The only way I could imagine this test being
accurate is if a people continue the exact
same lifestyle that they had (leading up to
the time of the test) after taking the test.

But what if a person took the test, then based
on negative results, said person suddenly went
RAW, wouldn't that change the result?

Or what if a person took the test, got a favorable
result, then decided he could gorge on junk food
the rest of his life because of the test, wouldn't
that also change the result?

Here's an article on this story that is making news:

DNA breakthrough heralds new medical era – and opens ethical Pandora's box
By Steve Connor, Science Editor, The London Independent
May 16, 2011

A blood test that can show how fast someone is ageing – and offers the tantalising possibility of estimating how long they have left to live – is to go on sale to the general public in Britain later this year.

Graphic: How the test works

The controversial test measures vital structures on the tips of a person's chromosomes, called telomeres, which scientists believe are one of the most important and accurate indicators of the speed at which a person is aging.

Scientists behind the $700 (£435) test said it will be possible to tell whether a person's "biological age", as measured by the length of their telomeres, is older or younger than their actual chronological age.

Medical researchers believe that telomere testing will become widespread within the next five or 10 years, but there are already some scientists who question its value and whether there should be stronger ethical controls over its wider use. In addition to concerns about how people will react to a test for how "old" they really are, some scientists are worried that telomere testing may be hijacked by unscrupulous organisations trying to peddle unproven anti-ageing remedies and other fake elixirs of life.

The results of the tests might also be of interest to companies offering life-insurance policies or medical cover that depend on a person's lifetime risk of falling seriously ill or dying prematurely. However, there is a growing body of scientific opinion that says testing the length of a person's telomeres could provide vital insights into the risk of dying prematurely from a range of age-related disorders, from cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer's and cancer. "We know that people who are born with shorter telomeres than normal also have a shorter lifespan. We know that shorter telomeres can cause a shorter lifespan," said Maria Blasco of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid, who is the inventor of the new commercial telomere test. "But we don't know whether longer telomeres are going to give you a longer lifespan. That's not really known in humans," she added.

"What is new about this test is that it is very precise. We can detect very small differences in telomere length and it is a very simple and fast technique where many samples can be analysed at the same time. Most importantly, we are able to determine the presence of dangerous telomeres – those that are very short."

Dr Blasco's company, Life Length, is in talks with medical diagnostic companies across Europe, including the UK, to market the test and collect blood samples for analysis in Spain. A deal with a company operating in Britain is likely within a year, she said.

"We need to have a clinical company to send us the blood [samples]. We are in contact with several groups in the UK who are interested," Dr Blasco said.

Life Length is anticipating hundreds of requests from people wanting to have their telomeres tested and is expecting demand from thousands more once the company is able to bring down the cost of the test as public demand increases.

Although Life Length is not the only company selling telomere tests, it is the only one gearing up for over-the-counter sales to the public and the only company with an accurate-enough test to be of practical use, said Professor Jerry Shay of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in Dallas.

"This test devised by Blasco is so accurate that it is likely to provide more useful information than some of the other tests out there right now," said Professor Shay, who is a scientific consultant for Life Length. "What's important in ageing is the shortest telomeres. What makes cells stop growing is the shortest telomeres, not the average telomere length, which is what other tests look at.

"Everyone talks about the chronological age, but there is also a biological age, and telomere length is actually a pretty good representation of your biological age. Telomeres are important – there is no question of that," he said.

Asked why the general public would be interested in taking a telomere test, Dr Shay said: "I think people are just basically curious about their own mortality. If you ask people what they worry about, most people would say they are worried about dying."

He added: "People might say 'If I know I'm going to die in 10 years I'll spend all my money now', or 'If I'm going to live for 40 more years I'll be more conservative in my lifestyle'. The worrying thing is that if this information ever got to a point where it is believable, insurance companies would start requiring it in terms of insuring people.

"If you smoke or you're obese your insurance rates are higher, and if you have short telomeres your insurance rates might be higher too."

Scientists do not yet believe they can narrow down the test prediction to calculate the exact number of months and years a person has yet to live, but several studies have indicated that individuals with telomeres that shorter than normal are likely to die younger than those with longer telomeres. Telomere research is considered to be one of the most exciting areas in biomedical science and last year the Nobel Prize in medicine was shared between three scientists who are pioneers in the field.

Interestingly, one of the Nobel laureates, Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California San Francisco, is an enthusiastic proponent of telomere testing while another of the prize-winners, Carol Greider of Harvard Medical School, is more sceptical of its benefits.

"Do I think it's useful to have a bunch of companies offering to measure telomere length so people can find out how old they are? No," Dr Greider recently told the journal Science.

Dr Blasco, a former post-doctoral student in Dr Greider's laboratory, is more certain of the benefits. "It will be useful for you to know your biological age and maybe to change your lifestyle habits if you find you have short telomeres," she said.

