New understanding about mechanism for cell death after stroke leads to possible therapy

New understanding about mechanism for cell death after stroke leads to possible therapy: "Scientists at the Brain Research Centre, a partnership of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, have uncovered new information about the mechanism by which brain cells die following a stroke, as well as a possible way to mitigate that damage. The results of the study were recently published online in Nature Medicine."

Scientists discover clues to what makes human muscle age

Scientists discover clues to what makes human muscle age: "

A study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has identified critical biochemical pathways linked to the aging of human muscle. By manipulating these pathways, the researchers were able to turn back the clock on old human muscle, restoring its ability to repair and rebuild itself.

read more

"

Mr. Deity and Da Man

Mr. Deity and Da Man: "

Mr. Deity has returned… and this time, he is helping Adam find a wife!

I tried screaming at Adam not to do it.

He didn’t listen.

"

Hunger Is Relative

Hunger Is Relative: "

My cat Kieffer howls to wake the dead when anyone gets anywhere near where we keep the cat food in the kitchen. He also howls anytime anyone is in the kitchen at all starting a few hours before meal time, and continuing with growing franticness (is that a word? Frantacity?) until the cat food actually appears in his bowl.

The cat is not starving. The cat is not even CR'd. The cat is actually a little chubby (just big boned!) though he has lost weight in recent years on his doctor's advice. I'm sure he is hungry for meals, but I sincerely doubt that he's hanging around all day in an acute state of hunger. However, the possibility of a human nearing the catfood cans sends him into meeeeeoooooww overdrive!

Here's another funny thing: if one of us feeds him when the other is not home, then the other walks through the door, Kieffer will immediately start howling in an attempt to convince us that he has not yet been fed. He is so convincing that MR frequently leaves me notes saying, 'Kitty lies!' if he's giving the cat his meal while I'm out. The cat can not be biologically hungry, but his little kitty instincts tell him that he must be fed again!

Hunger is a funny thing... most people who hear about CR say, 'But aren't you hungry all the time?' I know when I was on hardcore CR, I was definitely not hungry all the time, but the hunger when I was hungry (a bit before mealtimes) had a totally different character to it from the hunger that non-CR'd people feel. It was real, biological hunger. Not just a stomach rumbling or an 'It's time to eat' hungry. It was even different from the hungry feeling of not having eaten for quite awhile (like if you skip breakfast and it's half an hour till lunch) and genuinely being in need of a meal. The CR'd hungry started to kick in when my body fat stores were way down... I never did get the percentage professionally tested but the Tanita scale said 18%. It was completely different, and not upsetting or scary at all. It was more like being in touch with what the body *truly needs* as opposed to what it might be craving. It was actually rather nice. My meals were extraordinarily satisfying (nothing like 100 grams of kale and a cup of cottage cheese to fill you up!) and the feeling of being satisfied with a healthy meal was also completely different from the feeling of being 'done' with a meal that's less nutritionally optimal.

Now, of course, there are limits. At one point I went to what I would consider too low for me, for too long, and I didn't decide it was too low because of my weight or how I looked. I was 99 pounds at the time, and I was fine with how I looked (though I like my body with yoga muscles better) and I was eating 1200 consistently without days out. I may have at one point dripped just a tiny bit below 1200, and then instead of just feeling hungry for awhile before meal times, I noticed that I was really, really hungry, and thinking about food more than I wanted to. At the point where it became distracting, I decided it was time to go up on calories. We are always telling people that you have to make your own decisions about what's too low for you. There's no weight number or calorie number dictated from on high. MR's rather random rule (and he knows it's random) is that he doesn't go below 115. My low point seemed to be defined by when I felt that hunger was becoming no longer a pleasant reminder of our place in the natural world, but a distraction from the things I wanted to focus on in life. Just a few more calories and I returned to my CR-happy point, but I know for sure that 1200 is too low for me.

