By Dr. Robert Goldman & Dr. Ronald Klatz

Longevity News and Review provides readers with the latest information in breakthroughs pertaining to the extension of the healthy human lifespan.  These news summaries are compiled by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M; www.worldhealth.net), a non-profit medical society composed of 24,000 physician and scientist members from 110 nations, united in a mission to advance biomedical technologies to detect, prevent, and treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process.   Dr. Ronald Klatz, M.D., D.O., A4M President, and Dr. Robert Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., D.O., FAASP, A4M Chairman, physician co-founders of the anti-aging medical movement, distill these headlines and provide their insightful commentary.

Three Key Anti-Aging Lifestyles
The protective endcaps of chromosomes that affect how quickly cells age, telomeres are combinations of DNA and proteins that protect the ends of chromosomes and help them remain stable. Telomere shortening is associated with a weakening of structural integrity, and is thought to be a mechanism of aging. Eli Puterman, from the University of California/San Francisco (UCSF; California, USA), and colleagues examined three healthy behaviors, namely – physical activity, dietary intake and sleep quality – over the course of one year in 239 post-menopausal, non-smoking women. The women provided blood samples at the beginning and end of the year for telomere measurement and reported on stressful events that occurred during those 12 months. In women who engaged in lower levels of healthy behaviors, there was a significantly greater decline in telomere length in their immune cells for every major life stressor that occurred during the year. Yet women who maintained active lifestyles, healthy diets, and good quality sleep appeared protected when exposed to stress – accumulated life stressors did not appear to lead to greater shortening. Observing that: “Women who maintained relatively higher levels of health behaviors (1?[standard deviation] above the mean) appeared to be protected when exposed to stress,” the study authors submit that: “This finding has implications for understanding malleability of telomere length, as well as expectations for possible intervention effects.”

Dr. Klatz observes: “With regard to telomeres, adopting three lifestyle behaviors may help buffer stress-related cellular aging.”

Exercise May Deter Dementia
A person with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has a slight but noticeable and measurable decline in cognitive abilities, including memory and thinking skills. These changes are serious enough to be noticed by the individuals experiencing them or to other people, but they are not severe enough to interfere with daily life or independent function. People with MCI are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Yonas E. Geda, from Mayo Clinic (Minnesota, USA), and colleagues investigated the relationship between timing of exercise (mid-life/50-65 vs. late-life/70 and above) and risk of new cases of dementia, among 280 older adults (median age 81 years) with MCI.  Study participants completed a questionnaire on the frequency and intensity of exercise during their lifetime. After following the participants for about three years, the researchers found that a history of moderate physical exercise in middle age was associated with a significantly decreased risk of MCI progressing to dementia.

Remarks Dr. Goldman: “A growing body of research concerning lifestyle and brain health – including risks of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, suggests that moderate exercise in middle-age may reduce a person’s odds of Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Daily Dose of D Exerts Heart-Protective Effects
JA Ford, from the University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom), and colleagues analyzed data collected in the Randomized Evaluation of Calcium or Vitamin D (RECORD) clinical study, and also completed a meta-analysis of other studies of Vitamin D supplementation.  RECORD enrolled 5./292 subjects, randomized to receive 800 IU/day of Vitamin D3; 1,000 mg/day of calcium; vitamin D and calcium; or placebo.  Following the subjects for 3 years, the data revealed that the risk of heart failure was reduced by 25% for the vitamin D groups, as compared to the groups taking no supplemental vitamin D.   The meta-analysis involved 21 selected studies totaling 13,033 subjects, median age of 60 years.  It found that the risk of heart failure was reduced by 18% for subjects taking a daily Vitamin D supplement, as compared to placebo.  The study authors write that: “Vitamin D supplementation might protect against cardiac failure in older people.”

Comments Dr. Klatz:  “Previous studies have linked low blood levels of Vitamin D with an increased risk for cardiovascular disorders and diseases.  UK team finds that daily supplementation of Vitamin D may reduce the risk of heart failure, among older men and women.”

Anti-aging medicine is the fastest-growing medical specialty throughout the world and is founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases.  It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy lifespan in humans.  As such, anti-aging medicine is based on solid scientific principles of responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties.  The goal of anti-aging medicine is not to merely prolong the total years of an individual’s life, but to ensure that those years are enjoyed in a productive and vital fashion.  Visit the A4M’s World Health Network website, at www.worldhealth.net, to learn more about the A4M and its educational endeavors and to sign-up for your free subscription o Longevity Magazine™ e-Journal.