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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My visit to see Terry Grossman in Denver changed all that again. He told me about the PACE method of exercise popularized by Al Sears. I’m not sure who got onto it first… but interval training is the more generic name used.

Underlying the method is the fact that: cardio is bad. At least, in the way most of us understand it.

With cardio exercise (or aerobics) you stretch yourself moderately for half an hour or so 3 times a week. This, says Sears (and he has a lot of evidence) tells the muscle cells they need to be ready for this sort of moderate action. In response, the muscles become smaller and more dense. Not good.

The effect is to shrink the size of the lungs and the heart – the last thing we want. We want large muscles in the heart and lungs to make them ready to accommodate any sudden capacity demands. If these can’t be met by the heart, a heart attack is more likely.

So I am getting onto the ‘interval training’ bandwagon. Wish I’d heard about it before.

Check it out here – and get a free 6 minute workout.

I will be posting more about this fantastic method of exercise. Stick with me if you really want to get healthy – and keep healthy.

Exercise – A Reassessment is a post from: Living To 150

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The lifestyle changes I made after last year’s blood tests in Fort Lauderdale (April 2008) were as follows.

1. Avoiding glycation

2. Reducing the amount of sugar in my diet

3. Increasing exercise

After this year’s visit to see Terry Grossman, I will make further changes, no doubt. For now, let’s look at these factors one by one.

1. Avoiding glycation.

I reduced the amount of food I cooked at high temperatures. This was to avoid glycation.

For example, I substituted frying my salmon for poaching or steaming it. Stir-frys became a ‘quick fry’ followed by steaming in a little liquid.

I stopped frying curry onions and spices before adding the liquid – I just put it all together to cook.

When cooking in foil in the oven, I cook for an hour at 250 degrees F (gas mark 1.5) instead of a hot oven for 20 minutes.

The food still tastes great. I love poached or steamed salmon now. I like to poach it in vegetable stock, or wine, or just some water with a little soy sauce or Worcestershire Sauce. Add some flavouring to taste – onions, garlic, chili seeds, chopped peppers – and steam for 5 minutes a side.

In the oven – add the same vegetables, pour a little olive oil over. You can also add sliced courgette, mushrooms, etc. A fantastic meal when you add a side salad or a few extra steamed green vegetables.

I still occasionally have fried food – but rarely cook it  except for the quick start to my stir-frys.

Next I look at My Lifestyle Changes – Sugar

My Lifestyle Changes – Glycation is a post from: Living To 150

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I have signed up to a two day health assessment and series of consultations with Terry himself, his wife, a practitioner in nutrition and Chinese medicine, and others.

I want to build on the blood tests I had done a year ago, following which I have made lifestyle changes. These include dietary changes, exercise changes and devising a supplement plan.

I hope to have all these changes checked by the clinic.  Also, new blood and other tests will be carried out, and further recommendations made.

I am quite excited to hear what is recommended.

I think the clinic will also apply a test which shows an estimate of my ‘bodily age’ compared to my physical age. This will be a useful benchmark for future treatments to gauge their effects.

Denver is a lovey city, and has a great temperature in July. After my visit to the clinic, my partner and I will tour round the Rocky Mountains for 2 weeks before returning home.

Denver Anti-Aging is a post from: Living To 150

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Moderate weight training – such as on machines at the gym – has been shown to help maintain muscle bulk as we age – an important factor, as many falls by old people are due to weakened muscles.

The latest research shows an additional benefit of weight training: it reduces cancer.

In this study, scientists led from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, tracked 8,677 men aged between 20 and 82 for more than two decades, and studied their weight training habits.

The results were that men who regularly worked out with weights and had the greatest  muscle strength were 30 to 40 per cent less likely to die from a cancerous tumour.

Exercise Regime

It seems clear that exercise needs to be of two kinds:

1. Aerobic exercise – such as fast walking, swimming, running – any exercise where there is no rest. This should be for 20 minutes or more twice a week.

2. Weight training of the major muscle groups, also twice a week, and perhaps for 45 minutes a time. However, previously, it was thought that this just prevented muscle degeneration with aging.  This study seems to show a protective benefit against cancer too.

Although the study was of men, women should benefit too. Weight training does not have to result in big muscles – your trainer will advise if you don’t want to ‘get chunky’!

