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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1. More Blood Tests For Health

Blood tests in USA (Wikipedia)

In America, many people have annual blood tests. It’s commonplace. In the UK it happens hardly at all. Well, it is so expensive over here.

In the USA I can get 80 or so blood tests done for around £300-400. ($450-600) That is very cheap.

In the UK, one blood test can cost over £100.

It is my aim to demonstrate to you how you can monitor your health by having regular blood tests done. To this end, I have had a series of three blood tests now. The last set was nearly 2 years ago in Denver. This time I had some done in Palm Springs, and then some done in San Francisco.

I did not intend to split them! But after the initial tests in Palm Springs, I got an email from the lab, saying they hadn’t taken enough blood! So I had to go back a second time to have more blood drawn. Fortunately, I was checking emails while in the States.

Being the third time I have had tests done, I’m beginning to get the hang of interpreting them.

The first time I had them done I really didn’t have much of a clue. I have been in alternative medicine for 30 years, but analysing blood tests has never been part of what I have done.

Now, I can see that each time I have them done, I’m beginning to understand more and more about them.

I have an adviser, fortunately, who is an expert in interpreting blood tests and can help me. Handy. But I have to learn more myself as I go along.

One particular concern this time is my borderline-high cholesterol. My partner also has this. I am researching it carefully to find out what I should be doing to deal with it. Or, in fact, if I should be doing anything.

I’m reading a book called “The Great Cholesterol Con”. This explores the hypothesis that cholesterol does not lead to heart disease. Interesting, but it might be left field. I’m  not sure though – the author has a ton of evidence.

I now need to do loads of research on the blood tests – both for myself and for my partner. I will let you know a summary of my findings, and what I intend to do about them.

More Blood Tests For Health is a post from: Living To 150

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The issue of stem cell ethics has once more arisen; this time related to blood transfusions.

Britain is a leading nation in stem cell research, mainly because America was held back until recently by ex-President Bush’s funding restrictions, since reversed by President Obama.

New UK research now plans to have infection-free blood available for infusions within 3 years – synthesised from embryonic stem cells.

Blood Transfusion Safety

Blood from donors has the disadvantage of occasional contamination. The worst case of this was probably the large number of haemophiliacs – who need regular transfusions – being infected with HIV before it’s transmission through blood was fully identified.

In addition, it is possible to transmit hepatitis through the blood, as well as variant CJD the human form of BSE or "mad cow disease".

Blood Transfusion Safety Shortage

The blood produced would be from the group O-Rhesus negative – the one blood type, which is accepted by everyone. It would be  a huge advantage to have large quantities of this type of blood available.

This would make it much easier to deal with emergencies – not least in battlefield situations, when blood supplies easily run out.

Joint funding

The research will be funded by the NHS, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Wellcome Trust - the medical research charity.

Now the ban on federal funding for research has been overturned in America it is expected that the Americans will resume their own research in this area.

Ethics Issue

Ethically there will be objections to the use of embryonic stem cells. Hopefully these will be overcome. The massive benefit of having unlimited, safe blood for transfusions must outweigh moral considerations of using spare embryos left over from IVF treatment, for example.

It’s not as if huge numbers of cells will be needed; theoretically, at least, only one cell will fulfil all our needs.

Safe Blood

If we can get beyond the ethics issue, this will be a great relief to know that blood received from transfusion scan be 100% guaranteed to be free of infection – and available in sufficient quantity.

Read more

Stem Cell Ethics Issue – Blood Transfusions is a post from: Living To 150

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While smallpox, measles and HIV recede in many areas of the world, the diseases of Western society – including diabetes – are about to hit them hard.

Thanks to the arrival of of fast food culture in these countries many of the poor can now afford MacDonald’s and other similar high calorie, low nutrition, food. They are feeding themselves up – and making themselves ill. This insidious process is one of the unfortunate by-products of modernisation.

First comes obesity; then diabetes follows in its wake – typically with about a 10 year time lag. Following that comes Metabolic Syndrome – that insidious combination of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure caused by insulin resistance of the cells.

Diabetes is set to achieve epidemic proportions in developing countries including India and China. India now is estimated to have 32 million diabetics – many of them don’t even know they have the disease. China has around 40 million diabetics.

The people in developing countries tend to see Western ideas as sophisticated. For them, it is cool to eat MacDonalds‘ low quality food. They just don’t realize what problems they are storing up for themselves.

