Progress in Anti-Aging and Alzheimers - Good and Bad news

As we age we lose our youthful immortality and look for ways to stay young and healthy. I have many friends who send me articles, recommend vitamins and alcohol, and other magical anti-aging treatments.

But what do we know, and what are some recent stories of interest?

First, it is quite clear that regular exercise, proper diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoidance of excess alcohol and toxins is well established in producing a long and healthy life. But we keep looking for more!

At first everyone thought that substances like Vitamin E had "anti-oxidant" effects. Using the theory (and it is a theory only) that oxidative damage results in aging, these supplements should help. Well they all have failed, and many actually lead to premature death or disease.

Red wine and chocolate? A glass of wine a day, or some dark chocolate seems, in a few studies to be associated with a decreased risk of heart disease. I certainly think its a good idea! Once again people have begun to look too closely. One common compound is resveratrol. In large doses in some animals it seems to have that effect. But in a recent look by researchers looking at elderly residents of Tuscany found no association between levels of resveratrol and longevity. Does this mean wine and chocolate need to go off your diet? Heaven forbid! All it means, once again, is that we have failed to find the reason for the beneficial effects and should stick to the original products and not try to find a vitamin pill to replace it!

Vitamins and Supplements

The US public health task force, and independent organization has reviewed vitamins and supplements again and found:

• Substantial and consistent evidence shows that vitamin E supplementation has no effect on CV disease, cancer, or mortality. Not recommended (Grade: D)
• Supplementation with β-carotene does not lower risk for CV disease or cancer, and it confers excess risk for lung cancer among patients at high risk for the disease (e.g., smokers, people exposed to asbestos). Not recommended (Grade: D)
• Evidence is insufficient to determine if supplementation with multivitamins or single vitamins or minerals (except vitamin E and β-carotene) lowers risk for CV disease or cancer. Evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of such supplementation. No recommendation (Grade: I [no recommendation])

Once again, the editorial remarks that there is no substitute for a well balanced diet!

Now some Promising News:

Anti-aging Molecule in Mice

You may have read about older mice who received a transfusion from younger ones developed signs of anti-aging (new muscle growth, better tone, etc). By looking more closely researchers at Harvard found a molecule, Growth Differentiation 11, worked almost as well. Evidently this is one of the molecules involved in the anti-aging effect.

This line of research shows promise. It is still far from human applications, however, and we do not know if there could be long term adverse effects. But a first step.

Prion Antibodies in Alzheimer's

Many of you may have heard Mad Cow Disease - it is one of several "prion" diseases caused by a protein that gets into the brain and causes abnormal folding of brain proteins. Think of Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Ice-Nine". Researchers have been trying to produce antibodies against these proteins as a treatment. Since there are some similarities in Mad Cow Disease and Alzheimers they tried the antibodies on Alzheimer's patients. They discovered that a single injection could slow the progress of the disease dramatically in many patients. If this proves to be the case in larger studies, and shows no significant adverse effects this could be a major breakthrough.