… Spontaneous mutations, cancer, and aging can be looked upon as a result of continuous “internal radiation” while these same processes produced by external radiation are largely the result of an increment in the amount of total “radiation” to which the organism is exposed. —Dr. Denham Harman, originator of the free radical theory of aging […]
Old people often suffer from a deficiency of serotonin, an important inhibitory neurotransmitter that initiates sleep. Inhibitory neurotransmitters reduce neuron activity, in contrast to the above-mentioned neurotransmitters, which usually increase activity. Sleep disorders are common in old age, including difficulties in falling and staying asleep. Irritability and bedtime flights of ideas may occur. Tryptophan, an […]
Read more The Decline of Your Brain’s Chemical Messengers VI
A very dramatic story about the effects of L-Dopa on twenty patients with severe Parkinson’s disease is contained in Oliver W. Sack’s book Awakenings. Between 1916 and 1927, nearly five million people fell victim to encephalitis lethargica (sleeping sickness). A third of those affected died either in a coma or in a profound state of […]
Pathway for synthesis and metabolism of serotonin. In similar studies in rats, life extension was produced by giving oxytocin alone. Low acetylcholine levels contribute to the forgetfulness and lack of ability to concentrate which often occurs in old age. The cholinergic nervous system also controls the sensory input; too little acetylcholine and you are easily […]
Read more The Decline of Your Brain’s Chemical Messengers IV
BHT has extended the life spans of mice in experiments by Dr. Denham Harman. In some species which have a naturally short life span and tend to die of cancer, the BHT’s life extending effects probably stemmed from its suppression of cancer development. Harman has also demonstrated an increase in average life span with BHT […]
where: R is an organic molecule ROOH is an organic peroxide R:R are two organic molecules which have been cross-linked to- gether Oz is oxygen Cu is copper, Fe is iron *is the unpaired electron H is a hydrogen atom HO* is a superoxide free radical RO,* and R* are organic free radicals Note that […]
As we mentioned earlier, some nutrients effective to a degree in slowing cross-linking include cysteine (a sulfur-containing amino acid, which helps maintain sulfur in proteins in the reduced state); vitamins A, B-1, B-5, B-6, C, E; the mineral selenium; and other antioxidants. Removal of calcium and heavy metals from collagen by chelating agents may be […]
Read more Cross-linked Molecules and Aging in Skin, Arteries, and Other Tissues V
Proteins are complex molecules, made up of amino acids, which perform a wide variety of functions in the human body, from chemical reaction-controlling enzymes, to structural molecules like collagen, to necessary components in human memory. In order to function properly, proteins must assume a correct three-dimensional configuration. In their proper shape, some proteins act as […]
Read more Cross-linked Molecules and Aging in Skin, Arteries, and Other Tissues III
As you grow older, your body becomes stiffer, less elastic, and less agile. This is due to cross-linking at a molecular level. You become stiffer for the same reason that old rubber becomes brittle and stiff—your large structural molecules such as collagen (an important protein in connective tissues) are welded together by cross-links. This process […]
Read more Cross-linked Molecules and Aging in Skin, Arteries, and Other Tissues II
Empiricism may serve to accumulate facts, but it will never build science. The experimenter who does not know what he is looking for will not understand what he finds. —Claude Bernard, 1813-1878 When your skin wrinkles, or arteries or bread hardens, or rubber becomes brittle, or old Jell-O® stiffens, we are seeing examples of the […]
Read more Cross-linked Molecules and Aging in Skin, Arteries, and Other Tissues I