(Just as fast-food-eating Westerners don’t realise – or perhaps don’t care enough.)

Diabetes Epidemics Hitting China and India is a post from: Living To 150

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Important Longevity Weapon

Many, if not most, people die eventually of an infection which gets hold because we are weakened for some reason. Pneumonia is common. It is important for longevity that we can deal with such infections effectively as well as other immune system challenges such as autoimmune diseases.

Most drug companies have cut back on antibiotic research because it is not cost effective for them. They spend fortunes to develop an antibiotic, then the microbes jolly well adapt to it! Conventional drug companies also have little idea how to deal effectively with autoimmune diseases.

Some smaller biotech companies, however, are quickly developing very effective approaches to dealing with immune system problems.

The "Therapeutic Antibody" Approach

Simon Moroney, CEO of MorphoSys, has a library of 12 billion human antibodies, which provides the company with valuable data to help them to use simple building blocks to fight disease.

Antibodies are the weapons our defensive white blood cells use to fight infection and disease. Sometimes, however, the white cells do not produce enough of the right type of antibodies to cure us. Morphosys has worked out how to create antibodies in a Lego-like fashion as well as how to deliver them to specific targets: such as to pathogenic cells (bacteria or viruses); or to deal with auto-immune diseases, such as many cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, some thyroid diseases and lupus.

This therapeutic antibody approach is currently hot medicine.

It holds tremendous promise for longevity as it will be:

• Effective
• Quick to construct a closely targeted agent, and
• Will have few side effects

It will be interesting to see whether existing drug companies can take over companies like MorphoSys and keep up their ‘business as usual’; or whether the smaller companies’ size is a big advantage to them in this rapidly growing field of biotechnology. Either way, this is great medicine on the horizon for those interested in longevity.

“Therapeutic Antibodies” Target Bacteria & Cancer Cells is a post from: Living To 150

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Stem Cells Will Boost Children’s Longevity

Stem cells hold such promise for longevity because they can replicate many body tissues – not just one, as is the case with ordinary cells. In other words, you can use stem cells potentially to grow an organ, such as a liver; or part of a lost limb. Early research has shown great promise in this respect.

Argument Abounds

The use of stem cells is contentious, however, because the ones which can differentiate into the most different types of tissue – and so the most useful stem cells – are found in embryos. The idea of ‘harvesting’ these cells from, for example, aborted foetus’s which are otherwise discarded or destroyed, is like a red rag to a bull for many people.

However, less powerful stem cells are available from other sources, for example our own bone marrow. They are not quite as useful, because they will not differentiate into as many different types of tissue. These can still be valuable for longevity purposes.

A Good Solution

To calm the naysayers, and benefit those who want to, a new approach to stem cells has emerged: collect and freeze the stem-cell-rich umbilical cord blood when a baby is born, and save it for when they need it.

This is a longevity approach which is freely available and relatively cheap to store. And it could make the difference between life and death.

A number of companies in the UK will take the umbilical cord blood and store it for you, including Future Health Technologies. 

Branson Get In On The Act

Richard Branson, the man behind the Virgin brand has got into this situation from a charitable perspective, through Virgin Health Bank.

The theory is that it is more likely at the present time that you will need stem cells similar to your own rather than exactly the same as your own. This would be if, for example, you wanted to be treated for leukaemia, when your own cells contain the defect which created it. In the future, the cells will be more likely to be used for regenerating organs and lost or damaged body parts.

For this reason, the longevity approach Branson is backing involves donating 80% of each deposit to a National Health Service (NHS) bank. Here, it will be freely available to anyone who needs it.

The NHS is currently banking 1200 samples a year in this way.

To have umbilical blood through one of the mentioned private companies costs around £1500 for 20 years.

This could be a bargain if you – or your child – really needs it.

Longevity For The Kids is a post from: Living To 150

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The latest “Statins Beat Heart Attack” headlines would be wryly funny if they weren’t so tragic.

Short sighted journalists are fooled by profit-hungry drug companies who, as often seems to be the case, are driving partisan research chemists.

“Statins Reduce Heart Attacks”

This is not news, and it is not even surprising. Anything which reduces general inflammation in the body will reduce heart attacks. This includes Omega 3 fatty acids, and any number of herbs including nettles, ginger and turmeric. The problem with using statins instead is the many side-effects users have reported.