Report

Weight Train To Avoid Cancer is a post from: Living To 150

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Pigs are often used in heart research because their heart valves resemble those of humans. The new technique accurately simulates blood flow in the heart by connecting it to equipment on a laboratory bench.

Thus the heart is attached to equipment outside the pig. The results of any experiments carried out can be obtained much, much more quickly and easily.

The new technique will mean that a piece of research might only cost cost $25 instead of around $2500 if it was carried out on a live pig – a massive saving.

Obviously, this means that many more pieces of research will be possible and medical advanced will be multiplied.

Finally, the trauma for the poor animals will be much less.

Article

Technorati Profile

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For men it is even worse; cases have quintupled.

To keep yourself out of these statistics, it is vital to avoid sunburn or reddening of the skin. This is when the DNA damage which starts the cancer occurs.

Sunbed Damage

For women in particular the use of sunbeds has greatly increased since 1980.

Sunbeds are now triple the strength than in the past. UK pressure groups are asking for them to be banned for under 18-year-olds, and for unstaffed, coin-operated booths to be made illegal.

Marriage to Blame? 

The increase for men is blamed on the availability of cheaper foreign holidays in sunny places. One could guess that stag parties may well figure in the increase too. It has become de rigeur to travel abroad for a stag – or hen – ‘do’ these days.

Moderate Sun Only

Malignant melanoma is nearly all avoided if you avoid reddening of the skin. Be moderate in your exposure to the sun; and it is probably best to stay off the sunbeds. They are just too risky. Twenty minutes on one of these is equivalent to a whole day on the beach.

Daily Mail article

Skin Cancer Levels Top 10,000 is a post from: Living To 150

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The problem with chemotherapy is that it targets cancer cells, but damages healthy cells in the process. This new therapy would damage the cancer without the additional – unwanted – damage.

This was achieved by changing the virus so that it kept its ability to reproduce within cancer cells in mice. But this was done in such a way that the mouse’s system realised that the virus cells were foreign, and so later killed them before they caused other damage.

The therapy has the possibility of being ‘tweaked’ to attack other harmful cells – such as hepatitis cells – while keeping all – or nearly all – the none-harmful cells safe.

Cancer Research UK article

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This is due largely to better healthcare, meaning that some sick people are kept alive for longer.

With the rise in obesity and the accompanying dangers of insulin resistance, it is quite possible: some say likely – that this trend will reverse before too long.

Keep Healthy – Keep Trim

To counteract this trend it is important to maintain a good weight for your height as well as reducing the amount of starchy food in your diet.

These reported increases in life expectancy are mirrored throughout Europe. The highest life expectancy is in San Marino which is four years higher than in the UK.

It is sobering to reflect that, on the other hand, the lowest life expectancy is in Sierra Leone where it is a mere 39 years.

More details

Life Expectancy Increases Another 4 years is a post from: Living To 150

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(It’s said that the first person who will still be healthy at 200 is already living.)

So with that aim in mind I need to prepare myself for my trip to Denver, Colorado to see Terry Grossman, in July 2009.

What do I want to achieve?

Three main things.

1. Firstly, to have new blood tests taken, so that I can compare these with the ones I had done last year at Life Extension Foundation, and get the clinic’s views on them.
2. Secondly, to have a more detailed health assessment done, and so further review my health status.
3. Thirdly, to get the clinic’s views on my lifestyle, and how that is affecting my health, looked at against the backdrop of the blood tests.

New Blood Tests

It will be interesting to see how my blood test have changed compared to last year.

My main concerns with the blood tests were:

• High cholesterol. My total cholesterol was 235 mg/dl. This is about 6 in the UK measurement, and so about 30% too high. LDL and HDL were similarly high. However, my total cholesterol/HDL ratio was pretty good. Triglycerides were also good, at 72 mg/dl. (What is cholesterol?)
• Blood sugar. Fasting blood sugar was 102 mg/dl, or 5.6mmol/l in UK terms. Optimal is between 70 and 85.  So 102 is high. However, haemoglobin A-1 C was 5.6%, which is good. This is a measure of blood sugar over the past three-months. Also, fasting insulin was good at less than 2 mIU/dl.
• Hormones. My free testosterone was measured at 9.1 pg per millilitre. This is within the recommended range, but low within the range. Thyroid hormones again, were low within the normal range.

I will be looking to see whether the new blood tests reflect similar values to the old ones – from a year ago.

