A hormone naturally created in the body could be the elixir of life, scientists believe.
According to a study of thousands of over-50s, the hormone known as DHEAS makes you live longer and is more plentiful the wealthier you are. Research suggests that in future tablets, patches or injections could boost the DHEAS level.
Leading a more fulfilling life could have a similar effect, says Michael Marmot, who led the research at the University College London, the Daily Mail reported.
Higher levels are associated with both greater amounts of exercise and an active life with lots of pastimes, interests, friends and family – all of which tend to come with wealth.
The hormone is secreted by the adrenal glands, which sit on top of the kidneys.
Production is greatest in childhood and teenage years, before gradually declining through adult life. By the age of 80 it could be just 10 percent of the peak teen level.
Having more DHEAS in the body is linked to a better memory and ability to cope with
mental tasks, particularly in men.
The research also found higher levels of a second hormone, the insulin-like growth
factor I (IGF-I), in those who are better off.
DHEAS hormone
The two hormones help control reactions to stress and regulate various body processes including digestion, the immune system, mood and energy usage.
Marmot believes the benefits of wealth, which include a better diet, greater control over life, less stress, more travel and involvement in the wider world through hobbies, sport or other interests will encourage the body to create DHEAS.
The study was carried out by University College London for the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Hormone levels were measured by taking blood samples from more than 10,000 people aged over 50, who have been monitored since 2004.
Elixir of life
Of course, the quest for eternal youth has been led by charlatans, frauds and snake-oil salesmen through the ages. There is money to be made by promising the Holy Grail – as the questionable claims on the labels of countless anti-ageing beauty products will attest.
For centuries, lotions and potions have been touted as elixirs of longevity. These have ranged from products containing monkey glands to injections of minced dog testicles.
Unsurprisingly, all have failed.
Still, the search continues. We have been told that exercise, red wine, chocolate, Vitamin C and various cocktails of antioxidants are the answers.
The latest elixir claim comes from scientists in Italy, who announced this week that mice given dietary supplements rich in three amino acids (similar to the concoctions favoured by human bodybuilders) lived on average 12 per cent longer than mice fed on ordinary food. For humans, this would mean about an extra ten years of life.
And yet the world still awaits its first 125-year-old. The record stands at 122 years – achieved by Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997.
elixir-of-life
But the truth is, charlatans apart, the ageing process may be more amenable to change than was thought.
For a start, life expectancy (the number of years a newborn is predicted to live) is increasing by five hours a day in Britain. This means a baby born in five years’ time should live a year longer than a baby born today.
This is, for the most part, simply a result of better healthcare.
For evidence we need only look at the first big jump in life expectancy, which took place in the 19th century when infant mortality rates dropped because of improved diets, better medicine and proper sanitation.
We haven’t conquered age, it’s just that more and more of us are living to our full potential. But we may now be nearing a surprising breakthrough.
According to a new book, The Youth Pill, by health journalist David Stipp, in a few decades a number of pills may be available, which will help delay the onset of most serious illnesses by up to ten years.
This would give us at least five extra years of healthy old age and allow the 122-year barrier to be breached.
Until recently, those scientists working on increasing the longevity of fruit flies or mice have shied away from making claims that humans could benefit from their work on genetics.
Some scientists have claimed that we should take large quantities of free-radical neutralisers called antioxidants (which include Vitamin C and are best found in fruit and vegetables).
Yet Vitamin C, it turns out, may actually increase free-radical damage and very large doses can interfere with the body’s natural repair mechanisms.
Elixir of life
It is such contradictions that have led researchers to focus, instead, on calorific restriction.
Mice placed on near-starvation diets have seen their life expectancies increase 20-35 per cent. If such results were achievable in humans, the average Briton’s life expectancy would rise to almost 100 – with the potential to carry on to 150.
This is precisely what Professor Roy Walford was trying to achieve with his grimly tedious rice and water diet in California.
And the truth is that research into whether calorie restriction will greatly extend our lifespans would take decades to reach firm conclusions – simply because we are so much larger than mice.
Even so, research on rodents has uncovered how extreme calorie restriction appears to switch on a genetic mechanism called a stress response. This has evolved to allow animals to survive tough conditions (such as a very hard winter when little food is available).
It seems the bodies of mice – and possibly those of humans, too – react to starvation by boosting their repair mechanisms, triggering anti-inflammatory responses which slow the damage done to vital organs as they age.
The problem for humans is that near-starvation is unlikely to catch on. What people are much more likely to turn to are drugs which mimic the effects of extreme calorie restriction, without having to live on lettuce.
