"I'm right on the cusp," he adds. "I think some of us will make it through"—he means baby boomers, who can hope to experience practical immortality if they hang on for another 15 years.
By then, Mr. Kurzweil expects medical technology to be adding a year of life expectancy every year. We will start to outrun our own deaths. And then the wonders really begin. The little computers in our hands that now give us access to all the world's information via the Web will become little computers in our brains giving us access to all the world's information. Our world will become a world of near-infinite, virtual possibilities.
Metoprolol had already been identified by me as a life extending drug based on two human RCTs which reported mortality reductions in hypertensives that exceeded the standard mortality rate, as well as the control groups. PMID: 3293400, PMID: 1682683.
There is no indication that these hypertensives should have mortality rates better than the general population, therefore the bettering of the standard mortality rates makes these drugs anti-aging.
THE BENEFIT IS ABOUT 45% EQUALING BETTER THAN A SIX YEAR LIFE EXTENSION FOR HUMANS
Chronic diseases linked to obesity and overconsumption of food are now a bigger global healthcare burden than illness and disease caused by malnutrition, according to the most comprehensive disease report ever produced on global health issues.
Ray and Terry's 's insight:
Moderate caloric restriction (reduce your daily caloric intake by 10-20%) can have numerous health benefits. Start by finding your target calorie intake to maintain an optimal weight. If you can stick to that daily level, reduce it by 10%.
Fasting is also beneficial. The easiest way? Stop eating at 6-7pm and don't eat again until 6-7am. With minimal effort, you have a 12 hour fast. Plus, you will sleep easier if your digestive system is at rest.
For the first time ever, diseases associated with obesity are now more of a global health burden the lack of nutrition. This investigation has been going for 5 years with over 50 scientists exploring the deep issues of obesity. I believe it's a personal decision too eat badly, don't do enough physical activity, drink to much, smoke to many cigars and just don't look after your body the way were meant to. Rising numbers of obesity has been increased with young adults over the years. The biggest global risks effecting people is high blood rate, which is also the biggest neglected global health in most countries.
These scientists thankfully have put out antidotes that have helped save many millions of kids and adults from obesity. We really need more help like this in society, we need to team up and help out each other, were all human no one is special so don't be afraid to ask for help.
Dead bodies can provide organs for transplants, now they might become a source of stem cells too. Huge numbers of stem cells can still be mined from bone marrow five days after death to be potentially used in a variety of life-saving treatments.
Human bone marrow contains mesenchymal stem cells, which can develop into bone, cartilage, fat and other cell types. MSCs can be transplanted and the type of cell they form depends on where they are injected. Cells injected into the heart, for example, can form healthy new tissue, a useful therapy for people with chronic heart conditions.
Inducing cells to express telomerase, the enzyme which is supposed to slow down the metabolic clock, has enabled researchers boost the lifespan of mouse by 24% with a single treatment.
The gene therapy acts on specific genes and is applied in adult life, not from the embryonic stage. Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) have demonstrated that the mouse lifespan can be extended by the application of one treatment acting directly on the animal’s genes in adult life. The therapy has been found to be safe and effective in mice.
Adult and aged mice were treated with the gene therapy, delivering a rejuvenating effect. On average, the mice lived 24% longer. The older mice lived 13% longer. The therapy produces an appreciable improvement on the animal’s health and delayed the onset of age-related diseases.
The genes were treated with a DNA-modified virus. The viral genes were replaced by those of the telomerase enzyme, which plays a key role in aging. Telomerase repairs the extreme ends of chromosomes, and slows the cells and therefore the body’s biological clock.
There is a potential to develop a telomerase-based anti-aging gene therapy that won’t increase the risk of cancer. Telomeres are the caps that protect the end of chromosomes, but each time the cell divides, the telomeres get shorter until they lose all functionality. The cell then stops dividing or dies. Telomerase prevents telomeres from shortening or even rebuilding them.
In most cells, telomerase is only active before birth. The cells of adult organisms contain no telomerase. There are some exceptions such as adult stem cells and cancer cells, which divide limitlessly and could be immortal.
The risk of cancer tumor promotion is a risk that has set back telomerase-based anti-aging therapies. The kind of virus employed to carry the telomerase gene to the cells is very important. The viruses used is in this study have been successfully used in gene therapy treatment of hemophilia and eye disease. They are non-replicating viruses derived from others that are non-pathogenic in humans.
To sum it up, the more you do it, the longer you live. For example, 75 minutes of brisk walking per week equates to an extra 1.8 years of life expectancy as opposed to staying sedentary. Increase that to 150–299 minutes of brisk walking per week and the gain in life expectancy goes up to 3.4 years. Make it 450 minutes per week and the estimated life expectancy jumps by 4.5 years.
The study also found that people whose weight is above the recommended level still benefit from physical activity .
It is commonly understood that when a parent has died of heart disease at a young age (under 60), the offspring have a higher risk of having heart disease.
A recent study, which examined data on millions of people in Denmark over a period of 30 years, confirms this theory. In fact, the risk is also increased for individuals with a second-degree relative (grandparent, half-sibling) who died young.
