A Brief Tour of Work on Reprogramming as an Approach to the Treatment of Aging
A recent popular science article from the Lifespan.io team provides a high level introduction to cellular reprogramming as a potential approach to the treatment of aging. Since the discovery that somatic cells can be reprogrammed to become induced pluripotent stem cells, essentially the same as embryonic stem cells, most exploration has focused on the cost-effective production of specific cell types for use in research and cell therapies. More recently, however, researchers have applied reprogramming strategies directly to tissues in living animals in order to improve heath and turn back aspects of aging and age-related di...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 7, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Of Interest Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, February 10th 2020
In conclusion, the concept of an epigenetic clock is compelling, but caution should be taken in interpreting associations with age acceleration. Association tests of age acceleration should include age as a covariate.
A Discussion of Recent Work on Allotopic Expression of Mitochondrial Genes at the SENS Research Foundation
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2020/02/a-discussion-of-recent-work-on-allotopic-expression-of-mitochondrial-genes-at-the-sens-research-foundation/
A paper published last month outlines recent progress on allotopic expression of mitochondrial genes carried out by the SENS Research...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 9, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
A Mechanism by which Chronic Inflammation Spurs Cancer Metastasis
Chronic inflammation is a risk factor for cancer and cancer mortality. There are numerous reasons as to why this might be the case, some much more proven and settled than others, but the research here is focused on metastasis, the spread of cancerous cells throughout the body. Since cancer mortality is largely determined by whether or not a tumor progresses to the point of metastasis, we should not be surprised that researchers can identify mechanisms linking inflammation with metastasis.
Dysregulated inflammation is recognized as one of the hallmarks of cancer and is involved in tumor initiation, progression, an...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 5, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 27th 2020
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter,
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Longevity Industry Consulting Services
Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 26, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Inhibition of Autophagy in Mice Produces Signs of Accelerated Aging
One must always be careful in the interpretation of studies of aging in which essential biological processes are disrupted. There are any number of ways to disrupt essential biological functions to produce all sorts of consequent damage. But damage that isn't relevant to the normal processes of aging can nonetheless produce results that look very much like age-related conditions. Thus the details matter greatly. Here researchers suppress autophagy in mice in order to gain greater insight into its role in aging, and suggest that there might be reasons for caution in the development of therapies to boost autophagy in old peo...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 23, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Chronic Lyme arthritis: A mystery solved?
In 1975, researchers from Yale investigated an epidemic of 51 patients with arthritis who lived near the woodsy town of Lyme, Connecticut. The most common symptom was recurrent attacks of knee swelling. A few had pain in other joints, such as the wrist or ankle. Many had fever, fatigue, and headache. Some remembered a round skin rash before the onset of knee swelling.
We now know that Lyme disease is an infection acquired from tick bites, caused by a spiral bacterium named Borrelia burgdorferi. After a tick bite, Borrelia bacteria wriggle through the skin away from the bite site. This leads to a circular red rash, known as...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - October 3, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Ross, MD, FIDSA Tags: Arthritis Bones and joints Infectious diseases Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, September 16th 2019
In this study, researchers studied 438,952 participants in the UK Biobank, who had a total of 24,980 major coronary events - defined as the first occurrence of non-fatal heart attack, ischaemic stroke, or death due to coronary heart disease. They used an approach called Mendelian randomisation, which uses naturally occurring genetic differences to randomly divide the participants into groups, mimicking the effects of running a clinical trial.
People with genes associated with lower blood pressure, lower LDL cholesterol, and a combination of both were put into different groups, and compared against those without thes...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 15, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Long-Lived Dwarf Mice Exhibit an Improved Mitochondrial Stress Response
Snell dwarf mice in which growth hormone has been disabled live significantly longer than their peers. Suppression of growth hormone activity is one of the better studied interventions known to slow aging in mice, and, like calorie restriction, has led to a strong focus on stress response mechanisms in the aging research community. A majority of the means of slowing aging in short-lived laboratory species are characterized by increased cellular maintenance activities that are triggered into greater efforts by cellular stresses: heat, cold, lack of nutrients, an excess of toxic or reactive molecules, and so forth.
