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Telomere

TA65®: the world’s first proven telomerase activator

I'm surprised that the below abstract regarding vitamin D being associated with longer leukocyte telomere length didn't hit the news.  Telomere length is believed to be and important factor in anti-aging.  The way I understand it, when they cloned Dolly (Sheep) she was six years old when she was born because she had the telomere length of her mother when she was born.  Some theorize that was the reason she had the diseases of old age such at arthritis at a young age and died young.  I understand that on Dolly's offspring, the telomere length was reset to normal.

Alternative News:

• Longer Telomeres Tied to Better Brain Health - Medscape, 3/22/23 - "They found that longer leucocyte telomere length (LTL) was associated with a larger volume of global and subcortical grey matter and a larger hippocampus — both of which shrink in patients with AD. Longer telomeres were also associated with a thicker cerebral cortex, which thins as AD progresses"
• Serum testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin are inversely associated with leucocyte telomere length in men: a cross-sectional analysis of the UK Biobank Study - Eur J Endocrinol 2023 Feb 8 - "Older men on average have lower testosterone concentrations compared with younger men, and more age-related comorbidities. Whether lower testosterone concentrations contribute to biological ageing remains unclear. Shorter telomeres are a marker for biological age. We tested the hypothesis that testosterone concentrations are associated with leucocyte telomere length (LTL), in middle to older aged men ... Total testosterone and SHBG were independently and inversely associated with LTL. Men with higher testosterone or SHBG had shorter telomeres, arguing against a role for testosterone to slow biological ageing in men" - But what about the argument for lowering SHBG? See my SHBG page for ways to lower it.
• The Association between Dietary Magnesium Intake and Telomere Length in Adults with Hypertension - J Nutr Health Aging 2022 - "Dietary micronutrients are significantly associated with telomere length, as shown in multiple studies. However, no study has investigated the association between magnesium intake and telomere length in adults with hypertension ... This study suggests that increased magnesium intake is associated with a longer telomere length in hypertensive adults, especially in those ≥45 years of age. However, further research is needed to determine a causal relationship" - See magnesium supplements at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D status and leukocyte telomere length in middle childhood - Eur J Clin Nutr 2022 Nov 8 - "Short telomere length is associated with chronic diseases and decreased lifespan. Vitamin D and its binding protein (DBP) may maintain telomeres through anti-inflammatory actions, yet the role of vitamin D on telomere length is uncertain, especially in children ... Overall, 25(OH)D was not significantly associated with LTL. Nonetheless, among boys, 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L was related to an adjusted 0.36 shorter LTL z-score (95% CI: -0.71, -0.01; P = 0.046) compared with 25(OH)D ≥ 75 nmol/L. There was no association among girls. DBP was not significantly related to LTL. Intervention studies are warranted to determine whether increasing vitamin D status enhances telomere length" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Association of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid intake with leukocyte telomere length in US males - Am J Clin Nutr 2022 Sep 20 - "Omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) fatty acids may contribute to oxidative stress and inflammation, which are related to telomere shortening. Evidence supporting an association between intake of n-3 or n-6 fatty acids and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in males has been limited ... We found that consumption of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was positively associated with LTL. In the multivariable-adjusted model, compared to individuals who had the lowest intake of DHA (i.e., first quartile group), the percentage differences [95% confidence intervals (CIs)] of LTL were -3.7 (-13.7, 7.5), 7.0 (-4.3, 19.7), and 8.2 (-3.5, 21.3) for individuals in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of consumption, respectively (P for trend = 0.0498). We did not find significant associations between total n-3 or total n-6 fatty acid intakes and LTL. Additionally, we found that males who consumed canned tuna had longer LTL than those who did not; in the multivariable-adjusted model, the percentage difference (95% CI) of LTL was 10.5 (1.3, 20.4) (P value = 0.02)" - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.
• Artemisia argyi exhibits anti-aging effects through decreasing the senescence in aging stem cells - Aging (Albany NY) 2022 Aug 9 - "Aging is accompanied by functional loss of many cellular pathways, creating an increased risk of many age-related complications (ARC). Aging causes stem cell exhaustion with a concomitant increase in cellular dysfunction. Recently, interest in senotherapeutics has been growing rapidly to promote healthy aging and as an intervention for ARCs. This research focused on screening the senomorphic properties of Artemisia argyi, as an emerging strategy for longevity, and prevention or treatment of ARCs. In this study, we aimed to find the clinical efficacy of daily consumption of Artemisia argyi water extract (AAW) on aging ... In vitro study showed the protective effect of AAW in telomere shortening and helps in maintaining a balance in the expression of anti-aging protein Klotho and TERT. AAW effectively reduced mitochondrial superoxide and also provided a protective shield against senescence markers like over-expression of p21 and formation of double strand breaks, which is known to cause premature aging. Moreover, animal studies indicated that AAW promoted the expression of Klotho in naturally aging rats. In addition, AAW successfully restored the decline cardiac function and improved the grip strength and memory of aging rat. These findings showed that therapeutic targeting of senescent stem cells by AAW restored stem cell homeostasis and improves overall health" - See Artemisia argyi at Amazon.com.
• The relationship between dietary selenium intake and telomere length among diabetes - Br J Nutr 2022 Jun 10 - "After controlling for the confounders, 1 μg increase in dietary selenium intake in female patients with diabetes, and telomere length increased by 1.84 base pairs (β = 1.84 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.15, 3.53]). There was a line relationship between dietary selenium intake and telomere length in female patients with diabetes, and telomere length increased with increasing dietary selenium intake within the range of 0-250 μg" - See se-methyl l-selenocysteine at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D levels during pregnancy are associated with offspring telomere length: a longitudinal mother-child study - J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2022 May 19 - "Childhood LTL was positively correlated with total maternal 25(OH)D (0.048 ± 0.017)(p=0.004) and maternal 3-epi-25(OH)D3 (0.05 ± 0.017)(p=0.003), even after adjustment for covariates" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• The Relationship between Dietary Copper intake and Telomere Length in Hypertension - J Nutr Health Aging 2022;26(5): - "one unit increasing log-transformed dietary copper in hypertension was associated with longer telomere length (β = 237.95, 95% CI: 114.39, 361.51) in the age group >45 years. The grouping was based on whether the participants take medication for hypertension. We found that one unit increasing log-transformed dietary copper in hypertension was associated with longer telomere length (β = 116.47, 95% CI: 0.72, 232.21) in the group that takes medication for hypertension" - See copper supplements at Amazon.com.
• Telomere length in healthy adults is positively associated with polyunsaturated fatty acids, including arachidonic acid, and negatively with saturated fatty acids - J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2020 Sep 7 - "Lymphocyte telomere length (LTL) is a biomarker of ageing that may be modified by dietary factors including fat ... Our results indicate that the majority of saturated fatty acids and mono-unsaturated fatty acids are negatively associated with LTL whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids are positively associated with LTL. Multiple regression analysis revealed that arachidonic acid (AA, C20:4n-6) is significantly, independently, positively correlated with LTL (β= .262; p = .000). The significant association of fatty acids, particularly C20:4n-6, with telomere length warrants further research" - See arachidonic acid at Amazon.com.Association of dietary selenium intake with telomere length in middle-aged and older adults - j.clnu.2020.01.014 - "After adjusting potential confounders, every 20 μg increase in dietary selenium intake was associated with 0.42% (95% CI: 0.02%, 0.82%) longer telomere length in all participants. In the subgroup analyses, dietary selenium intake was related to longer telomere length in females (Percentage change: 0.87%; 95% CI: 0.26%, 1.49%) and non-obese participants (Percentage change: 0.53%; 95% CI: 0.04%, 1.02%), but not in males (Percentage change: 0.04%; 95% CI: −0.49%, 0.57%) and obese participants (Percentage change: 0.21%; 95% CI: −0.47%, 0.91%). The restricted cubic spline analysis showed a linear association between dietary selenium intake and telomere length" - [Nutra USA] - See se-methyl l-selenocysteine at Amazon.com.

