Choosing which health supplements to take can be fairly daunting, as manufacturers make a lot of claims that are often not backed up with firm scientific evidence. Information is Beautiful is a Web site that takes information and conveys it through well-designed graphs and charts. They’ve evaluated the evidence of supplements for use in treating [...]
Posts under ‘Longevity’
Family of deceased woman sues Alcor to stop cryonic preservation, payment of $50K annuity
71 year-old Mary Robbins was suffering from cancer when she decided to sign up with Alcor to have her head and brain preserved after death – a deal which also required her to pay a $50,000 annuity to the life-extension foundation to cover preservation costs. She was (is?) one of 915 others who are members of [...]
Stem cell therapy lengthens telomeres for those with premature aging disease
People with a rare premature aging disease called dyskeratosis congenita (DKC) experience many of the symptoms we associate with the normal aging process – such as gray hair – but also experience serious symptoms such as anemia and a predisposition to cancer. It is thought that the symptoms of DKC are brought on by the [...]
More evidence that exercise preserves telomeres, keeps cells young
Evidence keeps building that exercise can preserve telomere length, thus keeping cells young, and in theory, slowing aging. A German study looked at several groups, both young and old – some didn’t get much exercise, and some got crazy amounts of exercise, running upwards of 45 – 50 miles a week. They found that among [...]
HumanPlus Blog Linkstravaganza: 1/29/10
It’s Friday. Here’s some sweet linkage to check out over the weekend: io9 asks if vat-grown meat is kosher. I would think yes, but they consult a rabbi who gives a more nuanced answer. Boing Boing notes the doctor who created the “MMR vaccine scare” could lose his license. Good riddance to bad researchers. Climate [...]
Exercise may preserve telomeres, prevent aging
Chalk up another potential benefit to endurance training – a German study showed that physical activity in distance runners activated the enzyme telomerase, which helped preserve telomeres. Telomeres are described as “protective caps on the chromosomes that keep a cell’s DNA stable but shorten with age.” Researchers are calling the study “direct evidence” that physical [...]
Aubrey de Gray on the “rhythm of life,” aging and living forever
In my wrap-up of transhuman stories and trends of 2009, I noted that we have been seeing more and more coverage and discussion of radical human longevity and the defeat of aging. The premier voice for this concept has long been Aubrey de Grey, who is a well-known figure within the transhumanist/H+ community and is [...]
Will we be mining the moon in the next ten years?
A feature in the Montreal Gazette examines ten predicted innovations that will take place over the next decade. Most of them are completely plausible. The full list is as follows: Lunar mining Medical miniaturization 3-D printing Smarter smart phones Cloud computing Nanotechnology Flying on algae (algae-based fuels) Living forever Biotechnology Alternative energies We’re already seeing [...]
Top Transhuman Trends and Stories of 2009 – Part Two
Just in time for New Year’s Day, here’s a continuation of the Top Transhuman Tech Trends of 2009: Improved Gene Therapy While gene therapy holds a lot of promise for providing effective treatments to previously untreatable diseases, in has traditionally been very difficult to administer effectively and also carried the very real risk of serious [...]
Makeup of amino acids in diet may affect longevity
Numerous studies have shown that caloric restriction can extend the lifespan of a variety of organisms, from fruit flies to baboons. However, usually this extra lifespan comes at the expense of being able to reproduce. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis recently made an interesting finding, however – adding the amino acid methionine preserved [...]