Telomeres
Episodes
Dr. George Church discusses revolutionary technologies in the field of genetic engineering.
Dr. Rhonda Patrick answers audience questions on various health, nutrition, and science topics in this Q&A session.
The DNAm GrimAge epigenetic clock may be a more reliable predictor of healthspan and lifespan than traditional hallmarks of aging like telomeres.
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Dr. George Church discusses revolutionary technologies in the field of genetic engineering.
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Rhonda Exercise Brain Alzheimer's Cancer Telomeres Probiotics Fasting Pregnancy Coffee Anxiety Dementia Sulforaphane Sauna COVID-19 Supplements Ketogenic DietDr. Rhonda Patrick answers audience questions on various health, nutrition, and science topics in this Q&A session.
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The DNAm GrimAge epigenetic clock may be a more reliable predictor of healthspan and lifespan than traditional hallmarks of aging like telomeres.
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Dr. Steve Horvath discusses epigenetic aging clocks and their use in predicting biological aging and healthspan.
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Rhonda Exercise Aging Sleep Telomeres Vitamin C Cholesterol Omega-3 DNA Damage Fasting Coffee Magnesium Eyes Calcium Time-Restricted Eating Breast Milk Moringa LactateDr. Rhonda Patrick answers audience questions on various health, nutrition, and science topics in this Q&A session.
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In this clip, Dr. Roland Griffiths and Dr. Rhonda Patrick discuss the effects of meditation on gene expression.
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Dr. Elissa Epel discusses potential concerns about supplementation and describes some of the studies that demonstrate the links between healthy lifestyle behaviors.
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Dr. Elissa Epel identifies several biohacks that show promise as strategies to reduce stress and lengthen telomeres.
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Dr. Matthew Walker describes the different chronotypes and the risks associated with adopting a sleep pattern that is contrary to our natural type.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes the effects of longer sperm telomere length on subsequent generations.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes how even small lifestyle changes can have an effect on telomere length and healthy aging to compress morbidity.
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Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Dr. Elissa Epel discuss how obesity affects genes in sperm DNA involved in metabolic health and cognitive function.
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Dr. Elissa Epel discusses the pros and cons associated with taking dietary supplements to lengthen telomeres.
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Dr. Elissa Epel discusses how cancer cells exploit the regenerative capacity of telomerase to perpetually divide, essentially becoming immortal.
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Dr. Elissa Epel discusses the harmful effects of what she calls a "toxic lifestyle," one that includes the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes some of the studies that demonstrate the links between healthy lifestyle behaviors like exercise and discusses potential mechanisms.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes the "low hanging fruit" – small, healthy lifestyle behaviors – that can have positive effects on telomere length and lifespan.
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Dr. Elissa Epel identifies some of the key differences in male and female biology and how they influence telomere length and aging.
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Telomeres explained: role in genomic stability, stem cells, replicative senescence | Elissa Epel ClipDr. Elissa Epel gives a brief overview of telomeres and the enzyme telomerase and explains how they impact health and lifespan.
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Dr. Elissa Epel discusses the importance of having an optimal ratio of telomerase to reduce the risk of chronic diseases and cancer.
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Dr. Elissa Epel explains how aging syndromes can be passed to offspring via epigenetic mechanisms.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes how Mendelian randomization techniques provide insights into the dual nature of telomeres, as both a cause and a sign of aging.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes the exposome – the totality of non-genetic exposures a person experiences during a lifetime – and explains how it affects telomeres.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes how toxic stress modulates telomere length.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes the beneficial effects of education on telomere length in the babies of low-income women.
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Dr. Elissa Epel describes the non-linear effects of exercise on telomere length.
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Dr. Elissa Epel discusses the mechanisms of healthy aging and the associations between stress, telomere length, addiction, eating, and metabolic health.
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Epigenetics Vitamin D Nutrition Exercise Aging Metabolism Sleep Diabetes Telomeres DNA Damage Stem Cells Stress Melatonin Vitamin E Genetics 23andMe Heat Stress Autophagy Autism Folate Sauna AntioxidantOur genes influence the way we absorb and metabolize micronutrients. Nutrigenomics looks at the influence genetic variation has over micronutrient absorption/metabolism and the biological consequences of this dynamic relationship.
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Dr. Judith Campisi discusses the role of cellular senescence in the aging process and the development of cancer.
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Nutrition Vitamin D Metabolism Diabetes Telomeres Omega-3 Inflammation Depression DNA Damage Stem Cells Micronutrients Mitochondria Autophagy Autism Schizophrenia Resveratrol Sulforaphane Insulin Blue LightDr. Rhonda Patrick makes her fifth appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience.
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Rhonda explains chronic stress's impact on brain, gut, immune system, and aging. Meditation buffers and improves cognitive and biological aging.
Topic Pages
News & Publications
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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy reverses aspects of the cellular aging process in older adults, boosting immune cell function. www.sciencedaily.com
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves exposure to oxygen at up to three times the normal pressure, increasing the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. A 2020 study found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy prevented telomere shortening and cellular senescence – hallmarks of cellular aging – in older adults, effectively reversing the aging process.
The study involved 35 older adults who underwent 60 hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments over three months. Using blood samples the participants provided before, during, and after the intervention, researchers assessed the participants' immune cell telomere length and senescence.
They noted a 20 percent or greater increase in T helper, T cytotoxic, natural killer, and B cell telomere length following the hyperbaric treatments. B cell telomeres showed the greatest change, increasing as much as 52 percent post-treatment. B cells facilitate adaptive immunity – producing antibodies against bacterial, viral, and toxic exposures. The number of senescent T helper cells decreased by roughly 37 percent; senescent T cytotoxic cells decreased by 11 percent.
