The Role of TOR Signaling in Aging

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2010 by Matt Kaeberlein and Lara S. Shamieh
Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

The target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase defines a highly conserved nutrient-response pathway that is known to modulate longevity in invertebrate organisms. Multiple mutations in this pathway that reduce TOR signaling have been reported to increase life span in different organisms, as has pharmacological inhibition of TOR. Multiple TOR-regulated processes are also known to play a role in longevity control, including autophagy, mRNA translation initiation, and mitochondrial metabolism. TOR signaling interacts with insulin/IGF-1 signaling via Akt kinase and maps genetically to the same longevity pathway as dietary restriction.

Studies are underway to determine whether inhibition of TOR is sufficient to increase life span in mammals. TOR-inhibitors are clinically useful in humans and may prove beneficial against multiple age-associated diseases.

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How do I Choose an In-Home Senior Care Giver

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How do I Choose an In-Home Senior Care Giver

By Ron Marr, eHow Contributor

Hiring an in-home senior care giver is not a task that should be undertaken lightly. The care giver may be called upon to make immediate decisions, provide medical care, cook meals and provide transportation. A senior who make plans in advance, before he reaches a state where in-home care is needed, will likely be more satisfied with the quality of care than an individual who leaves his needs to the sole discretion of family members. In-home care for seniors can become an emotional and financial burden, and preparation is the key to resolution with a minimum of conflict.

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10 Dental Care Mistakes To Avoid

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The preservation of natural teeth when you are getting older is not only important for your appearance, the ability to enjoy food and digest food, but it is also important for your overall health and longevity. Here is an article explaining this relationship – The Impact of Dental Health On Your General Health And Longevity. Your daily oral hygiene habit is critical for achieving a good dental care. Here are the top 10 oral health care mistakes you should try to avoid to keep your smile healthy.

1. Only Treat The Dental Problems When They Occur, Neglect The Importance For Regular Dental Checkup And Cleaning.

2. Only Brush The Teeth Daily, But Not Do The Regular Teeth Cleaning At The Dentist Office

3. Brush The Teeth Too Fast, Less Than 2 minutes

4. Only Pay Attention To The Teeth Itself, But Neglect The Importance of A Healthy Gum

5. Skip The Flossing After A Heavy Meal

6. Forget to Brush The Teeth And Use The Mouth Wash Before Sleep

7. Try Not To Treat The Dental Problem When They Are Not Covered By Insurance.

8. Trying to mask bad breath with gum, mints, or tongue strips.

9. Not Aware of The Sugars in The Food and Drink that can boost acid-producing bacteria growth.

10. Not using fluoride toothpaste, mouthwash, or any other fluoride dental products to fight cavities.

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Kundalini Yoga Promotes Anti-Aging

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Yoga is one of the world’s oldest and most well-known forms of exercise, and Kundalini yoga is a type that’s rapidly gaining popularity. It’s based on the idea of a spiritual energy that sits at the base of the spine. The Kundalini is untapped prana (prana —  Energy, Breath, Life force.) at the base of the spine that can be drawn up through the body awakening each of the seven chakras . Full enlightenment occurs when this energy reaches the Crown Chakra. Kundalini energy is often represented as a snake coiled at the base of the spine.

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Popular And Best Anti Aging Supplements

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Acai Berry, Green Tea and Resveratrol Supplements and HGH Supplements

Four of the best anti aging supplements are Acai Berry, Green Tea, and Resveratrol and and HGH Supplements.

Each has a long list of health benefits and scientific studies which support their anti aging claims.

Here we will outline some of the specifics on each supplement.

Acai Berry Information

The anti aging properties of the acai berry come from its antioxidant powers. Antioxidants have always been a very popular and successful form of anti aging supplements.

The acai berry is believed to have some of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet. Some experts believe it is the healthiest fruit available.

How do antioxidants work?

Antioxidants help reduce the effects of aging by fighting off free radicals. Everyone needs oxygen to survive, but over time oxygen breaks the body down.

Cut an apple and let it sit on the counter for a few hours and watch what happens… it will turn brown. That’s oxidation at work, it’s a natural form of aging, but it can be fueled by free radicals, and slowed down by antioxidants.

What are free radicals?

Free radicals are things like poor nutrition, stress, pollution, exposure to the sun and exposure to toxic chemicals. All these things are free radicals and they all speed up oxidation, thus they all speed up the aging process.

Antioxidants are great anti aging supplements because they fight these free radicals and slow down aging.

