StemCell Therapy

First time client. Felt like a long lost friend. Knowledgeable. Gentle. Answered all questions and took time to make sure I was comfortable throughout procedure. Will definitely return and will recommend to my friends. Thank You! Longevity Client

The staff & facility are outstanding. I made a decision to change from my previous skin care facility to Longevity & have absolutely been so pleased with the decision. Thank you!-Longevity Client

Longevity offers health, beauty and wellness services that are focused on helping you live your best life. Our medical spa is led by Darryl Robinson, M.D. and Kristen Forbes, R.N, who are committed to helping each and every client live a life of health, beauty and wellness. Our goal is to inspire you and help you live life to the fullest while enhancing your body inside and out. Whether your goal is weight loss, stress reduction, a more confident body image, or a healthier lifestyle, we are here to help you attain all of your health and beauty goals.

At Longevity, we provide a full suite of health, beauty and wellness services for our clients in Moore, OK, Norman, OK, South OKC, OK, and the surrounding areas. Our services include skin rejuvenation Ulthera skin tightening & Forever Young BBL PhotoFacials;Skin care acne treatments, microdermabrasion, chemical peels & microneedling; Medically supervised weight loss, detox services & nutrition.

Our medspa also offers unique beauty and wellness solutions such as Injectables Botox, Xeomin, Juvederm, Bellafill; Neograft hair restoration; Laser hair removal; Spider vein removal; Massage therapy & infrared sauna and medical grade skin care products.

Some of our newest additions to our South OKC spa include: Body waxing, bikini wax & Brazilian waxing services & South Sea spray tans! Tattoo removal & a more advanced laser hair removal system will be available on site, once a month! Check our monthly events for dates! With our state-of-the-art beauty and health solutions, you can look and feel your very best for the rest of your life!

Dr. Darryl Robinson offers experienced medical supervision ensuring that each patient receives the attention and care they need from a qualified professional. He will see to it that you get the best treatments for enhanced health and wellness. Together with your esthetician or licensed expert, you can enjoy an enhanced appearance and improved physical well-being with a customized wellness plan made specifically for you. When you look and feel great, you have the confidence to pursue goals in other areas of your life with more focus and vision. Let us help you take the steps toward improved health and a renewed lifestyle.

Contact us to schedule a consultation and start enjoying your rejuvenated and invigorated lifestyle. Longevity provides the support and solutions you need to create a healthy and improved body, mind and appearance. Give us a call at 1(405) 703-4990 for quality care from a licensed esthetician, certified expert, or qualified physician today.

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Longevity - Esthetician, Botox & Juvederm Moore, Norman ...

David Wolfe Health, Eco, Nutrition, and Natural Beauty Expert

Today is the best day ever.

David Avocado Wolfe is the rock star and Indiana Jones of the superfoods and longevity universe. The worlds top CEOs, ambassadors, celebrities, athletes, artists, and the real superheroes of this planetMomsall look to David for expert advice in health, beauty, herbalism, nutrition, and chocolate!

David is the celebrity spokesperson for Americas #1 selling kitchen appliance: the NUTRiBULLET and for http://www.LongevityWarehouse.com. He is the co-founder of TheBestDayEver.com online health magazine and is the visionary founder and president of the non-profit The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation charity (www.ftpf.org) with a mission to plant 18 billion fruit, nut, and medicinal trees on planet Earth.

With over 20 years of dedicated experience and having hosted over 2750 live events, David has led the environmental charge for radiant health via a positive mental attitude, eco-community building, living spring water, and the best-ever quality organic foods and herbs.

David champions the ideals of spending time in nature, growing ones own food, and making today the best day ever. He teaches that inspiration is found in love, travel, natural beauty, vibrant health, and peak-performance.

David has circumnavigated the Earth for decades seeking out the worlds purest foods and waters and leading adventure retreats (please see http://www.davidwolfeadventures.com).

David is a gourmet chocolatier, organic farmer, beekeeper, and a vanilla grower. He is passionate about the beautifying, health giving and mystical qualities of dark organic chocolate.You may find his favorite chocolate at:www.sacredchocolate.com/DavidAvocadoWolfe.

David is the author of many best-selling books, including Eating for Beauty, The Sunfood Diet Success System, Naked Chocolate, Amazing Grace, Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future, Chaga: King of the Medicinal Mushrooms and Longevity NOW. He has also appeared in numerous breakthrough documentaries and films including: Food Matters, Hungry for Change, and Discover the Gift.

Davids Facebook site (www.facebook.com/DavidAvocadoWolfe) daily touches people all over the globe by delivering succinct powerful inspiration, news, and education.

David is a highly sought after health and personal success speaker. He has shared the stage with success and business coaches like Anthony Robbins, Richard Branson, Brian Tracy, John DeMartini, as well as acclaimed doctors and health researchers including: Dr. Bruce Lipton, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Dr. Sara Gottfried, Dr. Lissa Rankin, Dr Dave Woynarowksi and many more.

David is a lead educator and presenter at the annual Longevity Conference, Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and the Body-Mind Institute, where he hosts his own course: http://www.bodymindinstitute.com/the-david-wolfe-nutrition-certification/

Here is the original post:
David Wolfe

Featured Recipe from The Longevity Kitchen: Insanely Good Chocolate Brownies

Jumbo shrimp. Airline food. Boneless ribs. Fuzzy logic. Some words just dont seem to belong together. Im betting youd say healthy brownie falls into that category. Au contraire! How do I know that isnt the case? Because there was a lot of yumming in my kitchen as a gaggle of brownie aficionados devoured these. Refined white sugar out; Grade B maple syrup in. See ya white flour; hello almond flour and brown rice flour. Fare-thee-well butter; come-on-down olive oil! Add dark chocolate, walnuts, and cinnamon, and the result is a decadent culinary oxymoron for the ages.

Makes 16 brownies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

You can also use a 9 by 6-inch baking pan. If you do, the baking time will be only about 25 minutes.

Cacao content is the amount of pure cacao products (chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder) used in the chocolate; the higher the percentage, the more antioxidants the chocolate contains. And if youre into addition by subtraction, higher cacao percentages mean lower sugar content.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan (see note) with two pieces of foil long enough to overlap on all four sides. Lightly oil the foil.

Put the almond flour, brown rice flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir with a whisk to combine.

Put half of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring often, just until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the olive oil.

Excerpt from:
The Longevity Kitchen: Satisfying, Big-Flavor Recipes ...

