Aging & Longevity News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

A 45-year-old biotech CEO may have reduced his biological age by at least 5 years through a rigorous medical program that can cost up to $2 million a year, Bloomberg reported

https://www.businessinsider.com/bryan-j ... int-2023-1

Bryan Johnson, a 45-year-old biotech founder, hopes to rewind the clock of his body a few decades through a program he started, called Project Blueprint. Courtesy Dustin Giallanza

Bryan Johnson, a biotech founder, aims to have the body of an 18-year-old, Bloomberg reported.
He and a team of experts started a program called Project Blueprint to unlock the key to aging.
Test results show that Johnson has the heart of a 37-year-old, according to the report.

Bryan Johnson is 45 years old but, according to a new report, his test results show he has the heart of a 37-year-old and the lungs of a young adult.

[weatheriscool]

Anti-ageing scientists extend lifespan of oldest living lab rat
https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... ng-lab-rat
Wed 8 Feb 2023 01.00 EST
Last modified on Wed 8 Feb 2023 03.19 EST

Scientists working on an experimental anti-ageing therapy claim to have broken a record by extending the lifespan of a lab rat called Sima.

Named after the Hindi word for “limit” or “boundary”, Sima is the last remaining survivor from a group of rodents that received infusions of blood plasma taken from young animals to see if the treatment prolonged their lives.

Sima, who was born on 28 February 2019, has lived for 47 months, surpassing the 45.5 months believed to be the oldest age recorded in scientific literature for a female Sprague-Dawley rat, the researchers say. So far, Sima has outlived her closest rival in the study by nearly six months.

“We have the oldest living female Sprague Dawley rat,” said Dr Harold Katcher, a former biology professor at the University of Maryland, now chief scientific officer at Yuvan Research, a California-based startup.

Researchers have rushed to produce and trial therapies based on young blood plasma after numerous experiments found that infusions could reinvigorate ageing organs and tissues. But while studies have found benefits for rodents, there is no evidence to date that the somewhat vampiric approach to youthfulness will help humans dodge the passage of time, despite the best wishes of Silicon Valley.

The results from Katcher’s latest study will be written up when Sima dies, but data gathered so far suggests that eight rats that received placebo infusions of saline lived for 34 to 38 months, while eight that received a purified and concentrated form of blood plasma, called E5, lived for 38 to 47 months. They also had improved grip strength. Rats normally live for two to three years, though a contender for the oldest ever is a brown rat that survived on a restricted calorie diet for 4.6 years.

“The real point of our experiments is not so much to extend lifespan, but to extend youthspan, to rejuvenate people, to make their golden years really potentially golden years, instead of years of pain and decrepitude,” Katcher said. “But the fact is, if you manage to do that, you also manage to lengthen life and that’s not a bad side-effect.”

[caltrek]

Transplanting a Gene Common in Centenarians Could Rewind the Heart's Age by Years
by David Nield
February 0, 2023

Introduction:

(Science Alert) Age catches up with us all eventually, but in some people the right genes can make that chase into our twilight years a relatively leisurely one.

A few years ago Italian researchers discovered something special about people who live well into their 90s and beyond: they commonly have a version of a gene called BPIFB4 that protects against cardiovascular damage and keeps the heart in good shape for a longer period of time.

By introducing the mutated gene into older mice, the scientists have now seen how the variant rewinds markers of biological heart aging by the equivalent of more than 10 human years.

In middle-aged mice, the same therapy was shown to halt the decline of heart function.

How quickly the heart and its nearest blood vessels typically decay depends on numerous factors, including how much we drink and whether or not we smoke. Based on the study's results, mutations in protein-encoding genes also have a key part to play.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/transplan ... -by-years

[raklian]

[caltrek]

A cursory review of this thread convinces me that I am no expert on the subject of aging and longevity. Still, I have been doing a lot of reading lately on the subject. I started with Valter Longo's book The Longevity Diet. Longo writes approvingly of the work of Dr. Dean Ornish, who in turn has this to say about a book entitled The China Study: "This is one of the most impressive books about nutrition ever written - reading it may save your life."

