Optimal Being

A novel antibody therapy makes the immune system of old mice appear younger, allowing the animals to better fend off infections and reduce inflammation. Antibodies are proteins that can target and attack certain cells. An experimental therapy has been found to rejuvenate the immune systems of older mice, enhancing their capacity to combat infections. Should this treatment prove effective in humans, it could potentially reverse the age-related deterioration in immunity that renders older individuals more vulnerable to diseases. This decline in immunity might stem from alterations in our blood stem cells, which have the potential to evolve into any blood cell type, including vital elements of the immune system. With age, an increasing number of these stem cells are inclined to generate certain immune cells rather than others, according to Jason Ross from Stanford University in California. Such an imbalance compromises the immune system's infection-fighting abilities and contributes t...

People in their sixties who experience their lives as purposeful have fewer inflammatory factors such as CRP in their blood than people in their sixties who think that their lives have no purpose. Because high CRP levels are bad for just about every facet of your health, living a purposeful life makes you healthier. Canadian psychologists at Concordia University followed 129 adults aged 63-91 for 6 years. The researchers used questionnaires every 2 years to determine how meaningful the study participants thought their lives were. The researchers also determined the concentration of the inflammatory protein CRP in the blood of the study participants. A  lifestyle   that lowers the concentration of inflammatory proteins such as CRP reduces the risk of premature death or chronic disease. The researchers wondered whether psychological factors also play a role in the activity of inflammatory proteins. They suspected that experiencing meaning and purpose in life reduces CRP con...

Short Naps Have Major Benefits for Your Mind I have a confession: I nap. Most days, after lunch, you will find me snoozing. I used to keep quiet about it. Other countries have strong napping traditions, but here in the U.S. it is often equated with laziness. In 2019 a U.S. federal agency even announced a ban on sleeping in government buildings. I'm going public about my nap habit now because, despite what bureaucrats may think, sleep scientists are increasingly clear about the power of the nap. That shift is part of the relatively recent recognition that the quality and duration of sleep are public health issues, says physiologist Marta Garaulet of the University of Murcia in Spain. For a time, research was both for and against napping. Many studies showed mood and  cognition benefits  from midday rest, yet others found links to poor health, especially in older adults. That left some experts hesitant to “prescribe” naps. More recent research, though, has clarified that differe...

What is inflammaging? The aging processes are accompanied by a chronic, smoldering background of inflammation that researchers call “inflammaging”. This backdrop of low-grade inflammation contributes significantly to mortality risk in the elderly and has a number of sources. The chronic inflammation that accompanies the aging process is believed to be a significant risk factor for a myriad of age-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis, arthritis, hypertension, and cancer [1-3]. The immune system relies on acute inflammation during the immune response to fight invading pathogens and to facilitate wound healing. This triggers cell turnover and tissue repair and is, in general, a desirable reason for inflammation. However, in direct contrast to this, inflammaging produces a chronic, low-grade, persistent background of inflammation that leads to poor tissue repair and degeneration [4]. This chronic inflammation also contributes to the development of age-related diseases and is instrumen...

The accumulation of  senescent cells  in aged tissues is an important contributing cause of aging, but it is only one cause of many. Nonetheless, removing even just a third of lingering senescent cells in some tissues produces  a degree of rejuvenation in old mice  that is large enough to be very interesting. Much of this effect appears mediated by a reduction in inflammatory signaling and thus in the  chronic inflammation  that disrupts tissue function in later life. We can hope that clinical trials and the ongoing development of first and second generation  senolytic therapies  to clear senescent cells will demonstrate similar benefits to health in humans.   Chronic inflammation, one of the major  hallmarks of aging , is thought to be partly caused by senescent cells that may accumulate in older individuals. As we age, a small number of cells in tissues throughout our body become senescent. These cells undergo irreversible  cell c...

You lose strength if you close your eyes during physical exertion, sports scientists at Samford University in the US discovered when they did an experiment involving 27 students. But if you are used to doing the movement then the reduction as a result of sight loss is negligible. Study The researchers got the students to do leg press exercises on two occasions, using 60 percent of the weight at which they could just manage 1 rep. On one occasion the students were blindfolded once they had got onto the machine, on the other occasion they weren't. Results The lack of vision reduced the power the subjects were able to develop - the speed with which they could push the weight away from themselves - by 6 percent. In men and women who trained with weights in the gym twice a week or more, the loss of power due to loss of sight [white bar] was negligibly small. The blindfold reduced power by a statistically insignificant 1.1 percent. In inexperienced test subjects, the blindfold reduced th...