The New Trial

The new trial is clearly partisan. For a start, it is called ‘Jupiter’, which stands for Justify the Use of Statins… Hmmmh – little doubt about the results they are looking for, then.

The particular brand of statins it ‘justifies’ is Crestor, made by AstraZeneca which costs around £26 a month. As the predominant statins used in the UK are the generic Simvastatin which cost £1.42 a month, the trial results are great for AstraZeneca. No doubt certain sectors of the community will be calling for the replacement of Simvastatin with Crestor (is it me – or isn’t that also a toothpaste?).

Drug Company Strategy

Statins are the best thing that have happened to drug companies for a long time. They are turning into a license to print money. One prime benefit of selling statins is that they are being used by younger and younger people – and they ‘need’ them for life.

As the drug companies see their profits slashed by cheap generic replacements – they simply come up with a new twist – as in this case – to show, by a flawed study, the superiority of their new, replacement product. Then they get to milk it drug until the patent runs out.

This is exactly what they did with HRT (ERT); each time the evidence showed that HRT damaged health, new research unearthed a new supposed benefit of HRT so they could persuade doctors to keep prescribing it and journalists to keep writing about how good it was.

What To Do Instead Of Taking Statins

This trial was carried out by selecting people with a high level of c-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood. They were then given statins.

Agreed – CRP does indicate general inflammation in the body which gives a raised chance of heart and artery disease as well as of diabetes, various cancers and Alzheimers’ disease.

Where I don’t agree is the treatment. Drugs are not usually necessary.

To treat raised CRP a combination of herbal treatment and fish oils will usually bring it down. Take these, then recheck CRP in 2-3 months.

Ideally, CRP should be less than 0.5 mg/L (milligrams per litre) in men and less than 1.5 mg/L in women.

Avoiding Statins – or Coming Off Them

Don’t just stop statins if you are taking them. Come off them with professional guidance. Most certainly involve your doctor in this process. Similarly if you have been told that you need to take statins. Be cautious. Around 50% of people come off statins because of the side-effects; but don’t put yourself at risk by just not taking them – you need an alternative strategy.

1. The following link leads to an article which contains a list of 8 natural alternatives to lower cholesterol, based on sound science:
Natural ways to cut cholesterol

Extract from this article about avoiding statins:

“HOW TO AVOID STARTING STATINS
If your doctor advises you to begin taking a statin drug, suggest a lower dose or a delay in initiation of the drug until you have had two to three months to try natural cholesterol- and LDL-lowering agents. Patient involvement in treatment decisions is commonplace today, and most physicians will work with you. A rough rule of thumb: adherence to a low-fat, high-fiber diet (that eliminates processed foods), along with some of the nutritional supplements discussed in this article, will lower LDL cholesterol by as much as 30%. Keep this in mind when starting your program. ……..”

See the article for more detail.

2. This article covers the role of general inflammation in generating disease
Aging and Longevity – 4. Inflammation

Also, read Life Extension Revolution, by Miller, Chapter 7:  Cooling Inflammation: Disease-Proofing Your Body

Above all, don’t fall for the drug-company hype; because that’s what it is. In 2004 the pharmaceutical industry was estimated to be receiving $22 billion (£14 billion) from statin drugs.

Do your research and make your own mind up. And it’s not easy to get your CRP checked regularly – but is very, very useful to do so as it gives an early warning of problems to come.

Statins – Don’t Be Fooled By The Research is a post from: Living To 150

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Living a long life will be much easier as we develop ‘nanobots’ with the ability to travel within our bodies. These will be programmed to carry out various tasks.

Nanobot Tasks

Some of these will be:

• Delivering drugs to precise locations – for example, direct to disease locations, rather than in the blood stream. Treatment will be more accurate and have fewer side-effects and so make long life more likely.
• Docking with pathogenic cells to disable them. For example, a previous post looked at treatment of cancer cells by using nanobots combined with a protein cell to dock with the cancer. The cancer cells would then be drawn to the body surface with magnetism and destroyed.
• Micro surgery. For example, nanobots will be directed into the eyeball to carry out repairs without any incision being necessary.

