Telomere Timebomb

[ofonorow]

A friend/customer of The Vitamin C Store recommended the book Telomere Timebomb by Ed Park (and this person is paying an extraordinary amount for a plant extract that can lengthen DNA Telomeres.) I have started the book and it is fascinating, as Mr. Spock might say. I also remembered referencing a Japanese study showing that a form of vitamin C intracellularly had a significant impact in slowing the inevitable telomere shortenning in the Japanese experiment.

Thought about putting his as another factoid - but it deserves its own topic.


Furumoto K, Inoue E, Nagao N, Hiyama E, Miwa N. 1998. Age-dependent telomere shortening is slowed down by enrichment of intracellular vitamin C via suppression of oxidative stress. 1998: Life Sci.63(11):935-48.

[url]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?ter ... ive+stress[/url].

Life Sci. 1998;63(11):935-48.
Age-dependent telomere shortening is slowed down by enrichment of intracellular vitamin C via suppression of oxidative stress.
Furumoto K1, Inoue E, Nagao N, Hiyama E, Miwa N.
Author information
Abstract

Telomeres in eukaryotic somatic cells are destined to the age-dependent shortening, which has not been demonstrated to correlate to direct lesion of telomeric DNA by reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI); still less explicable is the inhibitory effect of ROI-scavenging on telomere shortening. Here, we succeeded in artificial slowdown of age-dependent telomere shortening to 52-62% of the untreated control, in human vascular endothelial cells, by addition of the oxidation-resistant type of ascorbic acid (Asc), Asc-2-O-phosphate (Asc2P), which concurrently achieved both extension of cellular life-span and prevention of cell size enlargement indicative of cellular senescence. The results are attributable to a 3.9-fold more marked enrichment of intracellular Asc (Asc(in)) by addition of Asc2P, subsequently dephosphorylated before or during transmembrane influx, than by addition of Asc itself, and also attributed to diminution of intracellular ROI to 53% of the control level by Asc2P; telomerase activity was at a trace level and underwent an age-dependent decline, which was significantly decelerated by Asc2P. Thus, age-dependent telomere-shortening can be decelerated by suppression of intracellular oxidative stress and/or by telomerase retention, both of which are achieved by enriched Asc(in) but not by extracellular Asc overwhelmingly more abundant than Asc(in).

PMID:
9747894
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

--

[ofonorow]

There is evidence that fish oil,4 vitamin D,5 carnosine,6-8 multivitamins,9 and healthy lifestyle choices10 may slow the rate of telomere shortening. This helps explain why people who take care of themselves and use the proper supplements enjoy such profound health benefits.2,11,12

What had not been proven, until now, is what happens if telomere length is substantially restored in already severely degenerated aged organisms.1

http://www.lef.org//Magazine/2011/4/What-We-Are-Doing-To-Reverse-Your-Biological-Age/Page-01?source=search&key=telomere

[ofonorow]

I was surprised that I couldn't find the standard telomere length blood test at Life Extension (LTL - Leukocyte Telomere Length). I also asked their LEF.ORG advisors if the Bruce Ames group measured the telomere length of the lab rats they turned younger using high-dosages of carnitine and Alpha-Lipoic-Acid... We want to know..

[Johnwen]

[ofonorow]

Ed Park's theory is that while ordinary somatic cells are mortal and do not naturally activate telomerase, (and thus they don't have the built-in mechanism to lengthen their own telomers) various stem cells repeatedly divide to create new mortal cells - are themselves immortal. It is increasing the telomere length in these "immortal" stem cells which is the goal of "telomerase activation therapy". (Reading both sides, there is concern that telomerase activation may activate non-stem cells (mortal cells) postponing apoptosis in cells that would otherwise be regenerated by stem cells. In Park's view, apoptosis is normal and a good thing.

Aging stems from aging stem cells (pardon the pun)

This idea/theory picture sure clears up (in my mind) the normal process of healing that appears otherwise miraculous. It is not ordinary cells which begin dividing after injury, rather, the stem cells divide creating mortal daughters in the processing of restoring tissues. An ongoing stem cell tissue-regeneration process performs this seeming magic.

[Johnwen]

[jimmylesante]

Does excess homocysteine also oxidise cholesterol?