Glycation is one of four key process which lead to aging by damaging cells. Addressing these four issues reduces aging.

Glycation is a process where sugar and protein molecules combine to form a tangled mess of tissue. Glycated tissue is tough and inflexible, leading to wrinkling not only of the skin, but also of important internal organs. Furthermore, glycated tissues then produce Aged Glycation End-products [AGEs], which further compound the problem by producing large numbers of damaging free radicals.

All in all, glycation is a nightmare process which degrades important body tissues. It must be dramatically reduced if aging is to be minimized.

Glycation causes tough, wrinkled connective tissue. This is most visible on the skin as wrinkles. However, it occurs all through the body. Tough, inelastic connective tissue is very damaging to organs where flexibility is vital. This is especially important in the heart, kidneys, brain, eyes and pancreas.

The lack of flexibility in the important organs leads to reduced functionality and early death. The reason diabetics suffer from organ ailments earlier than most people is that their raised blood sugar level produce greater glycation.

Glycation cannot be stopped completely; neither can it be reversed, currently. However, it can be reduced considerably by making changes in lifestyle and diet.

There are two main causes of glycation;

Continually high blood glucose promotes glycation, as well as other aging processes and degenerative diseases. If glycation is to be reduced, then so must the intake of sugar from the diet.

Sugar in the Diet

Dietary sugar comes from the obvious sugary sources including honey and maple syrup but it also comes from starchy food, many of which are close to 100% sugar, when they are broken down in the body.

Read the original here:
Aging and Longevity 3. Glycation - Living To 150

This article is about the ageing of living things. For ageing specifically in humans, see ageing. For the study of ageing in humans, see gerontology. For the science of the care of the elderly, see geriatrics. For experimental gerontology, see life extension. For premature ageing disorders, see Progeroid syndromes.

Senescence () (from Latin: senescere, meaning "to grow old", from senex) or biological aging (also spelled biological ageing) is the gradual deterioration of function characteristic of most complex lifeforms, arguably found in all biological kingdoms, that on the level of the organism increases mortality after maturation. The word "senescence" can refer either to cellular senescence or to senescence of the whole organism. It is commonly believed that cellular senescence underlies organismal senescence. The science of biological aging is biogerontology.

Senescence is not the inevitable fate of all organisms. Organisms of some taxonomic groups (taxa), including some animals, even experience chronological decrease in mortality, for all or part of their life cycle.[1] On the other extreme are accelerated aging diseases, rare in humans. There is also the extremely rare and poorly understood "Syndrome X", whereby a person remains physically and mentally an infant or child throughout one's life.[2][3]

Even if environmental factors do not cause aging, they may affect it; in such a way, for example, overexposure to ultraviolet radiation accelerates skin aging. Different parts of the body may age at different rates. Two organisms of the same species can also age at different rates, so that biological aging and chronological aging are quite distinct concepts.

Albeit indirectly, senescence is by far the leading cause of death (other than in the trivially accurate sense that cerebral hypoxia, i.e., lack of oxygen to the brain, is the immediate cause of all human death). Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds100,000 per daydie of age-related causes; in industrialized nations, moreover, the proportion is much higher, reaching 90%.[4]

There are a number of hypotheses as to why senescence occurs; for example, some posit it is programmed by gene expression changes, others that it is the cumulative damage caused by biological processes. Whether senescence as a biological process itself can be slowed down, halted or even reversed, is a subject of current scientific speculation and research.[5]

Cellular senescence is the phenomenon by which normal diploid cells cease to divide. In cell culture, fibroblasts can reach a maximum of 50 cell divisions before becoming senescent. This phenomenon is known as "replicative senescence", or the Hayflick limit in honour of Dr.Leonard Hayflick, co-author with Paul Moorhead, of the first paper describing it in 1961.[6] Replicative senescence is the result of telomere shortening that ultimately triggers a DNA damage response. Cells can also be induced to senesce via DNA damage in response to elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS), activation of oncogenes and cell-cell fusion, independent of telomere length. As such, cellular senescence represents a change in "cell state" rather than a cell becoming "aged" as the name confusingly suggests. Although senescent cells can no longer replicate, they remain metabolically active and commonly adopt an immunogenic phenotype consisting of a pro-inflammatory secretome, the up-regulation of immune ligands, a pro-survival response, promiscuous gene expression (pGE) and stain positive for senescence-associated -galactosidase activity.[7] The nucleus of senescent cells is characterized by senescence-associated heterochromatin foci (SAHF) and DNA segments with chromatin alterations reinforcing senescence (DNA-SCARS).[8] Senescent cells are known to play important physiological functions in tumour suppression, wound healing and possibly embryonic/placental development and paradoxically play a pathological role in age-related diseases.[9] The elimination of senescent cells using a transgenic mouse model led to greater resistance against aging-associated diseases,[10] suggesting that cellular senescence is a major driving force of ageing and its associated diseases.

Organismal senescence is the aging of whole organisms. In general, aging is characterized by the declining ability to respond to stress, increased homeostatic imbalance, and increased risk of aging-associated diseases. Death is the ultimate consequence of aging, though "old age" is not a scientifically recognized cause of death because there is always a specific proximal cause, such as cancer, heart disease, or liver failure. Aging of whole organisms is therefore a complex process that can be defined as "a progressive deterioration of physiological function, an intrinsic age-related process of loss of viability and increase in vulnerability".[11]

Differences in maximum life span among species correspond to different "rates of aging". For example, inherited differences in the rate of aging make a mouse elderly at 3 years and a human elderly at 80 years.[12] These genetic differences affect a variety of physiological processes, including the efficiency of DNA repair, antioxidant enzymes, and rates of free radical production.

Senescence of the organism gives rise to the GompertzMakeham law of mortality, which says that mortality rate accelerates rapidly with age.

Continued here:
Senescence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reliability engineering is engineering that emphasizes dependability in the lifecycle management of a product. Dependability, or reliability, describes the ability of a system or component to function under stated conditions for a specified period of time.[1] Reliability engineering represents a sub-discipline within systems engineering. Reliability is theoretically defined as the probability of success (Reliability=1-Probability of Failure), as the frequency of failures; or in terms of availability, as a probability derived from reliability and maintainability. Maintainability and maintenance are often defined as a part of "reliability engineering" in Reliability Programs. Reliability plays a key role in the cost-effectiveness of systems.