It will be interesting to hear the clinic’s personal recommendations. Last year I had only support via the telephone, which was not ideal. This one-to-one advice will be more helpful.

Preparing for My Health Review is a post from: Living To 150

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The subjects who received the lycopene supplement experienced a sunburn cell count six times lower than that of the placebo group. This is a significant benefit as sunburn causes DNA damage in cells.  Cancer often involves DNA damage.

The study was carried out by a company producing a lycopene supplement. However, confidence in the results was strengthened by the comments of David McDaniel, M.D., director of the Institute of Anti-Aging Research in Virginia Beach, USA, who said these  results “…are  impressive.” 

McDaniel added:

"Our research program has seen significant protection from UV damage from other topically applied super-potent antioxidants. We’ve also seen anecdotal evidence that oral lycopene supplementation in the 5mg to 10mg daily dose range may reduce the risk of sunburn in very sensitive, fair-skinned individuals. The apparent protection of Langerhans cells is also potentially significant," he notes, adding: "Oral supplements such as this mixture of lycopene and related carotenoids need further studies like this one to expand our understanding of how oral antioxidants impact our skin – both for health and beauty."

Further information on this study

The Richest Source of Lycopene

The fruit with the highest content of lycopene is called a gac. It is found in south east Asia, when it can be harvested during December and January. However, it is little know elsewhere. If you do live in Vietnam or nearby it is well worth seeking out gac, as it contains 80 – yes, 80! – times the lycopene found in tomatoes. Other foods have lesser amounts of lycopene, the only significant one being watermelon, which has about 1/4-1/3 of that found in tomato sauce.

Tomatoes Protect against Sunburn is a post from: Living To 150

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After cutting down on Omega-6 in the diet, omega-3 supplementation is the top way for most people to reduce their level of generalised inflammation.

The reason for this is that nearly everyone has too many Omega-6 fatty acids in their diet, and too few Omega-3 fatty acids.

If you are taking a 3-6-9 fatty acid supplement: stop now! Why take extra Omega-6 fats when you are already taking too many in your diet? This is a marketing ruse.

Avoid Omega-6

I haven’t found anyone who can tell me why we should need to have extra Omega-6. Omega-6 is the enemy. I really don’t understand why companies sell it as a supplement. We have loads of it in meat, milk, cheese and the common oils – sunflower, safflower and soy.

If I have missed something – tell me in the comments.

Get More Omega-3

Omega-3 is only found in quantity in oily fish and walnuts. Green vegetables have a tiny amount: hemp seeds and linseeds have fair amounts – but it is nothing as accessible as that from oily fish or walnuts.

HOW TO DO IT

To counteract generalised inflammation, which accompanies cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s, do the following to cut down on Omega-6 and increase Omega-3:

• Reduce fatty meat. Focus on low fat meat – chicken and turkey breast are good.
• Avoid or minimise sunflower, safflower and soy oils. (Use olive oil – which has little Omega-6 or Omega-3 – it contains mainly ‘monosaturated’ fats. )
• Eat plenty of oily fish – sardines, mackerel, north pacific salmon (this type has less chance of heavy metal contamination)
• Eat moderate amounts of walnuts.
• Supplement with a top quality Omega-3 supplement. Add up the EPA + DHA delivered  it should preferably be 100mg, or at least 500mg. Many health-shop brands deliver much less.

And do get your blood checked for C-Reactive Protein (CRP). (Hopefully you can persuade your doctor to do it – and save £75 or £100 in the UK – half that in the states!) Then you will know how much of a challenge you are facing – if any. After 6 months, retest the CRP to check how you are doing.

 Book on C-Reactive Protein

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The truth is: we need Omega-3s.

We should generally shoot for a 1:1 balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in the diet. The problem is, our diets generally contain much too much Omega-6. Thus we need to reduce Omega-6 fats and increase Omega-3 fats.

Inflammation Kills

The main reason to increase Omega-3 fats is: Omega-3 reduces inflammation. Omega-6 fats increase inflammation – it is ‘pro-inflammatory’.

What is wrong with inflammation? ‘Good inflammation’ is designed to help the body to repair damage or counteract infection. It causes redness, pain and heat.

