Some Immediate Benefits of Life Extension Measures I

There does not seem to be anything in the nature of the reproduction of tissue which demands its death. … One cause of senility after another will be found and removed, each resulting in only a minor extension of active life. One cannot help wondering what will happen if the causes are all known and […]

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Some Immediate Benefits of Life Extension Measures II

Let’s think about the effects of aging on OUR APPEARANCE. Under natural conditions, the skin shows age in a variety of unattractive ways, including wrinkling and loss of resiliency, both due to the damage mechanism called crosslinking. Cross-linking is the process in which proteins are linked together by bonds which prevent them from functioning properly. […]

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Our Subversive Free Radicals II

Mutations to your DNA caused by free radicals are a major cause of cancer. Free radicals can make blood clot abnormally in our arteries by destroying our body’s ability to make PGI, (prostacyclin), a natural anti-clot hormone found in healthy arteries. Free radicals are also implicated in arthritis. Most of the brain damage caused by […]

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Our Subversive Free Radicals III

Free radicals are intermediates in many normal and necessary metabolic reactions. Thus, all oxygen-using organisms have had to evolve defensive mechanisms against free radicals: The enzymes catalase and peroxidase break down hydrogen peroxide and other peroxides, superoxide dismutase (called SOD) controls the superoxide free radical, and glutathione peroxidase also controls peroxides. Antioxidants such as vitamins […]

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Aging and the Immune System III

Selenium, a mineral, is an important trace element in immune system function. It has been found in experimental animals to act as an anti-carcinogen and anti-mutagen (can prevent DNA mutations—undesired alterations of your DNA master blueprint in the presence of some mutagenic agents). Selenium is an essential part of your enzyme called glutathione peroxidase, which […]

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Aging and the Immune System II

One of the most important factors leading to immune system decline is the greatly reduced rate of release of growth hormone by the brain as we age. This hormone, produced by the pituitary gland, begins to fall off in quantity after your teens. Since the thymus gland requires growth hormone to function properly, this decrease […]

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Aging and the Immune System I

… just as the pigment of the hair is destroyed by phagocytes, so also the atrophy of other organs of the body, in old age, is very frequently due to the action of devouring cells which I have called macrophages. —Elie Metchnikoff, The Prolongation of Life (1908) Instead of preventing diseases only by protecting the […]

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Prolonging Life in the Laboratory; or, Why Animal Experiments Are Relevant to Humans

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. —Albert Einstein Most biological experiments […]

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Benefits Versus Costs of Aging Intervention I

Some people try to achieve immortality through their offspring or their works. I prefer to achieve immortality by not dying. —Woody Allen In order to decide intelligently between different possible life extension methods, you require knowledge of the benefits and the costs of a range of life extension choices. Benefit-versus-cost information is ultimately judged in […]

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