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HWN Suggests

The Cure to Aging Could Be Hiding in Plain Sight

Since the dawn of man, we’ve been searching for ways to escape our mortality. The long-sought “fountain of youth” may not lie in divine water or a miracle pill, but rather, in something as simple as the foods we eat and the way we live.

In 2016, for the first time in half a century, US life expectancies dropped for the second year in a row. That same year, the anti-aging market grew to $250 billion dollars, with Americans spending more on anti-aging products (like skin-care, supplements, etc) than on any other type of drug. Of course, most of these products are not FDA approved and largely ineffective (one exception is an omega-3 pill that can help prevent heart attacks for a select…

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  Those ‘biological age’ tests probably can’t tell you how fast you’re aging

Don’t waste money on tests that promise to tell you how fast you’re aging, researchers say. A new study suggests that we don’t know enough about the body’s aging process for them to be useful.

 Telomere Testing: Science or Snake Oil?

It seems lately that any biometric can inspire a test pitched to consumers, using jargony buzzwords and promises of health, wellness, and longevity. Measuring the length of telomeres, the short DNA sequences at the tips of chromosomes that whittle down as we age, is one such pseudoscience-based offering.

 Telomeres Are the New Cholesterol. Now What?

I’ve been surprised at how many of my friends seem to know about telomeres and seem concerned when I mention my shortened ones. Telomeres, in that sense, are the new cholesterol. I worried, too, that all this testing could be seen as a supreme act of vanity: A guy in good shape for his age dropping thousands of dollars on tests out of curiosity while much of his cohort nationwide struggles with hypertension and diseases like diabetes.

 Telomeres in the Clinic, Not on TV

While the importance of telomere biology in clinical settings has grown, in parallel there has been a recent direct-to-consumer campaign advertising telomere length measurement and “telomere products” to the public. These products present an oversimplified view of telomere length health: “short telomeres are bad” equitable with aging, while “long telomeres are good” and signify youthfulness. This premise presents several problems that warrant caution for clinicians and the public alike.

Articles of Interest

Does Drinking Soda Really Age Your Cells?

How the science of telomeres turned into a spurious health trend.

From Telomeres to the Origins of Life

The October night before he learned he had won the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine, the biochemical researcher Jack W. Szostak says he slept like a log. We figured out what was going on at normal chromosome ends. Afterward, as people in the field began to see how important it was, telomere research just took off. It became clear that the loss of DNA from telomeres might have something to do with aging. Subsequently, it’s turned out that in almost all cancers, telomerase is turned on so those cells grow indefinitely.

Is Aerobic Exercise the Key to Successful Aging?

Aerobic activities like jogging and interval training can make our cells biologically younger; weight training did not have the same effect.

Mail-Order Tests Check Cells for Signs of Early Aging

Companies say the length of telomeres on people’s chromosomes can signal disease risk and a need to take corrective measures.

Stressed out by politics? It could be making your body age faster, too

But telomeres don’t just shrink as the years pass—they’re also affected by stress levels. Unlike the more sturdy genes inside the chromosomes, the tips of our DNA are sensitive to their surrounding environment. Under extreme and chronic psychological stress, they shorten more quickly than they should for one’s age.

The Secret to a Long Life? Telomeres. (We’ll Explain)

Is it a concoction of pricey creams and pills? Some new superfood? A laser treatment? Not even close. And actually, it’s not even a secret. Turns out the formula to forestall the effects of aging are all the healthy practices you know well: managing stress, getting enough sleep and exercise, and eating healthy food.

What Can Our Telomeres Tell Us?

Buzzy new DNA tests claim to reveal how “old” our bodies really are.

Resources

TeloYears

Thinking about using a DNA test to learn where your family came from? Then you should try TeloYears, a different DNA test. It offers Advanced Ancestry with more quantified ethnic groups, but that's not all. TeloYears also tracks your cellular age. It's based on your telomeres, a unique part of the DNA that - unlike your ancestry - you can actually change. Don't just take any DNA test.