The ‘bad’ sort is generalised inflammation. This type does not cause pain or discomfort. It is insidious: it can be detected by a blood test, but is not felt. This generalised inflammation has been linked to all major degenerative diseases: cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

A good test for generalised inflammation is to test the blood for c-reactive protein (CRP). Some UK doctors will test for CRP. They might tell you that 2-4 times normal CRP is acceptable: but check for yourself what you levels should – don’t trust the doctor’s view. Just twice the normal CRP level can double your chance of a heart attack.

Book on C-Reactive Protein

The top ways to reduce generalised inflammation are by:

1. Reducing intake of food high in Omega-6 – such as milk, cheese, and common vegetable oils, including sunflower (stick to cold-pressed olive oil), and
2. Supplementing with Omega-3 fatty acid; which means – fish oils.  Cod liver oil is fine; and eating oily fish – such as sardines, mackerel and salmon.

CRP is one proven measure of your propensity to develop all major degenerative diseases. You cannot be properly pro-active in safeguarding your own health if you do not know it.

Inflammation article

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There is on great advantage of consulting with someone like Terry Grossman who is an expert in anti-aging therapies as well as a ‘regular’ doctor. This is that certain conventional diagnoses or treatments may be desirable where is can be judged that the potential for harm is less than the harm which may be caused by not doing them.

The ultrafast CAT scan is, I believe, one of these diagnostic methods.

Heart Symptoms May Be Too Late

Way before any heart symptoms occur, calcium deposits can be detected in the heart muscle and the coronary arteries – the small arteries which feed the heart muscle itself. It has been found that these are the early stages of arterial deposits.

One study of 6,700 people found that those with the most calcium deposits in the coronary arteries suffered ten times the number of cardio-vascular events (eg a heart attack) than those with the least.

An ultrafast CAT scan can detect calcium deposits and thus identify disease – especially coronary heart disease – early. It can then be treated.

Little Radiation

The ‘ultrafast’ part is that the amount of radiation used is much less than for a conventional CAT scan.

No amount of radiation is good; but the information from this scan can be so valuable that you might decide – as I have – to take the risk from the small dose involved.

The machine scans many ’slices’ of the heart and coronary arteries and feeds this information to a computer. The computer is programmed to extract the large amount of information and piece it together.

Treatment With Nutrition

If calcium deposits are discovered they can be flushed out – or at least greatly diminished – by a carefully chosen cocktail of nutritional supplements.

Herbs for the Heart

Meanwhile, I take herbs for the heart every day – a formula based on Hawthorn – as I know from iridology analysis that I have a muscle weakness in the heart tissue.

Hawthorn is a great herb which is safe in use and has been highly recommended by herbalists for centuries.

More info: Ultrafast CAT scan

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So it’s good that Holford is shouting about it.

Insulin Resistance of the Cells

In insulin resistance, our cells become more or less immune to the effects of insulin.

The insulin is produced to make the cells take sugar out of the blood. The result is that the sugar remains in the blood, causing increased inflammation. Inflammation, in turn, is linked to serious disease.

Which Diseases are Caused?

Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance have been closely linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease.

All the ‘biggies’, really. This is a vital syndrome to know about. And the crucial point of understanding the symdrome is CUT DOWN ON SUGAR. That means all sugar; and you need to know that pasta, potatoes, bread (of all kinds – even wholemeal) and rice is nearly all sugar.

Holford says Metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance is worse for our health than excessive salt or fat in the diet.

He has a point.

How to Combat Metabolic Sydrome

His answer is to eat ‘Low GL’, or low glycaemic load. This is pretty much the same as low GI – low glycaemic index - which you might have already heard of.

It means that when you eat starchy food – oats, wheat, rice, pasta, bread – make sure it passes into the blood slowly. Eg wholemeal rather than white; porridge rather than popular cereals.

Vegetables, Fats, Protein Way to Go

Certainly – focus on low GI (I mean GL) when you do eat starchy food.

But fundamentally, think ‘low sugar’ with your diet. Eat starchy food rarely. This means cut down dramatically on rice, bread, pasta, potatoes. And sugary food itself, of course.

Pile on the vegetables and salads.

Focus on fish and lean meat – eg turkey and chicken breast.

Minimise sweet fruit, eg apples and mangoes, which are high in sugar; and fruit juices – which are very high in sugar. Do eat berries, though, which are lower in sugar and highly nutritious.

This is probably a very new approach to your diet; but it is essential if you are to avoid the ‘insulin resistance’ epidemic which is hitting us now. Crazy as it may sound, it will greatly help you to avoid the major degenerative diseases.

