Breakthrough of Telomere awareness to help Anti Aging ?

How many of us think and believe that we can reverse our aging?

31,937 Anti Aging Photos - Free & Royalty-Free Stock Photos from Dreamstime — **Anti Aging**

I mean , we can live longer than we have ever imagined?

Its cool hah?

Yes, it is.

Of course, we have to die one day.

As we have come to this world and one day, we have to go.

But, why not make ourselves aware of the latest breakthrough in medical science so that we can help ourselves to Anti-Aging?

At least, for the limited period of our living, why not to live younger.

With more agile and vitality.

Of course, without any noticeable disease!

I think, every one of us who is reading this will nod their head.

Live a long innings on the crease of life with shortened disease span. Mind it. Disease span, means less disease and more health span!!

I know, all your intention in this given life is to live long healthy and a young live till we die.

For this, we have to go straightway to cellular level.

Yes, we have to think on cellular level to know a bit about our human biology.

You will be surprised to know that cellular age begins in the womb itself. That means, aging begins at utero itself!

And, there comes the term Telomeres effect!

Yes, you rightly heard.

Though no one can deny that there’s no way to actually stop the aging process, there might be a way to slow it down. Meet your telomeres.Be aware of your Telomere!

Its telomeres!!

A telomere is the end of a chromosome. Telomeres are made of repetitive sequences of non-coding DNA that protect the chromosome from damage. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres become shorter. Eventually, the telomeres become so short that the cell can no longer divide.

Let us refresh our knowledge to have a clear idea about Telomere.

Once you have a clear concept of biology of our body, you will be more aware of Telomere which is first major step for Anti-aging!

You are aware of that Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. The human body is composed of trillions of cells. They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions. Cells also contain the body’s hereditary material and can make copies of themselves.

To make it clearer, let us know a bit about chromosome. Chromosome is an organized package of DNA found in the nucleus of the cell. Different organisms have different numbers of chromosomes. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes–22 pairs of numbered chromosomes, called autosomes, and one pair of sex chromosomes, X and Y. Each parent contributes one chromosome to each pair so that offspring get half of their chromosomes from their mother and half from their father.

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA). Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use.

What Is DNA? Structure, Function, Pictures & Facts — **Structure of DNA**

The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.

DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a nucleotide. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.

An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.

To you make your concept sequentially clearer, you must know a bit about Gene also.

A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity. Genes are made up of DNA. Some genes act as instructions to make molecules called proteins. However, many genes do not code for proteins. In humans, genes vary in size from a few hundred DNA bases to more than 2 million bases. An international research effort called the Human Genome Project, which worked to determine the sequence of the human genome and identify the genes that it contains, estimated that humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes.

Every person has two copies of each gene, one inherited from each parent. Most genes are the same in all people, but a small number of genes (less than 1 percent of the total) are slightly different between people.

If your concept about cell biology is clear, here comes the star performer- Telomere!!

Telomeres are a specific sequence of DNA that forms a cap at the two ends of each chromosome. This cap – like the plastic cap on the end of a shoelace – keeps the chromosome from wearing each time it’s replicated.

In the 1930s, Hermann Muller was the first researcher to note that the ends of chromosomes had unique properties. Muller named these ends telomeres (from the Greek words telo, meaning “end,” and mere, meaning “part”), based on their position on chromosomes

When a cell divides, it replicates everything inside of it, including its chromosomes – the bundles of DNA that provide the genetic blueprint for building and running your body. Without telomeres to protect them, chromosomes get increasingly tangled and damaged, resulting in poorly constructed cells and speeding up the process that leads to cell death. This, in turn, means an older, less resilient body.

A multiple Research done reveals that longer telomeres are associated with a longer lifespan, and that shorter telomeres are associated with the diseases of aging: heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.

Research revealed that telomeres themselves can be damaged in the aging process; the shorter the telomeres get, the less protective they are to the chromosome.

Shorten Telomeres means shorten life span with more disease.

Shocking?

Yes, of course.

By the way, you can get your Telomeres length tested in India also.

