Hypodermic Needle (Flickr)

It may seem silly to go all the way to America from the UK to get blood tests done, but is it so silly?

Once you have decided to have blood tests done, you start to look at the cost. And once you look at the cost, it’s a no-brainer.

Let’s say you are going to get several panels of tests done. (A panel is just a ‘related bunch’ of tests.) Maybe you will get a basic male or female panel: then a few others, depending on what you want to measure or check. I might get c-reactive protein, haemoglobin A1c, homocysteine, a thyroid panel and cholesterol VAP test – the type which gives you much more detail about different kinds of cholesterol.

In America, these can be done for, perhaps, £300 ($400) (if you go when Life Extension Foundation has its annual ‘sale’)

In the UK you are getting towards several times that cost. So it makes sense to visit the States – and make a holiday out of it. It works for me!

Related Articles For Blood Tests

• How is a cholesterol test performed? (zocdoc.com)
• Can tests for your health condition help? (latestmedifastcouponcodes.wordpress.com)
• What does a annual physical consist of? (zocdoc.com)

Getting Blood Tests Done In America is a post from: Living To 150

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Aubrey de Grey, brilliant researcher, interesting speaker, and a man with quite a remarkable beard – is a fascinating man to listen to.

He is the person – very prominent in anti-aging circles (sorry-that should be “gerontology”) who has reduced the matter of aging to seven body processes. And he says that all these seven can potentially be reversed.

In a sense, he has reduced ageing to an engineering issue.

This is not complete pie-in-the-sky. Certainly, some of the seven processes he has identified are already on their way to being solved. And there is absolutely no doubt that others of them will be very advanced in, say, 25 to 30 years.

Aubrey De Grey is a fascinating man to listen to and this is a great video to start with if you have not heard him before. He has the authority of a learned scientist with a highly logical frame of mind.

Aubrey de Grey at TEDMED 2009

Aubrey de Grey passionately talks about the ultimate quest for significantly longer, healthier life!

Related articles on Aubrey de Grey and Anti-Aging

• BigThink’s Series on Longevity: A Fun Place To Start (video) (singularityhub.com)
• Aubrey de Grey on the Harvard Mouse News (acceleratingfuture.com)

How We Can Combat Aging And Live Forever is a post from: Living To 150

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Resveratrol, the polyphenol derived from red wine which appears to have anti-aging properties, has been found to have a use in anti-cancer therapy. When used alongside cancer drug rapamycin there is a strong suggestion that resveratrol enhances its treatment effect on breast cancer cells.

Rapamycin, a drug primarily used as an immunosuppressant following organ transplant, has been known to have anti-cancer properties for some time; the problem is, that after a while its effectiveness rapidly reduces as the cancer cells become resistant to it.

But when combined with the low dose of resveratrol the beneficial effects of the rapamycin are enhanced – the resistance reduces.

Specifically, a low dose of both the drug and the polyphenols served to reduce the growth of three different types of breast cancer by 50 percent in this study. This is a significant result which highlights a potentially powerful effect of the remarkable compound, resveratrol.

**The main benefit of resveratrol is that it stimulates the SIRT1 gene, and this effect has been shown to extend life in yeast cells, and in roundworms sells. This means that it is highly likely to have this same effect on human cells.

Related articles

• Red Wine Compound Increase Anti Cancer Effect of Rapamycin (E! Science News)
• Compounds in Red Wine Fight Breast Cancer (blogwinecellar.com)
• Red wine compound increases anti-tumor effect of rapamycin (eurekalert.org)

Resveratrol Enhances Breast Cancer Treatment is a post from: Living To 150

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In laboratory tests, sirtuins were found to be involved in longevity. This was discovered because cells would live much longer when one of their genes – SIRT1 – was stimulated. This gene produces the sirtuin proteins.

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Furthermore, when the activity of the SIRT1 gene was reduced, the yeast cells died sooner.

The same effect was later found in experiments on roundworms. this coincident effect led scientists to believe that exactly the same would happen with humans – who share a very large proportion of their DNA with both yeast and roundworms.

