Has The Elixir For Extending Life Been Found?

From the Anti-Aging Blog

Daily Mail: Have scientists discovered the elixir of youth? Hormone 'extends lifespan by 40%, protecting the immune system against the ravages of age'

* FGF21 is produced by the thymus gland and extends lifespan by 40%
* Scientists discovered it protects the immune system from effects of age
* Hope it could help treat elderly, obesity, cancer and type 2 diabetes

It is the Holy Grail of health research, discovering the key to help people live longer.

Now scientists believe they may be one step closer.

A team at Yale School of Medicine have identified a hormone, produced by the thymus glad, extends lifespan by 40 per cent.

Their findings reveal increased levels of the hormone, known as FGF21, protects the immune system against the ravages of age.

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CSN Editor: We are still far away from any practical implementation of this discovery .... but it is an eye opener on how we age.

Research: Blocking 200 Genes Boosts Lifespan By 60%

© Pichi Chuang / Reuters

RT: Key to longevity? Blocking over 200 genes boosts lifespan by 60%, study reveals

Once a bucket of genes linked to aging is removed, the lifespan of cells increases significantly, American scientists discovered during ten years of meticulous research, stressing that the results could be applied to humans.

An “exhaustive, ten-year effort” allowed scientists at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the University of Washington to identify some 238 genes which could be targeted to improve human health and possibly extend life spans by 60 percent. The paper was published on Thursday in the journal Cell Metabolism.

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CSN Editor: We are still far away from human trials, but this is a start.

A Look At Current Existing Longevity Treatments

The Next Big Future: Currently existing longevity treatments are feasible but expensive and difficult to access

If you want to do something about your long-term health and life expectancy that are available then focus on exercise and calorie restriction - nothing else at that same level of easy availability is anywhere near as effective or as proven.

Fighting Aging describes the first gene therapies, stem cell transplants, and glimmerings of SENS-like repair therapies capable of removing some of the metabolic wastes associated with age-related diseases.

In order to actually undergo one of these new therapies, you would have to undertake some combination of the following:
(a) spend money at early adopter levels, high in comparison to the cost a customer would pay for a final product years down the line,
(b) network for connections to find access to the necessary services and other items,
(c) persuade the small number of current developers to depart from their current practice of adhering to regulation and provide you access,
(d) break (the unjust and largely horrible) laws related to provision of medical services,
(e) travel to a less restrictive jurisdiction as a medical tourist, and
(f) accept a fair degree of risk of failure - that even if everything else goes well, and all involved do their jobs, the present implementation of the treatment just doesn't work, or the present understanding of the science and data provides a false and inflated impression of what the treatment can achieve.

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CSN Editor: Bottom line .... sleep, reducing stress, exercise, and proper diet .... these are the best and most effective solutions

Could We Soon Find Out EXACTLY How Long We’ll Live?

Could We Soon Find Out EXACTLY How Long We’ll Live? Scientists Accurately Work Out Lifespan Of Worms By Analysing Their Cells -- Daily Mail

* Scientists analysed looking at the bursts of activity in mitochondria
* Mitrochondria are the parts of a cell that generates its energy
* The flashes in mitochondria caused by free radicals predicted lifespan
* Findings suggest organism’s lifespan is predictable in early adulthood

Fortune tellers may soon be out of the job.

Scientists have found a way to accurately predict lifespan in worms – a breakthrough that could one day be used to predict how long a human would live.

The secret, they claim, is in looking at the bursts of activity in mitochondria, a part of the cell which generates its energy.

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My Comment:  It seems everything is becoming predictable.

The Age Man Suit

The Age Man Suit, which has ear-protectors that stifle hearing and a yellow visor that blurs eyesight.

Suit Lets Medical Students Experience Symptoms Of Old Age -- The Guardian

The Age Man Suit, developed by German scientists, is designed to make future doctors aware of older people's needs

It's nothing if not depressing. I drop a coin on the floor and bend down to pick it up. The bending is laborious and with it comes the risk of toppling over. My head is heavy and moving it causes dizziness. And there's still that coin to pick up – a five-cent piece, which, with my clumsy hands whose fingers are not very flexible and lacking a proper sense of touch – seems to defy my attempts to grab it, five, six times. Those around me joke: "Hurry up, grandma, we haven't got all day."

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My Comment: I am 52 years old .... and I feel the years already. Can only imagine what I will feel like when I am 72 .... or .... here is a scary thought .... when I am 92.

How Bees Reverse Brain Aging

Old bees collect nectar and pollen. Most bees start doing this job when they are 3-4 weeks old, and after that they age very quickly. Their bodies and wings become worn and they loose the ability to learn new things. Most food collector bees die after about 10 days. (Credit: Christofer Bang)

Bees Can 'Turn Back Time,' Reverse Brain Aging -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) — Scientists at Arizona State University have discovered that older honey bees effectively reverse brain aging when they take on nest responsibilities typically handled by much younger bees. While current research on human age-related dementia focuses on potential new drug treatments, researchers say these findings suggest that social interventions may be used to slow or treat age-related dementia.

