Healthy lifestyle lengthens life Healthy life prolongs life through lengthening of telomeres.
Chromosomes are at different stages of the cell cycle, telomeres are painted red. (FotoTraveller's soul.)
One of the main factors of aging is the shortening of telomeres - the end portions of chromosomes. Telomeres are necessary in order to protect the semantic segments of DNA in the fission: the enzyme that copies DNA, it does not finish the extreme nucleotides, and that does not happen to the coding sequences, chromosomes carry at their ends meaningless telomeres. Since telomeres are not dimensionless, the cell can divide and double their DNA limited number of times.
Upon reaching this limit, the cells stop dividing and begin to die due to various injuries in the proteins and DNA that have arisen in part because of damage lost the telomeres of chromosomes.
Cells have the enzyme telomerase, which can finish building the telomeres and thus prolong the life of cells, giving her the opportunity to share more and more. Telomerase, however, is not synthesized in all cells of our body, but only in those that are supposed to be immortal (or relatively immortal) - in the genital and stem. In most normal somatic cells, telomerase is silent.
It may also happen that the system updates can not keep up telomere shortening them. It is believed that the rate of telomere shortening is not constant but depends on many factors, which are realized through epigenetic mechanisms, and can give it a shortening downright fatal speed.
Do not forget, too, that the shortening of telomeres and cell attempts to do something about it can lead to cancerous degeneration when chromosomal damage as a result of attempts to circumvent the shortening of chromosome tails, together with activated telomerase. In addition, telomere shortening effect on the emergence of various forms of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, etc.
At one time it was thought that the shortening of telomeres and their - it's something like fate, that these parameters are entered into our molecular genetic car and can not be changed, bad genes have bad genes. Then it became clear that the bad genes in this sense can also worsen: telomeres were sensitive to stress. And found that external factors can not only accelerate telomere shortening, but extend blocked.
This was in the pages of The Lancet Oncology researchers wrote University of California, San Francisco (USA).
Professor Dean Ornish and his colleagues for five years was observed in 35 men with early stage prostate cancer. Ten of them at the time of observation had to change their way of life. They switched to a diet consisting mainly of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and low in fat and refined carbohydrates. Six times a week for half an hour they walked. And regularly struggled with stress through meditation, yoga elements and breathing exercises.
In general, they had to live a healthy lifestyle, but without too much effort for him. In addition, they regularly attended support group sessions, communicating with each other and collectively removing stress.
At the same time, scientists monitored the telomere length and telomerase activity in all subjects. And it turned out that those who are fed on a diet and be physically active on a regular basis, the telomeres were about 10% longer. It should be emphasized: the authors say the work is to extend the telomere, not that they just become slower shorter.
And the people diligently followed the advice, the more he had expressed this elongation.
Those who are at a healthy lifestyle is not passed, the telomeres, on the contrary, shortened, and that the shortening of the end of the five-year period was approximately 3%.
As for telomerase activity, it decreased in both groups, but to a much lesser extent (as you might guess) physically active experimental. In this case, the commitment of a healthy way of life fall in activity of the enzyme was independent.
Here we can recall that these 35 men actually had a tumor of the prostate, but the researchers took samples at the telomeres of blood, not from tumor tissues. According to the authors, the results can be generalized to healthy people, but that confidence is still very desirable to confirm the experiment.
In addition, it would be interesting to find out what the molecular mechanisms connecting a healthy lifestyle and telomere length and whether or not such a telomere elongation slows aging.
Another weak side research - a very small sample of 35 people. It is hoped that these results will be cross-checked with the much used? Larger number of participants.
And if the findings are confirmed, it would mean that we ourselves can be - at least to some degree - masters of their telomeres.
However, as can be seen in the way that we can lengthen the telomeres, it is not unusual: it is hard to find anyone who has not heard about the importance of this way of life, and in this case, the researchers only add points to his credit. Perhaps those who adhere to a healthy lifestyle, live longer thanks to including lengthening telomeres.
in the wake of the University of California at San Francisco, compulenta.computerra.ru
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