It was my experience that the quality of hunger changed when I started exercising. I wrote awhile back about hungry muscles, and I can testify that there's a different kind of hunger when you're exercising and building and maintaining muscle mass. When I was on my way down and at my CR-low, I had about as much muscle as a paper bag. I hadn't been exercising much for years and I lost weight by cutting calories and improving nutrition alone. I wish I had lost weight with exercise, and now that I'm dripping back down and still holding onto my muscle mass, I know I'll prefer the way I look and feel. It's a difficult balance though. Some exercise, especially a lot of cardio, seems to make me hungry disproportionately to the calories it burns, and that's the last thing you want if you're on CR. Yoga doesn't seem to do this as much, even though the style of yoga I practice is very swift and athletic. But still, I have to eat a lot more now that I have muscle mass than I did before. It complicates the equation, and I'm still working out a balance between all my exercise practices and the need to drop my calories lower.

Hunger is not something to be feared, not if you're a little hungry because you're dropping your calories, not because you're out of money to buy food. When I feel hungry now, I sometimes head straight for the Nancy's Organic Lowfat Cottage Cheese and shove it in my mouth as fast as I can. But at other times, especially if I've made plans for my meals that don't involve an extra cup of cottage cheese mid-afternoon, I take a moment to settle in and remember that the hunger is a cue, not a command. I can follow it, or I can make another decision. I have the power to determine what's right for me at any given moment.

In a world of mindless eating, this isn't easy. Yoga and meditation have helped a great deal, but I still find myself picking up the bruchetta just because it's on the table. But as I drop my calories lower and try to negotiate the balance between exercise and CR, it's something I've been thinking about.

And as Kieffer reminds me, several times a day, a beast doesn't have to be experiencing biological hunger to howl for the Fancy Feast.

"

Disruption of ceramide synthesis by CerS2 down-regulation leads to autophagy and the unfolded protein response

Disruption of ceramide synthesis by CerS2 down-regulation leads to autophagy and the unfolded protein response: "Ceramide metabolism has come under recent scrutiny because of its role in cellular stress responses. Ceramide synthase 2 (CerS2) is one of the six mammalian isoforms of ceramide synthase, and it is responsible for the synthesis of very-long chain (VLC) ceramides, e.g. C₂₄, _C24:1. To study the role of CerS2 in ceramide metabolism and cellular homeostasis, we down-regulated CerS2 using siRNA and examined several aspects of sphingolipid metabolism and cell stress responses. CerS2 down-regulation had a broad effect on ceramide homeostasis, not just on VLC ceramides. Surprisingly, CerS2 down-regulation resulted in significantly increased long-chain (LC) ceramides, e.g. C₁₄, C₁₆, and our data suggested that the increase was due to ceramide synthase-independent mechanism. CerS2-down-regulation-induced LC ceramide accumulation resulted in growth arrest that was not accompanied by apoptotic cell death. Instead, cells remained viable, showing induction of autophagy, and activation of PERK and IRE pathways (the latter indicating activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR))."

Misfolded proteins: The fundamental problem is aging

Misfolded proteins: The fundamental problem is aging: "Proteins are essential for all biological activities and the cell's health. Misfolded and damaged proteins spell trouble and are common to all human neurodegenerative diseases and many other age-associated diseases. But when do proteins start to misbehave? A Northwestern University study reports that protein damage can be detected much earlier than we had thought, long before individuals exhibit symptoms. But the study also suggests if we intervene early enough, the damage could be delayed."

The End of Aging: an Evening With Aubrey de Grey

The End of Aging: an Evening With Aubrey de Grey: "Here is something for those of you who will be in the New York area this time next month: 'The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence is co-sponsoring a program on ending aging with gerontology researcher Aubrey de Grey and the New York Academy of Sciences, on the evening of Tuesday, September 22nd in New York City. ... Could it be possible for humans to live hundreds of years in the very near future? Is aging a curable disease? Iconoclast Aubrey de Grey predicts it's only a matter of decades before regenerative medicine extends human life expectancy indefinitely. This event is one of five events in the 2009 Provocative Thinkers Series presented by Science & the City, a program of the New York Academy of Sciences. Cosponsored by the Singularity Institute." A large number of de Grey's past presentations to groups large and small can be found at YouTube - you might want to take a look.



