Chapter 3. : Life Style and Life Extension

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"Aging is defined as the progressive decline in physiological functions which leads to increased vulnerability to diseases and death [1]. This is a universal process underlying by many mechanisms and different pathways, whose burden rises to three different phenotypes: normal aging, accelerated aging and successful aging  2]. Despite variability among definitions, “successful aging” is as a multidimensional process encompassing major chronic diseases, major impairments in cognitive, in physical function and sustained engagement in social and productive activities [2, 3]. However, reaching old age in good health is not just a “fate effect” but the result of a complex interweaving between environmental and genetic factors [ 4]. Studies conducted in twins have estimated that approximately 20-30% of an individual's lifespan is related to genetics, while the rest is due to individual behaviors and environmental factors [ 5, 6]. In this contest, nutrition and lifestyle are the most important contributors to longevity and healthy aging [ 7-11]. Follow a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, olive oil, fish, a small amount of red wine and exercise at least 20 minutes a day three times a week, avoiding obesity, smoke and alcohol, represents the working recipe for long and healthy life. Many mechanisms and pathways underlie nutrition, lifestyle and longevity including telomere length modulation [ 12- 15]." 1.

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"Lifestyle factors known to modulate aging and age-related diseases might also affect telomerase activity. Obesity [ 42], insulin resistance [ 43, 44], and cardio-vascular disease processes [ 45, 46], which are related to oxidative stress and inflammation, have all been linked to shorter telomeres. Smoking, exposure to pollution, lower physical activity, psychological stress, and unhealthy diet significantly increase the oxidative burden and the rate of telomere shortening [ 47- 53]. So, what a better way to counteract the “biological clock” by reactivating telomerase through diet and lifestyle interventions? There is a recent paper showing that with intensive lifestyle modification, with a low fat diet, regular physical activity, and mental stress reduction (by yoga and meditation), telomerase activity increases significantly in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) [ 54]. Again, people living in the Mediterranean countries have longer and healthier life as compared with people living in other industrialized countries, and we previously demonstrated that they have also claim longer telomeres and higher telomerase activity in PBMC [ 55]. It is still unclear if there is a single nutrient or a factor responsible of Mediterranean diet anti-aging properties or the whole, single ingredient foods and lifestyle are the key to “healthspan”.
Today, researchers are struggling to find a compound or an “elixir” for long life, while common people are taking dietary supplements with the intent to preserve mental, physical, and emotional health into old age. Most dietary supplement programs include combinations of vitamins, antioxidants, and other constituents, some of which have been shown to have significant health benefits in controlled clinical studies. Specific nutrients provide all the necessary building blocks to support telomere health and extend lifespan. This is the case of folate 56, 57], vitamins (B, D, E, C) [ 58] zinc [ 59] and polyphenol compounds such as resveratrol [ 60], grape seed extract and curcumin [ 61]. Several foods -such as tuna, salmon, herring, mackerel, halibut, anchovies, cat-fish, grouper, flounder, flax seeds, sesame seeds, kiwi, black raspberries, green tea, broccoli, sprouts, red grapes, tomatoes, olive fruit- are a good source of antioxidants. These, combined with a Mediterranean type of diet containing fruits, vegetables and whole grains would help protect our chromosome ends [ 62- 70].
In conclusion, what we eat, how we eat and how much we eat, together with lifestyle significantly, can affect our telomerase/telomere system with a great impact on healthspan. “Similes cum similibus curantur” and in nature is still hidden the secret of healthy and long life whereas telomerase could represent the distinctive target." 2.

