First Real Indicator of Longevity in Mammals Discovered

[ScienceRocks]

First Real Indicator of Longevity in Mammals Discovered


First real indicator of longevity in mammals discovered

A team of researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), headed by CNIO Director María Blasco, has demonstrated in a pioneering study on mammals that longevity is defined at a molecular level by the length of telomeres. The work -- which is published September 27 in the online edition of the journal Cell Reports -- opens the door to further study of these cellular components in order to calculate the rate at which cells age and thus be able to determine life expectancy for a particular organism.

 

[waltky]

Looks like Uncle Ferd gonna have to wait a while longer to get Granny's bedroom...

Study Quantifies That People Are Living Longer
May 15, 2014 — A new report by the World Health Organization finds people are living longer. The organization’s annual statistics report shows people are living an average six years longer than they did in 1990.

The World Health Organization report finds low-income countries have made the greatest progress, with average life expectancies rising by nine years between 1990 and 2012. WHO Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems Director Ties Boerma attributes the improvements to major successes in the health-related Millennium Development Goals. “Child mortality is down 47 percent since 1990. Maternal mortality is 45 percent down since 1990. HIV, TB, malaria all have seen major reductions in new infections and in deaths," said Dr. Boerma. "But we also have to acknowledge that many countries will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals ... so much more action is needed.”

The World Health Statistics 2014 surveys 194 countries. The data show women all over the world live longer than men and the gaps in life expectancy between rich and poor countries persist. It says declining tobacco use is a key factor in helping people live longer in several countries. The top six countries where life expectancy from birth has increased the most are Liberia, Ethiopia, Maldives, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and Rwanda. The report cites Iceland as the top-ranked country for life expectancy among men, which is just over 81 years. Japan comes out on top for women, who live until age 87. On the bottom of the scale, the report finds life expectancy for both men and women is still less than 55 years in nine sub-Saharan countries.

The leading causes for years of life lost are ischaemic heart disease, pneumonia, and stroke, followed by preterm birth complications, diarrheal diseases and HIV/AIDS. The report says infectious diseases and related conditions are the major causes of more than 70 percent of premature deaths in 22 African countries. Meanwhile, it finds non-communicable diseases and injuries account for more than 90 percent of years of life lost in 47 high-income countries.

Boerma told VOA that spectacular progress has been made in countries where strong government leadership promotes health services. “One lesson though is that if the political unstable situation resolves, we have seen in many countries a catch-up, really fast progress. Examples: Liberia, which is now our fastest progressing country, Rwanda, but also Cambodia.” Boerma noted that such practices as good delivery care for women, family planning and immunizations are aiding the progress.

Study Quantifies That People Are Living Longer

 

[waltky]

Granny'd be happy just to find some good rheumatize med'cine...

Study: Bowhead Whale Genome May Hold Secret to Longevity
January 05, 2015 ~ The Bowhead whale may harbor the secret to longevity, according to a new study that describes its genome.

Native to the Arctic, the bowhead is big and strong and can live 200 years, possibly the longest lifespan of any mammal. But why does it live so long? That question has intrigued University of Liverpool scientist Joao Pedro Magalhaes for a long time. “Why do human beings age slower than other primates?" he says. "Why do mice age so much faster than humans or whales? And likewise, why do bowhead whales seem to live longer than human beings and seem to be protected against some age-related disease like cancer?”

Magalhaes says this remains a mystery. But in sequencing the genome, the scientists looked for patterns comparing the bowhead to other closely related, but shorter-lived species, such as the Minke whale. Magalhaes says the team focused on identifying genes with bowhead specific mutations. “We looked for genes that are duplicated — that is, they have multiple copies in the bowhead whale, but not in other related species. And this revealed a number of promising leads.”

The Bowhead whale gets its name from its high arched lower jaw that looks like an archer’s bow.

In the journal Cell Reports, Magalhaes and colleagues describe alterations in bowhead genes related to cell division, DNA repair, cancer and aging. Magalhaes says different long-lived species use different tricks to evolve a long life span. He wants to uncover the natural mechanism that triggers that process. “If I can figure out what are these tricks in the bowhead and what makes them live so long and protects against diseases, we can then try to apply them to human beings, which could involve pharmacological interventions or pharmacological targeting of particular genes," he said. "It could involve gene therapy.”

