
Age: It’s All in Your Blood - Amorymeltzer
http://sage.buckinstitute.org/age-its-all-in-your-blood/
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reasonattlm
All of the current crop of research resulting from heterochronic parabiosis
studies and telomerase studies are most likely just hitting different ways of
ordering stem cells back to work. So you get increased tissue maintenance, and
surprisingly less cancer than one might expect from putting damaged stem cells
to work in damaged environments and damaged tissues.

The decline in stem cell activity is just one of the things that happens in
aging, and it seems likely that this reduced activity is a response to various
forms of cell and tissue damage. Researchers are now starting to identify some
of the cellular cross-talk and signaling that mediates this reaction.

Putting stem cells back to work doesn't deal with lipofuscin in long-lived
cells. It doesn't deal with glucosepane cross-links that our biochemistry
cannot break down. It doesn't reduce nuclear DNA damage and the accompanying
cancer risk. It may be somewhat helpful for amyloid accumulation via increased
immune activity, such as the beta amyloid in Alzheimer's and transthyretin
amyloid linked to heart failure, based on some studies. It doesn't appear to
do much for accumulations of senescent cells or mitochondrial DNA damage in
cell population. It doesn't reverse immune system dysregulation (inflammaging)
all that much, though again there are some studies suggesting that cell
transplants can suppress inflammation and this may be one of their modes of
action.

So there are whole swathes of damage linked to age-related disease that this
line of work doesn't help. It should probably be thought of as a parallel line
of stem cell research, with expected outcomes and development akin to that
achieved through cell transplant therapies. It is good, helpful progress, but
not the cure for aging on its own.

Separately, examining epigenetic changes in blood and tissues appears so far
to be a plausible road to a robust biomarker of aging. Such a thing is very
much needed in a field in which the only way to tell right now if a possible
rejuvenation treatment works is to wait and see. That costs a lot, millions
and years even in mouse studies, and so the pace at which new ideas can run
through the system is pretty slow. A lot of things are just never tried or
validated. If instead you could run a treatment on mice, then a month later
run a blood test with a reasonable expectation that the results correlated
well with remaining life expectancy, then a lot more can be done with any
given amount of time and money.

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marincounty
I can't comment on the merit of this particular study. I just don't have the
backround. I have watched this institute since its inception. The institute is
beautiful. It resides on acres of beautiful land. It was basically funded with
Beryl Buck Trust funds. I really thought they would do great things that would
add to science. I don't know what this institute has added to science and age
research. I sometimes think it's just a place where rich kids can do
internships, while scientists play with worms? Play with nematodes--I just
hope your institute is really doing something, and not just a playground? That
money could have helped a lot if needy Marin county residents. Yes, we have a
huge homeless problem.

Why am I questioning the Buck Center for Aging? Because I don't think this is
what Berly Buck wanted to do with her husbands money.

Right from her trust, "used for exclusively nonprofit, charitable, religious
or educational purposes in providing care for the needy in Marin County,
Calif., and for other nonprofit charitable, religious or educational purposes
in that county."

My point is every once and awhile I hear something out of this Institute.
"Ibuprofen increase the lifespan of worms." I just wonder if the money could
have been spent elsewhere?

When you write out a trust, make it iron tight. Lawyers will rip it apart.

Good luck Buck Institute with your future! I think you should do a better job
at Puplic Relations though. There's so much grant money out there ripe for the
taking? I really like organizations that have no affiliation to business
entities.

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reasonattlm
Google cache version since the Buck blog can't stand up to HN traffic:

[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://sage.buckinstitute.org/age-
its-all-in-your-blood/&client=ubuntu&hs=GS0&strip=1&vwsrc=0)

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DavidPP
Semi related TED talk : How young blood might help reverse aging. Yes, really

[https://www.ted.com/talks/tony_wyss_coray_how_young_blood_mi...](https://www.ted.com/talks/tony_wyss_coray_how_young_blood_might_help_reverse_aging_yes_really?language=en)

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pen2l
Sooooo... what we should do is take some of our own blood when we're
teenagers, freeze it, and reacquaint ourselves with it at an older age?

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bitwize
> We have all heard those particularly haunting tales about witches remaining
> ever youthful by imbibing a young woman’s blood, but until a few years ago
> these tales were only told to frighten children before bed.

Erszebet Báthory really did that shit. It's doubtful she remained youthful but
she thought she would.

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Gatsky
Too good to be true, perhaps.

[http://www.nature.com/news/young-blood-anti-ageing-
mechanism...](http://www.nature.com/news/young-blood-anti-ageing-mechanism-
called-into-question-1.17583)

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rpedela
That paper refutes one explanation of why/how parabiosis rejuvenates older
tissue rather than refuting the rejuvenation itself.

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socrates2016
Supposedly there is a Hong Kong billionaire who has regular blood infusions
from a stable of healthy young people he keeps around.

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copperx
Isn't the best blood obtained from young children?

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crpatino
Wow! you made me thing of Eldrich Palmer, of The Strain fame.

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ccallebs
I'll preface this entire post by saying I have no idea what I'm talking about.

But it makes sense to me. I read an article a few years back about an elderly
man (90+ years old) that attributed his longevity to donating blood regularly.
It would not surprise me if simply "refreshing" your supply had health
benefits.

