Telomeres in the news!

This has been big week for telomeres in the news.

The biggest points should not surprise you since I have been writing about them for 10 years!

The first is finally a study that acknowledges that shorter telomeres are associated with a higher cancer risk. One of the news commentaries even uses my trademark phrase “take care of your telomeres.

I was getting so sick of ready high-level scientists pointing out that “cancer” can be associated with longer telomeres and then creating possible reasons why this may be so like the “Mutation Theory of Aging” which says you accumulate DNA mutations because you are getting older and the older you are the more chance for mutations.

While this may be theoretically true, if the telomeres are intact and functioning the way they are supposed to they will abort the cell long before it transforms.

Yes, everyone finally agrees, Take Care of Your Telomeres!

The next involves really bad press for a certain telomere company that will remain unnamed out of respect for the scientists who were/are affiliated with it. This company uses saliva to tell you your age and was ratted out by former employees who pointed to dirty lab conditions, errors, and bad science.

This has not stopped them from a massive internet campaign to sell their test which is by far the cheapest on the market. Sorry but cheap and telomere do not mix!

The reason why both of these news items are related is also really interesting.

I have told you that I don’t like the QPCR methods that most American companies use to measure telomeres. Mainly because the way overestimates the role of average telomere length. Normal telomere dynamics do not form a nice bell shape curve.

They are more like a mountain with a quick high spike on the right side and longer slower slope off the left. Off to the left (longer) is where average lengths wind up.

Median lengths (ala Life Length’s TAT) are on the peak to the left. There is usually about 2 thousand base pair difference and this leads to people believing and being told they are younger than they are biologically.

It also skews things like cancer cell telomere length off to the right making them “longer” hence the cancer is associated with longer telomeres. Now throw in the fact that cancer also splices telomeres from one chromosome to another and add this to the calculation of average and you have a misleading number.

I find it really hard to believe that a simple guy like me knows this and brilliant award-winning scientists do not.

Take care of your telomeres and if you are going to measure them don’t to to cheap it out and bank on inaccurate results!

Your life and your health are too important to leave to chance.

Dr Dave

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Short Telomeres Cause Functional Decline

It’s odd to talk about telomeres out of the context of aging since they are so intimately related to why we get old.

Over the past 9 years I have often written to you about how shortening of the telomeres advances the aging process. Indeed, the Life Length Test which I offered a discount on a few months ago as a bonus to you, tells chronologic AND Biologic age since there is a difference. But the thing that some of you who did the test better understand now is that shorter telomeres can also be related as an Independent variable to your ability to function.

For the sake of simplicity let’s define function as the basics of everyday living that we all need to do to have a shot at getting along in the world. Some examples from the study I am citing included walking, carrying groceries and climbing stairs. While those are basic basics, the spectrum is not a suddenly on suddenly off kinda thing. It starts subtly because we do have reserve capacities.

You don’t generally “get old” suddenly although if you think about it you probably know someone who has aged quickly at a certain age. That is when they ran out of reserve. The trick is to pro actively do something before it happens and is too late. Too late currently, that is. When gene therapy becomes more wide spread and affordable we will be able to aggressively reverse things.

But given all the attacks on anti-aging medicine, telomere theory and stem cells I would not hold my breath waiting for modern medicine to catch up. It won’t happens until Big Pharma owns the technology. And that won’t happen until its all been worked out including any risk factors. Since there will be decades of unknowns and outliers and such our dear friends at places like Bayer and Pfizer won’t risk anything until then.

I hate to say this but its highly likely you and I will be long gone unless we start acting now. This by the way is why I applaud people in their 20’s who are being aggressive about pro activity.

For the rest of us, don’t feel to bad. Most of this stuff was not around even 10 years ago so start now and get what you can before its too late!

Now here is one more thing to consider and it’s a chicken or egg question. Does loss of functionality accelerate aging and does aging accelerate loss of function. The answer of course is “YES!” and both yes’s are tied together by telomeres.

