HARVARD SCIENTISTS UNRAVEL SECRET OF AGING?

December 1, 2008

Posted By: Susoni <Send E-Mail>Monday, 1 December 2008, 3:03 p.m.

Hmmm, it seems we eat too much and don't drink enough wine. Now, if they can find a way for us to eat 'more' while drinking more wine.. I'll try it.

The chemical mentioned, resveratrol, is also found in many food sources, so be sure your diet includes at least some of the following: red grapes, blueberries, bilberries, cranberries, mulberries, pomegranates, and peanuts. Oh, and wine :-)

Susoni (who is a pseudo vegetarian)

************************** (snip) Seattle - Scientists at Harvard University may have pinpointed a vital element in determining how we age–and maybe even how to slow it down.

David A. Sinclair, a professor at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, writes this week in the journal Cell about his studies involving sirtuins, proteins that play a vital role in the aging process. First discovered in fungus, and now, in this latest series of studies, in mice, these proteins seem to work toward repairing the DNA damage caused by aging. This isn’t their primary function, though–their main job is to control gene regulation–turning various genes “on” and “off” as necessary.

But when DNA damage reaches a certain level as we age, the sirtuins are no longer able to keep up with the repairs. Overwhelmed with their secondary task, the sirtuins increasingly neglect their first task, of gene regulation, and aging accelerates.

How, then, can we slow or reverse this process? Resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine, as well as certain nuts, peanut butter, and grapes, appears to activate the sirtuins so that they function more efficiently and are better able to continue with gene regulation, thus slowing the aging process.

Other ways to achieve this effect in Sinclair’s work included injecting the mice with additional sirtuins, or stimulating the sirtuins through restricting the number of calories the mice consumed. Both of these techniques increased the mice’s lifespans by twenty-four to forty-six percent–a significant and promising result.

The discovery of these proteins in mice is a big step forward in the study of the causes of aging and how to combat its effects. Some conditions that were improved in the mice included cataracts, osteoporosis and decline in motor skills.

Link: http://www.ireallyshouldstudy.com/health/2008/11/29/harvard-scientists-unravel-the-secret-of-aging/

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The Ultimate Longevity Secrets Discovered at Last?

According to this fascinating video segment aired recently on Nova, only one in 10,000 of us will live to see 100. But scientists are working on finding ways to increase that number.

Researchers found cutting the food intake of just about any organism by up to 30-40 percent extended its life by as much as 60 percent.

Calorie restriction reduces insulin levels and triggers the production of sirtuins, which are produced as part of an intricate stress response that kicks an organism into survival mode (which beefs up DNA repair and prevents cells from dying).

Another variable that triggered the production of sirtuins and the longer lives of flies, worms and likely mice was increasing their intake of the antioxidant resveratrol.

http://lib.store..net/lib/realityzone/UFNlongevitysecrets.htm http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/members/forum.cgi?read=136921