DNA labs India has 3000 plus sample collection centres across India for Telomere Age Test – Testing Genetic DNA Aging Test. You can choose the centre and book the Telomere Age Test – Testing Genetic DNA Aging Test online.

This is where telomerase comes in for slowing down aging process. Telomerase is an enzyme–a protein–whose job it is to repair the telomeres. Over time, telomerase can be depleted and degraded, making it harder for the body to repair its telomeres.

Probably, you have seen the Bollywood movie Pa where Big B Amitabh Bachchan plays a 13-year-old boy suffering from progeria, a rare genetic disorder which accelerates ageing, is a simple, light hearted and happy film.

Though case with us Human being is not same but there is one shocking truth.

That is..

If your parents telomeres get shortened by chronic stress, unsafe neighborhood, poverty, chemical exposure or other factors, they may have passed their shortened telomeres to you through direct transmission in the womb.

So, it’s the right time to get awareness whether you have telomeres shortened or lengthened as your biological aging depends on it.

Research paper published in Nature , a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England showed that Mice genetically engineered without telomerase, aged prematurely but same Mice bounced back to health when telomerase was added back in. The mice literally got younger in real-time.

By the time, you are more aware of that we have more control of our telomeres than people previously thought because of hereditary concept related with Telomere. Though we do not have any control on Telomere already gifted to us by our parents, but, the good news is, we can lengthen this telomeres if we are aware of its existence as well as work on to get Telomere length increased.

If you really want to be a part of Anti-aging to live a longer period of your life in this presently complex world, take a serious note of your life style.

Taking care of some measures, you can really lengthen your Telomere through which you can slow down aging to live young.

Beneficial effect of physical exercise on telomere length and aging, and genetics of aging-associated noncommunicable diseases - ScienceDirect — **Lifestyle to effect Telomere for Aging**

First and foremost, you have to manage your stress level.

Stress is unavoidable. In any human’s life, because of different situations, we get stress out but when stress becomes toxic, study says that it dampen the Telomeres and shorten Telomeres. As we can not get rid of stress, only way to approach stressful events with a challenging mentality to help promote protective stress resilience in body and mind.

Second is, you know it all. Make exercise a daily habit of your life. You should make it like brushing your teeth every morning. Multiple research shown that exercise reduces oxidative stress and inflammation. For Telomeres replenishing action to take place, Do moderate cardiovascular exercise and High Intensity Interval Training will do good for your Telomere.

These exercises keep your heart rate up and can keep your cells younger for longer. The researchers determined this by measuring the structures at the end of chromosomes, known as telomeres.( https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/anti-aging-exercise)

Thirdly, you need o maintain your weight. WE should always take care of our Belly, not the BMI. Effect of excess weight on Telomeres is real. Though most obesity research relies on Body mass Index but it does not really tells us what really matters –how much muscle versus body fat is stored. A study shows that increased levels of oxidative stress in obese mice is responsible for damaging DNA and therefore expediting telomere shortening. So, take care of your body weight in control.

Fourth is of course your Diet. A high sugar diet is associated with more belly fat and insulin resistant. We have to eat food for optimal cell health. A whole-food diet that features fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, legumes and omega-3 Fatty acid not only good for your Telomeres and it also reduces oxidative stress, inflammation and insulin resistance.

Last but not the least, its supplement. Higher level of vitamin D in the blood predicts lower level of mortality. Some studies find that Vitamin D is related to longer telomere length. More so in men than women. The best dietary sources of Vitamin D are salmon, Tuna, Sole, Flounder, Fortified Milk, cereals and Eggs. Its really get hard to get Vitamin D from foods and sunlight, so, you can consider for supplements, of course, after consulting with your doctors.

The breakthrough research conducted by Dr.Elizabeth Blackburn and Dr. Elissa Epel on Telomeres is really a matter of awareness for all of us to create a dramatic shift in our understanding of what is possible in terms of our health and longevity.

The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer by Elizabeth Blackburn — The Telomere Effect book

Once you are aware of what Telomeres are all about, definitely you can take action to slow down your aging.

Who knows, you may be going to be the next oldest living person on planet earth surpassing present world record holder Kane Tanaka of Japan ( Aged 118 years, 97 days as on 9^th. April, 2021).