies which shows that weight loss can improve the health of older obese individuals with cardiovascular health conditions. This gives health care practitioners more ways to address the needs of senior patients with limited to poor mobility.

Rajeski said that the statistics showing the increasing population of older adults call for a need to find cost-effective community-based lifestyle intervention programs to improve their mobility. In addition to this, they found that 60 percent of the people in this age group are only walking an average of one mile per week. The co-investigators include Michael Perri from the University of Florida, Jacquelyn McClelland and Lucille Bearon from the North Carolina State University, and professor of health and exercise science Peter Brubaker, Walter Ambrosius and Dr David Goff of Wake University. Rajeski added that a community-based preventive lifestyle intervention is very important.

The team of researchers partnered with three health care professionals and with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension to effectively conduct the study and gather reliable results. The study participants aged 60 to 79 were tracked over a period of 18 months and were divided into three groups. The control group was educated on successful aging, the other was asked to participate in physical activities and weight loss programs while the third group was limited to physical training.

The results from the group subjected to physical training showed significant effects but researchers found that the combination of weight loss and physical activity produced more notable results. The study participants exhibited improved mobility by 5 percent, while those who had limited mobility improved by around 20 percent. To observe their improvements, the participants were asked to take a 400-meter walk; this is a widely used method of measuring the mobility of senior individuals. The researchers said that prevention is very important for older people who are starting to lose their mobility since the symptoms can be progressive and often result to permanent disability.

Rajeski concluded that a person’s ability to walk without any assistance is vital in improving a person’s capacity to function better in the community. He added that the next step will be to establish a model that can be replicated at different areas in the United States and that they will be working with other institutions in the state to achieve this goal.

Natural Ways to prevent Obesity

Obesity is highly preventable. Though some researchers had found that some people are more genetically inclined to the development of the health condition, natural methods can be implemented in order to lower the risk.

The essential step is to maintain energy balance and participate in more physical activities. A person’s energy intake needs to appropriately respond to the person’s physical activities without taking his nutritional needs for granted. Foods rich in harmful fats needs to be avoided, while the consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains, legumes and nuts needs to be increased as these are energy-giving foods. The recommended physical activity is a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise in most days of the week. The initiative of maintaining a healthy weight needs to come from the individual and this needs to be for the purpose of promoting better health and preventing the onset of health conditions including obesity.

Sources
eurekalert.org
who.int
who.int

Rapamycin recently showed promise as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease, and here more researchers are working on that: "A few weeks after a report that rapamycin, a drug that extends lifespan in mice and that is currently used in transplant patients, curbed the effects of Alzheimer's disease in mice, a second group is announcing similar results in an entirely different mouse model of early Alzheimer's. ... The second report [showed] that administration of rapamycin improved learning and memory in a strain of mice engineered to develop Alzheimer's. The improvements in learning and memory were detected in a water maze activity test that is designed to measure learning and spatial memory. The improvements in learning and memory correlated with lower damage in brain tissue. ... Strikingly, the Alzheimer's mice treated with rapamycin displayed improved performance on the maze, even reaching levels that were indistinguishable from their normal littermates. Levels of amyloid-beta-42 were also reduced in these mice after treatment, and we are seeing preserved numbers of synaptic elements in the brain areas of Alzheimer's disease mice that are ravaged by the disease process."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-04/uoth-adt040110.php

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

From the Technology Review: "Support cells in the brain called astroglia can be turned into functioning neurons. ... Researchers found that they could transform the cells into two different classes of neurons, and that the neurons could form connections with one another in a dish. Although the research is at an early stage, the finding suggests that scientists could someday recruit existing cells in the brain to repair the brain and spinal cord after a stroke, injury, or neurodegenerative disease. ... The addition of one specific gene generated excitatory neurons, which promote activity in other cells. By adding a different gene, they generated inhibitory neurons, which dampen cell activity. In principle, [you] could generate other types of neurons if you choose the appropriate factors ... The study adds to growing evidence that certain cell types can be transformed directly into other cell types without first being converted into stem cells. ... one of the next challenges is to determine whether these reprogrammed neurons can survive and function in a living brain. Fortunately, the brain seems to have a ready source of astroglia. When the brain is injured, these cells proliferate, similar to the way the skin repairs itself after a wound. The researchers found they could also derive neurons from injury-induced astroglia taken from the brains of adult mice."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25353/

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

Researchers:  Skip Pre-Workout Meal, Increase Fat Loss

Why you may be better off postponing your meal until after you've exercised.