Reliability engineering deals with the estimation and management of high levels of "lifetime" engineering uncertainty and risks of failure. Although stochastic parameters define and affect reliability, according to some expert authors on Reliability Engineering (e.g. P. O'Conner, J. Moubray[2] and A. Barnard,[3]), reliability is not (solely) achieved by mathematics and statistics. "Nearly all teaching and literature on the subject emphasize these aspects, and ignore the reality that the ranges of uncertainty involved largely invalidate quantitative methods for prediction and measurement." [4]

Reliability engineering relates closely to safety engineering and to system safety, in that they use common methods for their analysis and may require input from each other. Reliability engineering focuses on costs of failure caused by system downtime, cost of spares, repair equipment, personnel, and cost of warranty claims. Safety engineering normally emphasizes not cost, but preserving life and nature, and therefore deals only with particular dangerous system-failure modes. High reliability (safety factor) levels also result from good engineering and from attention to detail, and almost never from only reactive failure management (reliability accounting / statistics).[5]

A former United States Secretary of Defense, economist James R. Schlesinger, once stated: "Reliability is, after all, engineering in its most practical form."[4]

The word reliability can be traced back to 1816, by poet Samuel Coleridge.[7] Before World War II the name has been linked mostly to repeatability. A test (in any type of science) was considered reliable if the same results would be obtained repeatedly. In the 1920s product improvement through the use of statistical quality control was promoted by Dr. Walter A. Shewart at Bell Labs.[8] Around this time Wallodi Weibull was working on statistical models for fatigue. The development of reliability engineering was here on a parallel path with quality. The modern use of the word reliability was defined by the U.S. military in the 1940s and evolved to the present. It initially came to mean that a product would operate when expected (nowadays called "mission readiness") and for a specified period of time. In the time around the WWII and later, many reliability issues were due to inherent unreliability of electronics and to fatigue issues. In 1945, M.A. Miner published the seminal paper titled Cumulative Damage in Fatigue in an ASME journal. A main application for reliability engineering in the military was for the vacuum tube as used in radar systems and other electronics, for which reliability has proved to be very problematic and costly. The IEEE formed the Reliability Society in 1948. In 1950, on the military side, a group called the Advisory Group on the Reliability of Electronic Equipment, AGREE, was born. This group recommended the following 3 main ways of working:

In the 1960s more emphasis was given to reliability testing on component and system level. The famous military standard 781 was created at that time. Around this period also the much-used (and also much-debated) military handbook 217 was published by RCA (Radio Corporation of America) and was used for the prediction of failure rates of components. The emphasis on component reliability and empirical research (e.g. Mil Std 217) alone slowly decreases. More pragmatic approaches, as used in the consumer industries, are being used. The 1980s was a decade of great changes. Televisions had become all semiconductor. Automobiles rapidly increased their use of semiconductors with a variety of microcomputers under the hood and in the dash. Large air conditioning systems developed electronic controllers, as had microwave ovens and a variety of other appliances. Communications systems began to adopt electronics to replace older mechanical switching systems. Bellcore issued the first consumer prediction methodology for telecommunications, and SAE developed a similar document SAE870050 for automotive applications. The nature of predictions evolved during the decade, and it became apparent that die complexity wasn't the only factor that determined failure rates for Integrated Circuits (ICs). Kam Wong published a paper questioning the bathtub curve [9]--see also Reliability Centered Maintenance. During this decade, the failure rate of many components dropped by a factor of 10. Software became important to the reliability of systems. By the 1990s, the pace of IC development was picking up. Wider use of stand-alone microcomputers was common, and the PC market helped keep IC densities following Moores Law and doubling about every 18 months. Reliability Engineering now was more changing towards understanding the physics of failure. Failure rates for components kept on dropping, but system-level issues became more prominent. Systems Thinking became more and more important. For software, the CCM model (Capability Maturity Model) was developed, which gave a more qualitative approach to reliability. ISO 9000 added reliability measures as part of the design and development portion of Certification. The expansion of the World-Wide Web created new challenges of security and trust. The older problem of too little reliability information available had now been replaced by too much information of questionable value. Consumer reliability problems could now have data and be discussed online in real time. New technologies such as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), handheld GPS, and hand-held devices that combined cell phones and computers all represent challenges to maintain reliability. Product development time continued to shorten through this decade and what had been done in three years was being done in 18 months. This meant that reliability tools and tasks must be more closely tied to the development process itself. In many ways, reliability became part of everyday life and consumer expectations.

The objectives of reliability engineering, in the order of priority, are:[10]

The reason for the priority emphasis is that it is by far the most effective way of working, in terms of minimizing costs and generating reliable products.The primary skills that are required, therefore, are the ability to understand and anticipate the possible causes of failures, and knowledge of how to prevent them. It is also necessary to have knowledge of the methods that can be used for analysing designs and data.

Reliability engineering for complex systems requires a different, more elaborate systems approach than for non-complex systems. Reliability engineering may in that case involve:

Effective reliability engineering requires understanding of the basics of failure mechanisms for which experience, broad engineering skills and good knowledge from many different special fields of engineering,[11] like:

Go here to read the rest:
Reliability engineering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Welcome! If you want to lose weight, gain muscle, increase energy levels or just generally look and feel healthier you've come to the right place.

Here's where to start:

Thanks for visiting!

A time-honored and research-tested way to extend an animals lifespan is to restrict its caloric intake. Studies repeatedly confirm that if, say, a lab mouse normally gets two full bowls of lab chow a day, limiting that mouse to one and a half bowls of lab chow a day will make that mouse live longer than the mouse eating the full two bowls.Cool, cool, a longer life is great and all, but what about the downsides of straight calorie restriction, aside from willfully restricting your food intake, ignoring hunger pangs, relegating yourself to feeling discontent with meals, and counting calories and macronutrients obsessively? Are there any others? Sure:

Loss of muscle mass. Humans undergoing calorie restriction often suffer loss of lean muscle mass and strength, all pretty objectively negative effects (unless you really go for the gaunt Christian Bale in The Machinist look and use a super-strong bionic exoskeleton for all your physical tasks).

Loss of bone mineral density. Humans who calorie restrict in studies also show signs of lower bone mineral density when compared to humans who lose weight from exercise,particularly in the hip and spine the two areas most susceptible to fall-related bone breaks. I wrote about this study some time ago here.

Oh, and theres the fact that the act of restricting ones calories can be mind-numbing, miserable, and difficult for a great many people, especially if its a lifelong pursuit. (Unless, of course, you eat according to the Primal Blueprint and are fat-adapted. It can make CR not only tolerable, but a cinch because we become so good at living off stored body fat. We dont suffer from sugar lows when we skip meals the way most people who fast do, but I digress.) Thats kind of a biggie.

