Study about stress and aging

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20394-2004Nov29.html


What do we think of that? It's quite scary, but doesn't explain why I know people in their 60s and 70s who have been stressed all their lives and are fine. It also doesn't explain my 4 days skin change lol, as it should have happened over a period of time, not days!

Maybe a trick is to increase telomerase?


Hoppi

Woah this is crazy, crazy stuff. Check this out: http://www.regrowth.com/hairloss-forums//viewthread.cfm?f=1&t=23076

and threads like this on ImmInst.org - http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=24508


They CYCLE telomerase inhibitors with telomerase activators, to get just ENOUGH telomerase to cells to keep them all alive, but then enough inhibition to cancerous ones to kill them. Wow.

That is really, really clever. Potentially dangerous and playing with fire, but damn clever. And it could mean a lot for us dudes!

CS... any idea about this crazy stuff?

Astral Fruit is supposed to grow hair!!

God knows what topical activation does... WORK I would imagine. But again, playing with fire.

WAIT.. what if you ACTIVATED telomerase in your scalp and then inhibited it in cycles? Would that keep your cells alive?


Sorry, I'm buzzing ^_^ hehe

Hoppipolla - I haven't studied this much. However, I have found that over the years, some things posted on that forum do not always pan out.

Others might have more info on this hopefully.

One thing that concerned me a little is how curcumin and resveratrol are seen as two of the main telomerase inhibitors. Now, often this is good, as the main place telomerase is rampant in the body is in tumors and cancerous cells.

Unfortunately:

"Telomerase is the natural enzyme which promotes telomere repair. It is however not active in most cells. It is active in stem cells, germ cells, hair follicles and in 90 percent of cancer cells. Telomerase functions by adding bases to the ends of the telomeres. As a result of this telomerase activity, these cells seem to possess a kind of immortality."

(from Wikipedia, but still!)

Is this a non-issue, or?

I have no idea whether curcumin and resveratrol inhibit telomerase in hair follicle cells, I intend to research this more tomorrow but... surely if they do, this would surely result in the cells dying sooner... wouldn't it? I'm a tad concerned about this one! Don't get me wrong I think curcumin and res are great supplements, but I wouldn't imagine lowering telomerase activity in hair follicle cells is something we would want to do, I'll have a look into this tomorrow o.O

Anyway, night night everyone, hopefully I'm wrong with this one - please someone prove me wrong lol

Hoppi

Hoppi - Here's why I'm a little skeptical about so called telomere inhibitors--because all of the ones listed are shown to reduce telomere shortening, so it may not matter that they inhibit telomerase.

All the research on these show they extend life span, and the methods as to how they work are well documented.

Ah so you think curcumin and resveratrol extend telomeres anyway, so the fact that they might inhibit telomerase isn't such a big deal?

It's an interesting one, as of course inhibiting telomerase in cancerous cells is a great way to kill them, but I'm really not sure what effect this may have on follicles. Do you think curcumin/resveratrol could extend telomere length without telomerase? I think vitamin D in good doses helps to maintain long telomeres, so it's definitely possible cur/res might have a positive impact on that.

Anywho erm, I'll keep researching, I actually asked this question on the Immortal Institute forum as well so I'm keen to see what they say

Hoppipolla

Is there a peer reviewed study that suggest curumin and resveratrol inhibit telomerase? I would be interested in reading that study.

I've got a feeling there is some confusion in the immortality forum about telomerase.
Fish oil is one of the so-called inhibitors of telomerase, however it's probably applicable to cancer cells.

For instance, take a look at the two studies below:

JAMA. 2010 Jan 20;303(3):250-7.

Association of marine omega-3 fatty acid levels with telomeric aging in patients with coronary heart disease.
Farzaneh-Far R, Lin J, Epel ES, Harris WS, Blackburn EH, Whooley MA.

Division of Cardiology, Room 5G1, San Francisco General Hospital, 1001 Potrero Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. rfarzanehfar@medicine.ucsf.edu

CONTEXT: Increased dietary intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids is associated with prolonged survival in patients with coronary heart disease. However, the mechanisms underlying this protective effect are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of omega-3 fatty acid blood levels with temporal changes in telomere length, an emerging marker of biological age. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective cohort study of 608 ambulatory outpatients in California with stable coronary artery disease recruited from the Heart and Soul Study between September 2000 and December 2002 and followed up to January 2009 (median, 6.0 years; range, 5.0-8.1 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We measured leukocyte telomere length at baseline and again after 5 years of follow-up. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used to investigate the association of baseline levels of omega-3 fatty acids (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA] and eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA]) with subsequent change in telomere length. RESULTS: Individuals in the lowest quartile of DHA+EPA experienced the fastest rate of telomere shortening (0.13 telomere-to-single-copy gene ratio [T/S] units over 5 years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09-0.17), whereas those in the highest quartile experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening (0.05 T/S units over 5 years; 95% CI, 0.02-0.08; P < .001 for linear trend across quartiles). Levels of DHA+EPA were associated with less telomere shortening before (unadjusted beta coefficient x 10(-3) = 0.06; 95% CI, 0.02-0.10) and after (adjusted beta coefficient x 10(-3) = 0.05; 95% CI, 0.01-0.08) sequential adjustment for established risk factors and potential confounders. Each 1-SD increase in DHA+EPA levels was associated with a 32% reduction in the odds of telomere shortening (adjusted odds ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.47-0.98). CONCLUSION: Among this cohort of patients with coronary artery disease, there was an inverse relationship between baseline blood levels of marine omega-3 fatty acids and the rate of telomere shortening over 5 years.