The acai berry is one of the best sources of antioxidants!

Green Tea Benefits

Green tea has been used as a healthy supplement for thousands of years.

An interesting example of the benefits of green tea at work involves the lifestyle of the Japanese.

A significant portion of Japanese people smoke. The figure is around 30%, but has been as high as 50 to 60% for men.

What’s interesting is that the death rate of lung cancer in Japan is significantly low considering the amount of people who smoke. This is probably not just a coincidence, and is likely linked to the consumption of green tea.

What ingredients does Green Tea have?

Specifically, green tea contains Catechin Polyphenols. A major one of these found in green tea is Epigallocatechin Gallate, or EGCG. This is an extremely healthy substance that has been found to kill off cancerous cells.

Experts don’t claim green tea can cure cancer, but it can certainly help prevent unwanted health conditions.

Replacing some of your coffee with green tea is a healthy lifestyle choice!

Benefits of Resveratrol

Resveratrol is a relatively new discovery that has received a lot of media attention.

It has anti aging properties that have been linked to many successful studies conducted on animals. Resveratrol has been able to decrease the effects of a high calorie diet in mice. Many experts believe these same benefits can be attained by humans.

One type of diet that has shown the best results in prolonging your life is a calorie restrictive diet. Studies on both animals and humans show that restricting your calories will help you live longer.

Yes it’s true we need calories to survive and function, but excess calories break our bodies down. Overeating is something that our society is experiencing and it is producing many types of diseases. Unfortunately I don’t see us adopting a calorie restrictive diet anytime soon…

But Resveratrol supplements act as anti aging supplements because they are believed to help reduce the effects of excess calories. Resveratrol has shown to produce similar effects as a low calorie diet. It is believed to trick the body into releasing anti aging properties that deter the negative effects of overeating.

Similar to the interesting findings among the Japanese, Resveratrol might play a similar role with the French. French people have a lot of fat in their diets, smoke lots of cigarettes and drink plenty of wine.

What’s interesting is that the number of people suffering from heart disease is quite low considering their lifestyles. Some scientists believe that the Resveratrol found in red wine might play a role in deterring the negative effects of their diets.

Resveratrol supplements will supply you with a dosage in which health benefits are attainable!

Natural Human Growth Hormone Supplements

Human Growth Hormone helps us to augment our immune system, our energy level and restore muscle strength and mass. As we age, our levels of hormones begin to drop and sometimes significantly, when a physician should be consulted immediately. Maturing adults sometimes are treated by injection of HGH to supplement their depleted Hormone levels which can rejuvenate the body and restore a youthful vitality.

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Gene Therapy In Anti-Aging Treatment

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Genetic engineering techniques could potentially provide a new approach to slow aging processes which may lead to pathology, as well as treat age-related disorders per se. Research to develop or facilitate the development of genetic engineering strategies to prevent or delay the losses of physiological function associated with aging is an expanding area. In particular, the NIA (national institute on aging) encourages experimental research which could contribute to therapies or preventive interventions based on altering the underlying aging processes that contribute to or cause age-related disorders. Identification of genetic factors controlling pathophysiologic aging processes may then contribute to development of more fundamental and definitive therapy and prevention of age- related diseases.

Gene-based intervention techniques could allow experimental manipulations previously impossible in therapeutic aging studies. These include an increased range of gene products (e.g., intracellular proteins) whose levels can be directly and specifically manipulated, direct control over the level of a gene’s expression at any point in the life span or at any phase of diurnal or other cycles, tissue-specific control of gene expression, and an expanded range and improved control of secretory products which could be directly manipulated.

Gene-based intervention techniques could also be used to: 1) develop better animal models of human aging changes; 2) introduce markers to track cells transplanted to modify aging changes, and 3) screen potential non-genetic interventions against aging processes in genetically-engineered cells in vitro.

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The Truth About Lies and Longevity

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The Truth About Lies and Longevity

Is it okay to tell an occasional white lie? And how do children learn to fib? We’ve gone to an expert to find out just how lying impacts our health.

By Chris Iliades, MD; Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

Sir Walter Scott wrote about the tangled webs we weave when we begin to deceive. Just look at the endless parade of politicians and famous sports figures who have gotten tangled up in their lies. But research shows that lies affect more than our reputation — they can even affect our health and longevity.

“Research has linked telling lies to an increased risk of cancer, increased risk of obesity, anxiety, depression, addiction, gambling, poor work satisfaction, and poor relationships,” says Deirdre Lee Fitzgerald, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.

