Category Archives: Diet and aging
Rapamycin’s Anti-Aging Promise: Mirage or Not?
The first strong evidence that a drug could slow aging in mammals came out in 2009 when scientists reported that chronically feeding doses of rapamycin to mice significantly extended their average and maximum lifespans. Yet rapamycin, a drug used to help prevent rejection of transplanted organs, causes multiple side effects in people, including elevated triglycerides [...]
Also posted in aging, Life Span, Obesity and aging, Rapamycin, TOR and aging Tagged aging, anti-aging, Blagosklonny, lifespan, longevity, mTOR, rapamycin Comments closed
Vitamin Pills and Aging — Part II
When I recently speculated that taking vitamin pills may contribute to unhealthy choices because many people assume the pills shield them from the choices’ ill effects, I figured there was no way to support my hunch. But I was mistaken: A recent Taiwanese study demonstrated that taking multivitamins does indeed make people feel protected against [...]
Yes, Red Wine May Hold Some Answers. Recheck Dosage.
If you’ve tuned into the resveratrol story over the past five years, you’ve probably heard that you’d need to take giant doses of the red-wine ingredient to do any good. That idea was based on mouse studies in 2006 that showed massive doses of the compound blocked bad effects of eating too much fat. A [...]
Also posted in aging, Drugs and aging, Genetics of aging, Life Span, Obesity and aging, Resveratrol, Sirtuins Tagged aging, Hypertension, lifespan, longevity, red wine, SIRT1, Sirtuins Comments closed
Vitamin pills and healthy aging
The idea that taking vitamin pills can’t hurt and might do some good recently became a harder sell after two studies suggested that the pills may actually increase the risk of death. In one study, involving more than 38,000 older women, taking a daily multivitamin was found to be associated with a 2.4% higher risk [...]
Also posted in aging, Cancer and aging, Obesity and aging, Vitamins and aging Comments closed
Does obesity speed up aging?
Obesity is a major risk factor for a list of diseases that seems to be getting longer every week. Recent additions include metastasizing prostate cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. Over the past few years, brain shrinkage and Alzheimer’s disease have been added, as have arthritis, various cancers, and even incontinence. Scanning the multitude of [...]
Also posted in aging, Life Span, Obesity and aging, TOR and aging Tagged aging, Blagosklonny, healthcare, mTOR, obesity Comments closed
More on Demi, Ashton and Aging
If you’re tracking developments in aging research, don’t miss the issue of National Enquirer that hit newsstands today (dated Feb. 28)—it contains a full-page spread based on the Ashton-Demi Gerontology Seminar on the Beach that graced celebrity news outlets last week. You might also want to take a look at the related piece I did [...]
Also posted in aging, Drugs and aging, Happiness and Aging, Life Span, Resveratrol Tagged aging, Ashton Kutcher, celebrities, Demi Moore, depression, Hollywood, inflammation, omega-3, stress, telomeres, Youth Pill Comments closed
The Birth of Applied Gerontology
Gerontology, the study of aging, has long seemed a field of basic research that’s only tangentially related to the nitty-gritty world of geriatrics, the medical specialty devoted to ills of the elderly. But as gerontologists have delved deeper into the molecular roots of aging, they’ve increasingly found themselves shedding light on what gives rise to [...]
Also posted in Cancer and aging, Osteoporosis and aging Comments closed
Of meat, aging and the backyard grill
Is eating red meat hazardous to your health? If you’ve tracked recent conflicting studies on this question, you might think nutrition researchers have nothing intelligible to say about it. But before throwing up your hands, consider some light that aging science has shed on the question. First, the contradictory findings: In March, a major report [...]
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On Calorie Restriction, Monkeys, Magic and Medicine