Bay Area Scientists Develop DNA Stress Test

[Jacob]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/05/12/healthwatch-bay-area-scientists-develop-dna-stress-test/

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

 

[Ouroboros]

This doesn't make sense to me genetically...how could diet and exercise lengthen the telomeres. I've only taken a few genetics classes so maybe my knowledge is lacking, but from what I do know this sounds like a sham; can anyone more versed in genetics weigh in?

 

[Jacob]

I can weigh in with more reading and vids

http://www.isagenixhealth.net/2010/09/seven-ways-to-slow-telomere-shortening/

http://www.ibioseminars.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=101

http://www.prweb.com/releases/RevGenetics/Astral_Fruit/prweb2419994.htm

More on the stress connection: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Psychological-Stress-Affects-Telomeres-Cell-Health-193144.shtml

 

[Ouroboros]

I understand epigenetics well enough; but telmorase activation is something that's fairly fixed, and when it's not, it's because a mutation has caused the lengthening mechanic to go out of control, facilitating cancer.

 

[Jacob]

Increasing Glutathione Levels Also Helps Reduce Telomere Shortening and thus Anti-Aging

http://backsidepain.com/2011/04/inc...duce-telomere-shortening-and-thus-anti-aging/

Mentioned here as well: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...eveals-how-you-can-actually-revese-aging.aspx

 

[Jacob]

The £400 test that tells you how long you'll live

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...at-tells-you-how-long-youll-live-2284639.html

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 ageing.

Scientists behind the €500 (£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."