Immortality comes a step nearer with new longevity test

The first blood test to measure more accurately how fast our DNA is ageing has been launched in the UK.

The TAT (Telomere Analysis Technology) test, measures the length of telomeres, the tiny caps at the top of our DNA.  It’s already been scientifically proven that the shorter they become the closer we come to the end of life and/or likely to be suffering from life-threatening  diseases or accelerated ageing.
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Until now the only commercially available tests have measured the average length of telomeres – not how many are ageing or the percentage that are getting shorter. The results from the test are used to measure chronological age against biological age, as indicated by the damage to telomeres. The patient would then work with his doctor to correct damage with various lifestyle and diet changes, taking another test in a year’s to check changes.
Telomere damage can be stopped and even reversed by making lifestyle changes such as taking more exercise, a healthier diet and vitamins. There are also some substances which are known as ‘telomere activators’ and promote telomorase, the enzyme which helps lengthen them. These incude some anabolic steroids and TA65, a supplement made from a plant source.
In humans, as cells replicate, the telomere length decreases, as part of the natural process of ageing. But those suffering from diseases will have far shorter than average telomeres which eventually leads to faster or total cell death.
The company behind this new development is a new Spanish biotech, Life Length, which has been spun out research by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid and specific work by its Director Dr Maria Blasco.
The company has been partly funded by the Spanish government and US venture capital. So far $20 million has been invested over the last five years in developing and refining the technology. The test, at £650 is being made available through doctors in independent practices, who will guide a patient through the process, the results and the changes that should be made to lifestyle. Patients will also be asked, to anonymously contribute to research through a questionnaire to further enable medical knowledge into ageing diseases.
The Doctors Laboratory in London, is providing front end sample preparation for  Life Length, who will process the blood samples in their laboratories in Spain.. Click here to mail the Doctors Laboratory about tests.
Patients undergo a simple blood test through their physician.   The blood is then frozen the same day and sent to Life Length’s Madrid laboratory, where a powerful microscope is able to map the numbers of ‘critically’ short telomeres. The process is very complex, involving the ‘mapping’ of every single cell in the blood, which is why is takes a month to get the results.
At the London launch, Life Length CEO, Steve Matlin, predicted that while the test was expensive at this time, it could eventually become as readily available as cholesterol testing is today.
Matlin, a former US investment banker, has already had himself tested – to find happily that he has a biological age of 37 at the chronological age of 43.
Find out more about this new development on this video:

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Healthy lifestyle boosts anti-ageing enzyme

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Los Angeles: A healthy diet, taking regular exercise and relaxing can boost levels of a longevity enzyme, say scientists.

In a new study scientists measured levels of the telomerase enzyme in men who were required to make positive lifestyle changes. The men were suffering from low-risk prostate cancer.

The patients ate a diet low in sugar and fats and rich in whole foods, fruits and vegetables. They were also required to walk at least 30 minutes daily and take part in anti-stress exercises.

The researchers, whose report has appeared in the medical journal, The Lancet Oncology, measured the amount of the enzyme after three months. The results revealed that levels in the blood has increased by 29 per cent , along with a drop in LDL(bad) cholesterol.
The bottom line is that the enzyme helps support the length of telomeres – these are tiny protectors of the DNA and keep inflammation and other ageing activity away from them. The length of telomeres is an indicator of biological ageing.

As people age, their telomeres get shorter and they become more susceptible to certain illnesses which are associated with ageing.

Experts believe this process is at the heart of many age-related diseases, and may even place a final limit on human lifespan.

Professor Dean Ornish, of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Sausalito, California, who led the study, said increases in telomerase levels were beneficial and could be quickly changed.

He said: “To our knowledge, we have reported here the first longitudinal study showing that comprehensive lifestyle changes – or any intervention – are significantly associated with increases in cellular telomerase activity levels.

“The implications of this study are not limited to men with prostate cancer.Comprehensive lifestyle changes may cause improvements in telomerase and telomeres that may be beneficial to the general population as well.Larger studies are needed.”