News and Research:

• Telomere - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - "it has been hypothesized that there is a trade-off between cancerous tumor suppression and tissue repair capacity, in that lengthening telomeres might slow aging and in exchange increase vulnerability to cancer (Weinstein and Ciszek, 2002)"
• Dolly (sheep) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - "A Finn Dorset such as Dolly would have had a life expectancy of around 12 - 15 years, but Dolly only lived to 6 years of age. Some believe the reason for this is because Dolly was actually born genetically 6 years old, the same age as her donor at the time that her genetic data was taken from her"
• Stress Promotes Cell Aging - About.com - "The telomeres of the women suffering from severe stress (those caring for a chronically ill child) had undergone shortening equivalent to about 10 years of additional aging when compared with those of less-stressed women"
• Common electrocardiogram measures are not associated with telomere length - Aging (Albany NY) 2022 Jul 5 - "Aging is accompanied by telomere shortening. Increased telomere shortening is considered a marker of premature aging. Cardiac aging results in the development of cardiac pathologies. Electrocardiogram (ECG) measures reflect cardiac excitation, conduction, and repolarization. ECG measures also prolong with aging and are associated with cardiac pathologies including atrial fibrillation. As premature prolongation of ECG measures is observed, we hypothesized that such prolongation may be associated with telomere length ... ECG measures are age-dependent, but not associated with shortened telomere length as a marker of biological aging"
• Study links severe COVID-19 disease to short telomeres - Science Daily, 1/11/21 - "It is known that telomere length is an indicator of ageing: each time a cell divides, its telomeres shorten until they can no longer perform their protective function and the cell, which now becomes damaged, stops dividing. Throughout life, cells are constantly dividing to regenerate tissues, and when they stop doing so because the telomeres are too short, the body ages ... In recent years, researchers have shown in mice that it is possible to reverse this process by activating the production of telomerase, which is the enzyme in charge of making the telomeres longer. In animals, telomerase activation is effective in treating diseases associated with ageing and telomere damage, such as pulmonary fibrosis ... What could not be foreseen, and this is the most important finding, is that the telomeres of the most seriously ill patients were also shorter, irrespective of age"
• Drinking makes you older at the cellular level - Science Daily, 6/26/17 - "alcoholic patients had shortened telomere lengths, placing them at greater risk for age-related illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia"
• Having children can make women's telomeres seem 11 years older - Science Daily, 3/8/18 - "Their findings were published in Human Reproduction. The authors reported that telomeres among women who had children were the equivalent of 11 years shorter. This was a larger change than has been reported by other research groups for smoking or obesity. Dr. Anna Z. Pollack, lead author of the study, pointed out, "with cross-sectional data, we can't tell if having children is related to shortening of telomeres or merely whether women who have children start out with shorter telomeres." Additional factors to consider include stress and social support, as well as whether similar findings are seen in men."
• Hidden secret of immortality enzyme telomerase - Science Daily, 2/27/18
• Is telomere length associated with the cognitive response to a lifestyle intervention?: Supporting evidence from the FINGER trial - Science Daily, 8/28/17 - "This suggests to us that participants with shorter LTL had more room for lifestyle improvements when they entered the study ... When telomere length is shortened, their capacities to protect DNA are compromised. LTL is considered a biomarker of aging and aging-related diseases, representing cells' 'biological age' rather than 'chronological age' ... LTL is also associated with cognition, and patients with Alzheimer's disease have shorter LTL. These same associations may be found among individuals with mild cognitive impairment"
• What Tiny Telomeres May Tell Us About Aging - WebMD, 4/19/17 - "The foods you eat, your response to emotional challenges, the amount of exercise you get, whether you were exposed to childhood stress, and even the level of trust and safety in your neighborhood -- all of these factors and more appear to influence your telomeres and can prevent premature aging at the cellular level"
• Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Has a Modest Positive Association with Leukocyte Telomere Length in Middle-Aged US Adults - J Nutr. 2017 Feb 8. pii: jn244137 - "analyzed data from the US NHANES 2001-2002 ... Serum 25(OH)D concentrations ≥50 nmol/L were considered optimal ... In the participants aged 40-59 y, an increment in serum 25(OH)D of 10 nmol/L was associated with a 0.03- ± 0.01-kbp longer LTL ... In a nationally representative population of adults, serum 25(OH)D was positively associated with LTL in middle-aged participants (aged 40-59 y), independently of other factors. These findings suggest that decreased 25(OH)D concentrations are associated with genomic instability, although the clinical impact of this observation remains unclear" - [Nutra USA] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• The impact of hypertension on leukocyte telomere length: a systematic review and meta-analysis of human studies - J Hum Hypertens. 2016 Jun 30 - "Meta-analyses from 3097 participants (1415 patients with hypertension and 1682 control subjects) showed a significant standardized mean difference between LTL in hypertensive patients and controls"
• Mouse study links heart regeneration to telomere length - Science Daily, 5/30/16 - "Maintaining the length of cardiomyocyte telomeres might therefore boost the regenerative capacity of adult cells, improving the recovery of cardiac tissue following a heart attack"
• Telomere Shortening a Cause of Alzheimer's Disease? - Medscape, 10/30/15 - "A new study provides evidence for the first time of a causal relationship between telomere length (TL) and Alzheimer's disease (AD)"
• Does Exercise Slow the Aging Process? - NY Times, 10/28/15 - "As a cell ages, its telomeres naturally shorten and fray. But the process can be accelerated by obesity, smoking, insomnia, diabetes and other aspects of health and lifestyle ... For every point someone gained from any type of exercise, his or her risks of having unusually short telomeres declined significantly ... That risk declined more substantially if someone exercised more. People who reported two types of exercise were 24 percent less likely to have short telomeres; three types of exercise were 29 percent less likely; and those who had participated in all four types of activities were 59 percent less likely to have very short telomeres"
• Anti-aging tricks from dietary supplement seen in mice - Science Daily, 8/21/15 - "the dietary supplement alpha lipoic acid (ALA) can stimulate telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, with positive effects in a mouse model of atherosclerosis ... ALA appears to exert its effects against atherosclerosis by spurring the smooth muscle cells that surround blood vessels to make PGC1 (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1)-alpha ... What's new here is that we show that PGC1-alpha is regulating telomerase, and that has real beneficial effects on cellular stress in a mouse model of atherosclerosis" - See alpha lipoic acid products at Amazon.com.
• Sugared soda consumption, cell aging associated in new study - Science Daily, 10/16/14 - "Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas might influence disease development, not only by straining the body's metabolic control of sugars, but also through accelerated cellular aging of tissues ... Based on the way telomere length shortens on average with chronological age, the UCSF researchers calculated that daily consumption of a 20-ounce soda was associated with 4.6 years of additional biological aging. This effect on telomere length is comparable to the effect of smoking, or to the effect of regular exercise in the opposite, anti-aging direction"
• Healthy diet may reverse aging, study finds - today.com, 9/16/13 - "Ornish and Blackburn’s team examined 10 prostate cancer patients who had chosen to try Ornish’s program, and compared them to 25 patients who had not. They all had early stage prostate cancer that wasn’t considered dangerous ... The program includes eating a diet high in whole foods, fruits, vegetables, unrefined grains and keeping fat to 10 percent of calories. The average American gets more than a third of calories from fat ... The 10 men who followed the Ornish plan had significantly longer telomeres five years later -- on average 10 percent longer. The 25 men who had not followed the program had shorter telomeres -- 3 percent shorter on average" - [Science Daily]
• Statins may slow human aging by protecting against telomere shortening: A feature of senescent cells - Science Daily, 8/29/13 - "statins may reduce the rate at which telomeres shorten, a key factor in the natural aging process ... worked with two groups of subjects. The first group was under chronic statin therapy, and the second group (control), did not use statins. When researchers measured telomerase activity in both groups, those undergoing statin treatment had higher telomerase activity in their white blood cells, which was associated with lower telomeres shortening along with aging as compared to the control group. This strongly highlights the role of telomerase activation in preventing the excessive accumulation of short telomeres"
• Link between faster 'biological' aging and risk of developing age-related diseases - Science Daily, 3/27/13 - "The project studied a feature of chromosomes called telomeres ... The scientists found that the variants were indeed linked to risk of several types of cancers including colorectal cancer as well as diseases like multiple sclerosis and celiac disease. Most interestingly, the authors found that in aggregate the seven variants also associated with risk of coronary artery disease which can lead to heart attacks ... This research strongly suggests that biological ageing plays an important role in causing coronary artery disease, the commonest cause of death in the world"
• Fewer children mean longer life? - Science Daily, 3/27/13 - "Studies of birds reveal that those that have offspring later in life and have fewer broods live longer. And the decisive factor is telomeres"
• Length of DNA strands can predict life expectancy - Science Daily, 3/9/13 - "Our research shows that if we statistically adjust for age, patients with longer telomeres live longer, suggesting that telomere length is more than just a measure of age, but may also indicate the probability for survival. Longer telomere length directly correlate with the likelihood for a longer life -- even for patients with heart disease" - Note:  Wasn't that already obvious?