There are plenty of opinions out there regarding the benefits and detriments of eating immediately prior to working out.  Advocates say that food provides the fuel an athlete needs to perform at his or her best.  But detractors say that pre-workout meals prevent the body from burning off stored fat, thus reducing the benefits exercise has in helping people lose weight.

Both arguments have their validity, which is why you need to consider what your goals are before deciding on whether or not to chow down prior to working out.  If your goal is to maximize performance—to leg out that extra mile, or to bench that extra rep—then eating is the way to go.  Fat and carbohydrates provide the muscles with the fuel they need to perform rigorous tasks.

But if the purpose of your exercise program is to lose weight, you may be better off skipping out on that pre-workout shake.

Now, I know what you’re thinking:  Uh, duh Frank – if you want to lose weight, then of course you have to consume less than you’re burning!  But there’s a plethora of data out there suggesting that skipping meals is a bad way to try and lose weight.  Skipping meals slows down the body’s metabolic rate and it also encourages us to eat more later in the day because we’re feeling famished.  In fact, some studies suggest the best way to lose weight is to eat more.

But researchers from the University of Birmingham say that skipping the pre-workout meal “tricks” the body into tapping into fat stores for fuel.

They discovered this after following 14 people who either ate prior to working out or did not eat prior to working out.  For those that did eat, they waited one hour before mounting their bicycles.  Both groups used bicycling as their modes of exercise for the experiment.

At the end of one week, the researchers found that the pre-workout eaters outperformed those that didn’t eat prior to working out (i.e. they didn’t travel as many miles), but the fasting group wound up burning off more fat.

The study is published in the journal American College of Sports Medicine.

Now, does this mean that everyone should skip out on eating prior to working out?  Of course not.  Many people simply can’t exercise on an empty stomach without feeling dizzy.  If this is the case, then by all means, EAT!

Others are able to eat prior to working out and can lose weight just fine.  In fact they’ve tried fasting before exercising, but it left them feeling listless and lethargic, severely hampering their exercise efforts.

For everyone else, though, skipping your pre-workout meal may lead to big gains—or should I say “losses”—in your weight loss endeavors.

Source:
newsmaxhealth.com

Discuss this article in Frank Mangano’s forum!

At Gaia, were helping our clients achieve new standards of health and well-being by combining innovative functional medicine with complementary practices.

We take the time required to understand, assess and care for the whole person, incorporating ancient wisdom with modern technology to transform our clients from head to toe physically, energetically, emotionally and spiritually.

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Each client is treated as a person, not merely a disease or a symptom. We provide a customized, integrated program of traditional and complementary therapies under the guidance of a medical doctor.

Call us to book your free half hour appointment now to begin your journey to wellness, or read on to learn more about our collaborative approach to functional medicine.

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Gaia Clinic | Collaborative Medicine

We talk a lot about avoiding a threat like COVID-19. You likely know avoiding gatherings, social distancing, washing hands, not shaking hands, not touching your face and wearing masks and person protective gear are important.

But your body is designed to protect you from outside threats. Your immune system is a highly organized and mobile unit, designed to fight to protect you.

Unlike other parts of the body, the immune system is difficult to visualize. After all, you know what the heart looks like and where it beats. But your immune system is just that: a system. It involves a variety of cells and messages between them. Plus, its something that patrols your entire body.

Think about it as any kind of protect-and-defend system it just happens at a microscopic level. It goes through a very similar process as societal defense mechanisms.

And like the city police, state police, FBI, etc., there is a lot of redundancy built into the system, designed to help you. Your skin serves as the first, outer shield to your insides. Even protection for your ears thats what wax is for nose and lungs have filters and cilia that act like brooms, trying to make sure bad stuff from the outside stays outside.

Once inside, or against an inside renegade like a cancer cell, this defense system is action. Its what rushes in when you scrape yourself. When you have a cold or are sick from a virus, your immune cells recognize some nasty stuff causing problems and send in other immune cells to fight them. The result of that fight is what you see or feel coughing, runny nose, inflammation, fever and things of that sort.

