Conference on Aging

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This guy is a trip

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Uncle Ferd's g/f gets hungry when she tries to eat less...

Eating Less Slows Aging in Mice
February 14, 2017 - Researchers say they may have found a way to stave off aging. They say you might need to eat less. Writing in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, researchers from Brigham Young University say eating less can slow the aging of cells in the body.

Fewer calories slow down a mechanism in the cells called ribosomes, at least in mice. They are responsible for making vital proteins in the cells, but with fewer calories they slow down, giving them more time to repair themselves, researchers said. Ribosomes, researchers say, use from 10 to 20 percent of the cell’s energy to make those proteins. “Because of this, it's impractical to destroy an entire ribosome when it starts to malfunction,” said a news release about the study. “But repairing individual parts of the ribosome on a regular basis enables ribosomes to continue producing high quality proteins for longer than they would otherwise. This top quality production in turn keeps cells and the entire body functioning well.”

John Price, a biochemistry professor at Brigham Young and the senior author of the study, likens ribosomes to cars. "The ribosome is a very complex machine, sort of like your car, and it periodically needs maintenance to replace the parts that wear out the fastest," he said. "When tires wear out, you don't throw the whole car away and buy new ones. It's cheaper to replace the tires."

A restricted calorie diet appears to have slowed aging in mice, according to a new study.

To reach their conclusions, researchers looked at two groups of mice. One group was able to eat as much as it wanted, while the other group was put on a diet with 35 percent fewer calories. "When you restrict calorie consumption, there's almost a linear increase in lifespan," Price said. "We inferred that the restriction caused real biochemical changes that slowed down the rate of aging."

While previous studies have suggested a link between lower calories and slowed aging, this is first to show how the ribosomes can influence aging. "The calorie-restricted mice are more energetic and suffered fewer diseases," Price said. "And it's not just that they're living longer, but because they're better at maintaining their bodies, they're younger for longer as well."

Despite the findings, Price says calorie restriction as an anti-aging strategy has not been tested in humans. He did add that the main takeaway for people is the “the importance of taking care of our bodies.” "Food isn't just material to be burned -- it's a signal that tells our body and cells how to respond," Price said. "We're getting down to the mechanisms of aging, which may help us make more educated decisions about what we eat."

http://www.voanews.com/a/mht-eating-...e/3723991.html

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Egyptian Woman, Believed to be World Heaviest, Seeks Lifesaving Surgery
February 12, 2017 — A 36-year-old Egyptian woman, believed to be the world’s heaviest woman at 500 kilograms, has been brought to an Indian hospital to undergo surgical procedures aimed at drastically reducing her weight and giving her a chance of a normal life.

For Eman Ahmed, the journey to Mumbai was her first outside her home in Alexandria in 25 years. And it involved complex logistics on many fronts: The Indian foreign minister’s intervention to get her a visa, an Airbus modified to equip it with a special bed, a truck at the Indian airport to whisk her to the hospital where a crane lifted her bed into a special unit for her treatment. Born a heavy baby at 5 kgs, her family has said she began putting on weight by the age of 11 and stopped going to school by fifth grade when it became difficult for her to move.

Egyptian national Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who weighs around 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds), is displayed at a press conference attended by her Indian bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala in Mumbai

Stroke worsened her condition

Her condition worsened two years ago when Ahmed suffered a stroke, which not only left her bedridden, but also affected her speech. The reason for her abnormal weight is not clear. Her family has said she was diagnosed with elephantiasis, in which limbs swell because of a parasitic infection. In Mumbai, she will undergo a series of tests to identify her ailment. Last October, a Mumbai doctor, Muffazal Lakdawala, who specializes in weight reduction surgeries, responded to a plea for help from the woman’s sister.

Travel, arrangements difficult

But the going was not smooth. Initially the Indian embassy in Cairo turned down her visa request because she could not travel to the city for the interview. However, a tweet by Lakdawala in December to Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who was herself in the hospital at the time, drew an immediate response and a visa was promptly granted.

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Scientists: Aging is a disease that can be stopped or, at least, slowed...

