Category Archives: Longevity Medicine

Viruses can be used as a form of targeted anti-cancer therapy, and human trials are soon set to start: "Particular parvoviruses normally infect rodents, but they are also infectious for human cells. However, they do not cause any disease symptoms in humans. Most importantly, these viruses have an astonishing property: They kill infected tumors cells without causing any damage to healthy tissue. ... Many different viruses have been tested before in cancer therapy, particularly for treating those types of cancer for which there are no effective established treatment methods. The [researchers] realized early on that parvovirus H-1 has important advantages over other viruses. Now they have been the first to prove that malignant glioblastomas regress completely as a result of treatment with these viruses. ... Parvoviruses pass the blood brain barrier so that they can be administered via the blood stream. In addition, they reproduce in cancer cells, which is particularly important for successful treatment of glioblastoma with its diffuse growth. Thus, the second generation viruses reach and eliminate even those cancer cells that have already settled at some distance from the primary tumor. ... researchers [expect] to be able to admit the first patients to the trial by the end of the year."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100504095106.htm

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

From EurekAlert!: "The muscles of elderly people and of people with type 2 diabetes contain lower concentrations of a protein known as PARL (short for 'presenilin-associated rhomboid-like'). PARL plays an important role within cells in remodeling power-generating mitochondria. It's PARL's job to oversee mitochondria's quality control, specifically by maintaining their integrity as the cellular components undergo normal processes of fission and fusion. The findings provide yet another link between insulin resistance and the function of mitochondria. ... When mitochondria aren't functioning properly, food doesn't get metabolized to the level that it should ... Instead of getting burned, fats accumulate in cells where they impair insulin's action. As mitochondria fail to work efficiently, they also produce more damaging free radicals. ... Relative to younger people, older people showed signs of insulin resistance. They also had fewer numbers of mitochondria and lower expression of the PARL gene. ... We hypothesize that impaired PARL function is an important risk factor for the development of insulin resistance in skeletal muscle by decreasing mitochondrial mass and energetics and increasing oxidative stress, thus contributing to impaired glucose metabolism. As insulin resistance continues to develop, mitochondrial function, oxidative damage, and PARL activity may decline further, leading to a vicious cycle that eventually contributes to the development of [diabetes] or other age-associated diseases, including sarcopenia."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-05/cp-nci042810.php

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

The Seattle Times notes recent research: "A new study finds that calorie restriction may bolster the immune system in adults. Researchers [randomly] placed 46 overweight, but not obese, men and women age 20 to 40 on one of two diets for six months: one in which calories were reduced 10 percent, and another in which they were reduced 30 percent. All food was supplied to the test subjects. The participants were tested to see what effect calorie restriction had on their immune system. They were given a delayed-type hypersensitivity test, which can detect allergens, among other things, and is considered a way to check whole-body immune response. Researchers also checked T-cells, a kind of white blood cell, and another immune system marker. At the end of the six months, [delayed type hypersensitivity] response went up in both the 10 percent and the 30 percent calorie-restricted groups compared with the beginning of the study. Both groups also showed improvement in T-cell function."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2011767490_calories03.html

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

From the SENS Foundation: “Progress toward the goal of tissue rejuvenation via stem cells and tissue engineering (“RepleniSENS”) is badly hampered by the surprising fragility of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) relative to mouse ESC (mESC). Unlike their murine counterparts, hESC undergo extensive cell death following enzymatic single-cell dissociation; as a result, researchers are forced to rely on laborious mechanical microdissection, or on narrowly-control enzymatic dissociation that ensures that hESC remain above a minimum cluster size. These requirements make their expansion extremely tedious and inefficient. The reasons for the intolerance of hESC to full dissociation – and the development of means to ameliorate it – are therefore of considerable biomedical as well as scientific interest. This month, researchers [report] that they have at once apparently provided the detailed molecular basis for this frustrating anomaly, and its abrogation using either modified culture protocols or either of two small molecules. … Injected into an area that already enjoys a high level of government and industry investment, these tools bring us closer to realizing the promise of cell therapies and tissue engineering for the treatment of a range of age-related and traumatic diseases and disorders, as well as for the rejuvenation of aging tissues.”

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sens.org/node/763

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

Just Five Minutes of Exercise Outdoors Boosts Mental Health, Researchers Say

In a bad mood? Improve it by going outside!