So stay functional through physical exercise, supplementation and life style and buy yourself as much run way as you can so you are ready when the next big thing comes along oh in about 6 months or so!

Here is a ticket for the train that is heading in the right direction!

Doc

1. Reference: Diego Montiel Rojas, Andreas Nilsson, Elodie Ponsot, Robert J. Brummer, Susan Fairweather-Tait, Amy Jennings, Lisette C. P. G. M. de Groot, Agnes Berendsen, Barbara Pietruszka, Dawid Madej, Elodie Caumon, Nathalie Meunier, Corinne Malpuech-Brugère, Giulia Guidarelli, Aurelia Santoro, Claudio Franceschi, Fawzi Kadi. Short Telomere Length Is Related to Limitations in Physical Function in Elderly European Adults. Frontiers in Physiology, 2018;9

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Seven Ways to Stay Younger!

Having just returned from the Great White North and having met some “old” friends and some new ones as well I have a different perspective on “Youngness” now that I want to share with you.

But first a reminder: There is a test for your Biologic Age that is based on solid science and reproducible data. It does not involve methylation, glycosylation or protein degradation although those are all very important in the aging and youthing processes.

It is based on telomeres which I call the BS detector of aging. I don’t care how many methyl groups you ingest, how many anti-oxidants are in your diet, or what your vital capacity is, if your telomeres are getting shorter, you are aging and quite possible faster than you want!

I wrote a book about this a while back and that book has become “more true” because the research has grown.

Of course, so has the negativity around staying younger longer for reasons that escape me.

So back to my trip up North.

I met some people younger than me chronologically that are doing a lot of things that are good and right but the continue to age, degrade and not look very healthy in spite of following what is considered great advice.

Here is the bottom line: If we really knew which diet, which exercise program or which life style kept the most people young it would be suppressed by marketers and people with agendas that transcend the wellness and health of an individual.

Also, always remember the difference between slowing down the aging process and reversing it because the former involves all of the things above and the later so far, is only affected by telomeres.

Here is a list of simple life style things you can do to facilitate the former

1) Stretching: I do various types of flexibility exercises to maintain my ability to do the athletic endeavors I enjoy. I do not have a formal Yoga practice…yet. But You cannot go wrong with that.

2) Sleep: It may not matter exactly how much you sleep at night as naps during the day may improve your overall rest and capacity for regeneration but contrary to some writings of some very popular writers who try to “bio hack” their lives and the lives of others you cannot sleep2-3 hours a night routinely and be healthy. Mother Nature doesn’t role that way!! If you need help with getting a regular sleep pattern of deep restorative sleep try this.

3) Diet: I do not pontificate on diets any more very much because it seems like diets become religion for some. Bottom line: reduce your calories and reduce your insulin production. I chose to use a Ketogenic Diet or at least a carb restricted one most times to do this. When I slip I use SBSF  and believe me it nails my sugar levels and gets rid of carb cravings!

4) Exercise: 3 Things are critical: joint and soft tissue mobility, power, and endurance. All of these will help your mental attitude as well as your physical longevity. I spend 30 minutes most days on soft tissue and joint mobility. I strength train and endurance train 2-3X a week respectively. Keep in mind this is not an aesthetics program- it’s a functional one designed to keep me mobile and healthy. It is absolutely possible to “look great” with this type of program but its not the main goal. You can absolutely do better “look great” programs that will not improve or even may damage your health!

5) Meditation: Or quiet time and probably prayer as well if you prefer. The point is to turn off the conversational monkey mind and just relax, observe and get as close to the nothing box as you can. You’d be surprised how much spending time in that world improve your reality based physical one.

6) Inspiration: Personally, I find traveling to different places, reconnecting with people and meeting new ones generally inspiring and inspiriting no matter if its business, pleasure or both. We all need fairly constant inspiration so ask yourself, “What inspired me today?!”