• Telomere Length Linked to Common Cold Risk - Medscape, 2/19/13 - "The researchers saw an association between tertile of telomere length and infection rate in several cell populations, including peripheral blood mononuclear cells (odds ratio [OR] per 1-SD decrease in telomere length, 1.71; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08-2.72), CD4+ T cells (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.15-2.70), CD8CD28+ T cells (OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.21 - 3.09), and CD8CD28 − T cells (OR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.29 - 3.16)" - Note:  It makes sense.  The older your body thinks it is, the more susceptible it is to infection.
• Significant relationship between mortality and telomere length discovered - Science Daily, 11/8/12 - "In their prospective study of 100,000 multi-ethnic individuals whose average age was 63 years, the researchers determined that an association between telomere length and mortality existed and persisted even after the data were adjusted for such demographic and behavioral factors as education, smoking and alcohol consumption ... he and the other scientists expected to and did find that telomere length was inversely correlated with age, and women had longer telomeres than men except as young adults. All analyses controlled for age and gender ... telomere length was positively correlated with such factors as level of education and body mass index (BMI), and negatively correlated with cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. However, telomere length was not associated with major depression or stress-related disorders, although other studies have reported an association between telomere length and depression and stressful events"
• Omega-3 supplements may slow a biological effect of aging - Science Daily, 10/1/12 - "In the study, lengthening of telomeres in immune system cells was more prevalent in people who substantially improved the ratio of omega-3s to other fatty acids in their diet ... Omega-3 supplementation also reduced oxidative stress, caused by excessive free radicals in the blood, by about 15 percent compared to effects seen in the placebo group ... Study participants took either 2.5 grams or 1.25 grams of active omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ... The supplements were calibrated to contain a ratio of the two cold-water fish oil fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), of seven to one ... the typical American diet tends to be heavy on omega-6 fatty acids and comparatively low in omega-3s that are naturally found in cold-water fish such as salmon and tuna. While the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids averages about 15-to-1, researchers tend to agree that for maximum benefit, this ratio should be lowered to 4-to-1, or even 2-to-1 ... when the researchers analyzed the participants' omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in relationship to telomere lengthening, a lower ratio was clearly associated with lengthened telomeres ... omega-3 supplements lowered IL-6 by 10 to 12 percent, depending on the dose. By comparison, those taking a placebo saw an overall 36 percent increase in IL-6 by the end of the study ... This finding strongly suggests that inflammation is what's driving the changes in the telomeres" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Shortened Telomeres Linked to Dementia, Mortality - Medscape, 7/23/12 - "Shortening of leukocyte telomeres, the extreme ends of chromosomal DNA, is associated with risks for dementia and mortality, and may be a marker of biological aging ... After controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, education, and APOE status, the risk of mortality for those with the shortest TL compared with the longest was 1.72 (95% CI, 1.40 - 2.11; P < .001). This association might indicate that shortened TL causes processes that lead to earlier mortality, that other biological processes or preclinical disorders cause TL shortening, or that some environmental or genetic influences cause shortening of TL and increase mortality"
• Anxiety linked to shortened telomeres, accelerated aging - Science Daily, 7/11/12 - "researchers had obtained blood samples from 5,243 women, age 42 to 69 years, who were participants in the Nurses' Health Study. Using the samples, the researchers analyzed telomere lengths, as well as the participants' concurrent self-reports regarding phobic symptoms on a validated questionnaire ... Having a high phobic anxiety level was associated with significantly shorter telomere lengths. The difference in telomere lengths for women who were highly phobic vs. not was similar to what was seen for an additional six years of age"
• How old are you, really? - The Daily, 4/24/12 - "The number is derived by measuring the length of your telomeres, the caps at the ends of chromosomes that — like the plastic tips on shoelaces — protect the strands of genetic information from deteriorating. Telomeres naturally shorten with age, though at varying rates that can be accelerated by factors such as depression and chronic stress. With every cell division, telomeres lose length, eventually reaching a critical point at which the cell, no longer able to divide, becomes senescent or dies. Recent studies have linked shortened telomeres to diabetes, cancer, emphysema, osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease ... Rosenberg warns his patients to not get tested unless they’re willing to make serious lifestyle changes once the results are in, including losing weight, exercising, taking vitamins and antioxidants and reducing stress"
• Does depression contribute to the aging process? - Science Daily, 2/21/12 - "telomere length was shorter in the depressed patients, which confirmed prior findings. Importantly, they also discovered that shorter telomere length was associated with a low cortisol state in both the depressed and healthy groups ... stress plays an important role in depression, as telomere length was especially shortened in patients exhibiting an overly sensitive HPA axis. This HPA axis response is something which has been linked to chronic stress and with poor ability to cope with stress" - Note:  I'm not sure if that's correct because depressed people usually have high cortisol, not low cortisol.  I read somewhere that PTSD was associated with low cortisol.
• Key to aging? Key molecular switch for telomere extension by telomerase identified - Science Daily, 11/23/11
• Anticipation of stressful situations accelerates cellular aging - Science Daily, 2/21/12 - "The researchers assessed cellular age by measuring telomeres, which are the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes. Short telomeres index older cellular age and are associated with increased risk for a host of chronic diseases of aging, including cancer, heart disease and stroke ... higher levels of anticipated threat in daily life may promote cellular aging in chronically stressed individuals"
• Depression and chronic stress accelerates aging - Science Daily, 11/9/11 - "The telomere is the outermost part of the chromosome. With increasing age, telomeres shorten, and studies have shown that oxidative stress and inflammation accelerates this shortening. On this basis it has been suggested that telomere length is a measure of biological aging, and telomere length has subsequently been linked to age-related diseases, unhealthy lifestyle, and longevity. The research team shows that shorter telomere length is associated with both recurrent depression and cortisol levels indicative of exposure to chronic stress"
• Telomere length linked to emphysema risk - Science Daily, 7/15/11 - "in mice that have short telomeres, there was a significant increased risk of developing emphysema after exposure to cigarette smoke" - That's something I guessed before I read the article. Short telomeres seems to leave you more susceptible to most diseases.
• Chronic stress of cancer causes accelerated telomere shortening - Science Daily, 4/2/11
• Aging Ills Reversed in Mice - WSJ.com, 11/28/10 - "This appears to be the first time that some age-related problems in animals have actually been reversed ... These mice were equivalent to 80-year-old humans and were about to pass away ... After the experiment, "they were the physiological equivalent of young adults." ... As people age, low levels of telomerase are linked to the erosion of telomeres ... The researchers had devised an estrogen-based drug that would switch on the animals' dormant telomerase gene, known as TERT ... A month later, the treated mice showed surprising signs of rejuvenation. Overall, their telomeres had lengthened and the levels of telomerase had increased" - [U.S. News]
• Some interesting info on telomeres that someone sent:
• New 3-D model of RNA 'core domain' of enzyme telomerase may offer clues to cancer, aging - Science Daily, 11/3/10 - "Some people think if we activate telomerase, we can live forever. However, we don't want our cells to be able to divide indefinitely. As they get older and older, they accumulate all kinds of DNA damage and defects; that is why we don't want to have a high level of telomerase activity in most of our cells"
• • Telomere Length Linked to Outcomes in Aplastic Anemia - nih.gov, 9/27/10 - "Aplastic anemia patients with shorter chromosome tips, or telomeres, have a lower survival rate and are much more likely to relapse after treatment than those with longer telomeres ... the blood cells of some patients with severe aplastic anemia disease have extremely short telomeres ... nearly 60% of the patients responded to immunosuppressive therapy. Of those who responded, the patients with the shortest telomeres were most likely to have a later relapse. The scientists found that the rate of relapse dropped as telomere lengths increased ... The group of patients with the shortest telomeres was also at greater risk for a conversion to bone marrow cancer (24%) than the other 3 groups (3% to 13%). Survival rates differed as well. Only 66% of patients with the shortest telomeres survived at least 6 years, compared to an 84% survival rate for the other 3 groups combined"
  • Happy Healthy Long Life: There's No Way Around It: If You Want to Live Longer You've Just Got to Do It! Get Out There & Exercise! - 2/6/08 - "by the time you're 65, well, there's just not that much left. Which is exactly why not too many of us make it past 80, 90 or 100. Not to get you even more depressed about your rapidly shrinking telomeres, but there have been a number of studies that have shown how stress, especially in caregiver's of chronically ill children and spouses of Alzheimer's patients have accelerated telomere shrinking. One study even suggested that you can accelerate your biological age by as much as 17 years if you're exposed to what you perceive as high psychological stress! ... it looks as if it's a safe bet to start lengthening your telomeres now, by EXERCISING!"