What about fasting? In previous installments of this series, Ive explained how fasting can sometimes be described as a short cut to the benefits of calorie restriction, an easier (and even more effective) path to the same destination. Studies on fasting/calorie restriction and cancer find that fasting is more effective in a shorter amount of time (weeks or months versus mere days). Does the same hold true for longevity? Can fasting also extend lifespan without making us look like a calorie-restricted monkey?

1945 marks the first real study (PDF) of the effects of intermittent fasting on lifespan in animals. Beginning at day 42 of their lives, rats were either fasted one day in four, one day in three, or every other day. All fasted rats, save for the females who were fasted one day in four, lived longer than control rats on a normal schedule. Although females outlived males in general (like always), fasting had the greatest effect in males. Male rats did best on every other day fasting; female rats did best on one day in three fasting. Fasted rats weighed less than control rats, so they likely also ate less, even though feeding days were ad libitum.

In a 1982 study, mice fed every other day lived 82% longer than mice fed ad libitum every day. No word on calorie intake.

More here:
How Fasting Increases Lifespan | Mark's Daily Apple

Located in the heart of Perth, the leading health professionals at Chiropractic Care & Longevity Center are dedicated to helping you achieve your wellness objectives -- combining skill and expertise that spans the entire chiropractic wellness spectrum.Dr. Kathy Wickens is committed to bringing you better health and a better way of life by teaching and practicing the true principles of chiropractic wellness care.

Patients seeking treatment at Chiropractic Care & Longevity Center with Dr. Kathy Wickens are assured of receiving only the finest quality care through the use of modern chiropractic equipment and technology. Dr. Kathy Wickens and the staff have a genuine concern for your well-being!

If you are new to our website, please feel free to discover and learn about chiropractic wellness. If you are interested in starting your journey towards wellness please subscribe to our award winning newsletter. If you are already a newsletter subscriber, please explore the member wellness section of our website for wellness articles, resources, and health facts---specifically targeted by Dr. Kathy Wickens to your wellness needs and interests.

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The Longevity Bun is similar to pau/bao but with a unique shape of a peach. The bun is airbrushed with a reddish/pinkish colorful top. You can make them in single bun or double (join 2 buns together to get a 3D image of a peach. It is stuffed with red bean paste or lotus paste or custard. It is available in the marketplace or Chinese pastry bakery or restaurants (for special occasionslike birthday or birth) too but not that popular.

Also the longevity buns are used for ritual events (Birthdays of Goddess, God or Saints) to offer their prayers. These Longevity buns are made to symbolize those immortality and magical peaches. It also symbolizes a collective aspiration and reflects traditional values that respect the elderly.

It is a challenge for me because I try many times but could not get the right shape and texture. After a few attempts, I managed to come out with this recipe and turn out well in time for the Chinese New Year celebration and be able to share with you all. What a long journey for me on working this piece of work.

Makes 20-22 buns

Ingredients:

Dough:

2 cups All Purpose flour

Read more:
Steamed Longevity Peach-shaped Buns | Marishia's ...

Summary: If you want to live longer and stay healthy your chances are better if you substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from your diet.

Consumption of sugary drinks may lead to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths each year worldwide, according to research published today in the journal Circulation and previously presented as an abstract at the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention in 2013.

Many countries in the world have a significant number of deaths occurring from a single dietary factor, sugar-sweetened beverages. It should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet, said Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.P.H., senior author of the study and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University in Boston.

In the first detailed global report on the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages, researchers estimated deaths and disabilities from diabetes, heart disease, and cancers in 2010. In this analysis, sugar sweetened beverages were defined as any sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit drinks, sports/energy drinks, sweetened iced teas, or homemade sugary drinks such as frescas, that contained at least 50 kcal per 8oz serving. 100 percent fruit juice was excluded.

Estimates of consumption were made from 62 dietary surveys including 611,971 individuals conducted between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries, along with data on national availability of sugar in 187 countries and other information. This allowed capture of geographical, gender and age variation in consumption levels of sugar-sweetened beverages in different populations. Based on meta-analyses of other published evidence on health harms of sugar-sweetened beverages, the investigators calculated the direct impact on diabetes and the obesity-related effects on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

In 2010, the researchers estimate that sugar-sweetened beverages consumption may have been responsible for approximately:

133,000 deaths from diabetes

45,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease

6,450 deaths from cancer

Some population dietary changes, such as increasing fruits and vegetables, can be challenging due to agriculture, costs, storage, and other complexities. This is not complicated. There are no health benefits from sugar-sweetened beverages, and the potential impact of reducing consumption is saving tens of thousands of deaths each year, Mozaffarian said.

Link:
Life Extension Information, Research and Products

By Dr. Mercola

Many have studied the reasons for longevity. Why do some people live longer than others? Is it genetics? Is it culture, or perhaps lifestyle?

James Smith, a health economist at the RAND Corporation, delved into the prevailing mystery of why some groups of people live longer than others. What he found you might find surprising. I certainly did. The number one social factor that correlated with long life was not geographic region or health or socioeconomic status, but education.

Among the most important things you can do to help lengthen your children's lives is to keep them in school, according to Dr. Smith. And he's not the only one who has come to this conclusion, as you will discover in this New York Times article.1

The National Institute on Aging finds education is the most important social factor for longevity in study after study, dominating other factors such as income, race and health insurance. Columbia University graduate student Adriana Lleras-Muney found that your life expectancy at age 35 is extended by one and a half years simply by going to school for one extra year.

These findings imply that sinking our precious national dollars into health insurance programs will never give us as much "bang for our buck" as directing those funds toward education.

Dr. Smith suggests education may teach people how to delay gratification and think ahead. Education may teach you how to plan for your future, as opposed to simply living for the moment. Besides education, what other social factors may extend your life?

Harvard Professor of Public Policy Lisa Berkman cites social isolation as a significant factor in longevity. If you're socially isolated, you may experience poor health and a shorter lifespan. This may be, at least in part, because those who don't have good social networks may not be able to get assistance if they become ill.

Is there a health-wealth connection? Yes, there is, according to Dr. Smith. An analysis of Medicare beneficiaries performed by Dartmouth College found the lowest death rates are seen in the wealthiest places.