7) Take Care of Your Telomeres!!!! All of the above are part of the slowing down the aging process and no one can promise you for sure that you can age in reverse, but judging from what I saw and the comments I got, it is very possible if you Take Care of Your Telomeres.

Stay Young and smile as much as you can!

Doc

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Telomeres and Yeast Infection

First a quick update on Stem Stim HF for the lucky few that got the information and ordered.

As anticipated we sold out to our best customers at our best price in about 1 day with the limited quantities we had. Those of you who ordered should be getting it by the end of today. Remember it does not need to be frozen or cold when you get it, just not hot! We iced it because of the heat wave so that it would not accelerate the degradation. When you do get it please put it in the refrigerator asap so you get the full potential of 60 days shelf life. Most are going to use it up well before that but you have some leeway.

We are working to get more and to try to get it into a form where it can be shipped normally without potential degradation in the heat.

Just remember it is the by product of our cell cultures and while we do make billions of cells- that takes weeks sometimes months to finish and lots of man hours.

OK onward to today’s topic which covers a big big and very popular health question- Chronic Yeast Infections.

A recent study points to short telomeres as a risk factor for yeast infections and particularly yeast that are capable of evolving through mutations.

Yeast infections especially chronic yeast in humans has long been the topic of debate but if you think just a little bit about it, the risk increasing due to telomeric length and pathology is pretty straight forward.

Here’s a simple explanation:

Telomeres are very important in immune cells and telomere pathologies and shortening can weaken the immune system. So far most of the work has been done in viruses like HIV and CMV but it stands to reason that fungi like yeast would also be opportunistic in these circumstances.

As we age we will all develop some form of immunosenescense in our system which leads to vulnerability to infections and of course cancer.

Without going further into the science, I hope you can see the importance of taking care of your telomeres.

 

Dr Dave

 

Reference: Global analysis of mutations driving microevolution of a heterozygous diploid fungal pathogen
Iuliana V. Ene, Rhys A. Farrer, Matthew P. Hirakawa, Kennedy Agwamba, Christina A. Cuomo, and Richard J. Bennett

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No Longer a Matter Of Time- But a Matter of Energy

I specify Chronologically versus Biologically so you understand the two are not necessarily married to each other.

I have reviewed enough telomere tests to see a big difference, at least for some people.

I have also spoken not only about telomeres, but about what I consider to be the forgotten link to healthy living- the mitochondria.

Simply put these little sub cellular organelles supply you with the energy that makes you human and makes you YOU!

As we age they often start to fail, with significant consequences, including less and less energy.

The strange paradox of chronological aging is that you WANT to do more, and generally are more disciplined and have more financial resources to actually get more done.

While we can’t alter time, we can alter how much we get done in that time.

I designed the Mitochondrial Energy Bundle for exactly that reason. I have found that apart from the occasional aches and pains and little changes in vision, hearing and the like we are just as apt to want to achieve as much or more than we did 30 years ago. Then there is keeping up with the youngsters.

So here are a few things that I “wish I knew sooner”. Keep in mind a lot of this stuff was not around when I was 25 or 30 but that shouldn’t stop any of us from doing it.

  1. Warming up is probably one of the most helpful thing you can do to keep yourself pain free and functional. As annoying as it can be to add an extra 30 minutes into your workout routines before they actually start, warming up is something I wish I did much more of years back.
  2. Sleep properly and alter your workout load if you don’t. Sleep deprivation really wreaks havoc once you hit 50- much more so than in the decades before. Sweet Sleep Z  can help you big time if you have problems this way.
  3. Whatever your diet is, don’t alter it on the days of a hard workout. IF you workout without eating fine. If you “need” to eat before hand do so, but don’t change things and expect it won’t have an impact.
  4. Allow for the impact of heat. If you run or workout outside in the heat, you might want to divide your workouts into 2 separate sessions, morning and evening.
  5. Leaner is better. Not skinny, but you do not need to carry around a lot of aesthetic muscle if you are over 40.  Keep it functional!
  6. The harder you work out, the more you need to support your mitochondria.