A thread that runs through all of the writings of these experts is the importance of shifting our eating habits to being more of a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet. This is explicitly put forward in The China Study. Many years ago, Chou En Lai, second in command behind Mao Ze Dung in China, while he was dying of cancer pushed forward a massive epidemiological study of China. Later, T. Colin Campbell collaborated with Chinese experts to review and refine the results of this study. The China Study is one result of that effort. It also includes review of a lot of scientific studies conducted in the West that corroborate the findings of their review.

Bottom line is that a WFPB can be helpful in preventing a large number of diseases that are especially prevalent in the West. This includes diabetes, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disorders, etc. It can even help reverse the negative effects of such diseases. Resistance to adaptation of such a dramatically revised diet comes from vested interests that want us to keep consuming meat and dairy products in large quantities. Confusing the issue further are a lot of fad diets that have been put forward that lack a sound scientific validation. There is also a very deep cultural resistance to adopting the diets of other cultures. Anything that requires a change in living habits seems to engender such resistance. Just look at the problems encountered in persuading people to wear masks during a pandemic. Certainly, diet should be a matter of choice, but such choice should be well informed free of myth and distorting misinformation.

This thread also puts forward a lot that further complicates the issue. Miracle cures might seem to render use of a WFPB diet as obsolete. Yet, most of these cures remain untested and unproven. The positive effects of a WFPB are well documented and explained in The China Study and other studies. Scientists are even beginning to understand why this is the case.

To learn more, here is a link regarding The Longevity Diet: https://www.amazon.com/Longevity-Diet-D ... 0525534075 and here is a link concerning The China Study: :https://www.amazon.com/China-Study-Com ... 932100660

[caltrek]

One of the things that I should have mentioned is the importance of exercise. It is probably foolish to think that all of the positive results of using a WFPL diet can be achieved without proper amounts of exercise. Exactly what constitutes a proper amount of exercise remains elusive for me. My reaction to most recommendations is "that is not enough." Exercise should also be carried out using proper techniques in order to avoid muscle strain, pulling of tendons, injuries due to falls, etc.

[weatheriscool]

The secret to helping your dog live longer

Dogs age seven times faster than humans – but new research into canine longevity could offer the key to extending their lifespan
By Hannah Betts 13 February 2023 • 8:00am
Dog science

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/202 ... ve-longer/

I got back from my first term at Oxford and asked where my childhood bull terrier was. ‘He’s in the garden,’ said my family, collapsing with collective mirth. I looked: he wasn’t. As you’ve doubtless realised, he was in the garden – only six feet under. They’d been distraught about this at the time, deciding not to inform me so it didn’t ruin my college introduction. Only now they were over it, and found the whole thing darkly hilarious.

It was tough love in my family. But I still dream about Pooh Bang Betts, my first four-legged love. Canine mortality – and its limits compared to our own – is one of life’s harsher realities, however one learns the news. At 51, four years into adult dog ownership, I worry about my blue whippet’s death daily, despite her relatively young age. At six months, Pimlico nearly died of meningitis, rendering her uninsurable and me neurotic. The months of steroids required to save her involved weight gain and muscle loss.

At the same time, Pim’s earliest weeks were with toddlers and she thus knows no fear. Cue her delight in being chased by froth-mouthed rottweilers and flying over farm walls to land on enraged bulls. Whippets injure easily and south London’s chicken shops present a constant choking challenge. I’ve taken a dog first aid course – something I am yet to do for humans – swotting up on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, sight-hound Heimlich manoeuvre, bleeding, bandaging, poisoning, fitting, burns, broken bones, bites, stings, allergies, anaphylactic shock, head and spinal injuries, drowning and road accidents.

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

Always a GREAT topic to see updated!

[Ken_J]

A cursory review of this thread convinces me that I am no expert on the subject of aging and longevity. ...
A thread that runs through all of the writings of these experts is the importance of shifting our eating habits to being more of a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet.
Bottom line is that a WFPB can be helpful in preventing a large number of diseases that are especially prevalent in the West. ...

the issue I have with a lot of these things is that they make a lot of generalized assumptions about cause and effect.