Advantages of Nanobots For Long Life

The advantages of nanobots over conventional surgery will be huge. They include:

• Reducing infections. Opening up the skin causes infections – this is why hospital is such a dangerous place to be. By avoiding cutting, infections are dramatically reduced.
• Reducing cost. Because there are no, or fewer, open wounds, the chance of infection is much smaller. Expensive clean-room techniques and extreme infection control will just be unnecessary.
• Reduced mortality. In other words, you will be more likely to survive an operation. The shock will be less; recovery faster as well as infection being much less likely, as mentioned.

Powering Nanobots

Robots have already been used in the gut; and moving them through presents no problem as the gut’s natural peristalsis does the job. However, to move a nanobot around out side the gut presents the problem of how to steer it.

Magnetism

One answer is to use magnetism. This will be satisfactory in some cases; and the magnetic fields are readily available in hospitals already – in MRI scanners.

Magnetism is a little crude however.

Pizo-electricity

Another method which is being developed is to use pizo-electricity – the minute electric current produced by crystals in the presence of an electric charge. This will be harnessed and fed to flagellae – flailing corkscrew-like arms, which can be used for propulsion. This is how bacteria move.

Chemotaxis

A third way to move nanobots will be by using chemotaxis – by getting the nanobots to follow a chemical gradient. Then, by introducing chemicals, the bots could be steered.

Future Life Is Long – And Will Be longer

Longer life is already with us. Every decade the average lifespan is increasing by several years.

Nanobots will certainly help to ensure that this process continues. In 10-20 years many surgical operations will be being carried out completely internally. There will be no external surgery, minimal trauma, minimal side effects, fewer drugs used and a rapid recovery.

As the technology improves the changes will be incremental, producing surges of medical advancement which will probably stagger many of us within one or two decades.

Live A Long Life – Swallow A Nanobot is a post from: Living To 150

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My blood pressure is down. Not that it has ever been worryingly high; on the rare occasions I have taken it, it’s been around 125/85. That is pretty good.

A friend has hypertension, so I bought a blood pressure monitor to keep an eye on it.

After a week or so I took my own blood pressure and it was 110-115/65. Very low, thought I. Took it again, same. I thought I just wasn’t used to the machine. Waited a week and took it again.

Down, Down, Down

Yes, my blood pressure has come down. And I’m very happy because this correlates with increased health.

I haven’t recently taken up marathon running or any extreme sport; so I put it down to changes I have made in my diet this year.

I suppose taking Life Extension’s Life Extension Mix might have had an impact. But I think it’s more likely diet.

Dietary Changes

In my diet, I have: increased the raw food I eat – I have salad once or twice a day; almost cut out bread, potatoes, rice, pasta; increased nuts and seeds; almost cut out food cooked over 250 degrees F (about 110 degrees C).

I am really surprised at this reduction in blood pressure; but very pleased. I feel it is definitely a benefit of the changes in my diet.

Blood Pressure Down is a post from: Living To 150

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Inflammation is shown, in this image, affecting some of the major joints. We all know and understand this type.

But Generalised Inflammation is something that we all need to be aware of – whether or not we have aches and pains.

Generalised Inflammation is present in many people – and they rarely know about it.

This insidious type of inflammation is implicated in all major degenerative diseases:

• Heart disease
• Artery disease
• Some cancers
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Diabetes

In other words, many studies have shown that a significant number of the people suffering from these diseases

have generalised inflammation, demonstrated by blood tests.

As these diseases occur more as we age, I think we can usefully add:

• Aging

to the list of diseases which inflammation causes.

Measuring Inflammation

Inflammation can be detected by testing the blood for c-reactive protein (molecule pictured left) and fibrinogen. If the levels of these two are high, bringing them down can usually be fairly easily achieved through the right vitamins, nutritional supplements and herbs.

More Information

As well as my more detailed article on Inflammation, here are links to some books on the topic from Amazon UK:

Stop Inflammation Now!
The Inflammation Syndrome
The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan

Essential To Address If We Are To Get – And Stay – Healthy

Inflammation is a crucial issue to address to slow down aging and the onset of degenerative diseases. I find it fascinating that this issue is:

• Easy to measure (through blood tests)
• Usually easy to treat
• Therefore within our individual control

And also that it is:

• Talked about by hardly anyone who is charged with looking after our health.

Inflammation Kills is a post from: Living To 150

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Researchers in Canada found that orange juice taken alongside a drug for hayfever – fexofenadine – reduced its absorption by half.  It is likely that there would be similar effects on many other drugs.