You can be or do or have anything you want, but you have to respect your body and be open to changing things to accommodate its changes,

Keep at it!!!

 

Dr Dave

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Where Have You Heard This Before?! Take Care of Your Telomeres!

Over all the years I have been talking about telomeres, telomerase and life extension, I have had to listen to an endless sewing circle of people, some of them famous tell everyone that telomerase therapy increases the risk of cancer.

I have repeatedly said it does not and explained why but hey I am no Nobel laureate. The concept of shorter telomeres increasing cancer has always made more sense to me especially in the context of aging.

After all 95+% of cancers happen to people over the age of 55.

Genomic instability is the key and missing the check point that removes cells from circulation is telomerase and telomere dependent. Far from increasing the risk of cancer I have always felt that if anything better, longer telomeres and a more active repair system (telomerase) will reduce or at least not increase the risk of cancer.

A healthier immune system goes a long way to fighting of incipient cancers.

But my voice often fell on deaf ears as it has with Omega 3 topics and the like.

Now, my favorite telomere scientist Maria Blasco, she who proved increasing telomere length increases overall life span not just maximizing it like calorie restriction has just release a study showing that telomerase therapy, specifically gene-based telomerase therapy, the kind you would think would be the worst offender for cancer, does not increase the risk EVEN IN cancer prone mice.

Finally the way is clear to start using telomerase-based therapies for diseases that have no cure such as Alzheimer’s the way my friend and co-author Mike Fossel is doing.

And it’s about time.

I have always told and sometimes begged you to “Take Care of Your Telomeres!”

Now there is no excuse*

Dr Dave

*The next BS theory I hope we can disprove is that of antagonistic pleiotropy which postulates that some genes (now epigenes since no one could find any culprit genes) are good for you when you are young and bad for you when you are older. No such genes have ever been found although plenty of alleles and SNPs may accelerate disease, none have been shown to directly accelerate disease. Wisely those scientists who had egg on their faces rushed to say, “OK well it must be epigenes then.” No Shxt!!! Aging is an epigenetic phenomenon.

Reference:Miguel A. Muñoz-Lorente, Paula Martínez, Águeda Tejera, Kurt Whittemore, Ana Carolina Moisés-Silva, Fàtima Bosch, Maria A. Blasco. AAV9-mediated telomerase activation does not accelerate tumorigenesis in the context of oncogenic K-Ras-induced lung cancer. PLOS Genetics, 2018; 14 (8): e1007562 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007562

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It’s Amazing How Many People Don’t Know This!

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if researchers and regulators read my stuff.

If you have read my stuff then you know there is this strange phenomenon.

I say it, it gets ridiculed and several years later it gets proven as correct.

A classic example was our book The Immortality Edge.

I wrote that cellular aging was directly tied to telomeres and this was reflected in organismal aging, Scientists and lay people alike launched negative criticisms and lower star ranks on Amazon because we had “no proof”.

Now you read these words routinely: Telomeres are tied to aging, cellular and beyond. And despite the plethora of people who lately have decided to push methylation as an issue, there is nothing you can do to specifically change methylation and really there is no proof of this.

There are studies showing that lengthening telomeres adds years and health to animals’ lifespans not just years to their lives like calorie restriction. There is a big difference between extending life span and just pushing an organism towards its normal number of years in life. To do the first there are many things you can do. To do the second you have to take care of telomere length, structure, and function.

Very very recently an article was published in Molecular Cell where the lead author named Cesare said this ” “We’ve shown that it’s not just telomere length, but telomere structure and telomere health that we need to understand,”

Also stated was that “analyzing and managing the structure and behavior of the telomeres and their loop-like features could point to better ways of preventing and treating major diseases.”

The only way you never heard that before ( like for the past 8 years!) is if this is the very first time you are reading my writings. Otherwise you already know it and have known it.

