Ayurvedic Medicine

The basic idea behind compression of morbidity is to reduce the span of time spent frail in old age without extending life span. This is an incoherent goal from the point of view of any theory of aging that presents degeneration as a result of accumulated damage, and it is a pity that compression of morbidity is so firmly entrenched in the research philosophy of mainstream aging research. The only way to ensure more years of health is to repair or prevent damage, which will also lead to a longer life. This SAGE Crossroads podcast is a discussion with Aubrey de Grey on the topic: "In some statistics we see a little bit of compression in some people; in some places we see a little bit of expansion. By in large what we are seeing is exactly what you would expect from postponing aging. In other words, you postpone the onset of morbidity and you also postpone death by about the same amount. ... the compression of morbidity theory as you call is not really a theory, it's more of an aspiration. People say 'well wouldn't it be a good thing if we could compress morbidity,' but they don't really say how we would expect to be able to do it. ... [the focus of research should be on] postponing morbidity so much that there is a much higher probability that people will die of causes that have nothing to do with aging just because they've got longer to do it before they become frail and decrepit."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sagecrossroads.net/sagecast54
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

A general interest piece from PhysOrg.com: "Tests of a relatively crude artificial retina [called Argus One] began on six patients in 2002. With the aid of these devices, people who'd been totally blind were able to read foot-high letters, tell a plate from a cup, find doors and windows, and navigate around large objects ... Argus One is still in use, but it's being succeeded by Argus Two, a smaller, more sophisticated device with an array of 60 electrodes, providing a much sharper image to its users. The newer device is being tested on 17 blind people in the U.S. and Europe, and more patients are being enrolled. At a retina conference in October, patients reported improvements in orientation and mobility. They were able to find a door from 20 feet away and to follow a line on the floor for 20 feet ... Meanwhile, researchers [are] creating a third-generation artificial retina. Much smaller than its predecessors, the device will contain 200 or more electrodes on a thin, flexible film that curves to fit the shape of the retina. Human tests are scheduled to begin in 2011. ... We're aiming for a 1,000-electrode array ... Such a device would 'let a blind patient recognize objects and read large-scale newsprint.'"

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.physorg.com/news149841853.html
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

From ScienceDaily, indicators as to why it is that exercise improves resistance to Alzheimer's - by increasing blood flow to the brain: "there's a great deal of evidence to suggest that Alzheimer's disease is a problem having much to do with the vascular plumbing. ... . It's not simply that reduced blood supply hurts brain cells by causing a shortage of oxygen and other nutrients. Rather, deterioration of blood flow seems to gum up the brain's ability to remove toxic amyloid beta. Normally, amyloid is picked up efficiently by blood vessels that then whisk the toxic trash away. But in Alzheimer's disease, the system no longer is able to keep up with the body's production of the substance. The molecular trash accumulates, and [researchers] believe the buildup kills brain cells." The researchers here show that two proteins linked to the cardiovascular system change both blood flow and the ability to clear amyloid beta. It's worth remembering that Alzheimer's is a multifaceted, complicated condition with numerous contributing issues: see for example the convincing evidence for involvement of degeneration in the choroid plexus, diabetes-like lifestyle conditions, a herpes simplex virus, and so forth.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081221210155.htm
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

The Sacramento Bee is running an article on the Buck Institute for Age Research. It's representatives of the mainstream aging research approach to talking about their work: slowly, slowly, and never any prospects for large gains in healthy longevity. Which is probably the case given their approach to the problem of aging, to change our hugely complex metabolic processes and genetic programming so as to slow down the rate at which damage accumulates. As usual, I'm much more interested in researchers who advocate keeping the metabolism we have, developing near-term ways to repair the biochemical damage we know a great deal about, and aim to reverse aging rather than just slow it down. The under the hood battle over how the research community moves forward is the most important scientific debate of our time, for it will determine how long we can live in good health.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sacbee.com/livinghere/v-print/story/1484792.html
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

As you might know, one of the roles of the immune system is to hunt down and destroy cancerous cells before they can grow into tumors. That the immune system becomes damaged and dysfunctional in later life is one of the many reasons why cancer risk increases with age. Here is a paper that shows that exercise boosts the capacity of immune cells to kill cancer - as though you needed another reason to regularly exercise, given its many benefits to healthy longevity. "Natural killer cells (NK) induce the death of tumor cells [by] cytotoxicity, whereas platelets reduce the capacity of NK to destroy tumor cells. Physical exercise affects both immune function and platelet activity because responses depend on type, intensity, and duration of exercise. This investigation explores how various exercise regimens influence platelet-impeded cytotoxicity of NK to [tumor cells] ... Thirty sedentary men performed on three occasions moderate exercise), severe exercise and severe exercise after warm-up exercise ... Severe exercise enhances the cytotoxicity of NK to [tumor cells] and simultaneously promotes the platelet-impeded apoptosis of [tumor cells] induced by NK. However, warm-up exercise reduces the resistance of platelet to NK-[tumor cell] interaction, increasing the efficiency [of] cytotoxicity by NK after severe exercise."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://pmid.us/19092699
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/