Telomeres: a short history

* 2003 Scientists studying 20-year-old blood samples from 143 people show that telomere length is good indicator of whether someone is likely to live for 15 years or more once they reach 60.

* 2004 Women living with stress of having a sick child are found to have shorter telomeres. Other research suggests that meditation or other forms of stress reduction may lengthen telomeres.

* 2007 Study of men in Scotland shows those with the longest telomeres were half as likely to develop heart disease than those with shorter telomeres. Telomere length was as good as cholesterol levels at predicting the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

* 2009 Short telomeres linked with inherited bone marrow disease.

* 2010 GM mice with no telomerase, an enzyme that elongates telomeres in some cells, age prematurely compared to normal mice. The ageing effects were reversed after injections of telomerase.

* 2011 Study of civil servants in the UK shows that those with few educational qualifications have shorter telomeres than those with higher educational qualifications. People with poor backgrounds are known to age faster and suffer more age-related diseases.


READER COMMENTS: So, would you take the test?

Trevor Salmon, 53, musician

It is a brilliant breakthrough because we spend every day of our lives trying to live longer. The idea that time is finite is a very hard reality to accept. If this is accurate, then it will enable us to make preparations and refine our lives accordingly.

Samira Melloul, 28, entrepreneur

My curiosity would make me pay for it. But I would need to be convinced by the the firm's credentials. I don't like the idea that such critical DNA data would be with a company that could store it or sell it on to third parties. In the future, this type of information will become very valuable.

Narek Sarkissian, 27, engineer

I don't trust it. Life is about chance and you could die crossing the street tomorrow. What's the point of a DNA test when our true fate is out of our hands? Offering to predict these things with an element of certainty is ambitious and simply not worth my time. There are much better things I could spend that money on.

Natalie Burger, 60, retired

I wouldn't want to know when I was going to die. I'm 60 now and I keep thinking maybe I have another 15 years. But perhaps I have less than that. I don't make plans and have to accept that when my time has come, it's over. Some of this information is all too frightening and is better left alone.

Steve
[www.meetup.com]
[www.rawgosia.com]

Telomeres are what they are, I'm pretty sure diet and lifestyle have no impact. The only thing that test will show is how long you'd live if you didn't get sick from something or have an accident. A best case scenario.

Right, and telomere analysis is going to become very useful, when refined, in predicting things like senility, dementia, and Alzheimer's onset[which don't necessarily correlate with diet and lifestyle factors]. But I think, outside of geriatric medicine, this won't be broadly applicable.

It seems to me that lifestyle is more important than
any other factor, when it comes to health and longevity
(for most individuals). Let's say, e.g., you have ideal-
length telomeres for an extremely long life, but you
decide to live mostly on a diet of grossly overindulging
on donuts, Twinkies, cookies, ice cream, burgers, and
beer (actually that sounds similar to a lot of people's
diets...), it seems to me that such a person would be
dramatically increasingly the likelihood of a premature
death, regardless of what one's blood test results
previously indicated.

I can tell you that my father's grandparents lived into
their 90's; his parents lived into their 90's; his siblings
are either still alive or they all lived into their late
70's and early 80's; and yet, he died of colon cancer at
the age of 58 (the apparent "victim" of two square meals
at SAD restaurants every workday for 25+ years). His
lifestyle, it seems, knocked more than a few years off his
life, in comparison to that of other close relatives.

In my mind, lifestyle makes a HUGE difference, particularly
a RAW lifestyle, in terms of the quality of life and in
one's longevity.

Steve
[www.meetup.com]
[www.rawgosia.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2011 01:22AM by paragon1685.

Exactly. They only predict a best case scenario, if you choose to you can certainly shorten your life with burgers, beer and cigarettes.

I heard a story about this on the radio two days ago. I didn't hear the whole story, but I found fault with the assumption that everyones telomeres unwound at the same rate. Is there any evidence of that?

My friend worked as a biochemist, he pretty much wanted to turn the radio off. He thought it wasn't a valid study, he also said that in a few people the telomeres don't unwind at all. So if thats true, one could have very short telomeres and yet be long lived.

I imagine there is a general truth behind the test and idea. But there are people who may not comfortably fit into the pattern.

It doesn't prove anything much other than that the whole longevity thing is bunk. People are always on about that and it drives me crazy, we are physically designed to end at some point, there is no sense spending your life trying to live to be hundreds of years old, no matter what you do it will never happen. The body degrades itself, as it is designed to do. Better to live a good, satisfying life enjoying all the moments than keep an end goal of longevity as one's mental focus. What a waste of time that is.

Just sounds like another way to make money to me.

I personally don't buy the "you die when you die" stuff... I think lifestyle absolutely has an impact. Why wouldn't it?

Sure, of course it does. I just don't think it can extend your life past a certain point no matter what you do though. Telemeres are real and they stop you from living past a certain age no matter what.