So as you ponder all these facts you might want to ponder and remember to take your Immortality Edge Packs!!!
I designed these for the exact things and reasons stated in the most recent article in Molecular Cell.

Take Care Of Your Telomeres!

Dr. Dave

 

Reference: Telomere Loop Dynamics in Chromosome End Protection

Authors:David Van Ly, Ronnie Ren Jie Low6, Sonja Frölich7, Tara K. Bartolec8, Georgia R. Kafer, Hilda A. Pickett, Katharina Gaus, Anthony J. Cesare https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2018.06.025
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Telomeres- Current State of the Art

It’s probably been two years since I asked my friend and quintessential telomere scientist Bill Andrews what he found most heartening and most disappointing about the telomere/telomerase field.

We were recording a telecon together and I am not sure if it ever really got aired as the individuals responsible for that aspect of things proved not to be particularly reliable among other things.

But while Bill and I both enjoyed the fact that the field has progressed and the measurement aspect of telomeres had matured with companies like Life Length (enough of you took advantage of that special I ran on the test to keep me very busy LOL), we both lamented the usurpation of the longevity aspect of telomeres by the cancer field.

The usual scenario goes something like this: many human cancers express telomerase so we are going to focus on this enzyme to create drugs to stop cancer. It won’t work because cancer is not a single gene problem in most cases.

There are tons of known oncogenes you no longer hear about. HIF-1 alpha. C Myc, KRAS, ATM. P53 to name a few.

In all of the above cases there are cancers that express these genes and many others. The cocktail approach involves sampling a tumor, finding the aberrant, over expressed or mutated genes and then trying to block them. Telomerase over expression or mutation is in that ilk. But tumors have a way of changing the genes needed to keep them going and telomerase is only one in series of events that needs to happen.

Simply put we still don’t know what causes cancer. My suggestions to further explore mitochondrial and metabolic drivers are not being followed, at least at any significant level.

What might happen with telomerase inhibitors which so far have not delivered on their promise, is you might buy a little time or runway until the tumor figures out its next step and comes back worse than ever.

Most of the gene products and gene interventions I mentioned above failed to produce viable drugs either.

But top-level scientists continue to insist that prevention is waste of time.
I beg to differ!!!

While I could never publicly suggest that keeping your telomeres long and healthy  and combatting inflammation in your body might help you.

I can tell you to go to pub med and look at what happens to telomeres in cancer and aging. I can ask you to look at what happens to cancerous tumors when you add Omega 6 inflammatory fats and conversely at Omega 3 fish oil type fats.

Then you can decide for yourself.

I have not lost my passion for telomeres and telomerase. I simply have to watch the powers that be make all the mistakes, follow the wrong path, and gouge us for money in the process.

You however don’t have to wait!!!

Dr Dave

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Just a Simple Thank You

I am a firm believer in appreciation.

So, I wanted to thank you for making the introduction of my new telomere product a huge success.

Apparently, it really was true people were waiting for the replacement to the Telomere Edge Packs of old.

You may have noticed the new product, The Immortality Edge Packs bears the same name as the book I wrote way back in 2010.

Learning is a continuous process and I am not clairvoyant but every day I see more and more and more evidence that the telomere is the most important gateway to longer life and health although not the only one.

As I have said before, much to the chagrin of my critics, the information in that book is if anything, “more true” even than it was 8 years ago.

I also see the expected, I suppose blow back against anything that might achieve those goals. The most recent government interest in all things anti-aging including the restrictive approach to stem cell therapeutics in the United States, and the wide spread legal action against clinics and researchers (this started long before the current administration!) is the fall out for the progress we’ve made.

Oh well, I guess if it weren’t worth trying to regulate and legislate, it wouldn’t be worth anything at all.

Still, I appreciate your personal desire to make a difference in your own life as I do in mine.

We are kindred spirits.