The next step, he says, is to breed mice with bowhead whale genes, to determine the importance of different longevity and age-related mutations. But the sequence has other applications, too: understanding population dynamics and genetic diversity can help conservationists working to protect the species, which is threated by habitat loss and toxins in the environment.

Study Bowhead Whale Genome May Hold Secret to Longevity

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - Gen. 6.3 says 120 years...

Limit to human life may be 115 (ish)
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 - Our life spans appear to be limited to about 115 years, according to US scientists.

Their conclusions, published in the journal Nature, were made by analysing decades of data on human longevity. They said a rare few may live longer, but the odds were so poor you'd have to scour 10,000 planet Earths to find just one 125-year-old. But while some scientists have praised the study, others have labelled it a dismal travesty. Life expectancy has been increasing relentlessly since the nineteenth century - due to vaccines, safer childbirth and tackling killers like cancer and heart disease. But can that go on forever? The team in New York analysed data from the Human Mortality Database and the deaths of super-centenarians (those over 110) in France, Japan, UK and US.

The data showed increases in life expectancy were slowing in centenarians and that the maximum age of death had plateaued for at least two decades. Prof Jan Vijg, one of the researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told the BBC News website: "In people over 105 we make very little progress, that tells you we are most likely approaching the limit to human life. "For the first time in history we've been able to see this, it looks like the maximum life span - this ceiling, this barrier - is about 115. "It's almost impossible you'll get beyond it, you need 10,000 world's like ours to end up with one individual in a given year who will live until 125 - so a very small chance."

The oldest person

Jeanne Calment came close. The oldest ever person, whose age can be backed up by official documents, was 122 when she died in 1997. The French icon of longevity was born before the Eiffel Tower was constructed and met the painter Vincent van Gogh. Nobody has since got near her venerable age. Prof Dame Linda Partridge, the director of the UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing, said a limit to lifespans "logically has to exist". But she told the BBC: "Although this really interesting paper describes what is happening, it doesn't describe what will happen."

The crop of centenarians in the study were affected by malnutrition and infectious diseases in their childhood back in the late 19th Century. Remember smallpox was declared eradicated only in 1980. "It was certainly very different to what the current birth cohort will go through, but it could yet be rather negative as a lot of children have grown up obese and that could bring lifespan down quite a lot," Prof Partridge added.

'Travesty'

 

[waltky]

Granny says she don't wanna live so long her mind goes - Uncle Ferd says too late...

Humans May Already Have Achieved Longest Lifespan
October 05, 2016 - A new study concludes that in parts of the world, we literally may be living as long as humanly possible.

In the West, the average lifespan is 80. The authors of a study published Wednesday in Nature say data strongly suggest that may be about as good as it gets. In fact, the study suggests the maximum human lifespan may have been achieved in the 1990s. The average life expectancy rose dramatically from the end of the 19th century and through the 20th, almost on a continuous basis, thanks to medical advancements and improvements in public health. In the United States, the average lifespan increased from 47 years at the turn of the last century to 79 years for the average baby born today.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York based their study on data from the Human Mortality Database, which compiles the mortality and population records of more than 40 countries dating back to 1900. Records showed a continuing decline in early mortality over time, with survival to old age — defined as 70 years old — increasing gradually with each calendar year of birth.

An elderly couple walks down a hall in Easton, Pennsylvania​

The study, led by Jan Vijg, chair of the genetics department at Albert Einstein, also looked at survival improvements since 1900 of people age 100 and older. Researchers found that survival tended to peak at 100, and then decline rapidly regardless of the year centenarians were born. “This finding indicates diminishing gains in reducing late-life mortality and a possible limit to human lifespan,” Vijg reported.

Researchers noted that some people born in the United States, France, Japan and Britain lived to be 110 years old or older between 1968 and 2006. However, the number of so-called supercentenarians is quite small, and considered unattainable by most of the population.

In one instance, researchers identified a 122-year-old French woman named Jeanne Calment as the oldest person on record. Calment, who died in 1997, is considered a statistical outlier. For people who beat the odds and reach triple digits, the most probable maximum lifespan is 115 years of age. Vijg acknowledged that continued medical developments to improve quality of life — particularly in the developed world — may push average life expectancy beyond 80, but he stressed that researchers do not expect the average human lifespan to ever break 100.

Humans May Already Have Achieved Longest Lifespan