For instance, whole food plant based diets have a higher variety of soluble and insoluble fibers. Does that mean it's not really being plant based that his the benefit but the fiber amount and variety? Well actually the increase in both types of fiber can lead to a wider diversity and larger population of gut microbiota. So is it gut microbiome that benefits the health and longevity of the people? Because there are other factors that can change both the bodies ability to process and tolerate fiber content, and also can change the microbiome. For instance a whole food plant based diet could just as easily be created with low fiber variety and volume, which could fails to provide the beneficial WFPB results and you'd never know. Likewise there are ways to get high fiber variety and volume in on an american standard diet which is notoriously nothing like whole food or plant based. and furthermore there is the ability to increase microbiome diversity and volume without changing fibers of either type. Likewise over exposure to some things like antibiotic treatments could negate everything else here. Including the antibiotic content of farmed meat, and or antibaterial soap and sanitizer use.

So when anyone says that the plant based diet is the best diet I smell an agenda, or at the very least a bias. And generally they never address the questions and factors above.

[caltrek]

^^^The China Study does look at fiber and in one section concludes that “high-fiber intake was consistently associated with lower rates of cancers of the rectum and colon. High-fiber intakes also were associated with lower levels of blood cholesterol” The problem with such single answer approaches is that they miss the benefits of consumption within an overall WFPB diet. Pills or concentrates isolated from such an intake are usually comparatively ineffectual or even counter-productive. Exceptions are vitamin B12 and Vitamin D. I have not seen a discussion by the authors cited, but recent studies have indicated that pregnant women may also be an exception.

While high fiber may help with specific conditions, the variety of conditions addressed by a WFPB is breathtakingly large. Further, one would have to deliberately select WFPB foods low in fiber to achieve the low fiber input you describe. Fiber is very pervasive in WFPB foods.

Campbell notes that with his farm upbringing, he was actually predisposed to believing in a meat-based diet. It was only after encountering the huge evidence presented in the various studies that he put aside his earlier prejudices.

In this forum, we have put forth a huge amount of evidence that global climate change is being brought by anthropogenic sources. Unfortunately, no such effort has been made regarding studies on nutrition. Yet, from Campbell and others, one very much begins to get the sense that the evidence for their claims, at least at the broadest level, is almost as overwhelming. Like climate change, there are a lot of countervailing studies put up by special interests that simply don’t seem to hold up to scrutiny. There are also some contradictions in the details. Still, the big picture is what should count the most.

Because the evidence has not been amassed in this forum, I do not want to get dragged into a prolonged debate on the subject. I would simply recommend consultation with the sources I cited earlier and then making up your own mind as to how persuasive they have made their case. I think even a basic internet search would give you the same conclusion as long as you do not focus on just the skeptics and detractors.

[caltrek]

Just this week another study came out confirming the benefit of one sub-group of WFPB foods in avoiding diabetes:

Purple Vegetables and Tubers Have Antidiabetic Properties
February 15, 2023

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) The red, purple and blue pigments in fruits, vegetables, and tubers called anthocyanins can reduce the risk of diabetes by affecting energy metabolism, gut microbiota, and inflammation. A new review article comparing the research results in the topic shows that the beneficial effect of anthocyanins on type 2 diabetes is increased if the anthocyanin is acylated, meaning that an acyl group is added to the sugar moieties of anthocyanin.

A great amount of acylated anthocyanins can be found in purple potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, radishes, purple carrots and red cabbages, whereas bilberries and mulberries contain mostly nonacylated anthocyanins. Acylated anthocyanins are poorly absorbed in digestion, but they have probiotic properties and reduce the risk of diabetes more efficiently than nonacylated anthocyanins.

“The studies have shown that, in addition to changing physical and chemical properties, the acylation affects how the anthocyanins are absorbed and metabolised,” says Postdoctoral Researcher Kang Chen at Food Sciences Unit, University of Turku, Finland.

