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longevity

Metformin: is it an anti-aging pill?

 

The science of aging is moving forward as scientists are elucidating the biology of aging. The ultimate goal is to develop treatments that delay aging, and in so doing, delay the development of aging-related diseases.[1] 
 
Aging is the greatest risk factor for the majority of chronic diseases that are driving morbidity and health costs [2], but the aging process can be delayed with lifestyle (exercise and nutrition), genetics, and pharmacologic approaches.[3-8] 
 
The so called “geroscience hypothesis” (“gero” is short for gerontology, which is the scientific study of the process of aging and its consequences)  holds that treatments that are targeting fundamental processes of aging may delay, prevent, alleviate, or reverse a wide range of diseases and conditions for which age is the primary non-modifiable risk factor.[1] Interventions that target fundamental aging processes have the potential to transform human health and health care.[9]
 
Excitement is now high because time has come for the first study to test the effect of metformin on aging-related outcomes in humans and see if it qualifies as an "anti-aging pill"... 
 
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Caloric Restriction for anti-aging and longevity - does it work in non-obese humans?

If you are following the anti-aging news, you’ve heard about the supposed benefits of chronic calorie restriction for increasing longevity. These claims are based on research done in various species such as flies, worms and mice.
 
Here I will explain that chronic calorie restriction makes it impossible to implement and reap the health benefits of an active lifestyle with regular exercise, and causes severe health consequences for humans.  
 
While animal studies can and do shed light on what’s going on at mechanistic level, we have to be very careful and resist the temptation to extrapolate results from animal experiments to humans.
 
Here I will make the case that chronic calorie restriction actually counteracts the prospects of a healthy vital long life.
 
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Does Sex Boost Testosterone Levels?

Testosterone is popularly known as the “sex hormone”, with “sex” referring to both its masculinizing effects that gives rise to sex differences between men and women, as well as sex (the activity).
 
In terms of the latter, testosterone is well known for its libido boosting effect, in both men [1-4] and women [5-9] regardless of age.
 
Testosterone increases sex drive even in older women, and has thus been designated as the "infallible aphrodisiac" as early as 1940.[10]
 
But does it work the other way around also… Does sexual activity increase testosterone levels? Let’s see what research shows…
 
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Testosterone, Mortality and Longevity

Population studies show that men with low or low-normal testosterone levels are at an increased risk of mortality compared to those with higher levels, and that cardiovascular disease accounts for the greater proportion of deaths in men with low testosterone.[1] 
 
Here I summarize a medical review paper which addressed the following two questions: [1]
 
1.  Is testosterone deficiency directly involved in the pathogenesis of these conditions or is it merely a biomarker of ill health and the severity of underlying disease processes?
 
2.  Does testosterone replacement therapy retard disease progression and ultimately enhance the clinical prognosis and survival?
 
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Watch Your Waist - it may shorten your life!

Your waistline not only makes or breaks your esthetic appearance; if you belly gets too large, it may greatly jeopardize your health and even longevity.

Waist circumference strongly correlates with abdominal obesity and is the most commonly used measure of body fat distribution.[1, 2] Many studies have found enlarged waist circumferences to be associated with all-cause mortality, in most cases independently of general obesity.[3-11]

Abdominal obesity (aka visceral obesity) appears to be more strongly associated with multiple chronic diseases than is gluteo-femoral obesity (fat deposition around the butt and thighs).[1] Increased waist circumference confers a health risk even in normal weight people.[12]

A notable large study investigated the association of waist circumference with mortality using intuitive 2 in (5 cm) increments for men and women, and also evaluated risk within narrow categories of body fatness (BMI). In addition, the study estimated years of life lost due to a large waist circumference.[13]


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DHEA supplementation in older adults helps reverse arterial aging

  • Published in DHEA

When it comes to health promotion and longevity, DHEA is a supplement which deserves more attention than it has been getting.

DHEA levels (the main circulating form of DHEA in the bloodstream is DHEAS) decrease approximately 80% between ages 25 and 75 year.[1, 2]This large decline in DHEA has led to interest in the possibility that aging related DHEA deficiency may play a role in the deterioration in physiological and metabolic functions with aging, and in the development of chronic diseases.

In support of this, it has been reported that DHEA level is negatively correlated with mortality and risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) (i.e. lower DHEA(S) levels are associated with higher mortality and CVD risk).[3-5]More recently it has been found that a steep decline or extreme variability over time in DHEA(S) levels is associated with higher mortality, more so than baseline DHEA(S) levels.[6]

Aging not only reduces DHEA(S) levels, but also results in an increase in arterial stiffness [7, 8], which is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and mortality.[9-11]

It has been reported that DHEA levels are inversely associated with arterial stiffness (i.e. lower DHEA levels are associated with increased arterial stiffness. [7, 12, 13] Therefore, it is possible that DHEA replacement in older adults could reduce arterial stiffness, and thereby contribute to reduction in CVD and mortality...

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