>>A Blog About the Science and Technology of Living Forever

Long life and good health may be linked to a great cup of boiled Greek coffee, says scientists.

Chuck Lorre’s vanity card #411 from the Big Bang Theory

Americans will die sooner than some cultures in the world. So here are five things you can do to live longer

So it’s almost official. Junk food – aka McDonald’s, Burger King, other nasty fast food chains, plus heat and serve groceries, – could be to blame for the rise in auto-immune diseases according to a new study.

Want to live a very long long time? Do what the Okinawans do. Have a look at this infographic from Best MHA Programs to learn which these islanders from Japan live the longest. Longevity secrets learned from them and other centenarians include: Eat less Laugh Avoid stress Stay positive Engage your mind   Image compliments of Best MHA...

When blood-generating stem cells lose their potency as humans age, disease factors increase. But that can be reversed using a gene linked to to the aging process.

Two papers published in international journals show that a controversial gene can fight aging and related diseases.

Are there limits on human longevity? Sure. Few people will make it past a hundred years of age in the environment of today’s medical technology – but today is today, and the technology of tomorrow will be a different story. If you want to talk about longevity and mortality rates, you have to qualify your position by stating what sort of applied biotechnologies are available. Longevity is a function of the quality and type of medicine that is available across a life span. It so happens that most of the advances in medicine achieved over the course of human history, the vast majority of which have occurred in the past fifty years, have solved problems that killed people early in life. Infectious disease, for example, is controlled to a degree that would have been thought utopian in the squalor of Victorian England. The things that kill older people are a harder set of challenges: great progress has been made in reducing mortality from heart disease in the past few decades, for example, but that is just one late stage consequence of the complex array of biochemical processes that we call aging. The point of this discussion? It is that tremendous progress in medicine, including the defeat or taming of many varied causes of death and disability, has not greatly lengthened the maximum human life span as experienced in practice. Read the rest of this article...

A new study has found that shorter men live about 2 years longer than taller men.

A 2012 study suggests that cognitive aging could be delayed by up to 2.5 years in elderly people who consume greater amounts of the flavonoid-rich berries.

by Cheryl Poirer I was having lunch with a friend the other day and as we were going our separate ways we loosely started organizing a party. We spoke about where it should be held and I said “Yes! We’ll have it as his place because he’s got that great balcony and he has a…” I was thinking “ barbecue” but I couldn’t find the word. I started gesturing with my hands saying, “You know a..a..,” what came out was this: “One of those box things with fire in it. You know, for cooking stuff.” “You mean a barbecue?” We started laughing. Memory loss is common and can begin as early as our 20s. We start to lose our noggin, so to speak. Meaning our bodies are losing brain cells faster than we replace them. New York-Presbyterian outlines signs, symptoms of memory loss and what to do about them. One thing we can do is eat right. Antioxidants found in certain foods have been proven to fight memory loss, as well as some foods have been known to increase memory retention!  Read more about this here. With both of these resources in hand I’m off to the grocery store to buy things to fill my cooling box, play mind challenging amusing matches and call my friend on my small, communication device and ask if we can have a party at that large, container where he sleeps that has a great balcony and...

A new technique to treat early prostate cancer may have far fewer side-effects than existing therapies, say experts. A 41-patient study in the journal Lancet Oncology suggests targeted ultrasound treatment could reduce the risk of impotence and incontinence. Researchers say it could transform future treatment if the findings are repeated in larger studies. The Medical Research Council (MRC), which funded the study, welcomed the results, which it said were promising. Each year 37,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Many face a difficult dilemma: the disease kills about 10,000 men every year, but for some it may not get worse if left untreated. Standard treatment with surgery or radiotherapy involves treating the whole prostate gland, and can harm surrounding tissue, with a serious risk of side-effects, including urinary incontinence and impotence. Targeted treatment Doctors at University College Hospital in London have carried out the first trial using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) aimed at small patches of cancer cells on the prostate. This was a “proof of concept” study involving 41 patients. Read the full article...

Unilever and Leiden University Medical Centre in the U.K. says determined that people with higher blood sugar levels look older.

