The Fountain of Youth at the Bottom of a Wine Bottle

[mawilson 2,133]

Researchers have found that resveratrol--a molecule found in the skin of red grapes

and therefore in red wine--can prolong the life span of obese mice. They report their

findings in today's advanced online edition of Nature.

Resveratrol has been touted as an antiaging therapy since 2003, when Robert Sinclair,

a Harvard Medical School pathologist and co-author of the current study, found that the

life span of yeast could be extended by up to 60 percent when treated with the molecule.

The same effect has been replicated in worms, flies and fish. In the case of the obese

mice, Sinclair observes, resveratrol increased insulin levels while decreasing glucose

levels, resulting in healthier liver and heart tissue when compared with obese mice

that did not receive treatment. "After six months, resveratrol essentially prevented most

of the negative effects of the high-calorie diet in mice," says study co-author Rafael de

Cabo of the National Institute of Aging (NIA).

Three groups of middle-aged mice (about a year old) were studied: one group ate a

normal diet, in which fewer than 30 percent of calories came from fat, while two others

were fed high-calorie diets in which 60 percent of the calories came from fat. Of the two

groups on the high-fat diets, one received resveratrol. After 114 weeks, 58 percent of

the normally fed mice and the resveratrol group were still alive, compared with only

42 percent of the untreated, high-calorie-intake mice. Sinclair reports that resveratrol

reduced the risk of death from a high-calorie diet by 31 percent, leading to an increase

in life span of 15 percent thus far. More accurate numbers will be available when all the

mice pass away. "We are around five months from having final numbers," Sinclair notes,

"but there is no question that we are seeing increased longevity." The researchers also

note that the resveratrol-treated mice not only live longer than their untreated counterparts,

but have more active lives, too--their motor skills have actually improved as they have aged.

The researchers believe resveratrol confers its effects by activating the enzyme SIRT1,

which is known to play a part in life extension. When the nonmammalian analog to SIRT1,

Sir2, is blocked in lower order species like fruit flies, the healthy effects of low-calorie diets,

versus high-calorie diets, are neutralized. Sinclair thinks that these mouse models indicate

that resveratrol may be effective in preventing age-related diseases in humans, like cancer,

heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Reservatrol has previously been shown to prevent damage to liver tissue, says Matt

Kaeberlein, a pathologist at the University of Washington; the compound could be staving

off age-related diseases by keeping the liver healthy. But, he notes that more work needs

to be done to determine if resveratrol affects other parts of the body as well. "There are

several other compounds that are undergoing testing," Kaeberlein notes, explaining that the

NIA is looking at about a dozen other antiaging treatments. "If resveratrol turns out not to

be as wonderful as we all hope it will, it's not the last hope." Even if resveratrol does turn

out to be a miracle drug, a wine glass would probably not be the preferred delivery

method. According to Kaeberlein, it would take over 300 glasses of wine per day to equal

the amount of resveratrol fed to the obese mice in this study.

Source

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I'm sure it will be made into a pill.

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

so that explains why i see so many old, fat winos in missouri

[mawilson 2,133]

so that explains why i see so many old, fat winos in missouri

Ah but do you see any old, fat wino mice in Missouri?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I'm sure it will be made into a pill.

No doubt. I just read another recent study that high levels of good cholesterol is more important than maintaining bad cholesterol.

Recent research suggests that HDL may actually be the more important player of the two in raising or lowering heart disease risk. And as the 20th anniversary of the first cholesterol-lowering statin draws close, a new heart disease deterrent is ready to leap onto the stage: the first drug to substantially raise good cholesterol.

If approved, it could usher in a radically new era in the battle against the No. 1 killer of Americans, responsible for 37% of adult deaths in the United States every year.

In fact, by simultaneously tinkering with good and bad — giving medications in tandem to alter both HDL and LDL — doctors may finally have the potent one-two punch against heart disease they have long been searching for.

"We've taken LDL management as far as we can go," says Dr. Prediman K. Shah, director of the division of cardiology and the Atherosclerosis Research Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. "Everyone is on the bandwagon that HDL is the next frontier for atherosclerosis management."

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-...1&cset=true

Taking flax seed oil supplements or fish oil is suppose to boost your good cholesterol levels.