And such drugs may soon be available. One could be based on the chemical resveratrol which is a plant compound found in red wine.
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A protein powder used by bodybuilders “could increase life expectancy by 10 years”, according to the Daily Mail. The newspaper reports that consuming the powder can build muscle, boost fitness, improve balance and “increase life expectancy by 12 per cent”.
What is not made clear until later in the news article is that the research behind these claims was in mice. Middle-aged mice were fed a diet supplemented with certain amino acids, the chemicals that the body uses to make proteins. Scientists observed how this diet affected the development of mitochondria (the energy generators) in the mice’s heart and muscle cells.
They also observed whether feeding this diet to younger mice had any effect on their natural life expectancy. The researchers found a potential anti-ageing role of the amino acids in the mice, which occurred through altering the development of new mitochondria.
Animal and laboratory research such as this can provide new insight into how biological processes work. But mice are very different to humans: these findings may have some application to cellular processes in humans, but it is not possible to assume so at this stage. Overall, it is unlikely that this early experimental research has found the ‘elixir of life’.
Where did the story come from?
This study was conducted by researchers from a number of academic institutions in Italy. It was funded by various governmental and academic institutions in Italy: the Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Universita e della Ricerca, the Ministero della Salute, and the Comune di Milano Flagship Project. The study was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cell Metabolism.
Not all news coverage clearly highlighted that this was early-stage research and that the ‘elixir of life’ is largely applicable to mice only. Notably, The Daily Telegraph clearly stated within its article and headline that this was mouse research. Also, although some papers relate the amino acid powder used in this research to currently marketed bodybuilding powders, these should not be considered directly comparable.
What kind of research was this?
Some of the recognised effects of cellular ageing include malfunctions of the mitochondria that convert nutrients into energy in the cells, plus oxidative (free radical) damage and decreases in the generation of new mitochondria. Recent evidence is said to have found a strong relationship between the generation of new mitochondria and increased survival of cells in animals, plants and fungi.
This animal and laboratory research aimed to further investigate how dietary intake of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) affects lifespan. BCAAs have been demonstrated to extend the lifespan of yeast, but it is not known what effect they could have on the generation of new mitochondria and longevity in mammals. The research examined longevity in mice after they consumed a branched-chain amino acid powder, when sedentary and when exercising.
What did the research involve?
This research involved middle-aged (16-month-old) mice, which were given unrestricted access to a standard diet. These middle-aged mice were divided into those who received three months of BCAA supplementation (mixed into drinking water) and those who did not. These two groups were further subdivided into those who would remain sedentary and those who would exercise on a treadmill during the last month of supplementation (20 mice in each of the groups). After three months, the mice’s organs, fat and muscle tissue were examined.
To analyse the effect of the BCAA supplement on survival, the researchers also followed nine-month-old mice that were given either water containing the BCAA supplement, or normal water up to the time of their natural death. As an additional part to the experiment, the researchers looked at the effect produced by directly adding BCAA to heart muscle and skeletal muscle cells in the laboratory.
What were the basic results?
The researchers found that the BCAA-enriched mixture increased the average life span when given to mice from the age of nine months. The average (median) life span was 774 days for all of the untreated control mice, compared to 869 days for all of the supplemented mice (12% increase). However, supplementation did not alter their maximum life span: the oldest mice in each group lived to approximately the same age.
BCAA supplementation increased mitochondrial development in cardiac and skeletal muscle cells in the laboratory. Supplementation was also found to produce increased mitochondrial development in cardiac and skeletal muscle of middle-aged mice, but it did not have any effect on their fat or liver tissue. When the mice were exercised on a treadmill, those who had been given BCAA supplementation also had enhanced physical endurance. Free radical production was also reduced by BCAA supplementation.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that their findings reveal an important anti-ageing role of branched-chain amino acids in mammals, which occurs through increased mitochondrial development.
Conclusion
Animal and laboratory research such as this is valuable for furthering the understanding of how biological processes work. While these findings may be applicable to humans in some way, this research cannot say what effects branched chain amino acid supplementation would have on survival or any other outcomes in humans.
Aside from the obvious physical and biological differences between humans and mice, there might also be adverse effects of use, particularly given the high quantities of amino acids consumed (the equivalent of 1.5g of dry powder per 1kg of body weight each day, or a daily intake of 120g dry weight for an 80kg human). If the supplement were considered safe for use in humans, such trials would also take a long time, as participants would have to be followed up for their entire lifetimes before any life-extending effects could be detected.