[Johnwen]

[ofonorow]

[ofonorow]

Copied this johnwen from How to Take Vitamin C topic

Sorry Xor2 Had to throw this in!

OWEN said: Hoping to be able to afford TA65 soon

On the TA-65 bottles that I have been using, it clearly states as the sole ingredient:

"Astragalus Root Extract (TA65MD) 8mg"

The bottle does NOT state what that 8 mg is, and "Astragalus Root Extract" can mean anything extracted from the astragalus root...

The certified lab test showed what I stated earlier which is 5.44mg Cycloastragenol and .27 mg Astragaloside IV (lastly Astragenol at <.01mg). You can believe a lab test or a product lable with no "details" as to what comprises the 8mg, it is you choice. It seems good enough information for me to test out the Cycloastragenol.

Did a little snooping and came across this forum post on some anti ageing thingy. Turns out that expensive TA-65 stuff is the same as these products which are a bit much cheaper.


Push the DISCOUNT button for the good price!!
http://crackaging.com/cycloastragenol.php

http://crackaging.com/astragaloside-IV.php

WIKI:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TA-65

OH NO! HMMMMM!

http://owndoc.com/anti-aging/ta65-revge ... complaint/

http://www.nature.com/news/lawsuit-chal ... ms-1.11090

First thanks for the links. On a leap of faith I ordered both Cracking Aging products. (I also ordered the "Product B" by Isagenix from Amazon - that is a competitor. YOu can search for the Bill Andrews lectures on youtube.)

Also, thx for those negative articles - something like that posted at Life Extension - I have similar concerns whether the dosages in these products are high enough to really have any effect, etc. Disappointed that so far they haven't been able to show life span longevity increases in animal studies, etc.

On the other hand, there is this from page 172 in Ed Park's book - basically the entire book leads up to this case...And a plea for a clinical study of TA65 for this kind of brain cancer

BRAIN CANCER CURED BY THE ANTI-PLACEBO EFFECT?

Mr. Lee (not his real name) is a 67 year-old man without brain cancer. That bears mentioning because at age 62, he had a high grade oligodendroglioma that was encompassing half his brain.

Having already lived through my father's horrible decline (from brain cancer) on standard treatment, I was eager to help my friend's father by suggesting he try TA-65. I had recently heard about Walt, whose wife's brain cancer disappeared after only one month of taking the telomerase activator, despite having failed all other therapies. For more info on brain cancer, please see Podcast 20 on You Tube.

Because it was so extensive, Mr. Lee's tumor was inoperable and he received whole brain radiation, followed by oral chemotherapy with Temodar(r), a standard treatment that causes DNA damage in all cells. This was done with the hopes that rapidly reproducing cells will be more damaged than friendly ones. Unfortunately, the brain tumor continued to grow while he was on Temodar.

Me Lee then took Avastin(r), an experimental antibody that blocks new blood vessel formation, despite still not being FDA approved for this indication at the time of this writing in mid-2013. The tumor continued to grow on Avastin.

The doctors added Carboplatin, another DNA-mutating chemotherapy agent, and the tumor growth slowed briefly but it soon resumed again. This prompted the resumption of Temodar even though the tumor had previously grown while taking it. Doctors don't like sitting back and doing nothing and they don't trust the body to rid itself of the disease.

My friend and I, against the wishes of all his family members, finally persuaded Mr. Lee to try TA-65 in February of 2011, he took it for a year.

Immediately after starting the TA, he called to complain about a side effect: allergies. He was livid that the March pollen was making him sneeze and causing congestion. It seems that for the previous three years, his lifelong allergies were gone, probably due to the immune suppression from cancer and chemotherapy.

I explained that this was probably a good sign that meant his immune system was recovering. But he remained upset about sneezing and having to buy Claritin(r) and tissues.

For whatever reason, two years after taking TA-65 and six years after being diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer that had grown to cover half his brain despite all the best medicines insurance money could buy, there is no trace of his brain cancer on MRI.

[/quote]

[Johnwen]

[ofonorow]

[Johnwen]

[ofonorow]

Thanks as usual johnwen! First to the skin creme. We'd like to come out with a good one, and your help is invaluable. (Apparently the Product B people - TA65 competitor - have a skin creme.)