The acylated anthocyanins are more effective antioxidants than the nonacylated anthocyanins, and they can also improve the intestinal barrier that enables the absorption of necessary nutrients. Furthermore, the acylated anthocyanins maintain gut microbiota homeostasis , suppress pro-inflammatory pathways, and modulate glucose and lipid metabolisms.

“The plant's genotype defines what kind of anthocyanins they produce. In general, purple vegetables contain many acylated anthocyanins. Also, purple potatoes, especially the Finnish variety called ‘Synkeä Sakari’, is abundant in acylated anthocyanins,” says Chen.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/979805

[caltrek]

While the article below does not make clear the benefits of a WFPB diet, it does point to the rejection of the Western Diet as beneficial:

Community Co-design Model Targets Indigenous Diet and Diabetes
February 15, 2023

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) Effective targeting of diabetes and metabolic syndrome in Australian Indigenous people requires remission strategies that are co-designed by Indigenous communities, according to a team of Flinders University researchers.

An article published in Nature Medicine journal identifies a project in South Australia’s Coorong region being led by Flinders University that takes a fresh approach through involving Ngarrindjeri leaders with clinicians trained in Eurocentric-based medicine to help tackle diabetes remission within its local community.

Further Extract:

Ketogenic eating works by restricting carbohydrate intake, so the body uses fat as the principal energy source rather than carbohydrate.

“A low-carbohydrate ketogenic eating plan appears similar to that of pre-colonisation eating patterns for Australian Indigenous people, so the uptake and maintenance of a ketogenic diet aligns with Indigenous knowledges,” says Associate Professor Ryder.

“A critical aspect to targeting diabetes and metabolic syndrome remission within Australian Indigenous communities is through centralising Indigenous knowledges and methodologies which have passed through generations and continue to evolve.”

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/979793

[caltrek]

Here is reported the results of a diet-based approach combined with exercise in addressing liver disease. It should be noted that Longo’s The Longevity Diet involves a five-day mimic fast to address the “risk factors such as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.”

Alternate-day Fasting a Good Option for Patients with Fatty Liver Disease
February 14 , 2023

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) Nutrition researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago studied 80 people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and found that those who followed an alternate-day fasting diet and exercised were able to improve their health.

Publishing their findings in Cell Metabolism, the researchers report that over a period of three months people who exercised and alternated feast and fast days — eating without restriction one day and eating 500 calories or less the next — saw increased insulin sensitivity and decreased liver fat, weight and ALT, or alanine transaminase enzymes, which are markers for liver disease.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a buildup of fat and inflammation in patients who drink little to no alcohol. Approximately 65% of obese adults have the disease, and this condition is strongly related to the development of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. If left unchecked, fatty liver disease can lead to more serious complications like cirrhosis or liver failure, but there are limited good drug options for treating the condition.
Study author Krista Varady called the findings “pretty amazing.”

“When we compared the results of our study groups, we saw clearly that the most improved patients were in the group that followed the alternate-day fasting diet and exercised five days a week,” said Varady, professor of nutrition at the College of Applied Health Sciences. “The people who only dieted or only exercised did not see the same improvements, which reinforces the importance of these two relatively inexpensive lifestyle modifications on overall health and on combating chronic diseases like fatty liver disease.”

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/979763

caltrek’s comment: If this study is correct, it shows that further refinement and tweaking of the approach suggested by Longo might have further beneficial effects on diabetes in particular.

[raklian]

[raklian]

This is pretty important for the anti-aging field, politically. This hints to the wider acceptance that aging reversal is a real possibility.

[caltrek]

Global Longevity Conference Announcement

Introduction:

(Global Longevity Federation)

About Longevity Conference

Sciinov Group welcomes you to the “GLOBAL LONGEVITY FEDERATION (GLF 2023)” HYBRID EVENT during May 15-16, 2023 in Dubai, UAE. The GLF-2023 is scheduled in Hybrid Mode and will allow participants to join In-Person at Dubai or Virtually from Home or Office.

The GLF 2023 conference is the world’s leading and most longevity-focus conference. We gather the entire longevity ecosystem including longevity entrepreneurs, existing pharma and biotech companies, investors, researchers, and government organizations.