You also might see it when you cut yourself or twist an ankle. Redness or swelling are a result of those immune cells identifying a problem and sending in cells to heal the area. Ultimately, its what heals you.

Yet when we talk about vibrant longevity, its not just about how your body handles the flu or a bum joint. Its much more about how your immune system handles the major threats that if not defeated, will kill you, like MERS, SARS, COVID-19 or a cancer. Strengthening your immune system is key for keeping you young inside.

It should be noted your immune system, after you turn about 50, loses some of its juice. It is less able to identify and attack invaders, which is the reason self-engineering your immune system is vital and you should do all you can to keep it in top shape.

Tips for self-engineering your immune system

Quality sleep: Poor sleep is associated with decreased immune function and decreased rate of vaccines working, for that very reason. That means not only getting at least 7 hours of sleep, but also making sure its quality sleep. Good sleep hygiene, meaning no screens in the bedroom and not eating for a few hours before sleep, is crucial to making sure you get rest. Getting great sleep for several days prior to a flu shot boosts its success in protecting for influenza viruses.

Manage stress: One of the major threats to your immune system is chronic stress, which causes a cascade of hormonal responses that weakens your immune function over time. And while were of the belief theres no such thing as total stress relief stress is simply a byproduct of living a fulfilling life we believe there are ways to self-engineer the effects that negative and chronic stress can have on the body. Of course stress management can take many shapes and forms, and you should engage in those activities that work for you, as long as theyre healthy a nightly assembly line of martinis does not qualify. Meditation, deep breathing, social connections by phone or video chat in this time of social distancing, and at least 10 other techniques have been shown to increase immune function.

Enjoy healthy food: Vegetables are natures best protective medicine theyre fortified with so many good-for-you compounds and nutrients. When it comes to preventing or fighting enemies of longevity, if theres one thing you can do to help reduce your risk, its to make a conscious effort to cover more of your plate with veggies and fruits. Make them great tasting, and it helps to avoid red and processed meat, simple sugar, syrups and carbs that are not 100% whole grain. The best approach is to diversify your portfolio of fruits and vegetables think leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, berries and citrus fruits.

This will help improve the chances that all your micronutrients vitamins A, B, C and D, and minerals like zinc and selenium are covered. Its also a good idea to supplement with half a multivitamin-multimineral supplement twice a day (morning and night) to ensure all of your bases are covered. Taking it for several weeks prior to a flu shot is another way to boost the flu shots success in protecting you for influenza viruses.

Move, move, move: Any movement is great, but increasing progressively over time can boost immune functioning. Note, though, that over-exercising is associated with decreased immune function. Training by running continuously for more than two hours, or biking more than two hours continuously, would classify as over-exercising, as doing more than two hours of exercises continuously causes inflammation and depresses your immune system.

Cut out toxins: This includes vaping, smoking cigarettes and consuming too much alcohol.

Cover your cough.

Get vaccines.

Wash your hands.

Yes, you get to engineer your immune system so it can help you ward off the current headline threat, as well as the big longevity stopper cancer. Take the opportunity.

Dr. Michael Roizen writes about wellness for the Cleveland Jewish News. He is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic.

Read more from the original source:
The immune system another contributor to increasing longevity, staying young inside - Cleveland Jewish News

The continued search for ways to more quickly determine differences in expected longevity between members of the same species finds a potential marker: "Xenobiotic metabolism has been proposed to play a role in modulating the rate of aging. Xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes (XME) are expressed at higher levels in calorically restricted mice (CR) and in GH/IGF-I-deficient long-lived mutant mice. In this study, we show that many phase I XME genes are similarly upregulated in additional long-lived mouse models, including "crowded litter" (CL) mice, whose lifespan has been increased by food restriction limited to the first 3 weeks of life, and in mice treated with rapamycin. Induction in the CL mice lasts at least through 22 months of age, but induction by rapamycin is transient for many of the mRNAs. Cytochrome P450s, flavin monooxygenases, hydroxyacid oxidase, and metallothioneins were found to be significantly elevated in similar proportions in each of the models of delayed aging tested, whether these are based on mutation, diet, drug treatment, or transient early intervention. The same pattern of mRNA elevation can be induced by 2 weeks of treatment with tert-butylhydroquinone, an oxidative toxin known to active Nrf2-dependent target genes. These results suggest that elevation of phase I XMEs is a hallmark of long-lived mice and may facilitate screens for agents worth testing in intervention-based lifespan studies."