• More about Metabolic Syndrome
• Article about inflammation
• Patrick Holford’s GL Revolution Tour of 11 UK cities

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However, can we deal with the repeated hunger pangs? Should we incorporate CR – or partial CR – into our lifestyle to live longer and live healthier?

I used to think "no" having met a couple of CR nutters. However, in the face of further evidence and the passage of time. I am thinking again.

Free Radical Damage

From a scientific point of view, tremendous cell damage is caused by free radicals, and free radicals are produced by the body processing food – especially by the mitochondria of our cells. Eat less food: produce fewer free radicals.

Another positive point for CR is the possibility of "partial CR" – ie not going the whole hog, but limiting food intake somewhat – say to 85% of what you would normally eat.

When it comes to considering cutting down food intake to extend life, one is reminded of the quote in answer to the question: "Does it make you live long?", "No – but it certainly seems that way."

To get more data, one book worth reading is the snappily named: The Longevity Diet: Discover Calorie Restriction – the Only Proven Way to Slow the Aging Process and Maintain Peak Vitality, written by two practitioners of CR.

You can get it from Amazon.

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Scientists at Sheffield University are on the way to creating the most important hearing cells – the hair cells which detect sound – from a patient’s own stem cells.

Once this has been done – in just a few years – many cases of hearing will be curable.

Story: Hearing Loss Breakthrough

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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

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300 people gathered together with interests in these main areas. An obvious connecting factor was: ‘thinking outside the box’.

Aubrey de Grey

One attendee was Aubrey de Grey, a man of striking appearance, and strong intellect. He speaks convincingly about how the degeneration caused by aging will be ended by biotechnology – potentially within a generation or two. 

Longevity – Supplements – Yes or No?

From the point of view of supplements the longevity enthusiasts polarised into two main groups: "take supplements", and "take few supplements" (or "take no supplements").

The "take few supplements" lobby were concerned about studies which appeared to show that supplements can be toxic, such as vitamin E; and those which showed them to be ineffective. An example of the latter is that the effectiveness of anti-oxidants is questioned, as our cells appear to regulate anti-oxidants so closely, that it is questioned whether it is worth taking extra ones such as vitamin C or CoQ10.

Voice of Moderation for Anti-Aging

After fighting in my head with the opposing views for a couple of days, I was won over by Terry Grossman, co-author of ‘Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever‘, who I heard speak, and spoke with, several times.

Terry runs a longevity clinic in Denver, Colorado.

His views run very closely to my own naturopathic ones; do all you can through lifestyle – as supported by science; take medical tests for major diseases where they are available; and take moderate levels of supplements.

Terry argued convincingly against the ‘vitamin E toxicity’ argument put frequently by the "take no supplements" lobby, as a misrepresentation of the data.

I plan to visit Terry Grossman’s anti-aging clinic for an ‘overhaul’ in mid 2009.

Great Anti-Aging Conference

This was an eye-opening conference. There were many people there making fantastic discoveries at the cutting edge of health and science; and, contradictorily, some of these were not so open minded in other areas.

I should not be so surprised – that’s human.

I look forward to the next conference. The organisers may have one focused more specifically on anti-aging which would be great.

Convergence08: Overview is a post from: Living To 150

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Google and Nasa are backing Ray Kurzweil in a new school for ‘futurists’. The school will be located around the corner from Google in Silicon Valley.

The school will pull together people and ideas from rapidly growing and advancing disciplines which are going to affect our future – including health and longevity – tremendously. These include technology, medicine, artificial intelligence (AI), genetics and  nanotechnology.

The students will get together each year for nine weeks to soak up cutting edge ideas across discipline The idea of the University is not to set exams and issue degrees, but to share ideas in these rapidly developing fields. 

Ray Kurzweil put forward his view that the day when the intelligence of machines equal the intelligence human is coming nearer at a faster pace. This is because of the accelerating progress in biology, technology and AI. This time has been called the ‘Singularity’.

Kurzweil predicts this time will be before the middle of this century. More intelligent machines will, he says, be able to solve problems of poverty, starvation, pollution and global warming.

Kurzweil has a strong back-catalogue of successful and ground-breaking inventions including the electric piano, the document scanner and dictation software. He is the visionary who has been appointed as Chancellor.

The new school will be called the ‘Singularity University’.

Guardian article

Smart Machines on the Horizon is a post from: Living To 150

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