• Telomere length affects colorectal cancer risk - Science Daily, 10/28/10 - "Patients with the longest telomeres -- those patients in the 95th percentile of telomere length -- were 30 percent more likely to develop colorectal cancer than those in the 50th percentile, the results showed. Overall, the individuals with the shortest and the longest telomere lengths were at an increased risk for colorectal cancer"
• Can a new supplement boost immunity, slow aging? - USA Today, 9/8/10 - "The research, published in the scientific journal Rejuvenation Research, reports on a year-long study on a dietary supplement called Telomerase Activator TA-65, which researchers believe may help reverse the aging process by lengthening telomeres — the caps on the ends of chromosomes that keep DNA intact as cells divide. Shortened telomeres are linked with aging and a lowered immune response"
• Patton Protocol - tasciences.com - "Version 1: “A La Carte” Options for products and bloodwork ... 1.6 months supply of TA-65, product only: $4,000 ... initial tests cost $2,890 ... If you choose to begin the full Patton Protocol, it consists of 6 month segments. Each segment costs $6,225"
• Short Telomeres Tied to Cancer Risk - Medscape, 7/9/10 - "short telomere length was associated with a 60% increased risk for subsequent cancer"
• Telomeres: Size matters when it comes to DNA - Science Daily, 6/9/10 - "Telomere shortening can be reversed in two specific ways: ... a protein termed telomerase can directly add new DNA to the end of telomeres ... The second method is much less understood but most likely involves the copying of information from one telomere to another"
• Brief exercise reduces impact of stress on cell aging, study shows - Science Daily, 5/27/10 - "A growing body of research suggests that short telomeres are linked to a range of health problems, including coronary heart disease and diabetes, as well as early death ... In the study, 62 post-menopausal women -- many of whom were caring for spouses or parents with dementia ... when participants were divided into groups -- an inactive group, and an active group (i.e., they met federal recommendations for 75 minutes of weekly physical activity) -- only the inactive high stress group had shorter telomeres. The active high stress group did not have shorter telomeres. In other words, stress predicted shorter telomeres in the sedentary group, but not in the active group"
• Long telomeres can be linked to poorer memory - Science Daily, 4/26/10
• Excessive alcohol consumption may lead to increased cancer risk - Science Daily, 4/21/10 - "Researchers have detected a link between alcohol consumption, cancer and aging that starts at the cellular level with telomere shortening ... Telomeres are found at the region of DNA sequences at the end of a chromosome, and are important for the genetic stability of cells. As people age, telomere length shortens progressively ... Since telomere shortening is thought to increase cancer risk, the researchers speculated that those with shorter telomeres due to heavy alcohol consumption would have an increased risk of cancer ... telomere length was dramatically shortened in those who consumed heavy amounts of alcohol; telomere length was nearly half as long as telomere length in the non-abusers (0.41 vs. 0.79 relative units)"
• Cancer, aging: Key interaction that controls telomeres discovered - Science Daily, 2/17/10
• Association of marine omega-3 fatty acid levels with telomeric aging in patients with coronary heart disease - JAMA. 2010 Jan 20;303(3):250-7 - "Individuals in the lowest quartile of DHA+EPA experienced the fastest rate of telomere shortening (0.13 telomere-to-single-copy gene ratio [T/S] units over 5 years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09-0.17), whereas those in the highest quartile experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening (0.05 T/S units over 5 years; 95% CI, 0.02-0.08; P < .001 for linear trend across quartiles). Levels of DHA+EPA were associated with less telomere shortening before (unadjusted beta coefficient x 10(-3) = 0.06; 95% CI, 0.02-0.10) and after (adjusted beta coefficient x 10(-3) = 0.05; 95% CI, 0.01-0.08) sequential adjustment for established risk factors and potential confounders. Each 1-SD increase in DHA+EPA levels was associated with a 32% reduction in the odds of telomere shortening (adjusted odds ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.47-0.98)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• High Omega-3 Levels May Slow Aging in Heart Patients - WebMD, 1/19/10 - "Heart disease patients with the highest blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids appear to age more slowly than those with the lowest blood levels ... Farzaneh-Far and his colleagues looked at a marker of biological age -- the rate of shortening of telomeres, structures at the end of a chromosome involved in its replication and stability. As the telomeres shorten over time, the eventual result is cell death, scientists believe ... In the new study, the higher the blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the patients evaluated, the slower the rate of telomere shortening ... patients with the lowest blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids exhibited a rate of telomere shortening 2.6 times faster than patients with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Calorie restriction: Scientists take important step toward 'fountain of youth' - Science Daily, 12/26/09 - "They found that the normal cells lived longer, and many of the precancerous cells died, when given less glucose. Gene activity was also measured under these same conditions. The reduced glucose caused normal cells to have a higher activity of the gene that dictates the level of telomerase, an enzyme that extends their lifespan and lower activity of a gene (p16) that slows their growth. Epigenetic effects (effects not due to gene mutations) were found to be a major cause in changing the activity of these genes as they reacted to decreased glucose levels" - See my Insulin and Aging page.  Insulin controls glucose levels.  Insulin resistance causes high glucose.