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My Comment: I have to concur. Activities always keep the brain young.

What’s Killing Supercentenarians?

Small bowel duodenum with amyloid deposition (credit: Michael Feldman/Wikimedia Commons)

What’s Killing Supercentenarians? Amyloidosis, Suggest Two Gerontologists -- Kurzweil Artificial Intelligence

In a newly published review, Dr. Stephen Coles and Robert Young of the UCLA Gerontology Research Group have identified what may be killing supercentenarians: amyloidosis — and drugs to treat it could extend lifespan beyond current limits, Extreme Longevity reports.

Supercentenarians are persons who have lived beyond the age of 110. Currently there are only about 80 such known individuals in the world whose age is verified. The world record holder is Jeanne Calment, who survived until age 122.

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My Comment: I's getting older .... so faster please.

Why Some Rats Live For A very Long Time

Naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber). (Credit: © belizar / Fotolia)

Long-Lived Rodents Have High Levels of Brain-Protecting Factor -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (May 10, 2012) — The typical naked mole rat lives 25 to 30 years, during which it shows little decline in activity, bone health, reproductive capacity and cognitive ability. What is the secret to this East African rodent's long, healthy life?

Scientists from the United States and Israel found a clue. From infancy to old age, naked mole rats are blessed with large amounts of a protein essential for normal brain function.

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My Comment: A rat living for 25-30 years .... that is news to me.

Aging Genes Highlighted As Potential Targets For Anti-Aging Therapies

Researchers have identified key genes that switch off with aging, highlighting them as potential targets for anti-aging therapies. (Credit: © Sandor Kacso / Fotolia)

Key Genes That Switch Off With Aging Highlighted As Potential Targets For Anti-Aging Therapies -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Apr. 19, 2012) — Researchers have identified key genes that switch off with aging, highlighting them as potential targets for anti-aging therapies.

Researchers at King's College London, in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, have identified a group of 'aging' genes that are switched on and off by natural mechanisms called epigenetic factors, influencing the rate of healthy aging and potential longevity.

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Want To Live Longer .... Make Friends

You Want To Live To 1,000? Start Making Friends -- The Guardian

Loneliness is the worst enemy for the health of old people.

This week, to a large and gripped audience, Professor Sarah Harper from the Oxford Institute of Ageing had just explained what societies of the future would look like. Then someone in the audience stood up and quoted gerontologist Aubrey de Grey: "The person who lives to be 1,000 has already been born."

To think of our children living into their 100s is, it seems, at the vanilla end of the ageing debate now. Conceivably, you could retire in your sixties, become transformed by stem cell regeneration or similar, go back to work at 100, work for another 800 years, and still have a really long retirement.

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My Comment: Too many friends can age you also. :)

Who Wants To Live Forever?

Itskov, a 31-year-old media entrepreneur, says that he aims to transplant a human brain into a robot body within 10 years. He says his technology will be of interest at first to the 'disabled and close to dying'

Who Wants To Live Forever? Russian Project Aims To Transplant A Human Brain Into A 'Davros'-Style Robot Body Within 10 Years -- Daily Mail

* Entrepreneur claims to have 100 scientists working on project
* Aims to 'transplant' human mind into robot body in 10 years
* Claims 'next stage' of science is to create a 'new human body'
* 'This project is leading to immortality,' says Dmitry Itskov

Human minds could be downloaded into robots within 10 years, allowing human beings to 'live forever', says the Russian entrepreneur who heads a hi-tech research project called 'Avatar'.

Itskov, a media entrepreneur, claims to have hired 100 scientists to reach this goal - and is now looking for other scientists to help with the project.

'This project is leading down the road to immortality,' says Itskov. 'A person with a perfect Avatar will be able to remain part of society. People don’t want to die.'

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My Comment: In ten years .... please.

Could The Next Generation Live To Be 150?

Photo: Maxwell Jones CBS 2

Seen At 11: Could The Next Generation Live To Be 150? -- CBS 2 New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — People in the Tri-State Area are living longer than ever, and if scientists have their way, life expectancies will continue to rise. Technologies today could allow the next generation to live up to 150, but how far should scientists go to allow people to live this long?

Baby Maxwell Jones’ life is just getting started, but if he’s lucky, the hours-old infant could live well into the next century.

“A hundred years, seems a stretch but it’s obviously possible,” his mother told CBS 2′s Kristine Johnson.

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Family Portraits That Age You... In A Split-Second

The Family Portraits That Age You... In A Split-Second -- Daily Mail

* Photographer's 20-year project puts together series of amazing pictures of his relatives without using Photoshop
* Some are spliced with younger selves - while others combine parents with their children

A photo shows how a glamorous 16 year old will look as an old lady by using two images taken 46 years apart.

Half of the pretty blonde's wrinkle-free face is juxtaposed with a similar portrait of her as a white-haired old woman to show the passing of time.

