Anti-Aging

For Older Men, Short Telomeres Can be a Sign of Chronic Stress

Body.DNA.Gene2Telomeres are protective strings of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes. Over time, cell division and oxidative attacks cause telomeres to shorten. There is a connection between short telomeres and cellular aging; when telomeres reach a critical shortness, cell function is impaired and eventually, cells die. Scientists have found links between short telomeres and smoking, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, heart disease and susceptibility to infectious diseases.

Andrew Steptoe of University College London and his colleagues have found that telomere length can predict how long it takes older men to recover from stressful situations. Men with shorter telomeres have longer recovery times than men with longer telomeres. This could mean that men with shorter telomeres suffer from chronic stress.

Studies also show a correlation between psychological stress and short telomere length. Steptoe and his team wanted to understand why this correlation exists. They were particularly interested in an enzyme called telomerase (TA). This enzyme makes telomeres longer. It becomes more active in times of acute mental stress. Short telomeres and high TA activity could be a sign of a stressed system.

The researchers divided 333 healthy men and women between the ages of 54 and 76 into three groups, those with longer telomeres, those with shorter telomeres and low TA activity and those with shorter telomeres and high TA activity. All the subjects were given tasks designed to cause psychological stress.

When they performed the tasks, all the subjects experienced an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. Their levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, also rose. However, once the task was completed, some men found it easier to recover and return to normal conditions than other men. Men with longer telomeres had quicker recovery times than men with shorter telomeres. Men with shorter telomeres and low TA activity had quicker recovery times than men with shorter telomeres and high TA activity.

Psychological testing showed that men in the short telomere/high TA group were more hostile and less optimistic than other men. They also had less social support. The researchers think these men found it harder to recover from stress because they were carrying a high allostatic load. That is, chronic stress had caused the their regulatory processes to become disturbed.

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Source: MedicalXPress.

Statins May Slow Human Aging by Protecting Against Telomere Shortening: A Feature of Senescent Cells

Body.OldAge2Not only do statins extend lives by lowering cholesterol levels and reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease, but new research suggests that they may extend lifespans as well. Specifically, statins may reduce the rate at which telomeres shorten, a key factor in the natural aging process. This opens the door for using statins, or derivatives of statins, as an anti-aging therapy.

By telomerase activation, statins may represent a new molecular switch able to slow down senescent cells in our tissues and be able to lead healthy lifespan extension,” said Giuseppe Paolisso, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Internal Medicine, Surgical, Neurological Metabolic Disease and Geriatric Medicine at Second University of Naples in Naples, Italy.

“The great thing about statins is that they reduce risks for cardiovascular disease significantly and are generally safe for most people. The bad thing is that statins do have side effects, like muscle injury,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. “But if it is confirmed that statins might actually slow aging itself – and not just the symptoms of aging – then statins are much more powerful drugs than we ever thought.”

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Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. “Statins may slow human aging by protecting against telomere shortening: A feature of senescent cells.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 August 2013.

Body Fat Reduced, Aging Slowed by Deletion of FAT10 Gene in Mice

Body.DNA.Gene2A single gene appears to play a crucial role in coordinating the immune system and metabolism, and deleting the gene in mice reduces body fat and extends lifespan, according to new research by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center (USDA HNRCA) on Aging at Tufts University and Yale University School of Medicine.

Based on gene expression studies of fat tissue conducted at the USDA HNRCA, the Tufts University researchers initiated studies of the role of FAT10 in adipose tissue and metabolism. “Turning off the FAT10 gene produces a variety of beneficial effects in the mice, including reduced body fat, which slows down aging and extends lifespan by 20 percent.”

Typically, mice gain fat as they age. The authors observed that activation of the FAT10 gene in normal mice increases in fat tissue with age. Mice lacking FAT10 consume more food, but burn fat at an accelerated rate. As a result, they have less than half of the fat tissue found in normal, aged mice. At the same time their skeletal muscle ramps up production of an immune molecule that increases their response to insulin, resulting in reduced circulating insulin levels, protection against type 2 diabetes and longer lifespan.

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Source: Medical News Today.

Older Adults: Build Muscle and You Will Live Longer

Body.MusclesThe more muscle mass older people have, the less likely they are to die prematurely, new research shows. The findings add to the growing evidence that overall body composition – and not the widely used body mass index, or BMI – is a better predictor of all-cause mortality. “In other words, the greater your muscle mass, the lower your risk of death,” said the study’s co-author. “Thus, rather than worrying about weight or body mass index, we should be trying to maximize and maintain muscle mass.”

The body composition of the study subjects was measured using bioelectrical impedance, which involves running an electrical current through the body. Muscle allows the current to pass more easily than fat does, due to muscle’s water content. In this way, the researchers could determine a muscle mass index – the amount of muscle relative to height – similar to a body mass index. They looked at how this muscle mass index was related to the risk of death. They found that all-cause mortality was significantly lower in the fourth quartile of muscle mass index compared with the first quartile.

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Source: University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences. “Older adults: Build muscle and you’ll live longer.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 March 2014.

Post-Exercise Hormone Predicts Biological Age

Business.Cloud6Scientists from Aston University have discovered a potential molecular link between Irisin, a recently identified hormone released from muscle after bouts of exercise, and the ageing process.

Irisin, which is naturally present in humans, is capable of reprogramming the body’s fat cells to burn energy instead of storing it. This increases the metabolic rate and is thought to have potential anti-obesity effects which in turn could help with conditions such as type-2 diabetes.

Dr James Brown from Aston’s Research Centre for Healthy Ageing, said; “Exercise is known to have wide-ranging benefits, from cardiovascular protection to weight loss. Recent research has suggested that exercise can protect people from both physical and mental decline with ageing. Our latest findings now provide a potential molecular link between keeping active and a healthy ageing process.”

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Source: MedicalXpress.

Social Contact, Regular Exercise Important Anti-Aging Strategies

Support.Social.Network1Social contact and regular exercise are key to aging well and living a longer life, according to newly presented research. In fact, feeling extremely lonely can increase an older person’s chances of premature death by 14 percent, an impact nearly as strong as that of a disadvantaged socioeconomic status, according to John Cacioppo, psychology professor at the University of Chicago.

He noted that a meta-analysis of several studies published in 2010 showed that social isolation had twice the impact on the risk of death as obesity.

“Retiring to Florida to live in a warmer climate among strangers is not necessarily a good thing if it means you are disconnected from people who mean the most for you,” Cacioppo said.

Often, loneliness is accompanied by a sedentary lifestyle, which can significantly weaken one’s health.

Simple exercise such as walking regularly at a good pace can’t just cut the risk of cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease by 50 percent—it can also clearly slow down the normal aging process of an older person’s brain, Kirk Erickson of the University of Pittsburgh told AFP.

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Source: MedicalXPress

Australian and US scientists reverse ageing in mice, humans could be next

Business.Cloud2Australian and US researchers have developed a compound which reverses muscle ageing in mice, saying it could be one of the keys to reversing ageing in humans.

When used in trials, the compound gave mice more energy, toned their muscles, reduced inflammation, and led to big improvements in insulin resistance.

Scientists say it actually reversed the ageing process, not just slowing it down, and say that for humans the effect would be similar to a 60-year-old feeling like a 20-year-old.

And they say human trials could start within the year.

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Source: ABC News