• Look Young to Live Longer? - WebMD, 12/15/09 - "Perceived age, the researchers say, adjusted for chronological age and sex, also correlated with physical and cognitive functioning, as well as length of leukocyte telomeres - chromosome tips on DNA of people's white blood cells ... Shorter telomere length is associated with a “host of diseases related to aging and lifestyle factors and has been shown to be associated with mortality,”"
• Long-term physical activity has an anti-aging effect at the cellular level - Science Daily, 12/2/09
• Molecular Proof: Exercise Keeps You Young - WebMD, 12/1/09 - "Compared to people who did not exercise, elite runners in the study had cells that looked much younger under a microscope ... Just as the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces keep the laces from fraying, telomeres protect the chromosomes that carry genes during cell division ... Each time a cell divides, telomeres get shorter. When telomeres get too short, cells can no longer divide and they die ... Researchers now believe telomere shortening is critical to aging, making people more vulnerable to diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer ... That study suggested exercise might trump genes when it comes to keeping people young" - [U.S. News & World Report]
• Longevity Tied To Genes That Preserve Tips Of Chromosomes - Science Daily, 11/11/09
• Tea consumers may have younger biological age - Nutra USA, 8/25/09 - "The study’s findings are based on the telomere lengths of 976 Chinese men and 1,030 Chinese women aged over 65. The participants’ dietary habits were evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire ... Overall, only tea consumption was associated with telomere length. The highest intakes, three cups or 750 millilitres per day, was associated with significantly longer telomere lengths, compared to people who drank 70 millilitres per day or less, said the researchers" - [Abstract] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Multivitamins linked to younger ‘biological age’: Study - Nutra USA, 5/27/09 - "Compared to non-multivitamin users, the researchers noted that that telomeres were on average 5.1 per cent longer for daily multivitamin users ... Whereas the evidence is not sufficient to conclude that these 2 dietary antioxidants mediated the observed relation, the results are consistent with experimental findings that vitamins C and E protect telomeres in vitro" - [Abstract]
• Shortening Telomeres Linked To Aging In Population Studies, But Original Telomere Length Varies Between Individuals - Science Daily, 2/13/09
• Clean living 'slows cell ageing' - BBC News, 9/15/08 - "Among 24 men asked to adopt healthy lifestyle changes for a US study in The Lancet Oncology, levels of telomerase increased by 29% on average ... Telomerase repairs and lengthens telomeres, which cap and protect the ends of chromosomes housing DNA ... These consisted of a diet high in fruit and vegetables, supplements of vitamins and fish oils, an exercise regimen and classes in stress management, relaxation techniques and breathing exercises"
• Sedentary Lifestyles Associated With Accelerated Aging Process - Science Daily, 1/28/08 - "Telomere length decreased with age, with an average loss of 21 nucleotides (structural units) per year. Men and women who were less physically active in their leisure time had shorter leukocyte telomeres than those who were more active. ... "The mean difference in leukocyte telomere length between the most active [who performed an average of 199 minutes of physical activity per week] and least active [16 minutes of physical activity per week] subjects was 200 nucleotides, which means that the most active subjects had telomeres the same length as sedentary individuals up to 10 years younger, on average."" - I'm must be in fat city on this one.  I must have averaged 60 minutes per day since I've been 18 which comes to 420 minutes per week.  Maybe that's the main reason people claim I look young. Plus I've always taken vitamin D which helps with telomere length also. - Ben
• Live longer with vitamin D, study says - Nutra USA, 11/9/07
• Vitamin D 'may help slow ageing' - BBC News, 11/8/07 - "those with higher vitamin D levels showed fewer ageing-related changes in their DNA ...women with higher levels of vitamin D were more likely to have longer telomeres in these cells, and vice versa" -  See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Decreased Vitamin D Levels Linked to Shorter Telomeres - Doctor's Guide, 6/5/07 - "Investigators found the difference in TRFL between the highest and lowest tertiles of vitamin D was 92.6 base pairs (P =.006). That result was equivalent to 4.2 years of telomeric aging"
• Biological Aging Predicts Heart Attack - WebMD, 1/11/07 - "People who age fast -- as measured by DNA shortening -- have a higher heart disease risk. Statin drugs may help ... Pravachol -- one of the "statin" family of cholesterol-lowering drugs -- dramatically lowered the heart disease risk of people with shorter telomeres. But the drug seemed to have little effect on heart disease risk in people with the longest telomeres"
• Does Telomere Shortening Predict Dementia? A Critical Review - Doctor's Guide, 4/24/06 - "Telomere lengths in both the dementia and non-dementia patients showed no significant decline with age"
• Tiny Roundworm's Telomeres Help Scientists To Tease Apart Different Types Of Aging - Science Daily, 8/8/05 - "telomeres alone do not dictate aging and lifespan ... For successful aging you have to control both, aging in your dividing cells, which hinges on telomere maintenance, but also aging in your non-dividing cells. We thought that telomeres might play a role in the later but that's clearly not the case ... What is probably playing a role in the other half of aging is the insulin signaling pathway, proper mitochondrial function and dietary restriction"
• Obesity, Smoking Linked to Faster Aging - WebMD, 6/13/05 - "Telomeres are the tips of the chromosomes, which contain DNA. They gradually shorten over a lifetime ... The difference in telomere length between being lean and being obese corresponds to 8.8 years of aging ... Obesity and smoking are important risk factors for many age-related diseases. Both are states of heightened oxidative stress … and inflammation"
• Extra Weight May Age You Faster - WebMD, 5/25/05 - "inflammation burns out white blood cells faster, and the effort of replacing them wears down the telomeres"
• Chronic Stress Makes Cells Age Faster - WebMD, 11/29/04 - "In translating telomere length into years of aging, researchers determined the cells from the highly stressed mothers had aged from nine to 17 additional years compared with the cells from the low-stress mothers"

Abstracts:

• The effects of aspirin and N-3 fatty acids on telomerase activity in adults with diabetes mellitus - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2020 Jun 25 - "Type 2 Diabetes mellitus is associated with aging and shortened telomere length. Telomerase replaces lost telomeric repeats at the ends of chromosomes and is necessary for the replicative immortality of cells ... We explored the effects of aspirin, EPA + DHA, and the combined effects of aspirin and EPA + DHA treatment on telomerase activity in 30 adults with diabetes mellitus. EPA and DHA ingestion alone increased telomerase activity then a decrease occurred with the addition of aspirin consumption. Crude (F-stat = 2.09, p = 0.13) and adjusted (F-stat = 2.20, p = 0.14) analyses of this decrease showed signs of a trend. These results suggest that aspirin has an adverse effect on aging in diabetics who have relatively high EPA and DHA ingestion" - See omega-3 supplements at Amazon.com and iHerb.
• Serum lipophilic antioxidants levels are associated with leucocyte telomere length among US adults - Lipids Health Dis. 2018 Jul 20;17(1):164 - "Our findings support a possible positive association between serum concentrations of lipophylic antioxidant and TL"
• Higher adherence to the 'vegetable-rich' dietary pattern is related to longer telomere length in women - Clin Nutr. 2017 May 11 - "After adjustment for potential confounders, only the 'vegetable-rich' pattern characterized by higher intake of fruits, whole grains, various vegetable groups, dairy products, nuts, eggs and tea, was positively related to TL in women ... Chinese women with higher adherence to 'vegetable-rich' dietary pattern have a longer TL. This relation was partially explained by CRP but not by body fat"
• Consumption of Nuts and Seeds and Telomere Length in 5,582 Men and Women of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) - J Nutr Health Aging. 2017;21(3):233-240 - "Nuts and seeds intake was positively and linearly associated with telomere length. For each 1-percent of total energy derived from nuts and seeds, telomere length was 5 base pairs longer (F=8.6, P=0.0065). Given the age-related rate of telomere shortening was 15.4 base pairs per year (F=581.1, P<0.0001), adults of the same age had more than 1.5 years of reduced cell aging if they consumed 5% of their total energy from nuts and seeds" - Note: I always worry about the studies showing the benefits of nuts.  Nuts are high in omega-6 which promotes inflammation which is detrimental to aging.  I think the studies showing the benefits of nuts has to do with the fact that the people that eat them are more health conscious to begin with.
• Telomere length is predictive of breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carrier - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2017 Feb 24 - "Breast cancer cases had significantly shorter TL than unaffected women (p<0.0001), both BRCA2 mutation carriers (p=0.0097) and non-carriers (p=0.00006). Using exclusively samples acquired before breast cancer diagnosis, we found that shorter telomeres were significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers (HR = 3.60, 95% CI 1.17-11.28, p=0.025) but not in non-carriers (HR = 1.40"
• Withania somnifera Root Extract Enhances Telomerase Activity in the Human HeLa Cell Line - Center for Preclinical and Translational Medicine Research, 15 April 2016 - "Ashwagandha root extract powder, at a concentration of 10 µg - 50 µg/ml (Figure 2), increased telomerase activity by ~45%, in the Human HeLa cell line upon 72 hrs exposure (Figure 3), as determined by the TRAP assay" - [Nutra USA] - See Ashwagandha at Amazon.com.
• The relationship between peripheral blood mononuclear cells telomere length and diet - unexpected effect of red meat - Nutr J. 2016 Jul 14;15(1):68 - "PBMC telomere length were measured with qualitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (rtPCR) method and expressed as a T/S ratio ... Among nine food types (cereal, fruits, vegetables, diary, red meat, poultry, fish, sweets and salty snacks) and eight beverages (juices, coffee, tea, mineral water, alcoholic- and sweetened carbonated beverages) only intake of red meat was related to T/S ratio. Individuals with increased consumption of red meat have had higher T/S ratio"
• Coffee Consumption Is Positively Associated with Longer Leukocyte Telomere Length in the Nurses' Health Study - J Nutr. 2016 Jun 8 - "Higher total coffee consumption was significantly associated with longer telomeres after potential confounding adjustment. Compared with non-coffee drinkers, multivariable ORs for those drinking 2 to <3 and ≥3 cups of coffee/d were, respectively, 1.29 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.68) and 1.36"
• Leukocyte telomere length positively correlates with duration of lithium treatment in bipolar disorder patients - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2016 Apr 12 - "Our data support previous findings showing that long-term lithium treatment associates with longer telomeres in BD, though this effect appeared to be independent from clinical response to the treatment. Moreover, we suggested for the first time that lithium increases the expression of telomerase gene in human neural progenitor cells" - See lithium supplements at Amazon.com.
• Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Telomerase Activity in Hispanics with Type 2 Diabetes - FASEB Journal Apr 2016 - "Low telomerase activity and short telomere length are linked to type 2 diabetes and mortality. Hispanics are shown to have shorter telomere lengths as compared to Whites ... Participants were given 4000 IU/day of vitamin D3 supplementation for 6 months ... telomerase activity levels increased from baseline to 6 months (49.3 ± 6.8 vs. 63.1 ± 7.2 RTA, respectively) which was statistically significant" - [Nutra USA] - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Nutrients, foods, dietary patterns and telomere length: Update of epidemiological studies and randomized trials - Metabolism. 2016 Apr;65(4):406-15 - "Attrition of telomeres, chromatin structures that help maintain genome stability, leads to cell death or senescence. Thus telomere length is a reliable hallmark of biological aging and the risk of developing age-related chronic diseases through common oxidation and inflammation mechanisms ... Variability in telomere shortening that is independent of chronological age suggests that it is a modifiable factor, which may be explained in part by lifestyle variables such as smoking, adiposity, physical exercise, and diet ... Consistent with well-known evidence of benefit or harm for chronic age-related diseases, dietary antioxidants and consumption of antioxidant-rich, plant-derived foods help maintain telomere length. In contrast, total and saturated fat intake and consumption of refined flour cereals, meat and meat products, and sugar-sweetened beverages relate to shorter telomeres. Data on alcohol and dairy products is controversial. There is evidence that adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with longer telomeres. Randomized clinical trials are limited to seafood-derived long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, with promising results"
• Association between leukocyte telomere length and serum carotenoid in US adults - Eur J Nutr. 2016 Jan 27 - "Telomere length is a biomarker for aging. It is known that oxidative stress can accelerate telomere shortening, whereas antioxidants can delay their shortening ... A doubling of blood alpha-carotene, beta-carotene (trans + cis), and beta-cryptoxanthin was associated with approximately 2 % longer telomeres. Compared with the lowest carotenoid quartile of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene (trans + cis), and beta-cryptoxanthin, telomere length for adults with the highest quartiles was significantly increased by 5-8 %" - [Nutra USA] - See carotenoids at Amazon.com.
• Epidemiological and Mendelian randomisation studies of dihydrotestosterone and estradiol, and leucocyte telomere length in men - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2016 Jan 20 - "Advancing age is accompanied by accumulation of ill-health and shortening of chromosomal telomeres signifying biological ageing. Testosterone (T) is metabolised to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by 5|ga-reductase (SRD5A2) and to estradiol (E2) by aromatase (CYP19A1). Telomerase preserves telomeres, and T and E2 regulate telomerase expression and activity in vitro ... leucocyte telomere length (LTL) ... After adjustment for age, DHT and E2 were positively correlated with LTL" - See Pure Encapsulations 7-keto at Amazon.
• Dietary total antioxidant capacity is associated with leukocyte telomere length in a children and adolescent population - Clin Nutr. 2014 Aug 4 - "A positive correlation between dietary total antioxidant capacity and telomere length (r = 0.157, p = 0.007) was found after adjustment for age and energy intake. However, higher white bread consumption was associated with shorter telomeres (β = -0.204, p = 0.002) in fully-adjusted models. Interestingly, those individuals who had simultaneously higher dietary total antioxidant capacity and lower white bread consumption significantly presented the longest telomeres. Moreover, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for very short telomeres was 0.30 for dietary total antioxidant capacity (p = 0.023) and 1.37 for white bread" - See Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com.
• Association Between Higher Plasma Lutein, Zeaxanthin, and Vitamin C Concentrations and Longer Telomere Length: Results of the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study - J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014 Jan 15 - "Individuals with a mean age of 66 ± 7 (n = 786; 58% female) ... Concentrations of vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, canthaxanthin, lycopene, α- and γ-tocopherol, α- and β-carotene, and retinol in plasma, advanced oxidation protein products as a measure of oxidative stress in serum, and LTL were measured ... Multiple linear regression analyses with adjustment for age and sex demonstrated that higher lutein, zeaxanthin, and vitamin C concentrations were strongly associated with longer telomere length" - See carotenoids at Amazon.com and vitamin C products at Amazon.com.
• Homocysteine-related hTERT DNA demethylation contributes to shortened leukocyte telomere length in atherosclerosis - Atherosclerosis. 2013 Nov;231(1):173-179 - "Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is shortened in patients with clinical atherosclerosis (AS) ... human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) ... hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) ... Hcy was negatively correlated with LTL shortening in AS patients (r = -0.179, p = 0.015) and controls (r = -0.146, p = 0.031). Serum folate and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels significantly interacted with Hcy in LTL shortening. Hcy was related to hTERT mRNA downregulation and promoter demethylation, which combined was associated with LTL shortening in AS patients"
• Intake of Small-to-Medium-Chain Saturated Fatty Acids Is Associated with Peripheral Leukocyte Telomere Length in Postmenopausal Women - J Nutr. 2013 Apr 24 - "Intake of short-to-medium-chain saturated fatty acids (SMSFAs; aliphatic tails of ≤12 carbons) was inversely associated with TL"
• Leukocyte telomere length and its relation to food and nutrient intake in an elderly population - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 Oct 17 - "LTL was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in 1942 men and women aged 57-70 years from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study. We assessed the whole diet by a validated semiquantitative 128-item food-frequency questionnaire ... In general, there were only a few significant results. However, total fat and SFA intake (P=0.04 and 0.01, respectively) were inversely associated with LTL in men adjusting for age and energy intake. In women, vegetable intake was positively associated with LTL (P=0.05). Men consuming the most butter and least fruits had significantly shorter telomeres than those consuming the lowest amounts of butter and highest amounts of fruits (P=0.05). We found no association between LTL and body mass index, waist-hip ratio, smoking, physical activity or educational attainment"
• Delayed paternal age of reproduction in humans is associated with longer telomeres across two generations of descendants - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jun 11 - "Telomeres are repeating DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes that protect and buffer genes from nucleotide loss as cells divide. Telomere length (TL) shortens with age in most proliferating tissues, limiting cell division and thereby contributing to senescence. However, TL increases with age in sperm, and, correspondingly, offspring of older fathers inherit longer telomeres. Using data and samples from a longitudinal study from the Philippines, we first replicate the finding that paternal age at birth is associated with longer TL in offspring (n = 2,023, P = 1.84 × 10(-6)). We then show that this association of paternal age with offspring TL is cumulative across multiple generations: in this sample, grandchildren of older paternal grandfathers at the birth of fathers have longer telomeres (n = 234, P = 0.038), independent of, and additive to, the association of their father's age at birth with TL. The lengthening of telomeres predicted by each year that the father's or grandfather's reproduction are delayed is equal to the yearly shortening of TL seen in middle-age to elderly women in this sample, pointing to potentially important impacts on health and the pace of senescent decline in tissues and systems that are cell-replication dependent"