Eating less doesn’t only help you stay trim, it also lets you live longer. This has been known for a while, but further science — from the land of pasta — is shoring up the evidence. Italian researchers in Rome at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart report that a molecule called CREB1, which is activated by drastically lowering calorie intake, can activate genes linked to longevity and proper brain functioning. Studies show that overeating and obesity are not good for the brain because they cause accelerated brain cell aging. This slow down makes it susceptible to diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.   Even more studies link caloric restriction to longevity and other favorable health markers. However, the processes behind these effects has been unknown. “A plausible conclusion could be that overeating causes brain aging and decline, while eating less may help our brain stay young,” say boomer generation health experts Dian Griesel, Ph.D., and Tom Griesel, authors of the new books TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fat Burning Metabolism, Get Lean Fast and Leave Diet and Exercise Rules in the Dust (April 2011, BSH) and The TurboCharged Mind (January 2012, BSH). “As usual, however, the researchers commented that this discovery will hopefully lead to the creation of a new drug that would activate CREB1 and provide the benefits of caloric restriction without the need for strict dieting.” They say the key to calorie restriction and “enlightened” fasting to trigger the associated benefits is to maximize nutrition yet minimize concentrated carbohydrates and...

A 37-year-old Virginia man, who was severely disfigured in a gun accident 15 years ago, is doing well after a face transplant. It’s the 23rd face transplant since doctors began doing the procedure, seven years ago. The recipient, Richard Lee Norris, was given a new face, nose, teeth and jaw in what his University of Maryland doctors say is the most extensive face transplant yet. A week after the surgery, Norris can feel his face and is already brushing his teeth and shaving. He has also regained his sense of smell, which he lost in the accident. The donor’s family had been consulted specifically about donating the face. Although Norris now has the donor’s facial tissue, he does not resemble the donor but appears as a blend of two people. The 36-hour operation was the most extensive of its kind because it included a transplant of the donor’s upper and lower jaw, his teeth and a portion of his tongue. It also included all his facial tissue from the scalp to the base of the neck. The first full face transplant was performed in France in 2005 on a woman who had been mauled by her dog. Full story here: The Guardian See video here: UMM...

Stanford Researchers Made Big Advancement Against Cancer

Popcorn, already known to be a good source of fiber, has higher levels of healthy antioxidants than some fruits and vegetables, according to new research. “Based on fiber, whole grains, and antioxidant levels, popcorn is the king of snack foods,” says Joe Vinson, PhD, professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton. But he isn’t suggesting that anyone scrap fruits and vegetables in favor of popcorn. It’s not yet clear how much of popcorn’s healthy antioxidants get absorbed by the body. Vinson and Michael Coco, Jr., a chemistry student at the university, analyzed four commercial brands of popcorn, including two air-popped and two microwave varieties. They evaluated antioxidants known as polyphenols. These compounds are found in a wide variety of plants. Antioxidants undo the damage that can be done by unstable molecules known as ”free radicals.” “Everyone knows plant foods have antioxidants,” Vinson tells WebMD. “But nobody has even looked at what is in popcorn with respect to these compounds.” Vinson and Coco ground up the hull and the ”fluffy stuff,” Vinson says, and checked the polyphenol levels. Most of the polyphenols — about 90% — were in the hull, Vinson says. Read the rest of this article at...

by Cheryl Poirier Dr. Thomas Perls has developed a Life Expectancy Calculator and based on your current lifestyle,  it will give you an idea of how long you are going to live. We all know that things like stress, physical activity and genetics play a role. I was surprised, however, to be asked questions about friendships, flossing and sunscreen. Answering the questions from the calculator made me think more carefully about what I eat, my exercise routine (could use a little tweaking) and the things that I stress about. Are there really people who stress daily about how they COULD die? One of the great things about this particular tool is that, at the end, it gives you tips to live longer. Little things you can change here and there that will increase your life expectancy. In order to live longer I need to strengthen my brain, move to a place where the air quality is better, wear sunscreen and eat less sweets. Okay, I’m convinced, I’ll move to...

by Cheryl Poirier Of course, it’s a little more complicated than that but Thomas Kirkwood, director of the Institute for Aging and Health, Newcastle University, penned an interesting article in Scientific American, October 2010 — “Why Women Live Longer.” Women out live men by 5-6 yrs and people have all kinds of theories as to why. Stress, was once postulated as the reason men die first but with gender equality one would have expected the mortality gap to decrease or vanish all together. It hasn’t. Some say women adopt healthier lifestyle habits. Sadly, the number of women who smoke has increased and if anyone has ever seen a group of women out for a “Girl’s Night”, you know they certainly haven’t stopped drinking. So, why do women, despite living hard and fast, still continue to live longer than men? Well, Mr. Kirkwood wrote a great article about it but the bottom line…Women propagate the species and their bodies repair themselves better because of it. See really, men are disposable and women rule. But read the article to get the...

