Telomere Health?

[whollygoats]

Getting a LOT of banner time online.

Can somebody tell me why I should not consider this a scam?

 

[bilby]

I haven't head of 'Telomere health' but telomeres are vaguely associated with aging, sound 'sciency', and are little understood by the general public, so if I were setting up a health scam, that would be a very suitable name for it.

My vote is definitely for 'scam', solely on the basis of the information in your post, plus my knowledge of molecular and cell biology.

There was some debate in the late '80s about telomere lengthening as a possible means to extend human life spans and/or slow the aging process, but it seems that the difficulty of modifying the genome in every cell in a living human is an insurmountable obstacle. At best, you might be able to do something at the conception stage, when the patient only has one cell; but that doesn't appear to be either practical or ethical.

It's a scam.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I ad-block enough I haven't seen it.

While telomeres play a role in aging there's nothing we can do to change that at present, nor would we even want to. The telomeres are also a major cancer defense--anything that keeps them from shortening is going to be a major carcinogen.

 

[bilby]

I ad-block enough I haven't seen it.

While telomeres play a role in aging there's nothing we can do to change that at present, nor would we even want to. The telomeres are also a major cancer defense--anything that keeps them from shortening is going to be a major carcinogen.

For sure. Immortal cells most assuredly don't make for immortal humans.

 

[DBT]

TELOMERE LENGTH DETERMINANTS

''Telomere length is highly variable among individuals at the same age and to a large extent genetically determined, with heritability estimates ranging from 40 to 80%. Genome-wide association studies have identified associated loci on chromosome 18q12.2 [28], 3q26 (near TERC) [29] and 10q24.33 [30].

Telomere lengths are highly synchronized among the DNA samples from white blood cells, umbilical artery and skin within individual newborns, but exhibited a high variability among newborns [31]. In addition, telomere lengths become more heterogeneous among different organ tissues in the elderly [32]. Despite no differences in telomere length between African American and Caucasian or male and female newborns [31], African American adults have longer telomeres than their Caucasian counterparts [33], and adult males generally have shorter telomeres than females [34]. A recent study conducted in 667 Caucasian and African American adolescents showed that the ethnicity and sex differences in telomere length have already emerged during adolescence [35]. Women also exhibit a significantly lower rate of age-dependent telomere attrition as compared with men [36], possibly due to the stimulating properties of oestrogen on telomerase. A remarkable association between the levels of oestrogen and telomerase activity has been shown under physiological conditions [37]. Studies in vitro show that oestrogen rapidly up-regulates telomerase gene expression and activity [38].

Telomere length is not only genetically determined, but also shaped by environmental factors. Owing to the high content of guanine residues, telomeres are highly sensitive to damage by oxidative stress. The contribution to the telomere loss by oxidative DNA damage is believed to be greater than by the ‘end-replication problem’ [39]. Prolonged oxidative damage also dramatically decreases telomerase activity and accelerates telomere shortening in vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells [40]. Conversely, addition of antioxidants decelerates telomere shortening in cultured cells and prolongs telomerase activity [41]. Systemic oxidative stress assessed by urinary 8-epiprostaglandin F2α is associated with shorter leucocyte telomeres in hypertensive men from the Framingham Heart Study [42]. A higher level of oxidized LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is associated with shorter leucocyte telomere length and increased stiffness of the carotid artery [43].''

 

[Peez]

Getting a LOT of banner time online.

Can somebody tell me why I should not consider this a scam?

Send me $50 and I will explain why it is not a scam.

 

[Malintent]

proposed study:

Investigate the link between belief in pseudoscience and lack of use of an Ad Blocker.