11 ms·

Two epigenetic regulators interfere with healthy aging

171 points by JPLeRouzic 7y ago

dwarkesh 7y ago
That healthspan might be extended along with lifespan is tremendous news. I think people are afraid of living longer than 75 or so because they assume that the rest of their life will be a spent in senility. But if we can figure out how to keep minds and bodies useful as long as a person lives by influencing their epigenetics, we could make people productive and happy for decades longer.
dwarkesh 7y ago
Does anyone know what the implication for humans is? Do we know what might be activating these epigenetic regulators in humans and how we can reverse them?
- seventytwo 7y ago
  No, no one knows yet.
- andor 7y ago
  According to David Sinclair, there are some things that are likely to work: - Lots of exercise - Diet changes - Intermittent fasting Wikipedia about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Andrew_Sinclair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Andrew_Sinclair His book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifespan:_Why_We_Age_-_and_Why_We_Don%27t_Have_To https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifespan:_Why_We_Age_-_and_Why... Podcast about this (you can skip the first 8 or so minutes of ads): https://pca.st/rpnecpmb https://pca.st/rpnecpmb
  - Erlich_Bachman 7y ago
    He also eats NMN, resveratrol and metformin (not for diabetes, but for anti-aging). He talks about these measures that he takes and the research he uses to motivate them in his podcast with Joe Rogan (can be found by "Joe Rogan David Sinclair"). The research is not as conclusive yet as to be fully agreed on upon everyone after rigorous testing up to WHO standards, but it is solid enough for this researcher (in the field of aging no less) to consider these measures valuable.
mrfusion 7y ago
Is the site down?
- jimbob45 7y ago
  Yep. Looks like we missed the immortality bus by just a few hours. Darn :(
keyle 7y ago
Can someone put it in Layman's terms?
econcon 7y ago
I've one smart body composition scale. It shows my mom's age 1/3 of her original age and my age has 5 year plus. It means I am older than my mom according to Mi smart Scale. Anyone knows what they use to determine that?
- adrianN 7y ago
  They use wishful thinking. Body composition scales are crap, don't trust their numbers. Most just run a little current through your legs and then guess some numbers. The error bars on that are so huge that it's basically meaningless to compare between people. The have limited utility for comparing your body composition to your past self.
  - Jedd 7y ago
    I'm not sure what TFA's talking about wrt scales showing someone's age as being 1/3 what it actually is -- but the claim: > They use wishful thinking. Body composition scales are crap, don't trust their numbers. ... is difficult to assimilate. I use Omron consumer-grade gear - all the in-depth reviews / assessments I've seen suggest it's reasonably accurate (unquote) so long as you're not an outlier (massively overweight, underweight, overly muscular, under/over-hydrated). But in all cases it's great as a trending tool.
  - cj 7y ago
    I agree smart scales have a massive margin of error for BMI, muscle weight, water %, etc.. That said, they are useful when used on a daily basis over many months. Clear trends show up accurately (I started using a Withings scale 8 months ago and have lost 30lbs in that period, no single measurement is useful and they often swing wildly up and down, but the trend lines over time are what I found valuable, and as accurate as needed, at least for my purposes)
    - rubber_duck 7y ago
      Margin of error for BMI is small as weight and height are relatively easy to measure accurately. As for BF % guesswork - you'll probably do better with simple calipers - at least those measurements are based on something tangible
jagannathtech 7y ago
If anyone want to know the heads or tails of this, read the book 'Lifespan' by David Sinclair. It has good explanations and awesome research findings on ageing like this study.
zeigotaro 7y ago
Perhaps a more layman-focused explanation: https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/aging-epigenetic-wet-blanket-douses-mitochondria https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/aging-epigenetic...
- yunobcool 7y ago
  Thanks, this was very helpful.
1e-9 7y ago
The researchers discovered that two particular proteins appear to degrade health in worms and mice by harming mitochondria. Worms, mice, and humans all produce these proteins in increasing amounts as they age. The researchers improved the health of aging worms and mice by suppressing the proteins. They found reason to believe this might also be possible for humans.
- mherrmann 7y ago
  Thank you for this fantastic summary.
  - throwaway77384 7y ago
    not sure why you're getting downvoted, but I'd agree, it's really useful to have this summary!
    - mherrmann 7y ago
      I think posts "without content" such as simple +1s or thank yous are not liked here, because they don't add much to the conversation. Still, I found the summary exceptionally useful and wanted to thank the guy/gal.