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"Telomerase is the natural enzyme that promotes telomere lengthening." 3.
"In addition to its TERT protein component, telomerase also contains a piece of RNA known as the TERC (telomerase RNA component) or TR (telomerase RNA). In human, this TERC telomere sequence is a repeating string of TTAGGG, between 3 and 20 kilobases in length."4.
The efficiency and efficacy of the enzymatic synthesis of the telomere peptide string, the enzyme, Telomerase, other enzymes, and their peptides and proteins are relatively directly proportional to the purity of water in the aqueous intra and extra cellular medium of the human body.
Also,gene and chromosome mutation are more likely within the human body as the impurity of water increases.
Therefore, I suggest that drinking pure water is fundamentally extremely important with regard to life extension, increasing telomerase activity, and maintaining and increasing telomere length.
Of course, the aforementioned suggests that water for consumption should NOT be used directly out of the tap. Rather, it suggests that drinking and cooking water should be filtered.
There are many means to accomplish water filtration with the degree of filtration varying directly with the expense of the same.
Relative to the aforementioned is that smoking seems to have an adverse effect on telomere length.
"Smoking- Smoking seems to have adverse effect on telomeres, shortening their length. Studies have found that the telomere attrition caused by smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for a period of 40 years is equivalent to 7.4 years of life. Oxidative stress caused by smoking is mainly responsible for telomere attrition, resulting in their shortening.." 5.
"Obesity- Obesity is also associated with increased oxidative stress and DNA damage. Studies show that the excessive loss telomeres in obese individuals may be equivalent to 8.8 years of life, an effect which seems to be worse than smoking." 6.
"Environmental pollution-Exposure to traffic and industrial pollution can adversely affect telomeres. Reduction of the length of telomeres in a person is intimately related to numbers of years and severity of exposure to environmental pollution." 7.
"Stress-The stress is associated with release of glucocorticoid hormones by the adrenal glands, which cause increased oxidative damage to DNA and accelerated telomere shortening." 8.
"Unhealthy diet- Unhealthy diet deficient in various macro and micro-nutrients can also result in shortening of telomeres as result of damage caused by oxidative stress. Dietary restriction or eating lesss has an extremely positive impact of health and longevity. The reduction of oxidative stress by dietary restriction is expected to preserve telomeres and other cellular components." 9.
"Lack of exercise- The duration of exercise inversely co-relates with the damage to the DNA and telomeres. Regular exercise has been found to be associated with elevated telomerase activity. Furthermore, regular exercise seems to be associated with reduced oxidative stress and, may, therefore, reduce the pace of aging and age-associated diseases.
Telomeres are significantly affected by age and our lifestyle. Shorter telomeres have also been implicated in genomic instability. The rate of telomere shortening is, therefore, critical to an individual's health and pace of ageing." 10.

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"Telomere length -- the length of the terminal caps of your chromosomes -- is considered to be a marker of aging and health. Thousands of studies have been published on telomeres. They're known to maintain genomic stability, prevent the inappropriate activation of DNA damage pathways, and regulate cellular aging. The telomeres, which are tiny units of DNA at the very end of each chromosome, shorten with time because they cannot replicate completely each time the cell divides. Hence, as you get older, your telomeres get shorter and shorter, until, eventually, DNA replication and cell division ceases completely and you die. Short telomeres are therefore a potent risk factor for a number of diseases, including:

Decreased immune response against infections
Type 2 diabetes
Atherosclerotic lesions
Neurodegenerative diseases
Testicular, splenic, intestinal atrophy
DNA damage
"Telomere shortening is now thought to be a major key that explains the process of aging itself, and holds the promise of not just slowing aging, but potentially reversing it. Animal studies have shown that these types of health problems can be reversed by restoring telomerase functioning—a particular enzyme that helps "rebuild" your telomeres.
It stands to reason that your lifestyle can either speed up or slow down telomere shortening, and research bears this out. Obesity, lack of exercise, psychological stress, and smoking all cause production of free radicals that can cleave telomeres and significantly speed up the telomere-shortening process. Exercise, on the other hand, has been shown to decrease telomere shortening, thereby promoting longevity." 11.

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"The telomere is involved in several essential biological functions. It protects chromosomes from recombination, end-to end fusion, and recognition as damaged DNA; provides a means for complete replication of chromosomes; contributes to the functional organization of chromosomes within the nucleus; participates in the regulation of gene expression; and serves as a molecular clock that controls the replicative capacity of human cells and their entry into senescence. " 12.

The following is a quote from Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School, which I consider excellent advice on what lifestyle changes can increase longevity:

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"No matter what your age, you have the power to change many of the variables that influence how long you live, and how active and vital you feel in your later years. Actions you can take to increase your odds of a longer and more satisfying life span are really quite simple:

1. Don't smoke.
2. Enjoy physical and mental activities every day.
3. Eat a healthy diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, and fruits, and substitute healthier monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats for unhealthy saturated fats and trans fats.
4. Take a daily multivitamin, and be sure to get enough calcium and vitamin D.
5. Maintain a healthy weight and body shape.
6. Challenge your mind. Keep learning and trying new activities.
7. Build a strong social network.
8. Follow preventive care and screening guidelines.
9. Floss, brush, and see a dentist regularly.
10.Ask your doctor if medication can help you control the potential long-term side effects of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, osteoporosis, or high cholesterol." 13.

