Saturday, December 3, 2016

How fast you move can predict how healthy you'll be - If you are a roundworm

We'll never know if this applies to stroke survivors.
https://www.mdlinx.com/endocrinology/medical-news-article/2015/11/24/6428485?
Institute for Basic Science News, 11/23/2015
As humans have begun to live longer it has become clear that the quality of our lives is equally as important as the duration. In the lab, a dramatic extension of lifespan isn’t difficult to achieve. In previous experiments using several types of mutated Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms (C. elegans), researchers were able to significantly extend the worm’s lifespan. The lengthened life that the worms experienced was not necessarily a good one, as many of the mutated varieties were less healthy than wild–type worms, especially during the segment of life that was extended beyond normal. Instead of focusing on drawing out the length of life, South Korea’s IBS Center for Plant Aging Research and the research group led by Coleen Murphy, a professor at Princeton University have created a tool that can be used for accurately predicting lifespan as well as assessing the current health state, and discovered the regulatory mechanism that extends “healthspan”, the time in which an organism is at its optimal health. The researchers concluded that maximum velocity (MV) of wild–type worms at day 9 of adulthood is a reliable predictor of longevity. Another factor they observed was the state of C. elegans mitochondria. Elderly humans have weaker muscles and less strength resulted from mitochondrial defects which occur later in life. C. elegans with lower MV exhibit similar defects by midlife but there are far fewer defects in worms with higher MV at the same age. These observations indicate that MV correlates with mitochondrial health expression, suggesting that MV can be a reliable indicator of the actual physical state. The findings show that MV of C. elegans is a reliable indicator of age–related physical decline, accurately reports movement ability and if measured in mid–adulthood, is predictive of future longevity. According to Hong Gil Nam, “our analysis takes into account the length of time an individual can expect to live, and how healthy that individual can expect to be with age.” Many parts of the insulin/IGF–1 signaling (IIS) pathway that enable these functions have been identified, and many of these genes and the underlying mechanisms are conserved in mammals, which mean that the extended abilities that insulin/IGF–1 signaling (IIS) exhibits could offer therapeutic target possibilities for humans in the future. The IBS Center isn’t just looking at push the limits for long life; instead they are unraveling the mechanisms in our cells to maximize our health as we age.
Go to PubMed Go to Abstract Print Article Summary Cat 2 CME Report

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