Mice that ran on a treadmill a few times a week for five months fended off premature aging in nearly every organ of their bodies, according to a study published on February 21, 2011 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It’s one of the strongest pieces of evidence ever produced showing the power of exercise as an anti-aging remedy.
Posts Tagged ‘Huffington Post’
New on HuffPo: Astaxanthin Makes Flamingos Rosy But Will it Keep You Young?
21
Feb
Another day, another anti-aging phenom.
The newest supplement to catch the fancy of folks who refuse to get old is astaxanthin, an antioxidant found in algae. Astaxanthin (pronounced as-ta-ZAN-thin) is the compound that gives salmon and flamingos their pink hue. Proponents claim that in people, it has the power to reduce inflammation and oxidative damage to cells, which in turn preserves the eyes, skin, joints and central nervous system.
New on Huffington Post: “Conductorcise” Encourages Exercise Through Music
18
Jan
Everyone knows that exercise is good for their health and longevity, but so few of us are willing to get off our butts and actually do it. According to a 2009 Roper poll, only one in four Americans can manage to squeeze in a half-hour of exercise five times a week. This despite the mountain of data proving that exercise extends lives. A study by the Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas, for example, found that men who became fit decreased their risk of dying of any disease by a remarkable 44 percent.
On Jan. 13, I met David Dworkin, a Julliard-trained musician who has invented a wonderfully innovative solution to exercise phobia. Read more here.
New on HuffPo: Study Suggests HGH is NOT the Fountain of Youth
29
Dec
In 1990, a scientist at the Medical College of Wisconsin named Daniel Rudman published a study that gave birth to the modern anti-aging movement. Rudman’s paper, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that 12 men who were given injections of human growth hormone (HGH) lost 14 percent of their body fat and increased their lean body mass — including muscle — by 9 percent. HGH, which is mostly used to help short children grow, became the go-to drug for perfectly healthy, aging people who were in search of the fountain of youth.
Now, one of Rudman’s closest friends is throwing cold water on the theory that HGH should be embraced as an anti-aging elixir. Read more here.
A Year-End Cartoon That Says it All About Aging
23
Dec
It’s been a year of scandals and breakthroughs in the world of anti-aging medicine, as I documented in a slide show for Huffington Post.
This cartoon says it all when it comes to fending off the aging process. Forgo the hormones and steroids. Eat right and exercise. You’ll be sure to stay young!
New on HuffPo: Could Thalidomide be Resurrected as the Fountain of Youth?
20
Dec
On December 13, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco said they had identified a derivative of thalidomide that seems to rejuvenate the immune systems of aging people. When they tested the drug in small doses on cell cultures taken from 13 patients, it stimulated the production of proteins called “cytokines.” That may, in turn, reduce the age-related inflammation that causes overall health to deteriorate.
HuffPo: Drug Trial Raises Doubts About Resveratrol’s Anti-Aging Powers
08
Dec
On December 2, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline quietly halted a clinical trial of SRT501, a concentrated form of resveratrol, which is the much-hyped substance found in red wine grapes.
The reason this matters is that SRT501 had been one of the most closely watched molecules in the Big Pharma pipeline ever since 2008, when GlaxoSmithKline snapped it up in a $720 million acquisition of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals — the company that first suggested resveratrol might be useful for treating age-related diseases.
Huffington Post: Scientists Reverse Aging in Mice, But Can They Do it For People?
01
Dec
Courtesy of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
On Nov. 28, a group of Harvard University researchers published results from a tantalizing study in the online edition of the journal Nature. Their experiment involved mice who were genetically engineered to lack telomerase — an enzyme that maintains protective DNA caps on the end of chromosomes. People (and mice) with long caps, called telomeres, tend to live longer than those with short caps. Without the protective enzyme, these poor Harvard mice die at around six months of age.
Huffington Post: 3 Anti-Aging Thanksgiving Ideas
22
Nov
I initially groaned when I saw the headline “An Anti-Aging Thanksgiving Feast!” on the website, Stop Aging Now. But while it’s a bit far-fetched to suggest chowing down on a Thanksgiving feast will make you younger, I can definitely get on board with some of the holiday recipes presented on this site. After all, you can get many of the nutrients you need from healthy food.
Read more here on Huffington Post.
HuffPo: Centenarians on How to Make it to 100
03
Nov
What is it about centenarians that gives them the gift of extraordinarily long lives? On Nov. 1, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York launched a website, www.superagers.com, which tracks one scientist’s decade-long quest to answer that question. Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the college’s Institute for Aging Research, has been studying 500 Ashkenazi Jews age 95 and older, along with 700 of their children. He’s trying to uncover the genes that promote long life — discoveries that he hopes will lead to drugs to prevent age-related diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
Read more here.