The researchers suggested that the spike in blood sugar was the mechanism which caused the reduction in drug absorption. In this case, other fruit juices will have a similar effect. (The previously identified interference of grapefruit juice with some drugs involves a different mechanism.)

The researchers advised drinking fruit juices 4 hours away from any drugs being taken.

Fruit Juice And Diabetes

The blood sugar spike caused by drinking fruit juice is also responsible

for the increased risk of diabetes they cause. Sugar is already pouring into the blood stream for most people. This comes from digested starches (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta) as well as from direct sugar sources – eg soft drinks. With extra sugar on top of this from fruit juices, the current dramatic rise in diabetes not surprising.

I advise:

• Avoiding drugs as much as possible, in general, and trying to use natural methods such as nutritional supplements and lifestyle changes
• Avoiding fruit juice – which increases the risk for diabetes. Whole fruit in moderation is fine – because the fibre reduces the spike.

If you take these two actions, then the finding from this study need not be a concern.

Mail Online coverage of the study
Life Extension Foundation comprehensive article on Diabetes

All Fruit Juices Can Interfere With Drugs is a post from: Living To 150

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There is news currently about how statin drugs are associated with lower levels of Alzheimer’s disease.

This is not surprising – because statins lower inflammation; and there is a link between Alzheimer’s disease and low-level inflammation. 

However, the solution to low-level inflammation is NOT to take statin drugs. Just as the answer to cholesterol is not to take statin drug – except in isolated cases.

Measuring Low Level Inflammation

Currently, the best and cheapest way to find out if you have a raised level of low-level inflammation is to measure c-reactive protein, or CRP. This substance has a raised level if inflammation is present. This blood test is simple and not expensive.

Treatment

If CRP is high, treatment to lower inflammation is a combination of herbs and nutrients. Some important options are:

- Fish oils/Omega 3 fatty acids
- The ‘master hormone’ DHEA
- Bromelain – from pineapple
- Nettle leaf
- Ginger
- Turmeric

For more details, check out Philip Miller’s excellent book: "Life Extension Revolution", p 191.

Alzheimer’s treatment protocol

And – as a general rule – don’t take the statins!

Statins & Alzheimers – Right For Wrong Reason is a post from: Living To 150

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I hate to report this, but a solid study has shown that drinking orange juice once a day increase type II diabetes risk.

The reason I hate to report it, is because many people will be as shocked as I was – or even disbelieving – when first hearing that their morning ‘health’ drink could actually be unhealthy.

But it is true.

The Whole Fruit, Nothing But The Fruit

All fruit juices are similar to sugar water. True, the sugar is not glucose; it’s fructose. But it still spikes up blood sugar after drinking it.

The whole fruit contains fibre which slows sugar absorption down. The juice has most or all of the fibre removed so that the passage of sugar into the blood stream is rapid.

The Path To Diabetes (type II)

The 3-step pattern leading to diabetes can then emerge:

1. Sugar in the blood demands insulin, from the pancreas. Insulin influences ‘receptors’ in the cell walls to allow sugar to pass inside.
2. Over time the cell wall receptors become less responsive to repeated insulin insults. The pancreas has to produce more and more for the same result.
3. The overworked pancreas becomes can’t keep up with the demand for insulin. Blood sugar builds up and diabetes is present.

Avoid Diabetes – And Delay Aging

A feature of diabetes is that sufferers get aging diseases much earlier than the rest of us.

This is why diabetics tend to get problems with heart and arteries, kidneys and eyes at a relatively young age. Control of the diabetes is essential; and for most, perfectly possible.

Control Through Diet

Although input from an experienced practitioner is always helpful, one of the main approaches to dealing with Type II diabetes (also called ‘maturity onset’ diabetes) is through a rigorous diet.

This is the same diet as a ‘healthy aging’ diet, but with more care taken to keep blood sugar low.

This means reducing intake of sugar and starches (mainly potatoes, pasta, rice and bread) dramatically such that your blood sugar remains at a low-normal level – not just a moderate level.

Blood sugar can be monitored through regular blood tests.

A practitioner can advise on supplements to be used. Also see:

• Life Extension Foundation – diabetes for a great article
• Life Extension Magazine August 2008, p67 "Metabolic Disease and Heart Attack, which is very relevant. 
• www.meta-syndrome.com for information on Metabolic Syndrome.