Regular aspirin use significantly reduced risk of cancer, metastasis and cancer mortality, findings from the largest-ever analyses exploring the drug’s effects on cancer indicate. Overall, aspirin users had a 38% reduced risk of colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers compared with nonusers. Mortality risk was 15% lower and metastasis was 35% to 40% lower among regular aspirin users. Aspirin use also reduced risk for major vascular events, but these benefits were initially offset by an increased risk for major bleeding events. Both of these affects diminished over time, however, leaving only a reduced risk for cancer after three years, Peter M. Rothwell, FMedSci, of the University of Oxford in England, and colleagues reported in three studies published online in Lancet and Lancet Oncology. “In view of the very low rates of vascular events in recent and ongoing trials of aspirin in primary prevention, prevention of cancer could become the main justification for aspirin use in this setting, although more research is required to identify which individuals are likely to benefit most,” they wrote. Read the complete article and see a video at The Clinical...

40 percent of 110,000 flight attendants in the U.S. are 50 or older while less than 18 percent are 34 or younger.

Roy Haynes turns 87 today he’s still performing with his “Fountain of Youth” quartet. In his seven decades of performing, Roy Haynes has established himself as the quintessential jazz drummer. He has played with virtually all of the most notable jazz musicians, and has been at involved in some of the biggest transitions in the history of jazz. His light, expressive style has fit a multitude of musical circumstances, from the swing of Lester Young, the bebop of Charlie Parket, the raucousness of John Coltrane,  to the modern jazz innovations of Chick Corea and Pat Metheny. Happy birthday Roy!  ...

One dose of the hallucinogenic drug LSD could help alcoholics give up drinking, according to an analysis of studies performed in the 1960s. A study, presented in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, looked at data from six trials and more than 500 patients. It said there was a “significant beneficial effect” on alcohol abuse, which lasted several months after the drug was taken. An expert said this was “as good as anything we’ve got”. LSD is a class A drug in the UK and is one of the most powerful hallucinogens ever identified. It appears to work by blocking a chemical in the brain, serotonin, which controls functions including perception, behaviour, hunger and mood. Benefit Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology analysed earlier studies on the drug between 1966 and 1970. Patients were all taking part in alcohol treatment programmes, but some were given a single dose of LSD of between 210 and 800 micrograms. For the group of patients taking LSD, 59% showed reduced levels of alcohol misuse compared with 38% in the other group. This effect was maintained six months after taking the hallucinogen, but it disappeared after a year. Those taking LSD also reported higher levels of abstinence. The report’s authors, Teri Krebs and Pal-Orjan Johansen, said: “A single dose of LSD has a significant beneficial effect on alcohol misuse.” They suggested that more regular doses might lead to a sustained benefit. “Given the evidence for a beneficial effect of LSD on alcoholism, it is puzzling why this treatment approach has been largely overlooked,” they added. Prof David Nutt, who was sacked as the UK government’s drugs adviser, has previously called for the laws around illegal drugs to be relaxed to enable more research. He said: “Curing alcohol dependency requires...

Mac Cosmetics is collaborating with 90-year-old style icon Iris Apfel making her the oldest woman ever to personally represent a line of beauty products. From Iris Apfel’s Facebook page: “For me the key to personal style lies in accessories. My friends tell me that my oversized glasses and my pairs of bracelets have become my unwritten signature. I have amassed an enormous ‘collection’ of bags, belts, bangles and beads without which I would be lost. One can change the entire look of an outfit by substituting one accessory for another. I love objects from different worlds, different eras, combined my way. Never uptight, achieving – hopefully – a kind of throwaway chic.” An excellent profile of her was published last August in The New York Times.  Meanwhile here a few more...

