Genetic Key to Longevity?

Genetic Key to Longevity?: "Sept. 2, 2008 -- Scientists looking into aging say they've found a gene that's related to living a long and healthy life...One gene called FOXO3A caught the researchers' attention. Participants who were in better health had similarities on that gene...The study showed the long-lived group was leaner (lower waist-to-hip ratio), had lower levels of blood fats (triglycerides), lower glucose and insulin levels, and greater prevalence of FOXO3A gene variation at baseline..."up to 50% of the variation in human life span might be explained by genetic differences."...The FOXO3A gene is located on what researchers call the "insulin signaling pathway" and may be linked to how cells respond to stress...In studies done with mice and roundworms, genes that are along the insulin signaling pathway seem to protect against obesity that can come with aging, stress on a cellular level, and life span."

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A Longer-living, Healthier Mouse That Could Hold Clues To Human Aging

A Longer-living, Healthier Mouse That Could Hold Clues To Human Aging - ScienceDaily
2007.10.23
"...mice lacking the insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 are more resistant to ageing than normal mice. The research adds to a growing body of work showing the importance of insulin signalling pathways as an ageing mechanism in mammals – and potentially humans...mice lacking IRS-1 had an average lifespan increase of 20 per cent when compared to normal mice. In female mice lacking IRS-1 this figure was even higher, averaging 30 per cent. While the expected life-span for a mouse is about 25 months, one of the IRS-1deficient mice in this research lived for 38 months – 66 per cent longer than a normal mouse...As well as living longer, the mice without IRS-1 also experienced better health than the normal mice as they aged – they had brighter eyes, were more alert and were much healthier overall. In comparison, the mice that lacked IRS-2 were shorter-lived than the normal mice and displayed signs of obesity and type 2 diabetes...“We do not yet fully understand why lacking IRS-1 leads to longer life in mice. One possible explanation is that it makes them only mildly insulin resistant and that this, rather than having a negative effect on health, increases stress resistance, protects from damage and generally triggers other reactions in the body which extend life without compromising health.”..."

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Red Wine Ingredient -- Resveratrol -- Fights Diabetes In Mice

ScienceDaily: Red Wine Ingredient -- Resveratrol -- Fights Diabetes In Mice
2007.10.04
"...Even relatively low doses of resveratrol--a chemical found in the skins of red grapes and in red wine--can improve the sensitivity of mice to the hormone insulin, according to a new report. As insulin resistance is often characterized as the most critical factor contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes, the findings "provide a potential new therapeutic approach for preventing or treating" both conditions...also confirmed that increased levels of an enzyme called SIRT1, which earlier studies had linked to longevity, DNA repair, and insulin secretion, improve insulin sensitivity in mice. Resveratrol is known to activate the SIRT1 enzyme...SIRT1 levels are reduced in insulin-resistant cells and tissues and that treatments that block the enzyme's function lead to insulin resistance. Furthermore, increased SIRT1 activity improved insulin sensitivity. Similarly, resveratrol--at a dose of just 2.5 mg/kg/day--enhanced insulin sensitivity in cells. That low dose of resveratrol also reduced insulin resistance in animals fed a high-fat diet...about 15 mg--for its biological effects..."

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Not all types of fat are harmful

Not all types of fat are harmful - Yahoo! News
2007.10.01
"While it has long been held that too much fat in the liver may result in diabetes, researchers appear to have discovered that not all types of fat are harmful...while all the rodents became obese and the normal mice developed resistance to insulin and became prone to diabetes, the mutant group was free from those problems..."Obesity is a matter of quantity of fats in the body, but it is our new message that the quality of fats could be a new determinant factor for diabetes," said Hitoshi Shimano..."

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Polyphenols blunt menopausal effects in rats

Plant compounds blunt menopausal effects in rats Reuters/Yahoo!News "Women who enter menopause often develop high blood pressure, insulin resistance (a risk factor for type 2 diabetes), and memory loss. New research conducted in menopausal rats suggests that polyphenols - compounds found in grapes, soy, and kudzu -- may blunt some of these side effects associated with menopause...Wyss reported that, in estrogen-depleted rats, kudzu root extract reduced blood pressure, elevated by a high-salt diet, by more than 50 percent. Kudzu also lowered blood sugar, insulin levels and the fat hormone leptin..."Kudzu has estrogen-like elements,"...Wyss and colleagues also observed that estrogen-depleted rats fed polyphenols from grape seed seemed to be protected against high blood pressure as well as a decline in short-term and long-term....Other studies from the Wyss lab indicate that polyphenols in soy foods also protect against high blood pressure in menopausal rats...For menopausal symptoms, grapes, soy and kudzu "may be useful" treatments or add-on treatments to other therapies, Wyss concluded. He said his team is also looking at the effects of adding these polyphenols to conventional treatments for diabetes and lipid control."

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Lower levels of insulin in the brain linked to longevity

Healthy weight link to longevity BBC News 6/20/07 "Keeping a healthy weight may help people live longer by limiting brain exposure to insulin...A study in mice found that reducing insulin signals inside brain cells increased lifespan...Previous research in fruit flies and roundworms has suggested that reducing the activity of the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels, can increase lifespan...The latest study looked at the effects of a protein, IRS2, which carries the insulin signal in the brain...Mice who had half the amount of the protein lived 18% longer than normal mice...Despite being overweight and having high levels of insulin, the mice were more active as they aged, and their glucose metabolism resembled that of younger mice...the engineered mice were living longer because the diseases that kill them, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, were being postponed due to reduced insulin signalling in the brain, even though circulating levels of insulin were high...it may be possible to design drugs to reduce IRS2 activity to reproduce the same effect, although they would have to be specific to the brain...Study leader Dr Morris White, an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, said the simplest way to encourage longevity was to limit insulin levels by exercising and eating a healthy diet...Diet, exercise and lower weight keep your peripheral tissues sensitive to insulin. .."That reduces the amount and duration of insulin secretion needed to keep your glucose under control when you eat..."Therefore, the brain is exposed to less insulin."...His team is now planning to look at possible links between IRS2 signalling and dementia, which research has shown is associated with obesity and high insulin levels..."

In case you think IRS2 has something to do with revenue... it actually stands for Insulin Receptor Substrate 2. What I find interesting about this research is the divide made between insulin exposure in the brain and the rest of the body. Now, why is this happening in mice? And to what extent is it happening to us, if at all?

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Calcium, Vitamin D lower diabetes risk

Calcium, vitamin D may lower diabetes risk Reuters/Yahoo!News 7/16/07 "Calcium and vitamin D, whether from food or supplements, may help lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes...people with the highest intakes of vitamin D and calcium had an 18 percent lower risk of diabetes than those with the lowest intakes...Similarly, people who ate the most dairy food had a 14 percent lower diabetes risk than those who ate the least dairy...authors, led by Dr. Anastassios G. Pittas...Both nutrients may be important in the functioning of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, and in the body's proper use of insulin..."

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