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22693205

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

Greg Mast

The timing was right to add a physician to a local family practice.

Dr. Genna Siemons was looking to begin her practice after recently finishing her residency. Denise McPheron, Ottawa Family Physicians administrator, said the OFP doctors seized an opportunity to corral a young physician.

We were not looking at the time, McPheron said. The doctors had a real good feel for her. We can always use another provider in the office. There is always room for another female.

Siemons officially starts with Ottawa Family Physicians, 1418 S. Main St., Suite 5, on Sept. 1. She said the OFP physicians longevity was impressive.

I like how long everyone has been here, she said. It says a lot about the group when everyone comes and never leaves. It means something is working.

This will be Dr. Siemons first official practice.

I felt like I got great training, Siemons, who spent the past three years finishing her residency at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, said. Dr. [Ellen] Sinclair and Dr. [John] Gollier had gone through [the same] residency program.

Family medicine was intriguing to her for several reasons.

I like [building] a relationship with my patients, she said. I like taking care of kids. This way, you get to follow people. There is enough variety. Every day is a little different. You dont have to nail yourself down into one thing. I am excited to meet all the families and patients.

McPheron said the timing of adding a female physician to the practice could not have been better with the recent opening of the urgent care clinic inside Price Chopper, 120 E. 19th St., Ottawa, and the expansion of Ransom Memorial Hospitals emergency room, 1301 S. Main St., Ottawa.

We are seeing a lot of new patients out there [at the clinic], McPheron said. The hope is to get the new patients established with her. Capture those people and keep them here in town.

McPheron said having another female physician also could draw former patients back into the fold.

We are hoping to get more of the female population back, she said. A lot of people are going out of town.

McPheron said OFP is scheduling appointments for Siemons.

We are ready for her to start, McPheron said. Call the office and we will get the schedule going.

Siemons is eager to meet perspective patients, especially mothers expecting babies, she said.

It would be ideal, Siemons said. They say your practice ages with you. I love delivering babies and OBG [Obstetrics and Gynecology] care. I like all of it.

Siemons likes the idea of being in the same group with veteran physicians.

I had no reservations coming down here, she said. We really like the town and the group. We thought it would be a good place to start.

The physician lives in Ottawa with her husband, T.J., who is an architect in Kansas City. Siemons said the lure of small community life drew them to Ottawa.

My husband and I grew up in smaller towns, Siemens said. We wanted to get back to a smaller town. We wanted a place close to Kansas City so he could keep working his job. We ventured out this way. [Ottawa] has a lot of charm...the older houses and buildings and the proximity to Lawrence and Kansas City. You get that smaller town [feel], but not far [from the bigger cities].

DR. CHRISTOPHER KOSTER

Dr. Christopher Koster will make history when he comes to town Nov. 1 as Ottawas first pediatrician.

I am very excited to bring pediatrics to Ottawa, he said Wednesday at the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerces new educator/health professionals luncheon at Sunflower Elementary, 1325 Falcon Way, Ottawa. I have a fair amount of experience with both outpatient and inpatient care. I am really excited to get the opportunity to help a community that has not had pediatrics before.

Koster grew up in Great Bend and practiced in Lawrence with his father-in-law. He has worked at Lawrence Memorial Hospital for the past few years in pediatrics. Ottawa is similar to his hometown, and that was a big drawing card for him.

This is the size of town I started in and what made me want to do pediatrics, he said. To be getting back to that is exciting for me. It feels like home to me.

Kosters office will be in the Franklin County Office Annex, Suite 3. Koster has connections to Ransom Memorial Hospital. He knew Matt Heyn, RMHs chief executive officer, from Great Bend. Koster said his father, Larry, works in the RMH lab.

It will be fun to work with him again, Koster said. I am really excited about whats happening at Ransom Memorial. There is lots of progress. It will be fun to be a part of that.