Current studies suggest getting rich does not make you healthier, but getting sick does make you poorer. Low income doesn't lead to poor health as much as poor health leads to low income, according to the latest research. This is largely due to the fact that, if you develop cancer, heart disease, diabetes or another serious disease, your medical expenses rise while your ability to work declines. For countries like England and Sweden that have universal health insurance, there is no difference in longevity between the rich and the poor.

Here is the original post:
Surprising Secrets to Longevity

Chris Turner/Stone/Getty Images

Updated December 19, 2014.

Why is Dark Chocolate Healthy?:

Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables as part of your anti-aging diet. These benefits are from flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries).

Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body.

In fact, cocoa and chocolate products have been used as medicine in many cultures for centuries.

Heart Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate:

Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it everyday can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well. Two heart health benefits of dark chocolate are:

Other Benefits of Dark Chocolate:

Chocolate also holds benefits apart from protecting your heart:

Original post:
Health Benefits of Chocolate - Longevity Advice from About.com

A R T I C L E

Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health. The biological meaning of cholesterol is just starting to be explored. Everything that doctors know about cholesterol is wrong. New information about cholesterol is clarifying important issues in physiology and pathology. Medical magazines and television stations like to propagate the idea that cholesterol is bad stuff, and as a result, that cliche is known to almost every American. Recent journal articles have promoted the idea that "the lower the serum cholesterol is, the better" it is for the health of the patient.

The theory that heart disease is "caused by cholesterol" has gone through several stages, and most recently the use of the "statin" drugs has revived it in a radical way. One consistent theme for fifty years has been that people should eat more polyunsaturated fat and less saturated fat, to lower their cholesterol, and to avoid butter, cream, eggs, and "red meat," because they contain both saturated fat and cholesterol. Often, medical attention is focused on the fats in the atheroma, rather than on the whole disease process, including clotting factors, vascular spasms, heart rhythm, viscosity of the blood, deposition of calcium and iron in blood vessels, and the whole process of inflammation, including the reactions to absorbed bowel toxins.

Almost 100 years ago, some experiments in Russia showed that feeding rabbits cholesterol caused them to develop atherosclerosis, but subsequent experiments showed that rabbits are unusual in responding that way to cholesterol, and that even rabbits don't develop atherosclerosis from cholesterol if they are given a supplement of thyroid (Friedland, 1933). By 1936, it was clear that hypercholesterolemia in humans and other animals was caused by hypothyroidism, and that hypothyroidism caused many diseases to develop, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. There was already more reason at that time to think that the increased cholesterol was a protective adaptation than to think that it was maladaptive.

The strange idea that cholesterol causes atherosclerosis was revived in the 1950s when the vegetable oil industry learned that their polyunsaturated oils lowered serum cholesterol. (Many other toxins lower cholesterol, but that is never mentioned.) The industry began advertising their oils as "heart protective," and they enlisted some influential organizations to help in their advertising: The American Dietetic Association, the American Heart Association, the US Dept. of Agriculture and FDA, and the AMA. Besides the early rabbit research, which didn't make their case against cholesterol and might actually have had implications harmful to their argument (since Anitschkow had used vegetable oil as solvent for his cholesterol feedings), the oil industry helped to create and promote a large amount of fraudulent and unscientific work.

The death rate from heart disease in the United States began increasing early in the twentieth century, and it reached its peak from about 1950 to 1975, and then began declining. During the decades in which the death rate was rising, consumption of animal fat was decreasing, and the use of vegetable oil was increasing. In the southern European countries that have been said to show that eating very little animal fat prevents heart disease, the trends after the second world war have been the opposite--they have been eating more animal fat without an increase in heart disease.

The correspondence between heart disease and consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol is little more than advertising copy. If people were looking for the actual causes of heart disease, they would consider the factors that changed in the US during the time that heart disease mortality was increasing. Both increases in harmful factors, and decreases in protective factors would have to be considered.

The consumption of manufactured foods, pollution of air and water, the use of lead in gasoline, cigarette smoking, increased medicalization and use of drugs, psychosocial and socioeconomic stress, and increased exposure to radiation--medical, military, and industrial--would be obvious things to consider, along with decreased intake of some protective nutrients, such as selenium, magnesium, and vitamins.

But those harmful factors all had their defenders: Who defends socioeconomic stress? All of the social institutions that fail to alleviate it. In 1847, Rudolph Virchow was sent to Poland to study the health situation there, and when he returned, the highly regarded anatomist, physiologist and pathologist announced that the Poles wouldn't have a health problem if the government would stop oppressing them, and institute economic reforms to alleviate their poverty. The reforms weren't made, and Virchow lost his job. Other harmful factors, such as seed oils, degraded foods, and radiation, have specific, very well organized and powerful lobbies to defend them.

Despite the growing knowledge about the dangers of polyunsaturated fats, many medical articles are still advocating the "official" heart protective diet (e.g., "... diets using nonhydrogenated unsaturated fats as the predominant form of dietary fat," Hu and Willet, 2002).

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Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health.

Updated March 07, 2015.

Smiling is a great way to make yourself stand out while helping your body to function better. Smile to improve your health, your stress level, and your attractiveness. Smiling is just one way to look younger, and a fun way to live longer. Read about the others and try as many as you can.

Note: Stay up-to-date on longevity and anti-aging with my weekly newsletter.

We are drawn to people who smile. There is an attraction factor. We want to know a smiling person and figure out what is so good. Frowns, scowls and grimaces all push people away -- but a smile draws them in (avoid these smile aging habits to keep your smile looking great).

Stress can really show up in our faces. Smiling helps to prevent us from looking tired, worn down, and overwhelmed. Believe it or not, smiling can reduce stress smiling can reduce stress even if you don't feel like smiling or know you're smiling! When you are stressed, take time to put on a smile. The stress should be reduced and you'll be better able to take action.

Smiling helps the immune system to work better. When you smile, immune function improves possibly because you are more relaxed. Prevent the flu and colds by smiling.

Try this test: Smile. Now try to think of something negative without losing the smile. It's hard. When we smile our body is sending the rest of us a message that "Life is Good!" Stay away from depression, stress and worry by smiling.

More Fun Ways to Live Longer

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Health Benefits of Smiling - Longevity Advice from About.com

LONGEVITY Do-It-Yourself welding equipment is geared to the hobbyists and professionals who love to fix their own stuff! Please take a look at the links above to see how LONGEVITY welding equipment can best fit your needs in the D-I-Y market. Remember, our machines are used by professionals and hobbyists like you. Also, check out our welding forum at http://www.freeweldingforum.com to see what other DIY members are doing.