And just like you regarding telomere activation/TA-65, I would like to see studies of different skin cremes on people of different ages, etc.

And to Ed Park's credit, he agrees with you and is basically asking for the controlled studies. Studies in humans that you would like to see (and so would I). In lieu of this happening any time soon (e.g., when will the first vitamin C and lysine study for heart disease be published!?) he created hours and hours of youtube seminars with patients taking TA-65. He claims that if one person mentioned some benefit, he took note but ignored. If two mentioned the same thing, he began to get interested, and when 3 people reported the same thing he created an hour long webinar. I haven't had the time or inclination to watch at this point.

And I like you wonder about TA dosage, and I would like to have a beginning telomere measurement before starting... Or something equivalent... But apparently they aint cheap either. (Maybe Life Extension will come through.)

While many of the improvements in Park's anecdotes are similar to what people taking vitamin C, or melatonin experience, there are a few that I wouldn't mind seeing and I think my wife and I should be able to tell if something is happening with the TA-65 "knock offs." (1/3 the price, thank you sir!)

One example is a report of women menstruating again after menopause. From reading John Lee and others, this means that the woman's glands are producing more Estrogens. (That may be a general benefit - increased glandular production of our own hormones. So in my case, I am wondering if I will be able to wean myself off the hydrocortisone - if my adrenal glands become "rejuvenated." Wouldn't prove anything, and I guess I would have to consider the ongoing cost versus hydrocortisone, but it would support Park's ideas of general body rejuvenation.

And the 2011 study in Nature (after the 2009 Nobel Prize) is something! (I wasn't aware they used TA-65, did you read that?) One of my goals would be to find a lab willing to rerun Ames experiments - and measure telomeres. If Carnitine/ALA can do the same job, then the cost can be substantially reduced.


added - Life Extensions response on not offering LTL blood tests.

Dear Owen Fonorow,

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

We apologize for any inconvenience due to us not offering a leukocyte telomere length blood test. The reason why we do not offer this type of test is because it is a DNA test. Tests of this nature are usually recommended by a physician to be done through a lab, not a supplement/information company.

Also, it is important to note that telomere tests can help to provide important information but they are not 100% definitive. The following link is to a study showing the relationship between human lifespan and telomere length:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21102320

SpectraCell Laboratories is an example of a lab that performs telomere testing. Here is the link to their website:

www.spectracell.com

To clarify, Mr. Bruce Ames research did not include carnitine and ALA. Rather, his research included lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine for optimizing mitochondrial function. In fact, Life Extension did an interview with Mr. Ames in August of 2011. Here is a link to the article outlining our interview with him:

http://www.lef.org/magazine/2011/8/inte ... es/page-01

Please keep in mind that we follow all of the research breakthroughs on longevity as they are made. When research advances are made, we are always eager to share them with our customers.

If there is anything else that we can help you with, feel free to e-mail us at advisory@lef.org or call the advisor helpline at (800)226-2370; international customers dial 001-954-202-7660. We will be glad to assist you.

Thank you for choosing Life Extension.

[ofonorow]

Time to report. Product B arrived (touted by Bill Anderson on youtube) and perhaps the first ingredient listed is what turned me off, a whopping 33 mg of vitamin C!

But it did arrive. The agingcracking TA-65 knockoff that Johnwen found above - has not even sent me a "order received" or shipping info! (Ordered on Nov 6th) I purchased via paypal and have an inquiry (open case) now...

So back to Product B which I believe is the most expensive multi-vitamin supplement I have ever purchased!!!

The Product-B pitch on youtube is that they have a laboratory set up to test substances in culture for their effect on telomers or telomerase. They get some color indication & the deeper the color, the bigger the effect. Interestingly they claim that Product-B is constantly in flux, and that when they discover some new agent, they add it to the formula.

I will say the product bottle is very unique, new age and interesting. Tall enough to list the myriad of ingredients.. Something like life extension mix.. Did not see the a. root that TA-65 is derived from, but lots of others. I don't see how this could effect me as I am taking so much larger amounts of most of the ingredients listed in these capsules. However, since the other product doesn't seem likely to arrive soon, I'll have a little idea how much benefit this Product-B has versus the Ed Park list of anecdotal benefits.

Currentl pre-flight opinion is Thumbs Down on Product-B given its label of ingredients.