By the time the human reaches adult-hood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells. Cells have only a "limited number" of cell divisions possible in a human lifetime. By the time you're 40, there are maybe only 30% of your possible cell divisions left. When the cells use up their natural allotted cell divisions, the end is death. The mechanism that controls this cell division lies with the telomere, which is a cap-like structure on the end of each of the 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each time your cells divide, your telomeres at the ends of DNA strands get shorter, such that after a certain number of divisions the telomere disappears, and the end of the chromosome begins to fray and stop dividing. Over time, this cumulative cell death leads to aging. To grow biologically younger instead of older by repairing the telomeres we need a telomerase activator, to reawaken telomerase just enough to rewind the clock of cellular aging without causing an undue risk of runaway cells and cancer.

As the countdown clock of the telomeres run down cell division stops and your life ends. Accelerated telomere shortening occurs in response to life stressors due to increased oxidation by free radicals. The enzyme “telomerase” acts to repair damage to the telomere, and helps to maintain its length and stability. Theoretically by raising telomerase we may be able to prolong cell life and slow down or even reverse the aging process. The ageing process can be reversed by reactivating the telomerase enzyme, thus stopping the shortening of the telomeres, thereby leading to the repair of damaged tissues and reversing the signs of ageing, substantial restoration, including the growth of new neurons in their brains. As long as we maintain a raw diet and high oxygenated lifestyle the potential of getting cancer with telomerase reactivation is negligible.

The chinese herb Astragalus is rich in saponins which have shown activation of telomerase. A company called Geron developed a drug TA-65 from Astragalus that activates the Telomerase enzyme. But apparently, just taking the herb itself will not give you the same results, as there is very little TA-65 produced in the regular processing of this herb. Astragalus is considered an adaptogen useful to reduce stress and to enhance memory, learning and brain function in general as well as to increase energy metabolism.

Ashwagandha has powerful antioxidant properties that seek and destroy the free radicals, plus raise levels of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Ashwagandha has powerful antioxidant properties that enhance the telomerase enzyme that regenerates the telomeres and prevents their oxidation. Calorie restriction conserves telomeres by reducing the free radical load. Exercise maintains telomere length and so does omega-3, Vitamin D, vitamin K1 and vitamin K2. The sleep hormone Melatonin, is an antioxidant/free radical scavenger that appears to prevent the shortening of telomeres associated with aging; and may act similarly to fight degradation of the cells in the retina. Resveratol and Alpha lipoic prob. also help...we should consider Ratfish oil as having telomere restorative properties. The adaptogenic herbs Astragalus, Ashwagandha, Siberian ginseng, Schisandra and Manchurian Thorn Tree and Rhodiola rosea help to reduce stress induced fatigue by supporting the adrenal glands and normalizing stress hormones.

Psychological stress is significantly associated with higher oxidative stress (free radical damage) as well as lower telomerase activity and shorter telomere length. Stress hormones increase oxidative stress damage, in part by decreasing antioxidant enzymes. The fact that stress lowers telomerase activity indicates that chronic stress increases telomere shortening and thus cellular aging. Telomere length itself was related to elevated Glucocorticoid stress hormones (catecholamines and cortisol). Research shows that psychological stress—both perceived stress and chronic stress—is significantly associated with higher oxidative stress, lower telomerase activity and shorter telomere length. Telomerase is higher in social relationships that are reciprocal, compassionate, giving, fun and humorous, where there is a greater sense of personal control, self-expression and health. Meditation, exercise and other forms of stress reduction increase the lifespan of telomeres. Love or opening builds coherency, while fear disrupts it. Promoting restful sleep has an important role in reducing tenseness, restlessness and improving tissue repair, mood and longevity. Supplementation with a combination of melatonin, 5-HTP, vitamin B6, Passion flower, St. John’s wort, Magnolia officinalis bark, lemon balm, hops and valerian root helps to support sleep.

That was a good post jana but i wouldnt mix a few of those i.e 5-htp and st johns wort or passionflower(MAOI inhibitor).

Melatonin im not keen on either as it can stop the bodies own production aswell as the average dosage is extremely large as to what the body produces naturally.

You are more than right about chronic stress, it has to be one of the biggest problems with health in my opinion.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

If you're that stressed out it's gonna kill you way before it shortens your telomeres though. You're more likely to die of disease or stress related illness than plain ole old age.

Wow! I really don't know anything about it. Looks like I should...

My video to keep me inspired on my health quest: [www.youtube.com]

Coco,
Can you believe in a humanoid living to be 1/4 of a million years old? I read about that in another webpage. I told my partner he says 'yea sure'. But for some reason or another I accepted that as a possibility, without any evidence at all that there are even aliens. If humans can reach that age is entirely another question.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sure, of course it does. I just don't think it can
> extend your life past a certain point no matter
> what you do though. Telemeres are real and they
> stop you from living past a certain age no matter
> what.


Maybe. I don't really know much about it. It would be
cool if diet and things like yoga had an impact on them though.