The incredible series of pictures called AgeMap is a 20-year project by Bobby Neel Adams, who also merges portraits of family members into one image in his Family Tree series.

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'Oldest Living Thing On Earth' Discovered

Scientists say a patch of ancient seagrass in the Mediterranean is up to 200,000 years old Photo: Getty Images

'Oldest Living Thing On Earth' Discovered -- The Telegraph

Ancient patches of a giant seagrass in the Mediterranean Sea are now considered the oldest living organism on Earth after scientists dated them as up to 200,000 years old.

Australian scientists sequenced the DNA of samples of the giant seagrass, Posidonia oceanic, from 40 underwater meadows in an area spanning more than 2,000 miles, from Spain to Cyprus.

The analysis, published in the journal PLos ONE, found the seagrass was between 12,000 and 200,000 years old and was most likely to be at least 100,000 years old. This is far older than the current known oldest species, a Tasmanian plant that is believed to be 43,000 years old.

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My Comment: Now that is old.

Temporarily Reversing Aging In The Immune System?

Researchers have discovered a new mechanism controlling aging in white blood cells. The research opens up the possibility of temporarily reversing the effects of aging on immunity and could, in the future, allow for the short-term boosting of the immune systems of older people. (Credit: © nyul / Fotolia)

Possibility of Temporarily Reversing Aging in the Immune System -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2011) — Researchers have discovered a new mechanism controlling aging in white blood cells. The research, published in the September issue of the Journal of Immunology, opens up the possibility of temporarily reversing the effects of aging on immunity and could, in the future, allow for the short-term boosting of the immune systems of older people.

Weakened immunity is a serious issue for older people. Because our immune systems become less effective as we age we suffer from more infections and these are often more severe. This takes a serious toll on health and quality of life.

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Meet The Man Who Is Trying To Cure Aging

Bill Andrews. Photograph by John B. Carnett, illustration by Alberto Seveso

The Man Who Would Stop Time -- PopSci

Bill Andrews has spent two decades unlocking the molecular mechanisms of aging. His mission: to extend the human life span to 150 years--or die trying

Bill Andrews’s feet are so large, he tells me, that back when he was 20 he was able to break the Southern California barefoot-waterskiing distance record the first time he put skin to water. Then he got ambitious and went for the world speed record. When the towrope broke at 80 mph, he says, “they pulled me out of the water on a stretcher.”

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World's Oldest Living Animal Is 178-Year-Old Tortoise

Photo: This rare picture of a Boer war prisoner snapped on the remote island of St Helena, has shed light on one of the planets oldest living inhabitants.

World's Oldest Living Animal Is 178-Year-Old Tortoise Called Jonathan -- The Telegraph

As a photograph it looks fairly unremarkable - a tortoise nibbles at the grass in front of a Boer War prisoner and guard.

But the pictures helps to mark the reptile as the oldest animal on the planet.

Jonathan, the tortoise, is believed to be 178-years-old and was about 70 at the time the black and white picture was taken.

He was photographed during the Boer War around 1900, and his life has spanned eight British monarchs from George IV to Elizabeth II, and 50 prime ministers.

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Will We One Day Be Able To Treat Aging?

Middle-aged and elderly people exercise during “Respect for the Aged Day” in Tokyo in 2005. Japan’s population is aging particularly quickly. The ratio of people younger than 20 compared to those older than 65 is shifting, from 9.3 in 1950 to a predicted 0.59 in 2025. If scientists succeed at slowing aging, this trend may well accelerate. Issei Kato/Reuters/Corbis

Aging: To Treat, Or Not To Treat? -- American Scientist

The possibility of treating aging is not just an idle fantasy.

The 20th century brought both profound suffering and profound relief to people around the world. On the one hand, it produced political lunacy, war and mass murder on an unprecedented scale. But there were also extraordinary gains—not least in public health, medicine and food production. In the developed world, we no longer live in constant fear of infectious disease. Furthermore, a Malthusian catastrophe of global population growth exceeding food production—a terrifying prospect predicted first in the 18th century—did not materialize. This is largely due to a steep decline in birth rates, for which we can thank the education, emancipation and rationality of women. Most people in the developed world can now expect to live long lives.

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Why Walking Will Boost Your memory

Memory Boost For Aging Adults: Take A Walk -- Live Science

Forget the brain puzzles, mild exercise such as walking can boost brain volume and improve memory in older adults, researchers have found.

"With a limited investment of time and effort you can produce fairly dramatic improvements in memory and brain health," senior researcher Arthur Kramer, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told LiveScience. "You can roll back the clock about two years."

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My Comment: Exercise is vital when it get older .... and the fun part is that it is fun.

The Real Reason Women Outlive Men: It's All A Matter Of Breeding

From The Independent:

The reason women live longer than men – and why the final act of sex discrimination favours females over males – may at long last have a scientifically valid explanation.

Scientists believe we are close to understanding why men on average die younger than women. Life expectancy in Britain has risen steadily for both sexes over the past few decades and even though the gender gap has narrowed, women are still significantly more likely to live longer than men.

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