GLF-2023 creates a peer to peer learning environment focused on the business of longevity and the key areas of innovation needed to progress the longevity industry.

GLF-2023 is a premier interdisciplinary forum for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns, practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted in the field of Aging and Geriatric Medicine.
The conference tries to put together an exciting scientific programme focused on longevity.

Read more here: https://longevityfederation.com/about.php

[caltrek]

Lower Frequency of Vegetable and Fruit Intake Linked to Higher Risk of Death Regardless of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Status
February 26, 2023

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) Niigata, Japan - A new study of Japanese patients with and without CKD found that a lower frequency of vegetable and fruit intake was associated with a higher risk of death regardless of CKD status. Baseline serum potassium levels stratified by CKD stages were similar across the groups (according to the frequency of vegetable and fruit intake). The findings suggest that eating vegetables and fruits every day may not be associated with an increased level of serum potassium and that it may reduce rather than increase all-cause mortality in patients with CKD including those on HD, as has been observed for non-CKD individuals.

A higher fruit and vegetable intake is associated with a lower mortality risk in the general population. In contrast, patients with advanced CKD, especially those on HD, are generally discouraged from consuming high amounts of vegetables and fruits given the potential risk of hyperkalemia. Recent studies conducted in non-Asian countries suggest that a higher vegetable and fruit intake may be associated with lower mortality among adults with CKD, including those patients on HD and those who are not.

“We need to examine the association between vegetable and fruit intake and the risk of death in Japanese patients with CKD,” said Dr. Wakasugi, the corresponding author of the study. “The vegetable and fruit intake vary markedly across countries. Diets consumed by Asian populations are estimated to be higher in vegetables and fruits relative to diets consumed by other populations."

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/980919

[caltrek]

Can we live longer? Physicist makes discovery about telomeres
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-longer-ph ... meres.html
by Dagmar Aarts, Leiden University

With the aid of physics and a minuscule magnet, researchers have discovered a new structure of telomeric DNA. Telomeres are sometimes seen as the key to living longer. They protect genes from damage but get a bit shorter each time a cell divides. If they become too short, the cell dies. The new discovery will help us understand aging and disease.

Physics is not the first scientific discipline that springs to mind at the mention of DNA. But John van Noort from the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) is one of the scientists who found the new DNA structure. A biophysicist, he uses methods from physics for biological experiments. This also caught the attention of biologists from Nanyan Technological University in Singapore. They asked him to help study the DNA structure of telomeres. They have published the results in Nature.

String of beads

In every cell of our bodies are chromosomes that carry genes that determine our characteristics (what we look like, for instance). At the ends of these chromosomes are telomeres, which protect the chromosomes from damage. They're a bit like aglets, the plastic tips at the end of a shoelace.

More on telomeres:

New Study Reveals Yet Another Surprising Function of Telomeres
by David Nield
February 27, 2023

(Science Alert) We've known about telomeres for more than 80 years, but these tiny, protective structures at the end of the chromosomes keep revealing secrets to us, including the possibility of having surprising functions.

It turns out that these key biological cogs can produce proteins, something previously thought impossible due to their simplicity.

While it's not clear yet what these proteins might do, the fact that they exist at all is significant.

Telomeres carry our genetic information and play a crucial role in our bodies. As we age, telomeres lose their protective qualities, leading to cell death and damage. That structures so vital are operating in a way that we didn't previously know about means there are all kinds of potential possibilities.

The discovery was brought about through the identification of a molecule of RNA linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). RNA helps to produce the proteins that drive the body's functions, and here researchers noted that this ALS-related RNA molecule was very similar to the one produced by telomeres.

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-telome ... and-cancer

[wjfox]

[Vakanai]

I wish one of these scientist would do the right thing and start human trials on themselves. The benefits if they can pull off would probably be will worth it.

Endangering one's own health, career, and most importantly life is not "the right thing". I'd much rather the scientists and doctors continue doing the thorough testing on animals, cell cultures, ai models etc than risk their health. We should be as certain of the effects as possible before human testing. Safety should always trump our desire for speed.