View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.singinst.org/blog/2009/08/18/the-end-of-aging-an-evening-with-aubrey-de-grey/

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/"

23andMe Leading Way to Democratized Disease Research

23andMe Leading Way to Democratized Disease Research: "

Here’s a riddle: What do you get when you mix American Idol with genetic testing for disease? The 23andMe research revolution. The same company that brought you affordable testing for common genetic markers has begun a new initiative to lend insight into genetic causes for common illnesses. Starting this summer, 23andMe members can vote for which diseases they think should be researched, and submit their genetic information as patients for the studies. Co-founders Linda Avey and Anne Wojcicki want you to join, vote, and send in your spit to help find cures. Watch their video after the break.

23andMe is a personal genetics firm that allows individuals to test their genome for key genetic markers. These markers take the form of SNPs (pronounced ’snips’), single nucleotide polymorphisms. A standard test that grants you access to information about ancestry, health, and traits costs you about $399. A research version is available for just $99. Basically all you do for either option is spit in a special tube and then mail it to the company.

The 23andMe research revolution is pretty straight forward. The company needs volunteers and sponsors to help in genetic testing for 10 diseases: migraines, psoriasis, severe food allergies, arthritis, celiac, lymphoma/leukemia, multiple sclerosis, ALS, epilepsy, and testicular cancer. Sponsors get to vote on which disease will be prioritized. Besides sending in some spit, volunteers will also be entering a lot of health information online in order to find correlations between genes and diseases. There’s no guarantees that the genetic testing and correlations will lead to any worthwhile data, but you have to admire 23andMe for getting out there and shaking things up.

The research revolution isn’t 23andMe’s first foray into a democratic approach to genetic testing for diseases. As we mentioned a few months ago, they sought out 10,000 volunteers for a Parkinson’s study. While there may be some statistical problems with the way that 23andMe solicits volunteers (everyone has to have at least $99, right?) the activism portion of their approach is laudable. With this new push for research, there’s a good chance that some insight will be made into at least one of the ten diseases mentioned.

In the future, other diseases will be added to the list, and past data will be leveraged into the new tests. That’s a lot of bang for your genetic buck. Just to show you how easy the submission process is, here’s a video from health advocate and strategist Jen S. McCabe:

You know, I don’t want to turn this post into a wholesale endorsement for 23andMe and their research revolution, but I’m definitely in favor of it. The idea of democratizing research while still keeping it meaningful is tremendously motivating. 23andMe is setting the basis for future debates on genetics just by affirming an individual’s rights to know more about their own genetic code. As we’ve said in previous stories, the company sits at the crossroads of genetic testing and internet community building that will be a powerful meme going forward. Even if this particular research revolution doesn’t yield results, one eventually will.

Related Posts:

• 23andMe Declares War On Parkinson's - Army Of 10,000 To Give DNA
• Check Yourself for Genetic Abnormalities Wiki
• Google, Papa Brin Step In For 23andme
• The revolution in mass market DNA analysis is happening...
• The Onion: Are We Giving Robots Too Much Power?

"

New anti-aging research: Laser ablation of Lipofuscin

New anti-aging research: Laser ablation of Lipofuscin: "A facebook group for new anti-aging research: Laser ablation of Lipofuscin

This project will start when $8000 is collected

Great opportunity to raise funds for the laser ablation of lipofuscin: each $30 donation becomes $180 by the end of all the matching.

