Lifelong secret
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
In a small but unprecedented study, scientists said they have proof that a healthy lifestyle helps the body's cells fight aging. The strategy is structured around a whole-food, plant-based diet, moderate daily exercise, yoga-based relaxation and stress management.
Researchers recruited 35 men, 10 of whom were asked to follow this lifestyle, while the other 25 were not asked to make any lifestyle changes at all. In addition to the diet and daily physical and mental routines, the 10 also attended weekly sessions for three months where their new skills were reinforced by specialists. After five years, the scientists assessed the participants for a hallmark of biological aging called telomeres.
Telomeres are nubby pieces of protein that are attached to the end of chromosomes. Often likened to the tips of shoelaces, they help to protect the precious strings of DNA code when a cell replicates.
As the telomere wears down, its protection erodes too, and so does the risk that the DNA is not faithfully replicated in the daughter cell, which boosts the risk of cellular malfunction and then disease.
Looking at the length of telomeres thus gives a telltale of cellular lifespan. Among the 10-man group, telomere length increased significantly by an average of 10 percent over the five years - and it was higher among those who had adhered closely to the new lifestyle.
Among the "control" group, though, telomeres had shrunk by 3 percent on average.
The study has limitations as the number of recruits was small, and it was conducted as part of an investigation into prostate cancer. In addition, it was not empowered to test whether lifestyle changes affected the risk of cancer.
But its focus on the vital telomeres was carried out scientifically and over the long term. This is what makes it new compared with evidence that is anecdotal or only short-term.
"The implications of this relatively small pilot study may go beyond men with prostate cancer," said Dean Ornish, a professor at the University of California in San Francisco, who led the study. "If validated by large-scale randomized controlled trials, these comprehensive lifestyle changes may significantly reduce the risk of a wide variety of diseases and premature mortality. Our genes, and our telomeres, are a predisposition, but they are not necessarily our fate."
Ornish is the founder of the not-for- profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute at the university. He has vigorously promoted the argument that lifestyle changes can protect against disease. The study appears in the journal The Lancet Oncology.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
This is a health feature on The Standard. This feature is about a healthy lifestyle helps body cell fight aging problem. It gives some data to show it is possible and gives some tips to readers how to keep the lifelong. For example, a whole-food, plant-based diet, moderate daily exercise, yoga-based relaxation and stress management, of course, include our genes. It should be a long term work to have long life.