Also, thanks to all of you who wrote in mentioning the book, The Immortality Edge as well as the telomere based products.

Like you, I am my own engine. But its sure nice to be appreciated.

Thanks for sticking with me!!!

 

Best,

Dr Dave.

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Tammi’s Revenge!!!

Boy did I just get an ear full!

Tami is a long time customer- like in since 2003!

Apparently, she was out of the country until this Monday and completely missed the Immortality Edge Pack intro.

And she was not the only one, she was just the most vociferous.

And she was equally pissed at missing the Life Length Telomere Test Deal (see below).

“ I have been waiting for the price to come down to do this and now you yank it back!” she said only half joking.

Now you can’t put a price on loyalty, and you can’t beat a super accurate, repeatable telomere assay that tells you your true Biologic Age!

But honestly THIS IS IT!  I can’t put off the inevitable so this is the LAST DAY to get both the new Packs and the Life Length Telomere Test (also known as TAT).

Then we got to go to retail pricing on both!

Now, in case you forgot, I arranged for a special deal for you on Telomere Testing with my friends in Madrid at Life Length.

Lot’s of people have asked me about measuring their telomeres before they start therapies. I have always thought that is a fantastic idea. And now that I have a new “telomere centric” product I encourage you to take the Life Length test because its at the best possible price I could arrange for you and you really SHOULD KNOW where you stand.

Normally this test would cost you a minimum of $600 depending on where you get it done. In Southern California its often closer to $1000! These fees include the test and the doctors interpretation.

But since I have probably done more interpretations than any other single physician out there I thought, “Why not donate my time, encourage YOU to get the test and have a great chance to talk one on one with you when the results are ready!!!”  So if you buy the product you get a special code to save big on the test.  The price has been reduced to $320* which is almost 50% less than what you would pay ANYWHERE in the U.S.

AND you get an hour of my time free to go over the test one on one with me.  A little secret: I don’t set a timer so sometimes we go longer and talk about all kinds of things after we are done with the telomeres!

It’s actually one of the most fun things a I do and everyone that does it with me universally says it was far more than they could have expected. And remember this is the one and only test that can predict your true cellular biologic age (functionally how old your cells are).

So, get the product and take the test!!!!**

Here is what you do:

Once you’ve ordered your Longevity Edge Packs at the special pricing you email mailto: [email protected]    Put USDRDV in the subject line, that is your special savings code.

A very nice smart young man named Michael will get back to you via email and other if needed and make sure you get this special savings for my customers only!

And take advantage of everything I have learned in the past 8 years and give your body the upgrade it deserves!!!

Limited Time Only!!!

The one and only Dr. Dave who by the way is really really really looking forward to discussing your telomere results with you.

PS You may want to check out the FAQ’s page and ingredients which will tell you the main differences between this and the old product but one big thing is the packet is much simpler to take- its 3 caps and can be taken as little as once a day!

PSS as you can probably tell this announcement is for my best loyal long-time customers because only YOU know the importance of telomeres to health and longevity.  Newbies will have to read all the stuff I have written for the past 8 years. You already know it!

*This is a blood test. You will need to have your blood drawn.  You can arrange for a phlebotomist yourself or through your local doctor’s office if you like. Or Life Length can make those arrangements for you with a mobile phlebotomy service for an additional $50.  To get your test you will pay them not me- my time to you is free. I can email your results to your physician if you like and provide me with an email address. The kit comes with everything you need to send your blood including the correct tubes and pre paid airbill.  You just need to have someone draw it for you. Allow 3-4 weeks to get the results back.

** Telomeres do not change rapidly so its OK for you to get the pack and start the supplements.  If you get your test done within the first 2 months it would still be considered “baseline” as if you had not taken anything.

PSS if you want to see how simple the test is to do you can see me do it here.

Just remember I am no longer Dr Dave’s Best,  I am www.TheLongevityEdge.com only  Don’t get confused by the old logo!

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