Longevity

(Reuters) - Pluristem Therapeutics said early clinical trials show its placenta-derived cell therapy is safe and improves quality of life in patients with peripheral artery disease, or PAD.

- Pluristem harvests cells from the placenta after a woman gives birth, so there is no ethical issue on using embryos.
- "We have proved we can use the placenta as a source for a product that doesn't require a match between the donor and patient,"

Pluristem's clinical trials showed patients experienced improvement in bloodstream, pain and quality of life for six months following a 20-minute session of injections.

A team using StemCells Inc's nerve stem cells taken from aborted fetuses found that even a month after injury, the cells took up residence in the spine, proliferated and helped mice walk better.

- "These exciting results demonstrate an expanded window of opportunity for human neural stem cell intervention in spinal cord injury,"
- The cells migrated through the spine, grew and began to function -- 64% of the stem-cell-treated mice walked better, compared to 44% of mice treated with ordinary cells and 20% of placebo-treated mice.

About 1.25 million Americans have chronic spinal cord injuries. "This latest study provides additional evidence that the use of our human neural stem cells may be a viable treatment approach for them,".

The experts said they were particularly concerned about a firm in Germany called XCell-Center and about Beike, which offers stem cell treatments for a range of conditions including brain injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and optic nerve damage.

- A spokesman for XCell said in a statement that its stem cell preparations are made from bone marrow and intended for "autologous" use, or use by patients from whom they came.
- Beike Biotech said in a statement that all its stem cells are administered by experienced physicians who work in and for leading hospitals in China.

Stem cells are standard treatments for leukemias and a few other genetic diseases, but their use in treating other conditions such as Parkinson's, spinal injury or optic nerve damage is as yet unproven.

"In an earlier study, we observed that middle-aged children of long-lived siblings have lower thyroid function compared to controls from the general population,"
"In the current study, we sought to assess whether in the generation of the long-lived siblings low thyroid function was related to enhanced survival of the parents of the siblings as well,"

After rating the longevity of these siblings' parents, the team analyzed the thyroid hormones in the siblings' blood. The two sets of values appeared to be strongly linked, supporting previous findings of heritability in decreased thyroid functioning and its relationship to long life.

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen discusses a woman who went against her doctors intial assesment and discovered tissue regeneration.

Chuck Murry, professor at the University of Washington, talks about his lab's research in regenerating new heart tissue out of stem cells.

- the building blocks of heart muscles, we can make the cells of blood vessels, connective tissue cells.
- progress in getting them to self assemble and organize a coherent tissue.
- we believe that by growing new heart muscle we can regress heart failure.
- we've shown that if we can transplant these in animals that have had a heart attack we can prevent them from developing heart failure.

Scientists in Romania say they have discovered a type of cell called telocites, which may be similar to stem cells.

- first found in the pancreases and then in 15 other organs.
- they hope that telocites can play a role in the regeneration and repair of the body because they are related to stem cells.

- Stem Cells harvested to repair achy joints.
- The cells start as one type and changed to another to treat arthritis, tendon, and ligament damage.
- 20% of the cases show no improvement, 1/3 of the dogs need treatment again in a year.

- Experts say it's time to recognize aging as a condition that can be treated and delayed.
- Because aging is not viewed as a disease scientists are hampered by regulators who license for diseases.
- By finding the genes thought to help determine longevity, scientists think they may be able to mimic their action to extend health span.

- Stem cells can be coaxed into becoming the hair cells deep inside the ears that are destroyed in hearing loss.
- 15 percent of Americans between 20 and 69, or 26 million people, have high frequency hearing loss caused by noise.

- ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
- The first FDA approved clinical trial of fetal stem cell in adults that is making history.

- Scientists in Germany and Switzerland found that an enzyme called COX-2 triggers development of fat cells to become brown fat, instead of white fat.
- Once activated by cold temperatures, brown fat burns calories faster than regular fat.
- Mice who were genetically engineered to produce high levels of COX-2 burned energy faster and were protected from obesity.

- The findings suggest that women with Parkinson's could serve as their own stem cell donors.
- The endometrial stem cells generate less of an immune system rejection and women shed them naturally every month.
- The researchers transformed stem cells into dopamine-producing nerve cells like those in the brain.
- Parkinson's is caused by the destruction of brain cells that produce dopamine, an important message-carrying chemical involved in movement.

(HealthDay News) - Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health have discovered bone-generating stem cells in the spine, at the end of the shins and in cartilage-rich areas of other bones.
- "Now researchers can explore ways to harness these cells so that ultimately they might be used to repair damaged or malformed bone."
- The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/ stem cells.

- The differences in DAF-16 corresponded to differences in longevity, stress resistance and immunity between the four species, with higher levels of DAF-16 activity correlating to longer life, increased resistance and better immunity against some infections.

The key to repairing our tissues and growing new organs could be physical forces.
- The video shows scientists growing hearts, arteries, and bone linked to the stem cell need for physical forces.

Good large cholesterol is linked to inheritance but exercise increases and is linked to good cholesterol; diet is linked to reducing bad cholesterol. Calorie restriction which triggers the body’s survival mode response, stimulates the Sirtuin Genes, is linked to longevity but resveratrol also stimulates the Sirtuin Genes without the calorie restriction.
- Cholesterol; good large cholesterol has been linked to people living to 100 years old.
- Sirtuin Genes; kick in when the body is in survival mode and increase DNA repair and prevent cell death.
- Insulin; low levels are linked to longevity in research studies.

Experts are saying there is a possibility that the more bored you are the more likely you are to die early.
- people who reported being bored a lot were more likely to die young or earlier.
- social activity and exercise reduces boredom which helps people to live a longer life.