And the risk can be compounded-- when two or more first-degree relatives died of heart problems before age 60, a person's own risk of early heart disease rose five-fold.
It's important to note that the power of lifestyle changes to offset this potential is not clear. So, while the risk may be increased for individuals with a family history, there is still a very likely benefit to making improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, exercise, and diet. The increased risk should be used as information and perhaps inspiration to make improvements, but not as a foregone lifespan conclusion.
Gerontologists and demographers have argued about this for a long time, with the balance of opinion heavily influenced by the changes seen in the wealthiest nations’ “survival curves” — graphs showing, broadly speaking, the proportion of an initial population that survived to a given age.
People who restrict their caloric intake in an effort to live longer have hearts that function more like those in people who are 20 years younger.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a key measure of the heart's ability to adapt to physical activity, stress, sleep and other factors that influence the rate at which the heart pumps blood, doesn't decline nearly as rapidly in people who have significantly restricted their caloric intake for an average of seven years.
The latest in the fight against ever dying is a gene therapy that gives mice a healthy dose of telomerase, the enzyme that keeps our chromosomes – and thus our cells and bodies – “young.”
The therapy extended the lifespans of mice by 24 percent and, at least so far, the therapy appears to be completely safe...
"No one is better at predicting the future" than Ray Kurzweil.
~Bill Gates
Humans are continually changing their own world and positions. We transcend limitations far more successfully than any other species. As we push developing technologies further, we are approaching a time when the difference between human and machine is no longer a meaningful distinction. This time has been dubbed 'the Singularity' by Ray Kurzweil, one of society's most credible and well-known futurists.
In this interview, Ray talks about how the technology he has predicted will change the face of life and death. Though the report focuses closely on his desire to create an avatar of his dead father, keep in mind that is just one aspect of the ideas.
What is a buckyball and what does it have to do with health?
Discovered in 1985, the buckyball is a naturally occurring molecule composed of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a sphere.
During the 1990s, scientists began to investigate the potential biological benefits of this odd molecule. All kinds of functions from UV protection to antitumor effects to hair-growth have been considered.
This study showed that rats fed buckball molecules had a significant increase in lifespan.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute have identified a genetic program that promotes longevity of roundworms (nematodes) in cold environments — and this genetic program also exists in warm-blooded animals, including humans.
“This raises the intriguing possibility that exposure to cold air — or pharmacological stimulation of the cold-sensitive genetic program — may promote longevity in mammals,” said Shawn Xu, LSI faculty member and the Bernard W. Agranoff Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences at the U-M Medical School.
Scientists had long assumed that animals live longer in cold environments because of a passive thermodynamic process, reasoning that low temperatures reduce the rate of chemical reactions and thereby slow the rate of aging.
“Exercise can partially reverse the effects of the aging process ... a minimum quantity and quality of exercise decreases the risk of death, prevents development of certain cancers, lowers the risk of osteoporosis, and increases longevity.” (Gremeaux V et al. 2012)
Now, a data analysis from Canada pinpoints the lifespan extension different groups can expect from regular, moderate exercise.
Ray and Terry's 's insight:
Again and again, exercise is proven to help increase life expectancy. More importantly, staying active will extend your quality life span, because you will remain healthier and retain vibrancy as you age.
GDP $ per capita vs. life expectancy for 180 countries. In 2007 everyone lives longer than in 1970 because the health system is better, but in both cases,
Global lifespans have risen dramatically in the past 40 years, but the increased life expectancy is not benefitting body equally, say University of Toronto researchers. In particular, adult males from low- and middle-income countries are losing ground.
LONDON (Reuters) - The world has made huge progress fighting killer infectious diseases, but as a result we now lead longer and sicker lives, with health problems that cause us years of pain, disability...
The red wine compound resveratrol could help to extend life and may even help to battle obesity by 'moderating' food consumption, according to new research ... in bees.
The findings showed that bees given resveratrol consumed less food and lived up to 38% longer.
A few weeks ago, PBS NewsHour ran a 10-minute piece with Kurzweil titled “As Humans and Computers Merge…Immortality?” from correspondent Paul Solman for his economics-focused Making Sen$e of Financial News.
Solman probes Kurzweil for some insights about where technology is headed in the coming decades, covering topics like artificial intelligence, extending lifespans through supplementation, and digital resurrection of the deceased as avatars.
Older people who take vitamin D and calcium supplements may live a bit longer than their peers, according to an international review of several studies covering more than 70,000 people.
The percentage may sound small, but over a population, the numbers are significant.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults who are at high risk of falls should have physical therapy and take vitamin D supplements to reduce their chance of injury, according to new recommendations from...
Research extended mouse lifespan by up to 24% using gene therapy.
The therapy also decreased the signs of aging. For example, it improved muscle health and delayed the diseases of aging such as osteoporosis and insulin resistance.
"People worldwide are living three years longer than expected on average, pushing up the costs of aging by 50 percent, and governments and pension funds are ill prepared, the International Monetary Fund said.
Already the cost of caring for aging baby boomers is beginning to strain government budgets, particularly in advanced economies where by 2050 the elderly will match the numbers of workers almost one for one. The IMF study shows that the problem is global and that longevity is a bigger risk than thought.”
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