LONGEVITY offers a full line of welding equipment for both Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and professional welding purposes. Most of our equipment comes with an unmatched warranty of 3-Years on both parts and labor. Through innovation, experience, and engineering, we provide customers with affordable and reliable welding machines in all ranges of production from the garage users, pipe welders, and ship builders. Our warranty is tailored to the end users, and our customer support is unmatched.

LONGEVITY supplies a huge range of welders and welding machines for a wide variety of welding tasks. We stock Mig welders, Arc welders, Stick welders, TIG welders, Plasma Cutters, and other welding related machines for applications ranging from automotive welding, industrial welding, and fabrication work. Longevity welding supplies include a variety of mig, tig stick, welding consumables and welding wire. Our welding supplies help our clients bring their operating cost down resulting in more productive and less overhead.

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Longevity Global Inc

Everybody would like to buy a light bulb which lasts at least as long as the box you bought it in claims it will. However, as I mentioned in the definite guide for declaration found on light bulb packages, the longevity of light bulbs is usually much shorter than it is declared on their package. In this article youre going to find out how you can try to make your light bulbs last longer without shifting to other type of lighting.

I decided to write about most commonly used types of light bulbs today: incandescent, CFL and LED light bulbs. An important fact is that there are many variations of light bulbs that are using the same technology, and their longevity as well as ways to prolong it will be generalized.

Among other factors, the lifetime of any lamp depends on operating voltage, manufacturing defects, exposure to voltage spikes, mechanical shock and vibrations, how often you turn the light on and off, and ambient operating temperature. Make sure to check the condition of your light fixtures and find a way (or a person) to check the wiring.

In cases of high voltage or a bad power provider, a silicon diode cap can be screwed over the base of the bulb to reduce the voltage passing through. By lowering voltage, they also lover the generated heat, however, they also reduce the light output to some extent.

Before jumping to the section you are interested in, you should also be advised to buy light bulbs from companies with stricter quality control and brands you trust in. In long term, the difference in price between alight bulb of quality and a cheap light bulb pays off when it comes to frequency of their replacement.

General Electric Company was the first to patent a method of making tungsten filaments for use in incandescent light bulbs back in 1906, and the method hasnt changed a great deal during that time. Although they do have the lowest initial cost, compared to CFLs and LED light bulbs, incandescent light bulbs have the shortest longevity and highest energy consumption for the same amount of lumens (light) they are able to emit. So, how to make them last longer?

As mentioned in article about declaration found on light bulb packages, most household bulbs which operate on higher voltage than declared lose around 60 percent of the declared life. That is why buying light bulbs with more volts (V) than it is proposed by standard in your country can prolong their operation. Another two factors which influence the longevity of incandescent light bulbs are temperature and vibrations.

Most incandescent bulbs have a tungsten filament which heats up as electricity passes through. The heat, which produces the light, makes the filament fragile and wears it off over time. This part will heat up faster as it has a higher resistance (P = I2R), thus causing further thinning of the already thinnest part. You should also enable the light bulb to dissipate the heat more easily and lower its exposure to cold temperatures.

The best way to counter this effect, and stick to usage of tungsten incandescent light bulbs, is to install a continuous (dial type) dimmer switch. By slowly turning on a cool light bulb, you prevent surges of electricity from rushing through the filament. Unlike some of the old dimmer switches, modern dimmers do lower energy consumption as well. Therefore, turning down the maximum amount of light to the amount you actually need makes your electricity bill lower, and your light bulb lifespan longer.

Incandescent light bulbs are also sensitive to vibrations that may come from slamming doors, machines, shocks or even noise. The solution to this problem is usage of vibration resistant fan bulbs or rough service light bulbs. These bulbs have an extra filament that reduces the vibrations. Unlike most standard incandescent bulbs which last anywhere between 700 and 1,000 hours, rough service light bulbs can withstand vibrations and can generally last 2 to 10 times longer.

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Longevity of light bulbs and how to make them last longer ...

Highlights

Mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) signaling increases longevity in the nematode C.elegans

mtROS act through the intrinsic apoptosis pathway

mtROS signaling requires the alternative BH3-only protein CED-13

mtROS signaling induces a unique pattern of gene expression

The increased longevity of the C.elegans electron transport chain mutants isp-1 and nuo-6 is mediated by mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) signaling. Here weshow that the mtROS signal is relayed by theconserved, mitochondria-associated, intrinsic apoptosis signaling pathway (CED-9/Bcl2, CED-4/Apaf1, and CED-3/Casp9) triggered by CED-13, an alternative BH3-only protein. Activation of the pathway by an elevation of mtROS does not affect apoptosis but protects from the consequences of mitochondrial dysfunction by triggering a unique pattern of gene expression that modulates stress sensitivity and promotes survival. In vertebrates, mtROS induce apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway to protect from severely damaged cells. Our observations in nematodes demonstrate that sensing of mtROS by the apoptotic pathway can, independently of apoptosis, elicit protective mechanisms that keep the organism alive under stressful conditions. This results in extended longevity when mtROS generation is inappropriately elevated. These findings clarify the relationships between mitochondria, ROS, apoptosis, and aging.

The observed association of the aging process with the biology of reactive oxygen species (ROS), in particular ROS originatingfrom mitochondria (mtROS), has led to the formulation of the oxidative stress theory of aging. Recently, however, more nuanced interpretations have been proposed to explain the basic observations that led to the formulation of the theory (Lapointe and Hekimi, 2010andSena and Chandel, 2012). One possibility is that ROS damage is not causally involved in the aging process but that ROS levels are correlated with the aged phenotype because they modulate signal transduction pathways that respond to cellular stresses brought about by aging (Hekimi etal., 2011). In other words, ROS generation may be enhanced by the aging process because, in their role as signaling molecules, ROS help to alleviate the cellular stresses caused by aging. This hypothesis is supported by findings in a variety of organisms, in particular in C.elegans where changes in ROS generation or detoxification can be uncoupled from any effect on lifespan ( Doonan etal., 2008, Van Raamsdonk and Hekimi, 2009, Van Raamsdonk and Hekimi, 2010andYang etal., 2007). Most strikingly, moderate mitochondrial dysfunction ( Felkai etal., 1999, Feng etal., 2001andYang and Hekimi, 2010b), severe loss of mtROS detoxification ( Van Raamsdonk and Hekimi, 2009), and elevated mtROS generation ( Yang and Hekimi, 2010a), as well as treatments with pro-oxidants ( Heidler etal., 2010, Lee etal., 2010, Van Raamsdonk and Hekimi, 2012andYang and Hekimi, 2010a), can all lengthen rather than shorten lifespan. In addition, the pro-longevity effects of both dietary restriction ( Schulz etal., 2007), and reduced insulin signaling in C.elegans ( Zarse etal., 2012), appear to involve an increase in ROS levels. Such observations are not limited to C.elegans. For example, mtROS signaling can act to extend chronological lifespan of the yeast S.cerevisiae ( Pan etal., 2011).