The goal of this research is to tune the use of laser pulses in order to remove lipofuscin from aged cells, to hopefully cure or reduce aging. Worms and human cell cultures are the first target, but it is believed that accumulated lipofuscin is a key process leading to age related diseases:

Lipofuscin and Aging: A Matter of Toxic Waste

Abstract: Lipofuscin is membrane-bound cellular waste that can be neither degraded nor ejected from the cell but can only be diluted through cell division and subsequent growth. The fate of postmitotic cells is to accumulate lipofuscin, which as an 'aging pigment' has been considered a reliable biomarker for the age of cells such as neurons and, by extension, their hosts. In the aging human brain, deposits of lipofuscin are not uniformly distributed but are concentrated in specific regions of functional interest. The prevailing thought is that the major source of lipofuscin is incomplete lysosomal degradation of damaged mitochondria. Accumulating evidence suggests that lipofuscin is not benign but can impair the functioning of seemingly unrelated cellular systems, including the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway. A damaging feedback loop of lysosomal and proteasomal inhibition may occur as lipofuscin accumulates, leading to what has been appropriately named a 'garbage catastrophe.' Reversing this catastrophe presents a formidable challenge.

Citation: D. A. Gray, J. Woulfe, Lipofuscin and Aging: A Matter of Toxic Waste. Sci. Aging Knowl. Environ. 2005 (5), re1 (2005).

Unfocused Pulsed Lasers Selectively Destroy Lipofuscin - Using An Established Technique To Repeatedly Postpone Aging from Jeriaska on Vimeo.

"

Systems Biology Graphical Notation: A Visual Language for Biology

Systems Biology Graphical Notation: A Visual Language for Biology: "A newly introduced visual language called Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN) is designed to standardize and simplify a knowledge database containing molecular process, relationships between entities, and links among biochemical activities in the exploding field of Systems Biology.


(Source: http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2009/08/systems_biology_graphical_notation_a_visual_language_for_biology.html)"

Are conservatives welcome in sustainable food movement?

Are conservatives welcome in sustainable food movement?: "

An interesting conversation has been happening at the Huffington Post lately, begun with an article by Zachary Adam Cohen, a blogger focusing on sustainable food issues who is also the producer of the show “Farm to Table: The Emerging American Meal,” which profiles people and places in the sustainable food movement.

He also happens to be a conservative, and he was in part calling other conservatives out for their apparent lack of interest in the way food is produced in America today.

Conservatives should care about food

Cohen argues that traditionally conservatives are more interested in supporting small businesses than they are large corporations, and more of them ought to be interested in literally conserving the environment rather than focusing their attention on the conservation of hard-to-define things like morals and the proper definition of a family.

Cohen takes a lot of his argument from Rod Dreher, author of Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture, who says traditional conservatives should be standing up for the traditional agrarian way of life, a lifestyle that’s all but impossible to carry out these days, thanks to huge corporations and difficult government regulations and bureaucracy.

“To participate in a system and a way of thinking in which the act of eating is merely a commercial transaction is to sell out our spiritual and cultural patrimony. I understand the free-market reasons why Americans do this. But I don’t understand why it is called conservative,” Dreher writes.

Cohen says he brings the issue up in the hope of both getting more conservatives to join slow food/sustainable agriculture movements and to let liberals know that there are, in fact, right-leaning people out there who support small farmers, local food production and other sustainability issues, even if they’re not very visible.

Do liberals “own” good food?

After receiving more than 200 comments on his original post, Cohen added another post taking some readers to task for being mean and stereotypical, calling conservatives stupid and racist, for example.

But that’s not the way it should be, he notes:

What the reaction to my post illustrates is that many progressives simply do not want conservatives in the local food world. There is a reluctance on the part of progressives, to permit conservatives into a space that they feel they “own” politically. This is a serious problem, and one that threatens to staunch the critical levels of growth necessary to grow the movement into a mainstream phenomenon.