Telomeres are short, repetitive sequences of DNA located on the ends of chromosomes. They form a protective “cap” – a sort of disposable buffer that gradually shortens with age – that prevents chromosomes from losing genes or sticking to other chromosomes during cell division. When the telomeres on a cell’s chromosomes get too short, the cell stops dividing or dies. Learn more about telomeres in this episode featuring Dr. Elisa Epel.
Cellular senescence is the condition or process of deterioration that occurs with age. Cells that acquire enough damage can become senescent, rendering them metabolically inactive and unable to replicate. Senescent cells often release proinflammatory cytokines, driving the deterioration of neighboring healthy cells. Learn more about cellular senescence in this episode featuring Dr. Judith Campisi.
These findings suggest that hyperbaric oxygen therapy reverses some of the effects of aging in immune cells. However, this study was small and had no control group. Future research with larger groups may shed more light on the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen in slowing or reversing cellular aging.
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Hyperbaric oxygen trial discovered a lengthening of up to 38% of the telomeres, decrease of up to 37% in senescent cells in certain cell populations www.sciencedaily.com
Routine hyperbaric treatment increased telomere length and reduced senescence in humans.
With age, tissues lose their ability to function properly, leading to an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, among others. Cells become exhausted from replication over time and enter a state of senescence, meaning they will no longer reproduce because they are damaged. Findings of a new report demonstrate the ability of hyperbaric treatments to reduce the number of senescent immune cells.
Hyperbaric (i.e., high air pressure) treatments use increased atmospheric pressure and oxygen content to enhance the total amount of oxygen dissolved in the body, accelerating wound healing. Some forms of routine hyperbaric therapy cause the body to react as if it were experiencing hypoxia (i.e., low blood oxygen), a phenomenon called the hyperoxic-hypoxic paradox. Although some of the hypoxia-associated effects of hyperbaric treatments, such as sirtuin activation, stem cell proliferation, mitochondrial biogenesis, and neurogenesis, are associated with longevity, the effects of hyperbaric therapy on cellular senescence are unknown.
The authors recruited 35 participants aged 60 and older who did not have cognitive decline and lived independently. Participants completed 60 hyperbaric treatments distributed as five sessions per week for three months. Each session consisted of 90 minutes of breathing 100 percent oxygen at a pressure twice that of normal barometric pressure. The researchers collected blood samples at multiple time points to measure markers of senescence in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which include T cell, B cells, monocytes, and natural killer cells.
By the 30th hyperbaric treatment, participants experienced statistically significant increases in telomere length, a marker of reduced senescence rate, in T-helper cells, B cells, and natural killer cells. Following all 60 treatments, telomere length increased by 30 percent in T-helper cells, 38 percent in B cells, and 22 percent in natural killer cells. Demonstrating further benefit, hyperbaric treatment reduced the number of senescent T-helper cells by 12 percent and cytotoxic T cells by 11 percent after 60 sessions.
These results show, for the first time in humans, that routine hyperbaric treatment reduced the rate of aging in immune cells. However, because this study utilized a small sample, reported large variations in the data, and did not contain a control group, these results must be replicated with future research before they can be fully interpreted.
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Small molecule modulation of splicing factor expression is associated with rescue from cellular senescence bmccellbiol.biomedcentral.com
During the ageing process, both senescent and non-senescent cells lose a degree of response to cellular stressors. The upstream causes of this are as yet unclear, but may include changes in genes controlling alternative splicing; a major regulator of gene expression which ensures genomic plasticity. Here, we provide evidence that treatment with novel analogues of the stilbene compound resveratrol is associated not only with restoration of splicing factor expression but also with amelioration of multiple cellular senescence phenotypes in senescent human primary fibroblasts. At present, the precise mechanisms behind these observations are unclear, but may involve both the restoration of a more ‘youthful’ pattern of alternative splicing, and also effects of specific splicing factors on telomere maintenance. We propose therefore that splicing factors, and the upstream drivers of splicing factor expression may prove promising as druggable targets to ameliorate ageing phenotypes and hold promise as anti-degenerative compounds effective in human cells in the future.
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Telomeres are tiny caps on the ends of chromosomes that protect our DNA from damage. They get shorter every year and are a biological marker for aging. Exercise is one of the most robust ways to slow telomere attrition and someone that is very physically active may have a biological age that is even 10 years younger than their chronological age. In this study, a high level of exercise was defined as 30 minutes of jogging per day for 5 days a week for women and 40 minutes per day for men. Get out there and sweat!
FTA:
Exercise science professor Larry Tucker found adults with high physical activity levels have telomeres with a biological aging advantage of nine years over those who are sedentary, and a seven-year advantage compared to those who are moderately active. To be highly active, women had to engage in 30 minutes of jogging per day (40 minutes for men), five days a week.
“If you want to see a real difference in slowing your biological aging, it appears that a little exercise won’t cut it,” Tucker said. “You have to work out regularly at high levels.”
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Epitalon is a peptide that can actually lengthen your telomeres by an incredible amount.
Discovered in the late 1980’s by Prof. Vladimir Khavinson from St. Petersburg, Russia, Epitalon has been shown in studies to increase resistance to emotional stress, act as an antioxidant and decrease age-related changes in immune and neuroendocrine systems. It is also one of the few substances able to activate telomerase which renews (or elongates) telomeres. Telomeres help protect human DNA from damage and other cancer-causing errors.
Has anyone here tried it? Do you think it is safe?
One person stated that he is 49, but had the telomeres of a 55-year-old man. After taking Epitalon his telomere length is up by 1,000 base pairs. He now essentially has the telomere length of a ten-year-old.