Researchers Have Found a Way to Delay Aging
A new study by Lomonosov Moscow State University and Stockholm University focuses on the role of mitochondria in the aging of organisms; According to researchers, the study opens the way to the treatment of aging with mitochondrially targeted antioxidants.

More and more, scientists are becoming convinced that aging is a disease that can be stopped or, at least, slowed. Recently, researchers from Russia and Sweden investigated this idea further in a joint study by Lomonosov Moscow State University and Stockholm University. Their study, published in the journal Aging, focuses on the role of mitochondria in the aging of organisms. Under the leadership of renowned Russian biologist Vladimir Skulachev, the researchers experimented with a special strain of genetically-modified mice. A single mutation was introduced into the genome of these mice, which were created and characterized in Sweden. This mutation substantially accelerated mitochondrial mutagenesis. Instead of living more than two years, these mutated mice lived less than a year, and developed many age-related diseases and defects — clearly indicating that these were caused by aging.

The researchers treated a group of 100-day-old genetically modified mice with a synthetic compound called SkQ1, an artificial antioxidant that targets the mitochondria. SkQ1 was developed in Moscow State University in Skulachev’s lab. The SkQ1 was added into the drinking water of these mice, while a separate control group were given pure water. By the time the mice aged 200-250 days, the control group had aged rapidly and lost weight, experienced a decrease in body weight and temperature, had osteoporosis, and were developing alopecia. There was also a decrease in mobility and oxygen intake — all signs of aging. On the other hand, these traits were dramatically decelerated for the mice treated with SkQ1.

Potential for Treatment

The results of the study show that mitochondria indeed play a key role in aging. “This work is quite valuable from both theoretical and practical points of view. First, it clearly demonstrates the key role of mitochondrially produced reactive oxygen species in the process of aging of mammals,” Skulachev explained. “At the same time our study opens the way to the treatment of aging with mitochondrially targeted antioxidants.” With these promising results, Skulachev is already working on developing potential drug treatments based on SkQ1. One is an eye drop called Visomitin, which has already been approved in Russia and has passed phase 2 clinical trials in the U.S. Another project currently in development is an oral version of SkQ1. In Russia, this drug is now on clinical trials. If all goes well and as expected, the drug can be approved for public use within 2-3 years.

These aren’t the only “anti-aging” efforts around. Other institutions, like the San Francisco-based startup Unity Biotechnology, are looking to understand the mechanisms of cellular senescence and slow down aging. Still others are relying on stem cell technology to regenerate human tissue damaged by aging or disease. One Nobel laureate thinks the secret is in lengthening telomeres. With these studies around, we may just be able to soon slow down human aging or even stop it altogether.

https://futurism.com/researchers-hav...o-delay-aging/

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Mebbe Granny could stop gettin' older an go to Mars?...

DNA repair discovery could lead to drugs to reverse ageing, fight cancer and help space travel
A drug to reverse ageing and treat cancer may be a step closer after a team of scientists identified a critical step in how cells repair damaged DNA.

Their discovery could even help survivors of childhood cancers and help NASA get astronauts to Mars. "For most of the 20th century we knew that our [cells' ability to repair DNA gets worse over time] and we get old and it's the main reason we get cancer," Harvard and UNSW professor David Sinclair said. "So what we've discovered is the reason why." Published in the journal Science, the international team identified how a vitamin called NAD+ was regulating the interactions that control DNA repair.

The scientists said experiments showed that when mice were given an NAD+ booster called NMN, their cells were better at repairing DNA damage caused by radiation exposure and ageing. "We took old mice that were 20 months old which is [equivalent to] a 60-70-year-old human and we gave them NMN and we found that… many aspects of ageing were reversed," Professor Sinclair said. "Their DNA repair activities went up to youthful levels and they were more resistant to radiation and should therefore be more protected against cancer and ageing itself.

Human trials of NMN therapy will start in Boston in the next six months. "Then we should be able to go into the next studies which we're hoping to do in the US and in Australia and then we really get serious," Professor Sinclair said. "We start looking at how fast people can walk, how strong they are and then eventually we want to get this molecule on the market as a drug to treat a disease like cancer, Alzheimer's or diabetes." Professor Sinclair and his colleague Dr Lindsay Wu are working on making NMN into a drug substance.

NASA sees potential for Mars mission