by David Bunnell This past week my colleague Shirley Gines (pictured above) and I visited the Mountain View office of Vasper Fitness and Performance Systems to test their high-tech exercise machine.  Reportedly, it provides the equivalent of a two-hour workout in only 20 minutes. And you don’t sweat! Even more compelling, exercising on a Vasper has been shown to increase the body’s production of human growth hormone (HGH). This has many benefits including increased muscle mass and bone density, decreased body fat, improved sleep, increased focus and clarity of mind, faster recovery from exercise or physical injuries, and increased exercise capacity. Whether higher levels of HGH actually make you younger or not is debatable but who cares if it gives you more energy and makes you feel younger. If you can increase your HGH levels naturally without the fuss of expensive, daily injections that may come with some alarming side-effects (see Mayo Clinic article) then Vasper is a potential winner for anyone who wants to live a longer, healthier life. Just getting to the Vasper office is quite an adventure as it is located at Moffitt Field NASA Ames Research Center under the shadow of one of the world’s largest free standing buildings–Hangar One, a massive blimp hangar built during the Depression. From highway 101 you have to drive through a military checkpoint, where you simply tell the nice marine that you are visiting Vasper and show him your California driver’s license. You then follow a windy road towards Hangar One past some vacant military buildings and an immaculately mowed parade ground to a group of trailer-like structures. One of these is building 566, the Vasper office/combination gymnasium. (The reason Vasper is at this peculiar location is because they have a research contract with NASA to see if their exercise technology...

Vasper, a high-tech exercise machine, reportedly provides the equivalent of a two-hour workout in only 20 minutes. And you don’t sweat!

According to a new survey, more than 15% of American surgeons suffer from alcohol abuse or dependency problems. Also it is reported that surgeons who showed signs of alcoholism were 45% more likely to admit that they had serious medical mistakes in the past three months. A team of researchers led by Dr Michael R Oreskovich from University of Washington, Seattle collected surveys of 7,200 surgeons from more than 25,000 members of the American College of Surgeons. The survey questions asked surgeons about their work, their lifestyle and their mood, and several were screened for alcohol abuse or dependency. The latest survey which published in the Archives of Surgery reported that overall, 15% of American surgerons showed signs of alcohol problems, while other studies have documented that among the general population, the number is about 9%. This research study led by Dr Oreskovich, did not determine why alcohol problems might be more common among surgeons. The study, published in the Archives of Surgery, found that 15% had a score on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test that was regular with alcohol abuse or dependence. The senior author of the study Oreskovich said that the nature of the beast is that the percent of emergencies, the percent of after hour jobs and actual scheduled work itself all needs energy and attentiveness that is actually different than a lot of the other specialties. The research showed that the alcohol abuse or dependence was 14% for male surgeons and 25% for female surgeons, also reported was that these are more likely in surgeons who were younger, who were dissatisfied with a spouse or partner relationship, and did not have children. Researchers found that the surgeons who were burned out and disheartened were more probable to have the...

Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States, but some colon cancers can be prevented with regular testing. March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, so there couldn’t be a better time to learn the facts about colon cancer and get tested. It could save your life. Did you know that the rate of colorectal cancer (commonly known as colon cancer) has been decreasing for most of the past two decades? One reason is because more people are getting screened for this disease, which is preventable, treatable and beatable. Colon cancer, which almost always starts with a polyp — a small growth on the lining of the colon or rectum — does not usually cause symptoms until it is in a more advanced stage. Colon cancer screening can find and remove these growths before they turn into cancer. But, many people are not getting the tests that could save their lives — perhaps because the procedure seems embarrassing. But colon cancer screening tests aren’t that bad. Two different types of screening tests are available — those that find cancer and polyps and those that mainly find cancer and are less likely to find polyps. Finding and removing polyps before they become cancerous stops colon cancer before it starts. Talk to your doctor about which test is right for you. Colonoscopy is often recommended because it looks at the entire colon, and because if a polyp is found, it can be removed during the procedure. Colonoscopy can be somewhat uncomfortable, but it is not painful. If you are 50 or older, the American Cancer Society recommends that you talk to your doctor about getting tested, even if you have no symptoms of the disease. And...

People who had facial plastic surgery were estimated to be nearly nine years younger than their actual age after the procedures, according to a study published by the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery. The study, headed by Dr. Nitin Chauhan of the University of Toronto, included 60 patients (54 of them women), who ranged in age from 45 to 72, and divided them into three groups. The first group had face and neck lifts, the second had face and neck lifts along with eyelid work, while the third group had face and neck lifts, eyelid work and forehead lifts. Volunteers from a class of medical students estimated patients’ ages from photographs. The team says the students estimated patient ages to be about 1.7 years younger than their actual age before surgery but 8.9 years younger than their chronological age after surgery. The change in perceived age varied based on the specific procedures performed, the authors say. For the first group of patients, the average change in perceived age was 5.7 years, for the second group it was 7.5 years, and for the third group it was 8.4 years. “That being said, patients and facial plastic surgeons are aware that our abilities are not limitless in the effort to combat age-related changes, despite increased sophistication and diversity in our rejuvenation techniques,” the study...