So do liars create physical and emotional problems for themselves — or do these problems make people more likely to lie? “In most cases it’s a combination, and in many cases these problems feed into each other,” says Fitzgerald.

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Excerpt from Look 10 Years Younger, Live 10 Years Longer: Seven Secrets of Robust Mature Men

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Excerpt from Look 10 Years Younger, Live 10 Years Longer:

Seven Secrets of Robust Mature Men

1. Take Care of the Body
Twenty years ago, young adulthood was considered to be between the ages of 18 and 22. A recent Gallup poll delivered the newly emerged range of young adulthood as between 18 and 40! We’re definitely living longer and staying youthful for more extended periods. This quiet revolution of longevity means that as we live longer, we take on the responsibility of caring for a body that is pioneering a new path. Such courage deserves special consideration.

2. Continue to Expect Ongoing Energy and Endurance
We must learn to break tradition and destructive mythologies about aging. In terms of physical strength, we can continue to expect ongoing energy and endurance instead of settling into the proverbial rocking chair. At age 70 in 1984, Jack LaLanne impressed his friends and reporters by having them board 70 boats and then towing the boats through choppy water, swimming a distance of 11/2 miles, while handcuffed and shackled. Although exceptional, Jack’s feat helped demonstrate the importance of keeping fit and active as we age.

3. Enjoy Your Sex Life
A discouraging mythology about sex among the aging would have these poor folks giving up sex for the most part in the later years. However, the Starr-Weiner Report, questioning over 800 people between the ages of 60 and 91, has revealed that 97 percent of this group enjoyed their sex lives and 75 percent considered their sex lives at least as or more enjoyable than when they were younger.

4. Keep Your Lifestyle Young
It appears that remaining fit as a fiddle into those special extra ten years has more to do with lifestyle than with any intrinsic physical limitations. Consider, for example, the careers of basketball great Kareem Abdul Jabbar, golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, boxing champion George Foreman, Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz, and star pitcher Nolan Ryan. All five continued to perform superbly in their respective careers beyond age 40.

5. Slow Down as Little as Possible
Making these extra ten years as healthy and fit as possible begins by extending the fitness of our young adulthood as much as possible, and slowing down as little as possible over the passing years. Let’s look at the example set by Nolan Ryan. In his mid-forties, Ryan struck out his 5500th batter and won his 314th game.

6. Maintain a Healthy Routine
Beginning in his twenties, Ryan maintained a successful, ongoing routine of healthy eating and exercise. After each game, Ryan worked out on his exercise bike. On days between games, he swam, sprinted, and did a goodly number of sit-ups. He makes it all sound so simple: “All you have to do is become more active and watch what you eat.”

7. Never Allow Yourself to Become Inactive
The elegant simplicity of it is in the ongoing nature of such a lifestyle over the passing decades, even into the 60s, 70s, and 80s. One research project studied 184 healthy but inactive people over the age of 60. Part of this group began an exercise program while the remaining members of the group remained inactive. Of these inactive individuals, after the passage of two years, 13 percent exhibited new heart problems. Of the exercisers, only 2 percent showed such problems.

Daily Exercise Routines-Throughout Life. How better to have a sense of control over one’s life than to be as physically fit as possible! Daily exercise routines that are enjoyable can be carried out throughout all of life, and are just as important to “successful aging” as they are to the earlier stages. At 65, 75, or even 85, we may have less vim and vigor, but still maintain a sufficient store of energy to continue to enjoy whatever physical exercise we choose.

Whenever I run my 5K or 10K Saturday morning races, I always keep an eye out for senior runners. If possible, I create an opportunity to chat with these inspiring individuals. In their 60s, 70s and 80s, these wonderful individuals continue to run competitively and, in the process, gain the benefits of “successful aging.” Their sense of control over their own lives is much greater because of their enhanced physical strength and endurance. And this, in turn, can play a role in adding years to life, as well as adding life to years.

By David Ryback

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Therapeutic Cloning Paving Its way To Immortality

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Over recent years, therapeutic cloning has progressed enormously. As early as in 2000, it was proved that this technique acted as a cellular time machine, at least for several mammalian species. Cells were turned into immortal as aging of cells was reversed. Nonetheless, this process has only the capability to act on single cells and to reach higher levels it must be made possible to proliferate them to enhance its effectiveness. If ever this becomes a practicable phenomenon for human cells such as immune cells, blood vessels could be rejuvenated making them more resistible to diseases.


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