Koster cant wait to start taking care of children one-on-one and getting to know their families, he said.

I will take care of children from birth to 18, Koster said. It is managing their healthcare. It is my job to be the medical home for kids. I will take care of everything from ear infections, flu to sports physicals.

He is married with two daughters.

Other new health officials introduced at the luncheon included Heath Wilt, cardiology; Laura Badjalimbe, internal medicine; Leonel Martinez, cardiology; Bob Green, cardiovascular; Leonel Martinez, ear, nose and throat; Sara Cunningham, Ottawa Care Clinic; Lisa Kerley and Lisa McDaniel, advanced practical nurse, Ottawa Family Physicians.

Read more from the original source:
Physicians eager to start practice in Ottawa - The Ottawa Herald

This short post at Business Insider serves as a reminder of two items. Firstly, the author notes that 'Silicon Valley billionaires are pouring money into gene research and modifications' - and I wish that were the case! There are very few philanthropists and investors amongst the wealthy of the technology industry who are doing this, and Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison are outliers in having devoted millions to this end. Journalists who cover the tech industry sometimes wake up momentarily to see instances of the comparatively rare funding of longevity science - and then assume it to be more commonplace than it is. In fact, progress in this field is absolute limited and determined by the lack of funding for programs like SENS: the path ahead is very clear, and availability of funds for the research and development is the bottleneck. The second point is illustrated by glancing at the article comments, in which we can see that it is still very much the cultural norm to decry efforts to extend healthy life - and to be expected to decry efforts to extend healthy life, to conform to this view or suffer censure. Consider this for a moment: we still live in a society in which the mainstream view is that people must suffer horribly and die on schedule, and to do anything about that is wrong. Personally, I blame much of that required-attitude-in-public on the pervasive influence of Malthusian, hair shirt environmentalism, coupled with some of the less pleasant aspects of human nature in all of us. For the foreseeable future this is the great act of persuasion we must undertake: convince a large segment of the population to agree in public that we can use biotechnology to do away with the suffering of old age, and that we should use biotechnology to do away with the suffering of old age.

Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-death-is-a-problem-that-can-be-solved-2012-2

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

From Maria Konovalenko: "I am proud to announce that Science for Life Extension Foundation is one of the organizers of the 2nd international Genetics of Aging and Longevity conference. It is going to be an amazing and actually unprecedented conference focused on genetic mechanisms of aging and longevity. Check out the list of our invited speakers. I can't wait to hear the prominent researchers sharing their experience in making model animals live longer. By the way, we are proud to have all the longevity-record braking researchers, who extended the lifespan of yeast, nematodes, fruit flies and mice. You can't miss this meeting. I encourage you to go ahead and register. It's the end of April, beautiful spring in Moscow. For those who have never been here before, here's your chance to kill two birds with one stone - learn a lot about aging and discover one of the most beautiful and dynamic cities in the world."

Link: http://aging-genes2012.ru/en/

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

One of the ways in which major blood vessels decline in function with aging is that they lose their elasticity. The state of chronic inflammation that grows with aging contributes to this, as noted in this open access paper (in PDF format). This is probably connected to the fact that exercise helps improve the elasticity of arteries, given that exercise is shown to impact levels of inflammation: "Increased arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease independent from blood pressure. Recent studies have shed new light on the importance of inflammation on the pathogenesis of arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is associated with the increased activity of angiotensin II, which results in increased NADPH oxidase activity, reduced NO bioavailability and increased production of reactive oxygen species. Angiotensin II signaling activates matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) which degrade TGF? precursors to produce active TGF?, which then results in increased arterial fibrosis. ... There is also ample clinical evidence that demonstrates the association of inflammation with increased arterial stiffness. Recent studies have shown that reductions in inflammation can reduce arterial stiffness. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, increased aortic pulse wave velocity in patients was significantly reduced by anti tumor necrosis factor-? therapy. ... Thus, there is rationale for targeting specific inflammatory pathways involved in arterial stiffness in the development of future drugs. Understanding the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of arterial stiffness is important to understanding the complex puzzle that is the pathophysiology of arterial stiffening and may be important for future development of novel treatments."

Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2012.53.2.258

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