Over the years of writing to you about telomeres I’ve faced an uphill battle. I have to admit 10 years ago when I wrote “The Immortality Edge” I was a bit naive. I could not imagine the who world would not be interested in this topic. I couldn’t imagine the word “telomere” wouldn’t be a house hold word like cholesterol. I could not imagine why anyone would not avail themselves of things like telomerase activators and stem cells.
I also could not image how many studies that would prove the importance of telomere length and longevity and health would come out in the 10 years since then.
But the biggest thing I could not imagine then is that there is no magic number that makes people believe. It’s not 1 study, 10 studies, 100 studies or even 1000. People will choose to believe only what suits their belief system. Some will remain deceived, many will remain deluded and armored against any real truth by their belief systems.
It’s hard for some people to believe that one simple place exists that is the cross roads of longevity and health.
But be that as it may and I can draw an analogy to fish oil here I have persisted and have no regrets. Science continues to verify what I said in “speculative” fashion 10 and 20 years ago.
Now there is another concept I want to introduce you to. I’ve written about it before but these days few things are in shorter quantity than memory! The concept is “reserve”. Simply out you have reserves you can use up and until you do you don’t “get old”. Now understand you can use them up deferentially and thus age deferentially. You can do things that are traumatic to your joints or your brain for instance, and age there faster than other areas. You can spend a lot of time in the sun and damage your skin so you look old before your time. You can overdo things and not let your body heal – same result.
But now you can lengthen your telomeres, reduce oxidation in your body, and look and behave years younger. You have bought run way with your life style, your diet and your supplements.
There is a famous picture of me with my dad when he is in his 60’s and I am in my 20’s. I managed to track it down from the local newspaper so you can see. The resemblance then. And you can see a picture of me then and now and decide for yourself. From the resemblance you will see the “genetic component” of my line being carried down through the ages.
From the difference you can see what differences knowledge and choices can make! Now a picture of me today, standing next to my good friend Alex, who just happens to be in his 20s while I’m much closer to my fathers age!
Among the things I do every day is take care of my telomeres with the Immortality Edge Packs.
Then and now! You decide if you believe what I am saying.
Dr Dave
PS- please understand that I tried hard but not hard enough to help my father age well. His belief system did not allow it and I took “no” for an answer. People who know me now are constantly trying to convince me to “accept things” “surrender” and let life carry me where it will. Sorry but I am not the author of “The Surrender Experiment”! Surrender feels like giving up to me! I gave up with my dad, but I promised after he died I would not give up easily on anyone else including YOU!
Sources:
Director, The Center of Human Development and Aging
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: A body of research has shown that having comparatively short leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with increased risk of death in adults.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: Our work shows that the risk of death associated with short Leukocyte Telomere Length escalates as the individual gets older and approaches her/his life span boundary. In other words, the impact of short LTL on the individual’s survival increases with age.
Moreover, we show that this association applies to death from non-cancer causes, which include cardiovascular disease and other factors, presumably dementia, infections, etc.