171 points by JPLeRouzic 7y ago

That healthspan might be extended along with lifespan is tremendous news. I think people are afraid of living longer than 75 or so because they assume that the rest of their life will be a spent in senility. But if we can figure out how to keep minds and bodies useful as long as a person lives by influencing their epigenetics, we could make people productive and happy for decades longer.

dwarkesh 7y ago

Does anyone know what the implication for humans is? Do we know what might be activating these epigenetic regulators in humans and how we can reverse them?

seventytwo 7y ago
No, no one knows yet.
andor 7y ago
According to David Sinclair, there are some things that are likely to work: - Lots of exercise - Diet changes - Intermittent fasting Wikipedia about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Andrew_Sinclair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Andrew_Sinclair His book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifespan:_Why_We_Age_-_and_Why_We_Don%27t_Have_To https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifespan:_Why_We_Age_-_and_Why... Podcast about this (you can skip the first 8 or so minutes of ads): https://pca.st/rpnecpmb https://pca.st/rpnecpmb
- Erlich_Bachman 7y ago
  He also eats NMN, resveratrol and metformin (not for diabetes, but for anti-aging). He talks about these measures that he takes and the research he uses to motivate them in his podcast with Joe Rogan (can be found by "Joe Rogan David Sinclair"). The research is not as conclusive yet as to be fully agreed on upon everyone after rigorous testing up to WHO standards, but it is solid enough for this researcher (in the field of aging no less) to consider these measures valuable.

mrfusion 7y ago

Is the site down?

jimbob45 7y ago
Yep. Looks like we missed the immortality bus by just a few hours. Darn :(

keyle 7y ago

Can someone put it in Layman's terms?

econcon 7y ago

I've one smart body composition scale. It shows my mom's age 1/3 of her original age and my age has 5 year plus. It means I am older than my mom according to Mi smart Scale. Anyone knows what they use to determine that?

adrianN 7y ago
They use wishful thinking. Body composition scales are crap, don't trust their numbers. Most just run a little current through your legs and then guess some numbers. The error bars on that are so huge that it's basically meaningless to compare between people. The have limited utility for comparing your body composition to your past self.
- Jedd 7y ago
  I'm not sure what TFA's talking about wrt scales showing someone's age as being 1/3 what it actually is -- but the claim: > They use wishful thinking. Body composition scales are crap, don't trust their numbers. ... is difficult to assimilate. I use Omron consumer-grade gear - all the in-depth reviews / assessments I've seen suggest it's reasonably accurate (unquote) so long as you're not an outlier (massively overweight, underweight, overly muscular, under/over-hydrated). But in all cases it's great as a trending tool.
- cj 7y ago
  I agree smart scales have a massive margin of error for BMI, muscle weight, water %, etc.. That said, they are useful when used on a daily basis over many months. Clear trends show up accurately (I started using a Withings scale 8 months ago and have lost 30lbs in that period, no single measurement is useful and they often swing wildly up and down, but the trend lines over time are what I found valuable, and as accurate as needed, at least for my purposes)
  - rubber_duck 7y ago
    Margin of error for BMI is small as weight and height are relatively easy to measure accurately. As for BF % guesswork - you'll probably do better with simple calipers - at least those measurements are based on something tangible

jagannathtech 7y ago

If anyone want to know the heads or tails of this, read the book 'Lifespan' by David Sinclair. It has good explanations and awesome research findings on ageing like this study.

zeigotaro 7y ago

Perhaps a more layman-focused explanation: https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/aging-epigenetic-wet-blanket-douses-mitochondria https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/aging-epigenetic...

yunobcool 7y ago
Thanks, this was very helpful.

1e-9 7y ago

The researchers discovered that two particular proteins appear to degrade health in worms and mice by harming mitochondria. Worms, mice, and humans all produce these proteins in increasing amounts as they age. The researchers improved the health of aging worms and mice by suppressing the proteins. They found reason to believe this might also be possible for humans.

mherrmann 7y ago
Thank you for this fantastic summary.
- throwaway77384 7y ago
  not sure why you're getting downvoted, but I'd agree, it's really useful to have this summary!
  - mherrmann 7y ago
    I think posts "without content" such as simple +1s or thank yous are not liked here, because they don't add much to the conversation. Still, I found the summary exceptionally useful and wanted to thank the guy/gal.