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The Role of Sleep in Longevity and Life Extension

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"Sleep is a naturally recurring state of mind and body, characterized by altered  consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and inhibition of nearly all  voluntary muscles during  rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, [1] and reduced interactions with surroundings. [2] It is distinguished from  wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to  stimuli, but more reactive than  coma or disorders of consciousness, sleep displaying very different and active brain patterns.
Sleep occurs in  repeating periods, in which the body alternates between two distinct modes:  REM sleep and non-REM sleep. Although REM stands for "rapid eye movement", this mode of sleep has many other aspects, including virtual  paralysis of the body. A well-known feature of sleep is the  dream, an experience typically recounted in  narrative form, which resembles waking life while in progress, but which usually can later be distinguished as fantasy.
During sleep, most of the  body's systems are in an  anabolic state, helping to restore the immune, nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems; these are vital processes that maintain mood, memory, and cognitive function, and play a large role in the function of the endocrine and immune systems. [3] The internal  circadian clock promotes sleep daily at night. The diverse purposes and mechanisms of sleep are the subject of substantial ongoing research. [4]" 14.

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"Researchers  have found that sleeping 6-7 hours each night correlates with longevity and cardiac health in humans, though many underlying factors may be involved in the causality behind this relationship." 15.
The recommended amount of sleep for an individual varies with age with newborns (0-3 months) requiring 14 to 17 hours, adults (18-64 years) 7 to 9 hours, and older adults(65 years and older) requiring 7 to 8 hours. 16.

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"Telomeres and sleep are linked in several ways. First, inflammation is a consequence of sleep deprivation and the more inflammation in the body, the shorter y our telomeres will become. Also, lack of sleep is associated with decreased melatonin, a critical antioxidant. Poor sleep quality creates oxidation therefore damaging the telomeres. There have been many studies showing that melatonin's antioxidant power prevents telomeres from diminishing. More sleep means more melatonin, less inflammation, and therefore longer telomeres.
In recent years there has been study after study that have shown that people who sleep less than seven  hours a night, as well as people suffering from sleep apnea, have shorter telomere length. The recent Nurses Health Study of 4,117 women found that women under the age of fifty who slept less than six hours per night had significantly shorter telomeres than women who slept at least nine hours." 17.

The Role of Human Growth Hormone in Sleep, Life Extension, and Longevity


What is human growth hormone?

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"Human growth hormone (often abbreviated HGH or hGH, or simply GH for growth hormone) is an important part of the body's endocrine system. It is especially active in a growing child's maturation (although it is not the only physiological factor that makes kids get taller and grow). HGH is released by the brain during sleep, and its release is part of the repair and restoration function of sleep.
The hormone is a complex protein produced by the pituitary gland in the brain, and in addition to promoting growth in childhood, it helps maintain health bodily tissue even during adulthood. The pituitary gland releases growth hormone non-continuously-the release looks like a pulse.
Human growth hormone promotes a healthy metabolism, enhances your physical performance, and may even help you live longer." 18.

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When is human growth hormone released during sleep?

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"Both sleep and exercise  induce the release of human growth hormone. Experts estimate that as much as 75 percent of human growth hormone is released during sleep.
In normal healthy people, the major period of HGH release occurs during the first period of  Stage 3 sleep stage during the night, about an hour after you first fall asleep. Stage 3, also known as deep sleep or slow wave sleep, accounts for about one-quarter of your sleep each night. Deep sleep is the most restorative all stages of sleep. During this stage of sleep, HGH is released and works to restore and rebuild your body and muscles from the stresses of the day." 19.

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"How does the growth hormone change with age?

"The production of HGH levels peaks at your youth, and steadily declines with age. Seniors in particular spend less time in deep sleep,which explains the link between lack of HGH and other disorders associated with aging. For example, lower HGH levels correspond with higher risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes." 20.

Again, clean pure water has been shown to be fundamental to increasing life span. The same is, also, fundamental to those basic enzymatic reactions which are determinant of enzymatic reactions inclusive of the telomerase reactions. Taking secondary steps to further purify water coming outside of the tap should be a fundamental step in increasing both life span and diminishing telomere attrition.
The various aforementioned  guidelines to increasing longevity and diminishing telomere attrition should be analyzed,addressed  and implemented specifically for the individual who seeks their guidance and the particular environment in which the individual finds him or herself.