Studies suggest that longer life expectancy runs in families to some degree - though it is always the case that what you get in the genetic lottery can be squandered by poor lifestyle choices. Gene variants appear to be more important in determining remaining life expectancy at older ages than at younger ages, which is another way of saying much the same thing. Either way, the end result will be the same until we can build rejuvenation biotechnology.

According to the findings of some recent studies, the centenarians' offspring appear to represent a promising model for research on longevity and healthy aging. This study compares the health status and the functional status of three groups of subjects: 1. individuals with two long-lived parents (one of whom centenarian), 2. individuals with only one long-lived (centenarian) parent, and 3. individuals with no long-lived parents. The goal is to verify whether the centenarians' offspring display any advantage over the offspring of both non-long-lived parents and to evaluate whether the longevity of the non-centenarian parent provides a further advantage.

A total of 374 subjects (mean age approximately 70 years) was examined. A threshold for longevity was established for non-centenarian parents through demographic data available for Italy (males surviving to at least 81 years of age and females to 87 years). The participants were assessed for their health and functional status by means of a standardized questionnaire and tests of physical performance. Data were analyzed using multivariate regression models adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors for age-related pathologies.

The results of the study show that centenarians' offspring have a better functional status, a reduced risk for several age-related pathologies and reduced drug consumption than the offspring of non-long-lived parents. In addition, the health status of centenarians' offspring does not appear to be influenced by the longevity of the second parent. It therefore seems possible to conclude that at ages around 70 years the genetic contribution to health status deriving from having one centenarian parent is not substantially improved if the other parent is also long-lived.

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23403041

Source:
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2013/03/another-study-on-inheritance-of-human-longevity.php

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko

Since it is possible to take a patient's cells and generate a very large number of immune cells, far more than the patient would ever have normally, and since it's possible to make some alterations to immune cells to make them more effective, why not do this? It's probably the case that even generally healthy older people would benefit from a regular infusion of large numbers of their own immune cells, or even donor cells, given the way in which the immune system declines with age, but under present medical regulation you'll only ever see it deployed as a treatment for late stage disease:

[Researchers] have successfully infused large numbers of donor T-cells specific for a key anti-leukemic antigen to prolong survival in high-risk and relapsed leukemia patients after stem cell transplantation. [T-cells were] taken from a donor, programmed in the lab to recognize the Wilm's Tumor Antigen 1 (WT1) and kill leukemia cells, grown in large numbers, and then infused into patients to promote anti-leukemic activity. The WT1 protein is overexpressed in leukemias and is in part responsible for why the cells have become leukemic.

All of the patients [received] adoptively transferred infusions of billions of enhanced CD8 cytotoxic T-cell clones. They were considered at high risk of death because they had already relapsed and/or had a poor prognosis due to unfavorable characteristics of their leukemia.

Four of the 11 patients in the trial received infusions of T-cells that targeted WT1 and were generated in the presence of IL-21. One had detectable relapsed disease and entered complete remission shortly after the T-cells were infused. All four survived after T-cell therapy without relapse for more than 30 months without suffering graft-vs.-host-disease and required no additional anti-leukemic treatment, according to the study.

Among the seven patients who received infused T-cells generated without the presence of IL-21, two showed direct evidence of anti-leukemic activity, including one patient with advanced progressive disease who had a temporary response.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227151248.htm

Source:
http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2013/02/infusing-large-numbers-of-immune-cells-as-a-therapy.php

Recommendation and review posted by Fredricko