• Habitual physical exercise has beneficial effects on telomere length in postmenopausal women - Menopause. 2012 Jun 4 - "Habitual physical exercise was defined as combined aerobic and resistance exercise performed for at least 60 minutes per session more than three times a week for more than 12 months ... The mean age of all participants was 58.11 +/- 6.84 years, and participants in the habitual exercise group had been exercising more than three times per week for an average of 19.23 +/- 5.15 months. Serum triglyceride levels (P = 0.01), fasting insulin concentrations (P < 0.01), and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (P < 0.01) were significantly lower and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (P < 0.01), circulating adiponectin (P < 0.01), mitochondrial DNA copy number (P < 0.01), and telomere length (P < 0.01) were significantly higher in the habitual exercise group than in the sedentary group. In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, habitual exercise (β = 0.522, P < 0.01) and adiponectin levels (β = 0.139, P = 0.03) were the independent factors associated with the telomere length of PBMCs in postmenopausal women"
• Telomere length and risk of stroke in Chinese - Stroke. 2012 Mar;43(3):658-63 - "As compared with the fourth (longest) quartile, the odd ratios [OR] (and 95% confidence intervals [CI]) for ischemic stroke risk were as follows: third quartile, 1.37 (1.04-1.82); second quartile, 1.53 (1.17-2.02); and first quartile, 2.12 (1.62-2.77) ... Shorter telomere length was associated with ischemic stroke and was a strong predictor of poststroke death"
• Telomerase, telomere length, and coronary artery calcium in black and white men in the CARDIA study - Atherosclerosis. 2011 Nov 9 - "Telomerase activity in leukocytes was associated with calcified atherosclerotic plaque, and was also a predictor of advancing plaque among persons with short telomeres"
• Leukocyte telomere length and physical ability among Danish Twins age 70+ - Mech Ageing Dev. 2011 Oct 12 - "Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) shortens with age and is potentially a biomarker of human aging. We examined the relation of LTL with physical ability and cognitive function in 548 same-sex twins from the Longitudinal Study of Aging Danish Twins ... A random intercept model revealed a positive, significant association between LTL and physical ability. For every unit increase in physical ability score, LTL increased by 0.066kb (p=0.01), equal to approximately three years of age-dependent LTL shortening. A matched case-co-twin design showed that the group consisting of the twins from each pair with the longer LTL also displayed better physical ability (p<0.01). Moreover, the intra-pair difference in LTL was associated with intra-pair difference in physical ability (p<0.01), confirming the association. However, we found no association between cognitive function and LTL. The LTL-physical ability association in the elderly provides further support to the premise that LTL is an index of somatic fitness in the narrow context of human physical health"
• Lower endothelial progenitor cell number, family history of cardiovascular disease and reduced HDL-cholesterol levels are associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length in healthy young adults - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2011 Aug 6 - "LTL resulted inversely correlated with family history of CVD (t = 2.70; p = 0.009), age (r = -0.238; p = 0.032), waist circumference (r = -0.256; p = 0.02), triglycerides (r = -0.218; p = 0.049), PAI-1 (r = -0.288; p = 0.009) and directly correlated with HDL-cholesterol (r = 0.316; p = 0.004) and EPC number (r = 0.358; p = 0.002). At a multivariate analysis, family history of CVD (p = 0.013), EPC count (p = 0.003), and HDL-cholesterol (p = 0.017) were independently associated with LTL (r = 0.62) ... LTL is independently associated to CV risk factors also in healthy young adults"
• Telomere length and cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy: the LIFE study - J Hum Hypertens. 2011 Jun 23 - "Short telomeres are associated with aging and age-related diseases ... At baseline, short mean telomere length was associated with coronary artery disease in males (odds ratio (OR) 0.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39-0.95), and transient ischemic attack in females (OR 0.62 95% CI 0.39-0.99). Proportion of short telomeres (shorter than 5 kb) was associated with Framingham risk score (r=0.07, P<0.05), cerebrovascular disease (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.01-1.15) and type 2 diabetes in men (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.11). During follow-up, proportion of short telomeres was associated with combined cardiovascular mortality, stroke or angina pectoris (hazard ratio 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07). Telomere length was not associated with smoking, body mass index, pulse pressure or self-reported use of alcohol. Our data suggest that reduced leukocyte telomere length is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and diseases as well as type 2 diabetes, and is a predictor of cardiovascular disease in elderly patients with hypertension and LVH"
• The Association of Telomere Length and Cancer: A Meta-Analysis - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Apr 5 - "Short telomeres in surrogate tissues (e.g., blood cells) are associated with increased cancer risk in several case-control studies, but findings are inconsistent in prospective studies ... Studies on bladder, esophageal, gastric, head and neck, ovarian, renal, and overall incident cancer found associations between short telomeres and these cancers. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, breast, lung and colorectal cancer reports were inconsistent. Single studies on endometrial, prostate, and skin cancers were null. In a random effects meta-analysis, short TL was significantly associated with cancer in retrospective studies (pooled OR for the shortest TL quartile compared with the longest: 2.9, 95%CI 1.73 - 4.8, P<0.0001). The pooled OR for prospective studies was 1.16 (95%CI 0.87 - 1.54, P=0.32). All studies combined yielded a pooled OR of 1.96 (95%CI 1.37 - 2.81, P=0.0001) for the association of short TL and cancer.Conclusion and Impact: There is suggestive evidence that short surrogate tissue TL is associated with cancer; the strongest evidence exists for bladder, esophageal, gastric, and renal cancers"
• Pioglitazone activates aortic telomerase and prevents stress-induced endothelial apoptosis - Atherosclerosis. 2011 Feb 17 - "Telomeres and associated proteins are regulators of cellular survival, regeneration and aging. PPAR-γ agonists may mediate vascular effects in addition to insulin sensitizing. We therefore examined whether pioglitazone regulates vascular telomere biology ... C57/Bl6 mice were randomized to treatment with pioglitazone (20mg/kg i.p. daily) or vehicle for 4 weeks (n=6-8 per group). Telomere repeat amplification protocols showed a 2-fold increase of aortic telomerase activity in the pioglitazone group. Telomere repeat-binding factor 2 protein and mRNA levels (236%+172% of vehicle) as well as phosphorylation of protein kinase Akt (479% of vehicle) were up-regulated. Western blots demonstrated reduced aortic expression of senescence markers p16, cell-cycle checkpoint kinase 2 and p53. These regulatory mechanisms were independent of acute changes of telomere length. Similar observations were made in mononuclear cells (MNC) from these mice and in cultivated bovine aortic endothelial cells, human MNC and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC). Telomerase activation by pioglitazone in cultivated cells was prevented by Akt inhibitors. To test the functional relevance of the findings, isolated mononuclear cells (MNC) were exposed to H(2)O(2). MNC from pioglitazone-treated mice exhibited reduced apoptosis (AnnexinV-FACS). In vivo, lipopolysaccharide-induced aortic endothelial apoptosis was potently prevented in pioglitazone-treated animals (hairpin oligonucleotide assay). Both, up-regulation of telomere-regulating proteins and prevention of oxidative stress-induced aortic apoptosis, were absent in telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT)-deficient mice ... The findings underscore the important role of telomere-regulating proteins for vascular cell function and survival" - Note:  My doctor says I'm crazy but I've been taking pioglitazone for anti-aging for years.