This led to a search for nutrients which would naturally stimulate the SIRT1 (and SIRT3) gene, and the discovery of resveratrol in red wine.

Resveratrol is now seen as a very promising candidate for research in anti-ageing medicine.

The role of Sirtuins in aging is covered nicely in this article which includes the section: “SIRT3: Balancing Cancer and Aging”

Related articles on Sirtuins and SIRT1 and SIRT3

• Movie star SIRT1 makes for a great body but an old brain (genes2brains2mind2me.com)
• SIRT1 gene important for memory (eurekalert.org)

Sirtuins Are Worthy Candidates For Research is a post from: Living To 150

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Gigi at Anti Aging Nutrition News has an interesting comments thread on TA-65 supplement.

This is the ‘supplement of the moment’, which repairs the ‘telomere’ each time the cell divides – which process otherwise eventually contributes to the cell’s decision to self-destruct. That is, it leads to death. 

Although the cost of TA-65 has come down a lot, it is still expensive. Add to that the possible need for a few grand’s worth of testing, is gets pricier still.

Read through the comments at Gigi’s blog, though, and you will find recommendations for getting much of the benefit of TA-65 without all the expense.

This is a fascinating topic – and a fascinating supplement. Along with resveratrol it is the substance with the most promise in the anti-aging field.

Related articles about the TA 65 Supplement

• Is There A Secret To Eternal Youth? (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• BodyLogicMD Physicians Recommend Pharmaceutical Grade Supplements (prweb.com)

TA-65 Supplement: More Info & A Possible Low-Cost Substitute is a post from: Living To 150

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(Here is a brief summary for new readers:  I started my anti-aging, or longevity, quest in March 2008 when I visited Fort Lauderdale for 63 blood tests. Then I had to interpret them as best as I could.)

In July 2009 I decided to get more professional input, and visited Dr Terry Grossman in Denver for a repeat of the tests, a few more besides, and more personal advice.

In October 2009 (OK – I dragged my feet a bit) I had a review, via Skype, of the results of the tests Terry had carried out for me.

Wow – Skype video! Fantastic. It was near to the effect of being in Terry Grossman’s offices.

Key Health Points

Key points were:

• My total cholesterol is high
• My genetic profile shows no particular inherited concerns
• My biological age is 19 years younger than my physical age – a near record for the clinic
• I need to enhance my exercise regime to keep up the good results I have had.

I am now starting my ‘new regime’. My main aim is to reduce my cholesterol – through diet  and supplements.

My Health – The Next Step is a post from: Living To 150

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This is a great ebook which does a good job of explaining where we are today with regard to healthy anti-aging strategies.

Best of all – it is completely free. David Kekich is doing all he can to publicize anti-aging, so is giving this book away. It’s a chunky tome – and packed full of information.

It tells you 7 steps to take to: “catch the emerging wave of medical breakthroughs…” for a healthy, extended life. I strongly recommend this book to help get you up to speed with the current state of anti-aging knowledge.

Also, follow author David Kekich on twitter @MaxLifeorg .

Free Longevity Book is a post from: Living To 150

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Gosh – I’d like to go to this – the Manhattan Beach Project, Los Angeles. It’s the conference I wanted to go to when I went to Convergence08 last November: because this on is focused specifically on longevity.

The field of longevity research is getting very exciting now. Aubrey de Grey is quoted as thinking there is a 50/50 chance of his living forever.  Now, if a conservative scientist says that, you have to take note.

Unfortunately, I cannot go – I have things booked for November and can’t get away. But it’s in the diary for next year.

Apparently there will be recordings of the speakers which can be watched for free.

“You’ll get to see all of the twenty minute presentations by world-leading researchers. Each one of the fifteen presenters will also answer up to ten minutes of questions.”

Sorry to miss it. The usual suspects – Aubrey de Grey and Ray Kurzweil – will be there (albeit Kurweil will be beamed in). The whole thing is hosted by David A Kekich and Greta Blackburn of Maximum Life Foundation, and sponsored by Life Extension Foundation. Should be very good.

Follow Maximum Life Foundation on Twitter @maxlifeorg .

Longevity Conference, November 2009 is a post from: Living To 150

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