Here in New York and all around the country, summer is in the air.  It may say “May” on the calendar, but the weather sure doesn’t know that, as this week’s temperatures in New York City are headed for the 70s and 80s!

I hope it’s as nice where you are as it is here.  And if it is, instead of going to the gym after work to exercise today, head outside…even if it’s for just five minutes.  Because according to a new study on the mental health effects of exercising outside, the great outdoors can heighten your mood and your self-esteem.

Researchers from the University of Essex discovered this after reviewing the health habits of over 1,200 people from 12 separate studies.  Among the information collected from these men and women of all ages was their state of mental health (i.e. were they diagnosed with any kind of mental health disorder and cognitive dysfunction) and the kind of activities they did outside, such as walking, bicycling, gardening or horseback riding.

All of the individuals who exercised regularly showed improvements in their mental health, but those who saw the most significant improvement were those who performed what the researchers call “green exercises.”  Green exercises are any of the aforementioned exercises performed outside.  Other green exercises include farming, walking, gardening, fishing or boating.

“We believe that there would be a large potential benefit to individuals, society, and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to self-medicate more with green exercise,” said Jo Barton in a statement.  Barton co-authored the study with her colleague, Jules Pretty.

Their complete findings can be found in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Oh, and if you’re someone who loves the ocean, then you’re going to love this:  the biggest mental health effects were found among those who live near the water, like the ocean, a river or lake.

So, it seems, the closer you are to blue, the less likely you are to get “blue.”

As with many studies, this probably confirms the obvious.  But this research is illuminating nonetheless because up to now, no one really knew just how long it took to be outside to reap the mental health benefits.  And according to the researchers, it takes as little as five minutes.

So you know what that means?  No more excuses.  No more saying, “I can’t go outside for a walk because I don’t have any time on my lunch break.” Everybody has at least five minutes they can spend outdoors to walk.

Now, ideally, you’ll be exercising for longer than five minutes, but as I always say, some exercise is better than no exercise.  And that’s every bit as true for the mind as it is for the body.

Sources:
newsmaxhealth.com
news.bbc.co.uk

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!

Just Five Minutes of Exercise Outdoors Boosts Mental Health, Researchers Say

In a bad mood? Improve it by going outside!

Here in New York and all around the country, summer is in the air.  It may say “May” on the calendar, but the weather sure doesn’t know that, as this week’s temperatures in New York City are headed for the 70s and 80s!

I hope it’s as nice where you are as it is here.  And if it is, instead of going to the gym after work to exercise today, head outside…even if it’s for just five minutes.  Because according to a new study on the mental health effects of exercising outside, the great outdoors can heighten your mood and your self-esteem.

Researchers from the University of Essex discovered this after reviewing the health habits of over 1,200 people from 12 separate studies.  Among the information collected from these men and women of all ages was their state of mental health (i.e. were they diagnosed with any kind of mental health disorder and cognitive dysfunction) and the kind of activities they did outside, such as walking, bicycling, gardening or horseback riding.

All of the individuals who exercised regularly showed improvements in their mental health, but those who saw the most significant improvement were those who performed what the researchers call “green exercises.”  Green exercises are any of the aforementioned exercises performed outside.  Other green exercises include farming, walking, gardening, fishing or boating.

“We believe that there would be a large potential benefit to individuals, society, and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to self-medicate more with green exercise,” said Jo Barton in a statement.  Barton co-authored the study with her colleague, Jules Pretty.

Their complete findings can be found in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Oh, and if you’re someone who loves the ocean, then you’re going to love this:  the biggest mental health effects were found among those who live near the water, like the ocean, a river or lake.

So, it seems, the closer you are to blue, the less likely you are to get “blue.”

As with many studies, this probably confirms the obvious.  But this research is illuminating nonetheless because up to now, no one really knew just how long it took to be outside to reap the mental health benefits.  And according to the researchers, it takes as little as five minutes.

So you know what that means?  No more excuses.  No more saying, “I can’t go outside for a walk because I don’t have any time on my lunch break.” Everybody has at least five minutes they can spend outdoors to walk.

Now, ideally, you’ll be exercising for longer than five minutes, but as I always say, some exercise is better than no exercise.  And that’s every bit as true for the mind as it is for the body.

Sources:
newsmaxhealth.com
news.bbc.co.uk

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!