Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD, can't predict how long you will live. But the UCSF scientist is exploring a feature within aging cells that appears to mark cellular aging. And Blackburn says that we may also be able to reverse the aging clock.

 

 

DNA gradually slips away during aging, but it causes aging at different rates for different people, or in different times or life. A key enzyme may help us defy aging.

 

 

Blackburn believes medical tests and treatments for aging may stem from this discovery about a bit of DNA – called a "telomere" – and the enzyme that affect it.

 

 

Telomeres are parts of all the chromosomes in our cells. When they are too short, cells can't multiply to replace aging body tissues. Defective telomeres also might be associated with risk for certain chronic diseases related to aging. People with longer telomeres may live longer and have healthier lives

 

 

Scientists already have found links between short telomeres and  cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes,  Depression, vascular dementia, osteoarthritis, pulmonary fibrosis, and osteoporosis.

 

 

Telomere Length and Chronic Disease

 

 

Our bodies generate new immune cells throughout our lives. These blood cells are the basis for clinical telomere research. These studies have established that telomere length – and a bit of enzyme activity – are associated with individuals who escape chronic disease.

 

 

Stress reduction, Omega-3 fish oils supplements were associated with longer telomeres. Depression was linked to shorter telomeres.

 

 

Turning Back Telomere Time?

 

Can we reverse aging by making our telomeres longer? Research indicates that perhaps we can. Heart disease patients who changed their lifestyles to fight aging had telomeres that increased in length over a five-year period. Men and the obese were less likely to grow longer telomeres.

 

 

Scientists aren't sure if lengthening telomeres will make us more healthy or reverse aging. Blackburn feels the telomere shortening is a consequence of the natural biological process of aging. More research in underway to determine whether the telomere approach may reverse or stall aging.

 

 

aging Cells and aging Selves

 

Scientists have studied the causes of aging for many years. The telomere discoveries strengthen the theory that cellular aging may determine the speed of the aging of the whole organism.

 

 

Telomerase and the Secrets of Yeast Cells

 

Blackburn has studied telomeres and telomerase in the baker’s (and brewer’s) yeast to see if their telomeres or telomerase within cells is similar to those in human aging. She has found that yeast cells with shorter telomeres take longer to reproduce.

Source: HealthCanal