Monday, March 24, 2014

Aging And Immortality

Microbes in the human body may play an important role and have certain influence on aging and may determine longevity as they interact with the immune system. Researchers are only in the early stages of trying to understand this. They have collected a series of techniques through which aging takes place, for example Telomere shortening, DNA damage, free radicals, etc. Unfortunately, only very few researchers are investigating the human microbes as an underlying cause of aging, even though it may be quite obvious that they play part in aging. Having implemented a very aggressive natural anti-microbial treatment myself I have learnt a lot. For example, if you use natural anti-viral treatments such as tea tree or colloidal silver gel on the skin area around your eyes all the time you are likely to cause wrinkles to form (initially), if you continue this treatment (like in my case) the skin will start peeling off and wrinkles will start disappearing. However, I advise not to start an aggressive treatment, as this area is not fully investigated or researched.
I just wanted to show you that there is nothing more practical than a good theory. There might be better solutions to fight aging such as Photodynamic Therapy which could reduce the treatment time and side effects. If our bodies could be cleared of these viruses, this should greatly reduce the rate of aging, as well as the incidence of the various diseases these microbes are associated with. Biologist Paul W Ewald thinks that germs, not genes, are the cause of most common chronic diseases (such as autoimmune diseases, diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, depression, schizophrenia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and so forth). We are likely to eliminate these diseases and thus extend our lifespans and healthspans.
Obviously getting rid of viruses, pathogens and other harmful microbes may not be sufficient for humans to achieve immortality, naturally immortality is no mean feat. I even wonder if God will permit us to accomplish this. Extract from "The Ruthless, Fruitless Pursuit of Immortality": "All we need to do, experts tell us, is lengthen telomeres, target sirtuins or activate CREB1, the brain's latest "longevity molecule". Nonprofit organizations like the Immortality Institute and the Methuselah Foundation have been established "to conquer the blight of involuntary death." And every year, more conferences - with names like Humanity+ or the Global Future 2045 International Congress - pop up purporting to reveal the latest breakthroughs in attaining technologically enabled eternity.
In my opinion, the most promising development in immortality research is the recent studies of the Telomere, which may hold some secrets of how we age and get cancer and which is also thought to be a determinant of cell age and lifespan. Telomere make it possible for cells to divide - though each time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter. Telomere shortening means the cell's lifespan is shortening. More than 20 studies have shown associations between shorter telomere length and various types of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Shorter telomeres have also been associated with cancer, osteoporosis, cognitive function, dementia, and arthritis. On the other hand, long telomeres are related to healthy aging and overall longevity. Normal (non-cancerous) cells do not grow indefinitely. Telomerase prevents shortening and replicative senescence. Some cells are able to maintain the length of their telomere.
They do so with the aid of an enzyme telomerase e.g. the cells of the germline, stem cells and cancer cells. Extract from WIKIPEDIA: "Biologists have chosen the word immortal to designate cells that are not limited by the Hayflick limit, where cells no longer divide because of DNA damage or shortened telomeres." Telomerase is an enzyme which rebuilds the telomeres in stem cells and cancer cells, allowing them to replicate an infinite number of times. No definite work has yet demonstrated that telomerase can be used in human somatic cells to prevent healthy tissues from aging. However, I have found one interesting study carried out at the Spanish National Cancer Centre (Madrid) in which it was found that those mice which were genetically engineered to produce 10 times the normal levels of telomerase lived 50% longer than normal mice. Thorough research is needed before using any telomerase products - telomeres are not that simple, especially because of the relation between cancer cells and telomerase - please use your search engine to find out more about telomeres.
The author of this article is Aistis Plunksnis, he has been suffering from red veins in his eyes for 11 years until he finally figured out the cause of it. Now he is deeply interested in natural health treatments and you can learn more about about them (as well as many other topics such as human immortality) at his web site http://www.immortality21.org

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