De...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 10, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 5th 2019
In conclusion, with study of the frailty syndrome still in its infancy, frailty analysis remains a major challenge. It is a challenge that needs to be overcome in order to shed light on the multiple mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this syndrome. Although several mechanisms contribute to frailty, immune system alteration seems to play a central role: this syndrome is characterized by increased levels of pro-inflammatory markers and the resulting pro-inflammatory status can have negative effects on various organs. Future studies should aim to better clarify the immune system alteration in frailty, and seek to esta...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 4, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
In Vivo Reprogramming of Cells to a Pluripotent, Partially Rejuvenated State Continues to Forge Ahead in the Lab
It has for some years now been possible to reprogram adult somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells that are functionally equivalent to embryonic stem cells. This is achieved by overexpressing some or all of the Yamanaka transcription factors, Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) proteins. One of the most interesting outcomes of this process is that cells so treated reverse epigenetic markers of aging to some degree, and repair their mitochondrial damage. Thus the research community has started to induce this same reprogramming in living animals to observe the results. If done haphazardly, the outcome is unrestrained cancer...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 2, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 1st 2019
In this study, we determine whether transient reintroduction of embryonic stem cell cycle miR-294 promotes cardiomyocyte cell cycle reentry enhancing cardiac repair after myocardial injury. A doxycycline-inducible AAV9-miR-294 vector was delivered to mice for activating miR-294 in myocytes for 14 days continuously after myocardial infarction. miR-294-treated mice significantly improved left ventricular functions together with decreased infarct size and apoptosis 8 weeks after MI. Myocyte cell cycle reentry increased in miR-294 hearts parallel to increased small myocyte number in the heart. Isolated adult myocytes from miR-...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 30, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Mir-294 Awakens an Embryonic Proliferation Behavior in Heart Cells, Spurring Regeneration Following Heart Attack
In this study, we determine whether transient reintroduction of embryonic stem cell cycle miR-294 promotes cardiomyocyte cell cycle reentry enhancing cardiac repair after myocardial injury. A doxycycline-inducible AAV9-miR-294 vector was delivered to mice for activating miR-294 in myocytes for 14 days continuously after myocardial infarction. miR-294-treated mice significantly improved left ventricular functions together with decreased infarct size and apoptosis 8 weeks after MI. Myocyte cell cycle reentry increased in miR-294 hearts parallel to increased small myocyte number in the heart. Isolated adult myocytes from miR-...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 25, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
What Was the Cause of the Excruciating Pain in His Shoulders and Hips? - The New York Times
As the physician prepared to leave the exam room, the patient's wife spoke up:"Doctor, my husband won't tell you this, but he is suffering," the woman said, her voice cracking. Dr. Timothy Quan, a rheumatologist in central Connecticut, looked at the 69-year-old man he'd been caring for over the past several months. The man gave a brisk nod. It was true. The past few weeks had been a nightmare of pain.Six months earlier, the patient woke up with a sore, swollen right hand. He figured he must have injured it a few days before when he cleared out a pile of wood in his backyard. He mentioned it to his pri...
Source: Psychology of Pain - June 5, 2019 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 281
Dr Neil Long Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 281
It's Friday. Boggle your brain with FFFF challenge and some old fashioned trivia. Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 281 (Source: Life in the Fast Lane)
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - May 31, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Dr Neil Long Tags: FFFF Alice Springs Antibiotics azithromycin blepharoclonus claw hand clindamcin doxycycline Leonardo da Vinic metronidazole moxifloxacin Paget Schrotter syndrome rifampin TMP/SMX ulnar palsy Urschel's Sign Source Type: blogs
I Can’t Hear You!
A 50-year-old man presented to the emergency department complaining of ringing in his ears and difficulty understanding what people were saying. He was concerned that he was having a stroke. A full neurological exam was unremarkable aside from decreased hearing, but his hearing deficits appeared to be equal bilaterally. Otoscopic exam demonstrated a normal tympanic membrane, and the rest of his physical exam was unremarkable. The patient's past medical history was significant for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, for which he took lisinopril and atorvastatin. He was recently treated with a 10-day course of doxycycl...
Source: The Tox Cave - April 1, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