The longevity phenotype of isp-1(qm150) ( Feng etal., 2001) and nuo-6(qm200) ( Yang and Hekimi, 2010b) mutants is most unequivocally connected to mtROS generation ( Yang and Hekimi, 2010a). isp-1 encodes the Rieske iron sulfur protein, one of the major catalytic subunits of mitochondrial complex III, and nuo-6 encodes the mitochondrial complex I subunit NDUFB4. The qm150 and qm200 mutations are missense mutations that do not lead to a full loss of protein function. Mitochondria isolated from both mutants show elevated superoxide generation, as measured by fluorescence sorting of purified mitochondria incubated with the dye MitoSox ( Yang and Hekimi, 2010a). This is a very specific phenotype that is not accompanied by an increase in overall mitochondrial oxidative stress, nor by a measurable increase in overall oxidative damage. The long-lived phenotype can also be phenocopied by treatment of the wild-type with a very low level (0.1mM) of the superoxide generator paraquat (PQ). In contrast, treatment of the mitochondrial mutants with PQ has no effect, suggesting that treatment with PQ extends lifespan by the same mechanisms as the mitochondrial mutations ( Yang and Hekimi, 2010a).

Increased longevity can also result from induction of the mitochondrial unfolded protein stress response (mtUPR), which can be triggered by RNA interference knockdown of mitochondrial components (Dillin etal., 2002, Durieux etal., 2011andLee etal., 2003). This response is however distinct from the response to elevated mtROS as the lifespan increases produced by the elevated mtROS in the mutants and by the activated mtUPR are fully additive (Yang and Hekimi, 2010b).

How might elevated mtROS promote longevity? ROS are well known to act as modulators in signal transduction pathways, andit is as such that they might be enhancing longevity. One candidate signaling pathway that could include potential mtROS sensors as well as a mechanism of downstream signaling is the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. Apoptosis is a highly controlled process that in mammals is sensitive to mitochondrial function, including mtROS, via the intrinsic apoptosis signaling pathway (Wang and Youle, 2009). In C.elegans the intrinsic apoptotic machinery consists of the BH3-only protein EGL-1, CED-9 (Bcl2-like), CED-4 (Apaf1-like), and CED-3 (Casp9-like). CED-9 is tethered to the outer mitochondrial membrane and binds CED-4. However, in contrast to vertebrates, there is no evidence for any role for mtROS in regulating apoptosis in C.elegans.

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The Intrinsic Apoptosis Pathway Mediates the Pro-Longevity ...

Longevity claims are unsubstantiated cases of asserted human longevity. Those asserting lifespans of 110 years or more are referred to as supercentenarians. Many have either no official verification or are backed only by partial evidence. Cases where longevity has been fully verified, according to modern standards of longevity research, are reflected in an established list of supercentenarians based on the work of such international institutions as the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) and/or the Guinness World Records. This article lists claims of 115 years or more.

Prior to the nineteenth century, there was insufficient evidence either to demonstrate or to refute centenarian longevity.[1] Even today, no fixed theoretical limit to human longevity is apparent.[2] Studies[1] in the biodemography of human longevity indicate a late-life mortality deceleration law: that death rates level off at advanced ages to a late-life mortality plateau. That is, there is no fixed upper limit to human longevity, or fixed maximum human lifespan.[3] This law was first quantified in 1939, when researchers found that the one-year probability of death at advanced age asymptotically approaches a limit of 44% for women and 54% for men.[4] Researchers in Denmark have found a way to determine when a person was born based on radio-carbon dating done on the lens of the eye.[5]

In 1955, Guinness World Records began maintaining a list of the verified oldest people.[6] It developed into a list of all supercentenarians whose lifespan had been verified by at least three documents, in a standardized process, according the norms of modern longevity research. Many unverified cases ("claims" or "traditions") have been controverted by reliable sources. Taking reliable demographic data into account, these unverified cases vary widely in their plausibility.

Despite demographic evidence of the known extremes of modern longevity, stories in otherwise reliable sources still surface regularly, stating that these extremes have been exceeded. Responsible, modern, scientific validation of human longevity requires investigation of records following an individual from birth to the present (or to death); purported longevity far outside the demonstrated records regularly fail such scrutiny.

Actuary Walter G. Bowerman stated that ill-founded longevity assertions originate mainly in remote, underdeveloped regions, among illiterate peoples, evidenced by nothing more than family testimony.[8]

In the transitional period of record-keeping, records tend to exist for the wealthy and upper-middle classes, but are often spotty and nonexistent for the poor. In the United States, birth registration did not begin in Mississippi until 1912 and was not universal until 1933. Hence, in many longevity cases, no actual birth record exists. This type of case is classified by gerontologists as "partially validated".[citation needed]

Since some cases were recorded in a census or in other reliable sources, obtainable evidence may complete full verification.

In another type of case, the only records that exist are late-life documents. Because age inflation often occurs in adulthood (to avoid military service or to apply for a pension early), or because the government may have begun record-keeping during an individual's lifetime, cases unverified by proximate records exist. These unverified cases are less likely to be true (because the records are written later), but are still possible. Longevity narratives were not subjected to rigorous scrutiny until the work of William Thoms in 1873. Thoms proposed the 100th-birthday test: is there evidence to support an individual's claimed age at what would be their centenary birthday?[10][11] This test does not prove a person's age, but does winnow out typical pension-claim longevity exaggerations and spontaneous claims that a certain relative is over 150.

These are standardized lists of people whose lifespans remain unverified by proximate records, including both modern (Guinness-era) and historical cases. Claims missing either (or both) a date of birth/date of death are listed separately. All cases in which an individual's supercentenarian lifespan is not (yet) backed by records sufficient to the standards of modern longevity research are listed as unverified. They may be factually true, even though records do not exist (or have not yet been found,) so such lists include these grey-area cases.