This one below is on how these fatty acids inhibit telomerase activity in human colon cancer cells.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids inhibit telomerase activity in DLD-1 human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells: a dual mechanism approach.Eitsuka T, Nakagawa K, Suzuki T, Miyazawa T.

Food and Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori Amamiyamachi, Sendai 981-8555, Japan.

As high telomerase activity is detected in most cancer cells, telomerase represents a promising cancer therapeutic target. We investigated the inhibitory effect of various fatty acids on telomerase, with particular emphasis on those with antitumor properties, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). To evaluate the direct effect of fatty acids on telomerase, cell lysates of DLD-1 human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells were mixed with sample fatty acids, and the telomerase activity was determined. Saturated fatty acids and trans-fatty acids showed very weak or no inhibition of telomerase. In contrast, cis-unsaturated fatty acids significantly inhibited the enzyme, and the inhibitory potency was elevated with an increase in the number of double bonds. Accordingly, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), like EPA and DHA, appeared to be powerful telomerase inhibitors. To assess the transcriptional effect, DLD-1 cells were cultured in the presence of sample fatty acids, and telomerase activity and gene expression were subsequently evaluated. Culturing DLD-1 cells with either EPA or DHA resulted in a remarkable decrease in telomerase activity. EPA and DHA inhibited telomerase by down-regulating human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and c-myc expression via protein kinase C inhibition. These results indicate that PUFAs can directly inhibit the enzymatic activity of telomerase as well as modulate the telomerase at the transcriptional level.

tonyj wrote:Hoppipolla

Is there a peer reviewed study that suggest curumin and resveratrol inhibit telomerase? I would be interested in reading that study.

there's a fair number if you just google "curcumin telomerase" or "resveratrol telomerase". It's one of the ways they fight tumors.


And ah that's pretty good CS that in the case certainly of fish oils they seem to slow telomere shortening in cells and also inhibit telomerase in cancer cells.

The only difference though between normal day-to-day cells and hair follicle cells is apparently hair follicle cells constantly produce telomerase, JUST like cancer cells do, I believe. Normal cells do not, and so there is nothing to inhibit.

Do you see what I mean? I mean hopefully somehow things like Omega 3 differentiate between the telomerase activity of cancer cells, and the telomerase activity of hair cells... possibly in the TYPE of cell... I don't know.

Sorry to go on but, another thing that confuses me is whether the body has blood levels of telomerase, that circulate and maintain telomeres. I haven't worked this one out yet, or whether telomeres simply go without maintenance. It seems that many individuals who live to 100 or live seemingly unnaturally long lifespans for their environments, etc, often have hyperactive telomerase activity, which does suggest telomerase might be present in the bloodstreams of all of us, albeit to a lesser extent? I'm a TOTAL noob to stuff like that..

Here's some info curcumin and resveratrol. Like fish oil, targets telomerase in cancer cells, yet promote longevity in healthy cells.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2567879/?tool=pubmed

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16465368

Mol Cell Biochem. 2009 May;325(1-2):107-19. Epub 2009 Feb 4.

Molecular mechanism of curcumin induced cytotoxicity in human cervical carcinoma cells.
Singh M, Singh N.

Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Science, Room no 3027A, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, 110029, India.

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in Indian females and is associated with infection with high risk Human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Curcumin (Diferuloyl methane), a chemopreventive agent, is a natural compound extracted from Curcuma longa that allows suppression of carcinogenesis. The objective of this study was to identify the molecular mechanism of curcumin induced apoptosis in HPV positive cervical cancer HeLa, SiHa and Ca Ski cells. Curcumin causes distinct inhibition of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) the catalytic core of telomerase thereby reducing proliferation of cancer cells. Curcumin mediated apoptosis in these cells appears to be due to upregulation of proapoptotic Bax, AIF, release of cytochrome c and down regulation of antiapoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-XL in HeLa and SiHa. This was accompanied by an increase in caspase-3 and -9 activity, suggesting the role of mitochondria in curcumin mediated apoptotic cell death. Curcumin acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative agent by causing down regulation of COX-2, iNOS and cyclin D1 in all the three cell lines but to different extent.

Yeah a lot does seem to back this up, this guy was researching it too and provides a lot of citations:

http://anti-agingfirewalls.com/2009/06/11/do-resveratrol-curcumin-and-egcg-from-green-tea-really-inhibit-the-expression-of-telomerase/


It seems like encouraging systemic telomerase is good, as long as you're always inhibiting it in cancerous cells.

Well, that's a relief anyway! I was very concerned about aging my hair follicle cells! I mean to be fair if this happened I'm sure we would be seeing evidence of it by now. Omega 3 for example is supposed to be great for hair.

I think I'm going to make a point to stop googling things and searching on Wikipedia though and start going to places like pubmed! It's just it takes a certain self-discipline to get into that habit

It seems like anything that benefits my overall longevity and cellular/body health also benefits or has the capacity to benefit my hair. This is wonderful, as if I am going to put together an elaborate regimen, I want it to benefit ALL of me

From now on however hopefully you shall get less waffle and more citations and research-backed posts from Mr Hoppipolla!

I think to be fair for anyone with anxiety or stress, showing it the back door has to be the FIRST thing we do. Correcting diet should go with that.

If I never believed it before I believe it now - stress is a killer.

It messes your WHOLE body up. I need to just kill it dead before it kills me dead! lol

Problem is I really want to take some potent herbal sedative, but they all decrease thyroid function, which is the last thing I want. Passionflower, valerian, etc, all seem to decrease thyroid function. Sensoril really is a nugget of gold it seems, and ginseng (or other forms of it, depending on how you classify ashwagandha) possibly too.