14/03/2022

Age reversal potential - reduce disease risk and slow premature aging

Life Extension, vital looking gray haired, smiling woman enjoying her warm drink and being hugged by her dark haired daughter

The 21st century could see anti-aging therapies that are as important to people as antibiotics were in the past century. How we think about aging might undergo a radical change. However, there may not be a "cure", but efforts to eliminate lethal disease. Prevent rather than react or treat.


Age reversal - reduce disease risk and slow premature aging

Age reversal research is rapidly accelerating. Life Extension's goal in studying emerging rejuvenation treatments is to validate what works, what fails, and what potencies are needed to provide real-world benefits. 

An example is senolytics, where the purpose is to remove senescent cells that otherwise inflict massive tissue damage. 

Life Extension is monitoring anti-aging research and interacting with the scientists to validate whether this telomere elongation is associated with indicators of systemic age reversal.  

The immediate goal is to develop and validate rejuvenation therapies to provide maturing adults with an additional 15-25 healthy years.


Prevent, delay and reduce rate of telomere shortening

Fight back against aging and help keep an essentially youthful you >>
Scientists have discovered that shorter telomeres lead to a higher mortality rate. Like the burning of a fuse, telomeres at the ends of our chromosomes steadily shorten every time a cell replicates itself. (1,2) 

While aging is a many-faceted process, a clear-cut biomarker for aging at the cellular level has been found in measurements of telomere length. Studies demonstrate that longer telomeres can be promoted by maintaining adequate intake of specific nutrients.

Shortening telomeres accelerate cellular aging, but nutrients that promote telomere repair and sustain telomere length have proven health benefits.

What can you do today to reduce your rate of telomere shortening?

Nutrients that prevent and delay telomere shortening 

In recent years, we have learned that even common vitamins can have dramatic impact on the lengths of the telomeres in our cells, thereby powerfully decelerating aging at the cell, tissue, organ, and whole organism levels. (3)

  • Walnuts contain healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and many different compounds with proven health benefits. Harvard research published in the journal Nutrients in 2021 now links walnuts to greater life expectancy. (4)
  • B vitamins preserve telomere length in part by lowering homocysteine, which accelerates telomere shortening. (5-7)
  • Vitamin D promotes activity of telomerase, the repair enzyme that steadily adds to telomere length. (8-11)
  • Vitamins C and vitamin E preserve telomere length by reducing the chemical stresses that contribute to telomere shortening. Gamma-tocotrienol in particular may reverse telomere shortening and attendant cellular aging. (12-16)
  • The vegetable carotenoids, such as lutein, contribute to longer telomeres, though mechanisms for these effects remain to be discovered. (17,18)
  • Studies indicate that ergothioneine, found in mushrooms, can delay telomere shortening due to oxidative stress. (19) Your telomeres are like protective caps at the end of your chromosomes. As time goes by, these telomeres shorten naturally, in step with your aging process.


Read more on anti aging topics


References

  1. Chiappori AA, Kolevska T, Spigel DR, et al. A randomized phase II study of the telomerase inhibitor imetelstat as maintenance therapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Ann Oncol. 2015;26(2):354-62.
  2. Cawthon RM, Smith KR, O'Brien E, et al. Association between telomere length in blood and mortality in people aged 60 years or older. Lancet. 2003;361(9355):393-5.
  3. https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2016/12/research-update
  4. Liu X, Guasch-Ferre M, Tobias DK, et al. Association of Walnut Consumption with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality and Life Expectancy in U.S. Adults. Nutrients. 2021 Aug 4;13(8).
  5. Pusceddu I, Farrell CJ, Di Pierro AM, et al. The role of telomeres and vitamin D in cellular aging and age-related diseases. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2015;53(11):1661-78.
  6. Borras M, Panizo S, Sarro F, et al. Assessment of the potential role of active vitamin D treatment in telomere length: a case-control study in hemodialysis patients. Clin Ther. 2012;34(4):849-56.
  7. Bikle DD. Vitamin D: an ancient hormone. Exp Dermatol. 2011;20(1):7-13.
  8. Liu JJ, Prescott J, Giovannucci E, et al. Plasma vitamin D biomarkers and leukocyte telomere length. Am J Epidemiol. 2013;177(12):1411-7.
  9. Furumoto K, Inoue E, Nagao N, et al. Age-dependent telomere shortening is slowed down by enrichment of intracellular vitamin C via suppression of oxidative stress. Life Sci. 1998;63(11):935-48.
  10. Kim YY, Ku SY, Huh Y, et al. Anti-aging effects of vitamin C on human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Age (Dordr). 2013;35(5):1545-57.
  11. Li Y, Zhang W, Chang L, et al. Vitamin C alleviates aging defects in a stem cell model for Werner syndrome. Protein Cell. 2016;7(7):478-88.
  12. Makpol S, Abidin AZ, Sairin K, et al. gamma-Tocotrienol prevents oxidative stress-induced telomere shortening in human fibroblasts derived from different aged individuals. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2010;3(1):35-43.
  13. Makpol S, Durani LW, Chua KH, et al. Tocotrienol-rich fraction prevents cell cycle arrest and elongates telomere length in senescent human diploid fibroblasts. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2011;2011:506171.
  14. Makpol S, Zainuddin A, Rahim NA, et al. Alpha-tocopherol modulates hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage and telomere shortening of human skin fibroblasts derived from differently aged individuals. Planta Med. 2010;76(9):869-75.
  15. Tanaka Y, Moritoh Y, Miwa N. Age-dependent telomere-shortening is repressed by phosphorylated alpha-tocopherol together with cellular longevity and intracellular oxidative-stress reduction in human brain microvascular endotheliocytes. J Cell Biochem. 2007;102(3):689-703.
  16. Sen A, Marsche G, Freudenberger P, et al. Association between higher plasma lutein, zeaxanthin, and vitamin C concentrations and longer telomere length: results of the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014;62(2):222-9.
  17. Min KB, Min JY. Association between leukocyte telomere length and serum carotenoid in US adults. Eur J Nutr. 2016.
  18. Yabuta S, Masaki M, Shidoji Y. Associations of Buccal Cell Telomere Length with Daily Intake of beta-Carotene or alpha-Tocopherol Are Dependent on Carotenoid Metabolism-related Gene Polymorphisms in Healthy Japanese Adults. J Nutr Health Aging. 2016;20(3):267-74.
  19. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 1982;30(5):441-443.