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http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/05/12/healthwatch-bay-area-scientists-develop-dna-stress-test/
This is the bottom half:
More info from the company mentioned: http://telomehealth.com/html/scienceMedicine/ourTechnology.html
This is the bottom half:
Dr. Calvin Harley is with Telome Health of Menlo Park. His company has developed a test that can accurately measure the length of an individual’s telomeres.
CBS 5 HealthWatch asked him why length is important enough to measure. Harley replied, “Very short telomeres are what are behind a lot of different age related diseases.â€
Telomeres naturally shorten as we get older. But chronic stress can speed up the shortening. And shortened telomeres can put you at a higher risk of cancer, heart disease, even dementia.
The good news is that telomeres are the one part of your DNA that you can actually change, according to the scientists.
“They can shrink or increase in length depending upon your life style and risk exposures,†said Harley.
This test is currently used only in research, but the scientists believe if physicians can prescribe the test, like a cholesterol test, that their patients can get an annual telomere checkup.
Dan Hunt is the interim CEO with Telome Health. “If you have very short telomere length and or you monitor your telomere length and they’re rapid reductions in the telomeres, it may be indicative there’s a health problem,†Hunt said.
Your doctor may then prescribe a better diet, exercise, even stress reduction – all which may slow down the shortening of your telomeres, or even boost their length.
Hunt said research shows that a change may occur in as little as four months. Telome Health hopes to get the test certified later this year. Each sample that gets tested may cost about $200.
More info from the company mentioned: http://telomehealth.com/html/scienceMedicine/ourTechnology.html