SUBJ: No individual can live alone; no nation can live alone…
SUBtitle: Meditation eases inflammation
Thanks to Kevin: “Now, let me suggest first that, if we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. . . . We must develop a world perspective. No individual can live alone; no nation can live alone, and as long as we try, the more we are going to have war in this world. . . .” Martin Luther King in his 1967 Christmas Day sermon for the people.
See past newsletters here Welcome new readers. Please tell friends to pay attention.
SHORT NOTES: Get your booster shot; Meditation eases inflammation in the brain and protects against Alzheimer’s disease; The importance of midlife diet in late life cognitive outcomes; Metformin may be hazardous for healthy people; Increasing intakes of total polyphenols, tyrosols, and hydroxybenzoic acids were associated with decreased CRC or rectal cancer risk, may contribute to increased CRC incidence among Blacks; Getting moving is good for the body and brain; Knee exercises –What fun!; Altos is a $3 billion startup with 4 Nobel laureates studying how to extend human healthspan; Aim for BP of 120 over 80 (personal tale); Anti-aging Vaccines Targeting Senescent Cells; Correlation Between Telomere Length and Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress in Human Aging.
LONG NOTES: If you do have the vaccination and booster shots, your likelihood of death is 0.1% compared to a 9.74% chance if you’re not vaccinated
Meditation-This mind-body practice eases stress and boosts mental health. Now, research reveals that it may actually change your brain. One study found that meditating for 2 months increased gray matter in parts of the brain that control emotions and learning. Meditation also strengthens the connection between brain cells. It may also ease inflammation in the brain and protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
The importance of midlife diet in late life cognitive outcomes
Aging Cell 2021 Metformin may be hazardous for healthy people! Metformin was tested in C. Elegens that has as much genetic diversity as humans. In some it extended life, but in others it shortened lifespan. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34837316/
Increasing intakes of total polyphenols, tyrosols, and hydroxybenzoic acids were associated with decreased CRC or rectal cancer risk, and associations were consistent across subgroups. Differences in polyphenol intakes may contribute to increased CRC incidence among Black US individuals.
Exercise-Getting moving is good for the body and brain. Exercise pumps blood to the brain, which delivers oxygen and nutrients. It also stimulates the release of proteins that keep brain cells healthy and help grow new ones. Research shows that exercise may grow the areas of your brain that control thinking and memory.
AARP Knee exercises – I jog just 5 minutes each way to my son’s house and back, I also run up and down many stairs at home and work. And today I got to shovel snow, back straight, knees bending. What fun!
Altos is a $3 billion startup with 4 Nobel laureates studying how to extend human healthspan. See the Science section of the latest Economist for a 3 pg article.
AARP: Aim for BP of 120 over 80. Personal note: after running the triathlon in August, I started teaching, winter came, and I stopped vigorous exercise. My blood pressure rose from 120 over 70, and for several months it has been around 150 over 100. A shock to discover my diet and routine exercise are not working. But others in my family had the same thing occur at my age – likely genetics at work. My condition at 73 is called prehypertension, and does not require medication as I have no other conditions of concern. But it does keep me humble. I shall resume better training in the spring. Still counting on 130 as when using the supplements the literature supports is shown to help.
Anti-aging Vaccines Targeting Senescent Cells – Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells directed against urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), which is expressed on at least a subset of senescent cells (SC) in atherosclerotic plaques and fibrotic livers, removed SC and improved glucose metabolism. A conventional vaccine targeting CD153-expressing senescent T-cells, also improved glucose metabolism in obese mice. Recent work to selectively target senescent cells associated with several pathologies has resulted in the creation of a peptide vaccine that primarily targets endothelial cells expressing high levels of GPNMB, recently identified as a biomarker of senescence. The vaccine reduces atherosclerotic plaque burden and metabolic dysfunction such as glucose intolerance in mouse models of obesity and atherosclerosis. For translation to humans the activity of the vaccine will need to be tightly controlled, as the target, GPNMB has multiple roles in normal physiology including acting to inhibit and possibly resolve inflammation. A promising alternative approach would be to use passive immunization with a monoclonal antibody directed against GPNMB.
Correlation Between Telomere Length and Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress in Human Aging – The telomere length (TL) has increasingly been used as a biomarker of human aging because it has been shown to predict the chances of survival and longevity. Oxidative stress is presumed to be a major cause of telomere shortening but the importance of oxidative stress as a determinant of telomere shortening remains less clear and has recently been questioned. Our findings supported the idea of a possible correlation between the TL and biomarkers of oxidative stress in aging