Finally, here is:

• A report of the Orange Juice study

Orange Juice Gives You Diabetes is a post from: Living To 150

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Metabolites are substances formed either during, or at the end of, one process of our metabolism. There provide a valuable key to how our body is functioning, or how it responds to introduced elements, such as drugs or food.

There are thousands of the metabolites being formed every minute, so analysing them is a mammoth task. But with computer power doubling every year, this analysis will soon become a reality.

Applications Of Metabolomics

Metabolites in the blood give strong clues to how our body is behaving both generally, and in reacting to foods and drugs we might be taking.

Applications include:

1. Early detection of disease.
2. Nutritional treatment to address an individual’s precise internal site.
3. Early detection of reactions to a new drug. This will help to avoid side effects, as well as making research much cheaper as blind alleys can be abandoned earlier.

The Future

Metabolomics is just one way in which rapidly increasing computer power and biology will combine to make medicine unrecognisable in just 10 or 20 years.

The Human Metabolome Project

Metabolomics – Wikipedia

Metabolomics is a post from: Living To 150

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Avoiding facial wrinkles is a big issue for many people – especially many women. Some resort to extreme measures such as injecting toxins into the skin – Botox – or surgical operations.

However, this ignores the main functional problem produced by  wrinkles; they don’t just affect the face, but affect the whole body. In fact, the main problem with wrinkles is that they reduce the flexibility of organs which need to be flexible. Facial wrinkles are just the external indication of the main problem; glycation.

By reducing the flexibility off the brain, heart, kidneys and eyes glycation promotes aging.

So, to help you keep looking young externally, and also to help you keep young internally, addressing glycation is a key issue.

The Main Causes Of Glycation

The Main causes are:

1. Blood glucose, which is too high.
2. Eating foods cooked at temperatures which are too high

1. High Blood Glucose

A continually high level of blood glucose promotes glycation. The main solution, for most people is dramatically to cut down the amount of starch in the diet; bread, pasta, rice and potatoes. Ideally, don’t eat any. Practically, reduce to a bare minimum.

Preferably, monitor blood glucose level with blood tests.

2. Food Cooked At High Temperature

Food cooked at temperatures above 250°F promote glycation. To avoid this, avoid frying, grilling, roasting, [and broiling]. Prepare foods uncooked [salads], and use slow cooking, steaming, simmering, stews to prepare your food.

Ideally, make sure all the food you eat is prepared in this way. Practically, only eat foods cooked at high temperatures on rare occasions, such as when visiting friends.

Practical application

When eating out, it’s a fairly simple matter to choose foods which follow these guidelines. Salad-and-something is a common option; or or a protein choice plus mixed vegetables – hold the potatoes.

As in all things, don’t strain too much to avoid glycated foods 100%. But 95% is great – and it will help your skin, long term.

How To Avoid Aging Wrinkles is a post from: Living To 150

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Does anyone know a good place to get blood tests in the UK?

It needs to offer a good range of tests – eg including Haemoglobin A1c – as well as the more usual ones; and preferably be a reasonable price.

Any suggestions gratefully received as I not only want them myself, but other people I talk to want them too. Understandably, not everyone is prepared to go to America as I did.

Please leave a comment if you have any ideas.

Where To Get Blood Tests In UK is a post from: Living To 150

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A friend was concerned about arthritis as she aged. Having an aging father in law in poor health made her think of her own state of health. Systemic inflammation is one factor to take seriously.

Systemic inflammation is when there is general ‘background’ inflammation without pain or symptoms – at least initially. For this reason it is insidious as it can just creep up on you. The joints and muscles can slowly degenerate without you realising it.

The same inflammation is a major cause of a host of other diseases including heart and artery disease; some cancers; Alzheimer’s disease, as well as conditions due to thickened blood such as angina and clouded thinking.

Systemic inflammation can be indicated through blood tests for C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen. If both of these are low, this is a good sign that systemic inflammation is not rampant in your body.

My own measures for these two are: CRP – 0.82 mg/L, and 149 mg/dL of fibrinogen. The ‘reference range’ (range within which the lab suggests the results are ok) for CRP is 0-3 mg/L and for fibrinogen 193-423 mg/dL.

