15. July 2009 by admin.

I need a little break from heavy-duty research.  So, it is time for lighter stuff and junk.  I continue to monitor the news and web for insights related to longevity.  Here are a few recent tidbits:

·        As a longevity exercise: “The lips and cheeks can be exercised by smacking your lips several times, blowing in and out of a narrow straw or pipe, inflating your cheeks, and then keeping them that way for a few seconds and deflating, or even simply chewing bubble gum(ref).”

·        You can see what the Cat in The Hat has to say about aging by clicking here. 

·        If you are interested in the Qi Gong traditional Chinese system of meditative exercises for longevity, you can find out about it here.  The system has been in use for over 2,000 years.

·        If you are old, avoid extreme heat and humidity.  See here. 

·        One of my favorite sayings is “It’s not the heat that gets to me; it’s the stupidity.”  See this on older people choosing the path of learning vs the path of stupidity.

·        Interested in shoe fitting and longevity?  Check it out here on tutu.com.

·        Does practicing cannibalism enhance longevity? Yes, at least for some mosquitoes.  Check out this research paper.  As to human cannibalism it may be part of a rational diet.  Check this out.

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15. July 2009 by admin.

First of all, today I updated the discussion related to the Telomere Shortening and Damage theory of aging. The treatise now has a more comprehensive and up-to-date discussion of the topic with more literature citations.  Not a lot new is included for regular readers of this blog, however. 

Second, a personal item.  Since switching to the 100mg dose of astragaloside IV a couple of months ago I have reported continuing to experience wellbeing and more and more hairs appearing on my previously-bald scalp.  Yesterday I found out another thing.  A biopsy report indicated that a rapidly-growing growth removed from my armpit was a basal-cell carcinoma.  I had had a couple of such small carcinomas removed some 5 years ago but they stopped developing then  when I increased my resveratrol, curcumin and aswagandha supplements to their current levels.  The growth was easily removed and in no-way was life-threatening.  However, I found out that my current “firewall against cancers” is not now bulletproof.

One possibility is that the skin cancer development was correlated with the increased dosage of astragaloside IV.  As you may have noted in my recent post On Cancer Stem Cells, more and more researchers are looking to cancer stem cells as being the key targets for anti-cancer therapy rather than mature cancer cells.  Enhanced expression of telomerase, as I have pointed out, increases differentiation and proliferation of normal stem cells through a pathway independent of telomere extension.  There are hints in the research literature that telomerase activation may be doing the same for cancer stem cells.  I will be seeing what I can turn up in the research literature relevant to this.  And I may suggest shifts in my anti-cancer firewall regimen for people taking telomerase activators.

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