Strategies of Life Extension

[aftabac]

Hi forum fellows!
i am giving below various strategies for life extension. i am sure that you will enjoy this article.


Several strategies are promoted:

1. Caloric restriction has consistently extended the maximum life-spans of laboratory animals. It works on every animal in which tests have been completed, from rotifers up to guinea pigs, and preliminary results on Rhesus monkeys are promising. It was first popularized by Dr. Roy Walford. Unfortunately it is acutely uncomfortable. Also, the program must be started in young adulthood for maximum benefit. Some studies with mild caloric restriction have had some benefit when started on middle-aged mice, but the extreme programs started with young mice actually reduce maximum life-spans of middle-aged mice. Caloric restriction can be implemented either as reduced regular feeding, or as days of fasting alternating with days of free-feeding. Caloric restriction works because blood glucose levels remain lower than when food energy is unrestricted.
2. Research on drugs to mimic caloric restriction continues. A number of possible CR-mimetics are under study. The most available may be Resveratrol, which is available over the counter as a supplement. In 2003, the Life Extension Foundation funded.
DNA microarray (gene-chip) research comparing gene expression in calorically-restricted mice with the gene expressions of mice on various prescription drugs, including especially diabetic drugs. The researchers found that the diabetic drug Metformin (trade-marked Glucophage) had identical gene expression in mice, within the limits of measurement. It is also said to have extended the life span of mice.
1. Stem cell therapy would be used to replace damaged or diseased cells in living tissue.
2. Gene therapy to repair damaged or diseased cells (including cancer). This would include extension of teleomeres to reduce cellular aging and induced failures of telomerase to prevent growth of cancers. Aubrey de Grey's "engineered negligible senescence" proposes to substantially extend human lifespan with a short series of particular cellular therapies.
3. Breaker medication to remove glycosylated (sugar-damaged) proteins and to restore elasticity to the organs, especially the heart. The most famous is l-acetyl carnitine, an amino salt available in health-food stores in the U.S.
4. Supplementation of chromium to increase insulin efficiencies and reduce blood sugar loads.
5. Antioxidants to reduce oxidative damage to the body. This does not extend maximum life span, but does increase average life-spans in a population of mice, indicating that it does reduce metabolic damage. Popular ones include vitamins E, and C. Certain natural antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase is the most common, require adjuvant minerals on their active sites. The most common form of superoxide dismutase requires an atom of selenium. Another common dismutase requires an atom of copper, another zinc.
6. Mild exercise can provide some protection against system failures, and has other small effects. In particular, exercised old people are generally less frail, and less prone to break bones, or have other catastrophic incidents. Mild strength, aerobic and flexibility training were all helpful against fragility, with strength training having the largest effect per unit of time spent by subjects. In mice, mild exercise (on wheels) lengthens average lifespan, and has a nearly unmeasurable (<2%) lengthening effect on maximum life spans. Heavy exercise shortens mices' maximum lifespans by 5%, but lengthens average life spans. These small effects might be explained by recent research that shows that stem cells are attracted by the cytokines released from mild damage, exactly the sort of damage that might be produced by mild exercise.
7. A widely-known therapy against lipofuscin (waste build-up in the cell) is large doses of an enzymic cofactor called ubiquinone, or CoQ10. CoQ10 forms chains attached to proteins. A chain of three CoQ10 molecules marks a protein as "old" and allows cellular digestive enzymes to attach to it and cleave it. Heavy chronic doses of CoQ10 can gradually reduce senile confusion, lower blood pressure, and cause age-spots to fade. CoQ10 is available as a supplement in most U.S. health food stores.
8. Hormone therapies partially reverse some of the effects of aging. Growth hormone supplementation reverses many of the hormonal effects of aging, including sexual hormones, and losses of muscle and immune function. In mice, it reduces maximum life-span slightly, while slightly increasing average life-span. Hormone therapies with sex hormones (i.e. estrogen, progesterone or testosterone) or their precursors (DHEA) are more controversial. Although sexual functions increase, side effects to other body systems are substantial.
9. Some people interested in life extension are interested in cryonics, as an alternative to certain death from age-related damage. However cryopreservation can cost from thirty thousand (Cryonics Institute) to a hundred and twenty thousand dollars (Alcor Life Extension Foundation). It is usually funded by life insurance, but the amount of required life insurance may be impractical to purchase for the elderly, or unhealthy people in late middle age.
10. The advent of medical nanorobotics in the 2030s could allow significant increases in the human healthspan

best regards
aftab ahmad