This makes my CRP within the good range; but I think .5 is even more desirable than .82 (says Philip Miller).

My fibrinogen level is lower than the reference range. The lab’s doctor says this is a good thing. I wonder why it is so low. High fibrinogen thickens the blood; low fibrinogen should thin the blood. This might be expected to make me bleed more easily, which I do not experience – at least not yet  

Systemic inflammation is one of the 4 key ‘-ations’ identified by Philip Miller (Life Extension Revolution, Ch 7) as being crucial to address if you wish to achieve healthy aging.

Treatment is simple; change your diet to exclude inflammatory factors (such as Omega 6 fatty acids) and take a mixture of herbs including:

• Nettles
• Circumin (Turmeric)
• Ginger

and supplements, including:

• DHEA
• Vitamin K
• Bromelain

Then you need to retest the blood to see if what you did worked. A lot of hassle, but it’s worth it to help avoid degenerative diseases.

Afterwards, an annual blood test will check everything is still ok. This should be part of a regular health routine.

Arthritis and Inflammation is a post from: Living To 150

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I now have to decide on my initial treatment for longevity, based on my blood test results.

I have taken Life Extension Foundation‘s Life Extension Mix (a very special multi-mineral/vitamin mix) for around 6 months. I did this on purpose prior to taking the blood tests. This may well have boosted levels of certain blood components up to their current good levels.

Eg, chromium, zinc and selenium are often found to be deficient; my chromium and zinc were fine; the selenium I don’t know because that was the one test which did not come out for technical reasons.

My 3 aims for treatment now are:

A reduction in fasting glucose levels. (Because of the generally damaging effects on the body of any more than a low level of blood glucose)

A reduction in total cholesterol. Mine is 235mg/dL (6mmol/L), and the target is around 180mg/dL (4.6mmol/L).

A reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP). Mine is good at .82mg/L; ideal is less than 0.5mg/L. CRP is a strong indicator of low-grade inflammation in the body which promotes heart and artery disease, cancers and arthritis.

Next – my programme to achieve these aims.

Aims Of Treatment For Longevity is a post from: Living To 150

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From my blood tests for longevity, the overall test results I have received are good.

Kidney and liver show no malfunction. There are good to very good signs that cancer, heart disease and arthritic tendencies are not present. Prostate signs are good.

Thyroid indications are good. Vitamins B12 and D are good. Glycation level is good. (If bad, this causes faster aging by speeding up wrinkling of the skin and throughout the body)

Two Areas In Need of Attention

1. Blood glucose is at the beginning of the high range. This is not a great cause for concern; as the insulin tests shows the pancreas is working well; and the are good signs that metabolic syndrome is not present to any degree. However, I would be happier if the level was lower.

2. Both LDL (‘bad’) and HDL (‘good’) cholesterol are high. This means that the ratio between them – which is key – is good. Triclyceride levels – fats in the blood – are good, which lends weight to he view that the fat and cholesterol situation is not dangerous.

However, I would like the LDL to be lower.

Conclusion

LEF say that these two high results could well involve genetic factors. This is strengthened by the fact that my diet is low in carbohydrates and dietary cholesterol, and that no liver malfunction is indicated.

These tests have been extremely useful. I have been able to use some test results to check the implications of others. I feel I have had a very good assessment of my general level of health. Keeping a regular check – say, annual – should help highlight any problems early, for relatively easy treatment.

Tomorrow I will talk about my next steps.

Results Of My Blood Tests For Longevity is a post from: Living To 150

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As an indication of why excellent blood tests are so important to longevity, I like this quote from Philip Miller’s ‘Life Extension Revolution’:

…we know that the key to beating disease is to respond to early signs of cellular dysfunction, long before the first sign or symptom appears. While full-blown disease is often unstoppable, the cellular mechanisms that begin the disease process are relatively easy to influence. By quenching these tiny sparks, we can prevent the fires from igniting.

The value of blood tests is in the early warning they can give before signs and symptoms turn into diseases.

Interpreting the results might be easier than you think. For example, the results of my first blood test surprisingly identified high cholesterol. The lab made it simple for me by putting the desired range in one column, and writing ‘high’ next to it for me to see clearly.

And now I know it is so, I can do something about it before it produces heart and artery disease.

Why Excellent Blood Tests Are So Important is a post from: Living To 150

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