These notable living supercentenarian cases, in descending order of claimed age, with full birth and review dates, have been updated within the past two years, but have no publicly available early-life records to support them. The names and cases of people whose lifespan is documented by at least one publicly available, standardized early-life record are recorded by the Gerontology Research Group in a list of pending partially verified claims. The minimum claimed age for this list is 115 years, claims between 110 and 113, reported to be alive within the last year, may be found in the living supercentenarians article. There are included 36 cases of such people, of whom 24 are female and 12 are male.

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Longevity claims - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stem Cell 100 is formulated to rejuvenate your body and slow the aging process to help you feel and function more like a young person. This can help you feel better, look younger and improve your health. Most of the cells in your body lose function with age. Everyone has special cells called adult stem cells which are needed to rejuvenate damaged and old tissues, but adult stem cells themselves are also aging. Until now there was not much you could do about it. Stem Cell 100 rejuvenates adult stem cells and their micro-environments. Stem Cell 100+ is a more advanced and faster acting version of Stem Cell 100.

Developed by experts in the anti-aging field, patent-pending Stem Cell 100 is the only supplement proven to double maximum lifespan of an animal model. No other product or therapy including caloric restriction even comes close.

SK of Santa Fe, NM

I have been using Stem Cell 100 for about one year. Initially I noticed a boost in energy level, which now remains steady-hence not noticed I have experienced no adverse effects from taking this product. I heartily recommend Stem Cell 100 and plan to continue on it.

Leslie

Stem Cell 100 has made a noticeable difference in me, including turning my gray hair back to its original color, which supposedly is impossible. The reversal of the gray hair to original color began a couple of months after starting the pill. After about 10 months, the gray hair is mostly gone. At the current rate of improvement, I expect my hair to completely be back to its original color within 1 to 2 months. I think my beard will take longer, but it was the first to gray. Also, my skin became smoother and younger looking. The skin and hair rely heavily on stem cells, and they seem to benefit strongly from this product. I'm so excited about telling people my results because there is nothing that can reverse the graying of hair. It will give me evidence that this supplement thing is really powerful. Unfortunately, I don't have before and after pictures because I didn't read any claims that the product would affect hair color. I would just say that I'm a person who totally believes that it does me no good to imagine things or interpret tings in a way favorable to what I want to believe. When I'm convinced enough to make a statement, you can count on it.

Joey of San Diego, CA

I am a 48 year old working woman. A friend of mine introduced me to Stem Cell 100. After taking Stem Cell 100 for about 4 months my anxiety level has really been diminished. Its a great supplement and I would recommend it to everyone!

Paul of San Diego, CA

See the article here:
Stem Cell 100 Supplement with Longevity and Telomere Support

Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, indefinite life extension, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan. Some researchers in this area, and "life extensionists", "immortalists" or "longevists" (those who wish to achieve longer lives themselves), believe that future breakthroughs in tissue rejuvenation, stem cells, regenerative medicine, molecular repair, pharmaceuticals, and organ replacement (such as with artificial organs or xenotransplantations) will eventually enable humans to have indefinite lifespans (agerasia[1]) through complete rejuvenation to a healthy youthful condition.

The sale of putative anti-aging products such as nutrition, physical fitness, skin care, hormone replacements, vitamins, supplements and herbs is a lucrative global industry, with the US market generating about $50billion of revenue each year.[2] Some medical experts state that the use of such products has not been proven to affect the aging process and many claims regarding the efficacy of these marketed products have been roundly criticized by medical experts, including the American Medical Association.[2][3][4][5][6]

However, it has not been shown that the goal of indefinite human lifespans itself is necessarily unfeasible; some animals such as hydra, planarian flatworms, and certain sponges, corals, and jellyfish do not die of old age and exhibit potential immortality.[7][8][9][10] The ethical ramifications of life extension are debated by bioethicists.

Life extension is a controversial topic due to fear of overpopulation and possible effects on society.[11] Religious people are no more likely to oppose life extension than the unaffiliated,[12] though some variation exists between religious denominations. Biogerontologist Aubrey De Grey counters the overpopulation critique by pointing out that the therapy could postpone or eliminate menopause, allowing women to space out their pregnancies over more years and thus decreasing the yearly population growth rate.[13] Moreover, the philosopher and futurist Max More argues that, given the fact the worldwide population growth rate is slowing down and is projected to eventually stabilize and begin falling, superlongevity would be unlikely to contribute to overpopulation.[11]

A Spring 2013 Pew Research poll in the United States found that 38% of Americans would want life extension treatments, and 56% would reject it. However, it also found that 68% believed most people would want it and that only 4% consider an "ideal lifespan" to be more than 120 years. The median "ideal lifespan" was 91 years of age and the majority of the public (63%) viewed medical advances aimed at prolonging life as generally good. 41% of Americans believed that radical life extension would be good for society, while 51% said they believed it would be bad for society.[12] One possibility for why 56% of Americans claim they would reject life extension treatments may be due to the cultural perception that living longer would result in a longer period of decrepitude, and that the elderly in our current society are unhealthy.[14]

During the process of aging, an organism accumulates damage to its macromolecules, cells, tissues, and organs. Specifically, aging is characterized as and thought to be caused by "genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, deregulated nutrient sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, and altered intercellular communication."[15]Oxidation damage to cellular contents caused by free radicals is believed to contribute to aging as well.[16][16][17]

The longest a human has ever been proven to live is 122 years, the case of Jeanne Calment who was born in 1875 and died in 1997, whereas the maximum lifespan of a wildtype mouse, commonly used as a model in research on aging, is about three years.[18] Genetic differences between humans and mice that may account for these different aging rates include differences in efficiency of DNA repair, antioxidant defenses, energy metabolism, proteostasis maintenance, and recycling mechanisms such as autophagy.[19]

Average lifespan in a population is lowered by infant and child mortality, which are frequently linked to infectious diseases or nutrition problems. Later in life, vulnerability to accidents and age-related chronic disease such as cancer or cardiovascular disease play an increasing role in mortality. Extension of expected lifespan can often be achieved by access to improved medical care, vaccinations, good diet, exercise and avoidance of hazards such as smoking.

Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes and by environmental factors. Widely recognized methods of extending maximum lifespan in model organisms such as nematodes, fruit flies, and mice include caloric restriction, gene manipulation, and administration of pharmaceuticals.[20] Another technique uses evolutionary pressures such as breeding from only older members or altering levels of extrinsic mortality.[21][22]

Theoretically, extension of maximum lifespan in humans could be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues, reversal of harmful epigenetic changes, or the enhancement of telomerase enzyme activity.[23][24]

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Life extension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia