Monthly Archives: June 2010

AMPK and longevity

The AMPK signaling pathway is one that is increasingly being viewed as playing a central role in metabolism and growth(ref). And that pathway appears to have a lot to do with longevity.  In fact, it is possible that some degree … Continue reading

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Stress, exercise and telomere lengths

I have frequently asserted that telomere lengths do not decline in a uniform manner through life but depend on the interaction of multiple endogenous and extrinsic factors.  Two important factors are stress and exercise.  A new study in Plos One … Continue reading

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Humanin, health and aging

Ever hear of humanin?  At the Paul K Glenn Symposium on Aging yesterday at Harvard, Dr. Pinchas Cohen gave a talk on The New World of Mitochondrial Proteins featuring humanin and other closely related proteins.  The subject is important because … Continue reading

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The free radical theory of aging. Is it really a theory of aging?

The free radical theory of aging, also known as the Oxidative Damagetheory of aging is over 50 years old and is perhaps the most-studied and most venerable of all the theories of aging.   But at least one line of … Continue reading

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Ghrelin hunger, obesity and aging

Have you heard about Ghrelin?  No, I am not talking about a new grill cleaner or a men’s girl-attracting perfume or a new shortstop for the Yankees.  Ghrelin is a hormone deeply involved in a very important current health condition, … Continue reading

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Back to blueberries

I wrote about blueberries back in September 2009 in the blog entry Blueberries and health – the research case, citing 11 research citations there on their positive health effects.  I have long been in the habit of eating a cupful … Continue reading

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Calorie restriction mimetics – focus on avocado extract

I have written about calorie restriction (CR) a number of times in this blog. CR is the most-proven approach to life extension, involving an ancient biological pathway that works across a variety of species. This blog entry focuses on CR … Continue reading

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Is acetaminophen an anti-aging drug? Probably not.

Virtually everybody has taken acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol) from time to time; probably a lot of it over the years.  It is of course the key ingredient in the over-the-counter pain-killer Tylenol®,  is widely sold as an inexpensive over-the-counter … Continue reading

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A near-term application for iPSCs – making cell lines for drug testing

I have written a number of times in this blog about iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells) including the exciting possibility of closing the loop in the stem cell supply chain and thereby enabling very long lives.  See the posts IPSCs, … Continue reading

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