It’s also completely irrational, if you are serious about growing the movement beyond its current niche. If I were a progressive activist who had worked long and hard building the foundations of a movement, I would be thrilled when new converts, of any political stripe, decided to join the fight. I would feel so satisfied. Instead, many of the comments to my piece were derisive, hateful and dishonest. To be fair, many comments were supportive, encouraging and gracious, and I appreciate every single one of those. But it is my duty to trust that instinctual groaning that tells me I, as a conservative, am simply not welcome in the local foods movement.

Everyone who cares about food should work together

The truth is that the industrial food production complex is so well integrated into the American food supply that it’s going to take everyone with an interest in food production issues, from every part of the political spectrum (and maybe even more than that) to make changes happen.

The quality of food in America is an issue for people who care about the future of kids’ health, the environment, small businesses, quality food and a host of other issues. And all of these are big enough problems that political labels shouldn’t even come into the discussion. But there will always be people willing to dismiss another’s argument because of ideology, even when they’d otherwise agree on that particular issue.

Until that changes, a big change in the food system (or a host of other issues, really) is unlikely to happen.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News (REF3076322B7)

Are conservatives welcome in sustainable food movement?

"

Cauliflower, Shrimp and Zucchini Salad

Cauliflower, Shrimp and Zucchini Salad: "

It is way too hot here to cook on the stove, eat hot food, or turn on the oven. Here's how hot it is: MR actually agreed to turn on the air conditioner. He opposes AC for environmental reasons, and will suffer almost endlessly in the heat before he'll resort to it. But it finally (in the nineties) got too bad for him.

Dialogue between me and Susie:

Me: He won't let me turn on the air conditioner. Environment thing.

Susie: (rolls eyes)

Me: He's quirky, but he's so good to me!

Susie: He's trying to cook you!

This is a great cold salad, almost naturally zoned, for a hot summer day. It's how I used up the leftover shrimp from the weekend.

Shrimp

Cauliflower

Zucchini

Avocado

dry white wine

lemon and lime juice

Boil the shrimp in their shells, then, shell on, marinate in dry white wine and lime juice overnight. Peel, and reserve the shells for someone who likes to eat shrimp shells. Reserve the marinating liquid.

In the same night, chop the zucchini and cauliflower and microwave in a covered dish with a dash of lemon juice stirred in for about a minute. Microwaves vary, but you want the veggies only slightly cooked, so that they're not raw but still have crunch. You can also leave them raw if you want. Marinate overnight in lemon and lime juice, chilling in the fridge.

Before serving, drain the liquid from the veggies, then add the shrimp and the wine/lime juice/shrimp juices liquid to the veggies. Stir. Add chopped avocado. Serve cold.

Looks like it's going to stay hot here for quite some time, so more cold salad recipes to come!

"

Protein plays unexpected role protecting chromosome tips

Protein plays unexpected role protecting chromosome tips: "A protein specialist that opens the genomic door for DNA repair and gene expression also turns out to be a multi-tasking workhorse that protects the tips of chromosomes and dabbles in a protein-destruction complex, a team lead by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Centre reports in the 13 August edition of Molecular Cell..."

Scientists advance understanding of cell death

Scientists advance understanding of cell death: "Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists have made an important advance in understanding the biological processes involved when cells are prompted to die. The work may help scientists to eventually develop new treatments for the many common diseases and conditions which occur when cell death goes wrong..."

Scarring key to link between obesity and diabetes

Scarring key to link between obesity and diabetes: "The team, in collaboration with University Hospital Aintree, the University of Warwick and researchers in Sweden, found that people classified as obese and those with pre-diabetes have raised levels of a protein called SPARC, that can cause tissue scarring. The research revealed that an increase in insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels, and leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite, can trigger an increase in SPARC, which can prevent the proper storage of fat in fat tissue cells..."

Scientists advance understanding of cell death

Scientists advance understanding of cell death: "Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists have made an important advance in understanding the biological processes involved when cells are prompted to die. The work may help scientists to eventually develop new treatments for the many common diseases and conditions which occur when cell death goes wrong..."