• Shortened telomeres in individuals with abuse in alcohol consumption - Int J Cancer. 2011 Feb 23 - "Alcohol abuse leads to earlier onset of aging-related diseases, including cancer at multiple sites. Shorter telomere length (TL) in peripheral blood leucocytes (PBLs), a marker of biological aging, has been associated with alcohol-related cancer risks ... To investigated the effect of alcohol abuse on PBL TL and its interaction with alcohol metabolic genotypes, we examined 200 drunk-driving traffic offenders diagnosed as alcohol abusers as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-IV-TR] and enrolled in a probation program, and 257 social drinkers (controls) ... TL was nearly halved in alcohol abusers compared to controls (GMs 0.42 vs. 0.87 relative T/S ratio; P<0.0001) and decreased in relation with increasing drink-units/day (P-trend=0.003). Individuals drinking >4 drink-units/day had substantially shorter TL than those drinking ≤4 drink-units/day (GMs 0.48 vs. 0.61 T/S, P=0.002). Carriers of the common ADH1B*1/*1 (rs1229984) genotype were more likely to be abusers (P=0.008), reported higher drink-units/day (P=0.0003), and exhibited shorter TL (P<0.0001). The rs698 ADH1C and rs671 ALDH2 polymorphisms were not associated with TL. The decrease in PBL-TL modulated by the alcohol metabolic genotype ADH1B*1/*1 may represent a novel mechanism potentially related to alcohol carcinogenesis in alcohol abusers"
• Effects of a growth hormone-releasing hormone antagonist on telomerase activity, oxidative stress, longevity, and aging in mice - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Dec 6 - "Both deficiency and excess of growth hormone (GH) are associated with increased mortality and morbidity. GH replacement in otherwise healthy subjects leads to complications, whereas individuals with isolated GH deficiency such as Laron dwarfs show increased life span. Here, we determined the effects of treatment with the GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) receptor antagonist MZ-5-156 on aging in SAMP8 mice, a strain that develops with aging cognitive deficits and has a shortened life expectancy. Starting at age 10 mo, mice received daily s.c. injections of 10 μg/mouse of MZ-5-156. Mice treated for 4 mo with MZ-5-156 showed increased telomerase activity, improvement in some measures of oxidative stress in brain, and improved pole balance, but no change in muscle strength. MZ-5-156 improved cognition after 2 mo and 4 mo, but not after 7 mo of treatment (ages 12, 14 mo, and 17 mo, respectively). Mean life expectancy increased by 8 wk with no increase in maximal life span, and tumor incidence decreased from 10 to 1.7%. These results show that treatment with a GHRH antagonist has positive effects on some aspects of aging, including an increase in telomerase activity"
• Telomeres, lifestyle, cancer, and aging - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2010 Nov 22 - "Telomere length shortens with age. Progressive shortening of telomeres leads to senescence, apoptosis, or oncogenic transformation of somatic cells, affecting the health and lifespan of an individual. Shorter telomeres have been associated with increased incidence of diseases and poor survival. The rate of telomere shortening can be either increased or decreased by specific lifestyle factors. Better choice of diet and activities has great potential to reduce the rate of telomere shortening or at least prevent excessive telomere attrition, leading to delayed onset of age-associated diseases and increased lifespan"
• Adiposity and Insulin Resistance Correlate with Telomere Length in Middle-aged Arabs: The Influence of Circulating Adiponectin - Eur J Endocrinol. 2010 Aug - "Studies in obesity have implicated adipocytokines in the development of insulin resistance, which in turn may lead to accelerated aging ... HOMA-IR was the most significant predictor for TL in males, explaining 35% of the variance (p = 0.01). In females, adiponectin, accounted for 28% of the variance in TL (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with chromosomal TL among adult Arabs. Evidence of causal relations needs further investigation. The positive association of adiponectin to TL has clinical implications as to the possible protective effects of this hormone from accelerated aging" - Note:  HOMA-IR = (glucose x insulin)/405 for glucose in mass units (US units) mg/dL.  See my adiponectin page for ways to increase it.
• Telomere length and risk of incident cancer and cancer mortality - JAMA. 2010 Jul 7;304(1):69-75 - "Short telomere length at baseline was associated with incident cancer independently of standard cancer risk factors (multivariable hazard ratio [HR] per 1-SD decrease in log(e)-transformed telomere length, 1.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30-1.98; P < .001). Compared with participants in the longest telomere length group, the multivariable HR for incident cancer was 2.15 (95% CI, 1.12-4.14) in the middle length group and 3.11 (95% CI, 1.65-5.84) in the shortest length group (P < .001). Incidence rates were 5.1 (95% CI, 2.9-8.7) per 1000 person-years in the longest telomere length group, 14.2 (95% CI, 10.0-20.1) per 1000 person-years in the middle length group, and 22.5 (95% CI, 16.9-29.9) per 1000 person-years in the shortest length group. The association equally applied to men and women and emerged as robust under a variety of circumstances. Furthermore, short telomere length was associated with cancer mortality (multivariable HR per 1-SD decrease in log(e)-transformed telomere length, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.58-2.86; P < .001) and individual cancer subtypes with a high fatality rate. CONCLUSION: In this study population, there was a statistically significant inverse relationship between telomere length and both cancer incidence and mortality"
• Higher circulating levels of igf-1 are associated with longer leukocyte telomere length in healthy subjects - Mech Ageing Dev. 2009 Nov 10 - "Both IGF-1 and LTL diminished with age (IGF-1, r=-0.601, P<0.001; LTL, r=-0.706, P<0.001). Age-adjusted LTL was positively associated with IGF-1 level throughout the age range of the cohort (r=0.270, P<0.001). IGF-1 accounted for about 10% of the inter-individual variation in LTL over and above the effect of age. Our findings suggest that both circulating IGF-1 and LTL are indices of healthy aging in humans" - Note: hGH increases igf-1.
• Chinese tea consumption is associated with longer telomere length in elderly Chinese men - Br J Nutr. 2009 Aug 12:1-7 - "In men, only Chinese tea consumption was significantly associated with TL after adjustment for demographics and lifestyle factors (P = 0.002). Mean difference in TL for those in the highest quartile of Chinese tea consumption (>3 cups/d or >750 ml/d) as compared with those in the lowest quartile of Chinese tea consumption ( </= 0.28 cups/d or </= 70 ml/d) was 0.46 kb, corresponding to approximately a difference of 5 years of life" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Multivitamin use and telomere length in women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun;89(6):1857-63 - "After age and other potential confounders were adjusted for, multivitamin use was associated with longer telomeres. Compared with nonusers, the relative telomere length of leukocyte DNA was on average 5.1% longer among daily multivitamin users (P for trend = 0.002). In the analysis of micronutrients, higher intakes of vitamins C and E from foods were each associated with longer telomeres, even after adjustment for multivitamin use. Furthermore, intakes of both nutrients were associated with telomere length among women who did not take multivitamins"
• Leukocyte telomere length is associated with HDL cholesterol levels: The Bogalusa heart study - Atherosclerosis. 2009 Jan 24 - "Diminished levels of HDL-C are associated with an increased risk for atherosclerosis. Shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL) also entails an increased atherosclerotic risk ... Multivariate regression analyses showed that LTL was positively associated with HDL-C in childhood (regression coefficient (bp per mg/dL) beta=3.1, p=0.024), adulthood (beta=4.4, p=0.058) and AUC from childhood to adulthood ... A slower rate of LTL shortening per year was associated with higher HDL-C AUC in the total sample (p=0.033), adjusting for baseline LTL ... As HDL-C exerts anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and LTL registers the accruing burden of oxidative stress and inflammation, the association between HDL-C and LTL might be explained by the lifelong status of oxidative stress and inflammation" - Note:  Telomere length is associated with longer lifespan.  Niacin increases HDL.  See niacin at Amazon.com.
• Resveratrol reduces endothelial progenitor cells senescence through augmentation of telomerase activity by Akt-dependent mechanisms - Br J Pharmacol. 2008 Jun 30 - "Resveratrol significantly increased telomerase activity and Akt phosphorylation ... Resveratrol delayed the onset of EPC senescence and this effect was accompanied by activation of telomerase through the PI3K-Akt signalling pathway. The inhibition of EPCs senescence by resveratrol might protect EPCs against dysfunction induced by pathological factors in vivo and improve EPC functional activities in a way that may be important for cell therapy" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Telomere length and obesity - Acta Paediatr. 2008 Apr 21 - "No difference was found between the TRF lengths of obese and normal children. Obese adults had shorter TRF lengths than adults who were not obese (mean TRF length difference, -884.5; 95% confidence intervals -1727 to -41.8; t= 2.183; df = 17; p < 0.041)"
• Telomere length in white blood cells, buccal cells and brain tissue and its variation with ageing and Alzheimer's disease - Mech Ageing Dev. 2008 Jan 31 - "We observed a significantly lower telomere length in white blood cells (P<0.0001) and buccal cells (P<0.01) in Alzheimer's patients relative to healthy age-matched controls (31.4% and 32.3%, respectively)"
• Telomere length may be associated with hypertension - J Hum Hypertens. 2007 Nov 29
• Higher serum vitamin D concentrations are associated with longer leukocyte telomere length in women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1420-1425 - "Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) ... higher vitamin D concentrations, which are easily modifiable through nutritional supplementation, are associated with longer LTL, which underscores the potentially beneficial effects of this hormone on aging and age-related diseases" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Obesity, cigarette smoking, and telomere length in women - Lancet. 2005 Aug 20-26;366(9486):662-4 - "telomere length decreased steadily with age at a mean rate of 27 bp per year. Telomeres of obese women were 240 bp shorter than those of lean women (p=0.026). A dose-dependent relation with smoking was recorded (p=0.017), and each pack-year smoked was equivalent to an additional 5 bp of telomere length lost (18%) compared with the rate in the overall cohort"
• Oxidative stress shortens telomeres - Trends Biochem Sci. 2002 Jul;27(7):339-44 - "oxidative stress accelerates telomere loss, whereas antioxidants decelerate it"