In This Article
Subscribe to Health Updates
Worms Hold a Clue to Longer Life
March 25, 2008 10:26 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Researchers have found that adjusting insulin levels in worms extends their life spans. The research could lead to humans living longer.
30-Second Summary
Scientists at Harvard Medical School’s Joslin Diabetes Center said that the worms whose insulin levels were lowered lived 50 percent longer than normal. Their life spans increased from two weeks to three.
The studies have only been done on worms, which are surprisingly similar on a genetic level to humans, but researchers are hopeful that the data could mean something positive for people.
"It doesn't sound like much for a worm, but those percentages would be a lot for us," said study co-author Dr. T. Keith Blackwell.
Blackwell and his colleagues are not the first to investigate worm life spans.
In May 2007, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies reported that they had identified a gene in roundworms that makes them live longer when they eat less.
The positive results in that instance were also linked to insulin production.
Researchers hope the findings mean that it may soon be possible to create a human life-extending drug, one that may mimic the results reported, but not yet scientifically confirmed, to come from a reduced-calorie diet.
Some optimistic researchers believe that human life could be extended far beyond current expectations.
Cambridge University researcher Dr. Aubrey de Grey believes in a process known as Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS). He holds it that there are seven components to aging. If each of the seven factors is handled correctly, the aging process stops.
The studies have only been done on worms, which are surprisingly similar on a genetic level to humans, but researchers are hopeful that the data could mean something positive for people.
"It doesn't sound like much for a worm, but those percentages would be a lot for us," said study co-author Dr. T. Keith Blackwell.
Blackwell and his colleagues are not the first to investigate worm life spans.
In May 2007, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies reported that they had identified a gene in roundworms that makes them live longer when they eat less.
The positive results in that instance were also linked to insulin production.
Researchers hope the findings mean that it may soon be possible to create a human life-extending drug, one that may mimic the results reported, but not yet scientifically confirmed, to come from a reduced-calorie diet.
Some optimistic researchers believe that human life could be extended far beyond current expectations.
Cambridge University researcher Dr. Aubrey de Grey believes in a process known as Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS). He holds it that there are seven components to aging. If each of the seven factors is handled correctly, the aging process stops.
Headline Link: ‘Tweaking Insulin Might Help Fight Aging’
The potential human benefits of the insulin study are unclear, but Blackwell believes the data could help people with a variety of diseases: "There's a lot of therapeutic potential to defend against chronic diseases and potentially expand lifespans."
Source: Forbes
Opinion & Analysis: Is living longer better?
“If scientists could create a pill that let you live twice as long while remaining free of infirmities, would you take it?” MSNBC reflects on the social and psychological implications of life extension in a 2006 story.
Source: MSNBC
“Making the end of life worth living”—rather than merely longer—“will be one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century,” Dr. Guy Brown writes in The Guardian. The scientist summarizes the argument of his recent book “The Living End,” in which he argues that the real challenge for modern science is not extending life, but “to prevent aging becoming a living death.”
Source: The Guardian
Background: Longevity in worms and people
Scientists researching roundworms discovered a gene that extends life in response to a restricted diet, opening the path to the development of human longevity drugs. However, it is still uncertain whether calorie-restriction works on people the way it does on some other animals. A primate study is underway, though incomplete, but the initial findings are positive.
Source: findingDulcinea
A six-month study at Louisiana State University showed that cutting calories lowered insulin levels and could extend life expectancy in humans. The 2004 study, reported on in 2007, showed that when a group of overweight people reduced their calorie intake by 25 percent, their average core body temperature was lowered, which has been tied to longer life expectancy. In addition, there was a reduction in the amount of DNA damage in their bodies.
Source: The BBC
The American Aging Association (AGE) is a not-for-profit organization which aims to increase the functional life span of humans, to inform the public of aging research and how to achieve a long, healthy life, and to increase the knowledge of gerontology among medical professionals.
Source: American Aging Association (AGE)
This online longevity game estimates the probable lifespan for players, utilizing statistics such as their body-mass index and diet. The game was created by a firm of financial risk managers.
Source: The Longevity Game
Related Topics: Chasing immortality
A researcher at Cambridge University believes that it is possible to slow down the aging process to allow humans to add years––possibly hundreds––to their lives. But not all of Dr. Aubrey de Grey’s colleagues agree, and many wonder if living 200 years would be worth it.
Source: findingDulcinea
The Las Vegas Sun reports on Mony Vital, who will teach anyone how to live forever––for a price. His “Quantum Prayer System” focuses millions of prayers on the immortality-seeking individual. “Imagine everyone in China chanting your name. That powerful,” Vital says. His program costs $450 for six months of immortality and $2,875 for “lifetime immortality.”
Source: The Las Vegas Sun
Reference: Restricted-calorie diets only one strategy in quest for longer life
Scientists have yet to decide on whether calorie-restricted diets extend human life spans. These special diets are one of a number of strategies available for those seeking to live a long and healthy life.
Source: The Mayo Clinic
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
