By Dr. Robert Goldman & Dr. Ronald Klatz

Longevity News and Review provides readers with the latest information in breakthroughs pertaining to the extension of the healthy human lifespan.  These news summaries are compiled by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M; www.worldhealth.net), a non-profit medical society composed of 26,000 physician and scientist members from 120 nations, united in a mission to advance biomedical technologies to detect, prevent, and treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process.   Dr. Ronald Klatz, M.D., D.O., A4M President, and Dr. Robert Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., D.O., FAASP, A4M Chairman, physician co-founders of the anti-aging medical movement, distill these headlines and provide their insightful commentary.

Berry Compound Boosts Overall Health
C. Samieri, from Harvard Medical School (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues analyzed data collected on 13,818 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study, 1984-1986.  At the start of the study, the subjects had no chronic diseases. Followed for an average of 15 years, during which food surveys were collected. 1,151 women survived into their 70s, absence of chronic diseases or major impairments in cognitive or physical function. The data revealed flavones, flavanones, anthocyanins, and flavanols increased the odds of aging with little or no impairment/chronic disease by 32, 28, 25, and 18%, respectively.  The study authors report that: “Higher intake of flavonoids at midlife, specifically flavones, flavanones, anthocyanins, and flavonols, is associated with greater likelihood of health and wellbeing in individuals surviving to older ages.”

Dr. Klatz observes: “High in flavonoids, red, blue and purple berries may lower a person’s risks of various chronic diseases.”

Run to Stay Young
In that impaired walking performance is a key predictor of death among older adults, a greater metabolic cost (worse economy) as compared to younger counterparts is a defining characteristic.  Justus Ortega, from Humboldt State University (California, USA), and colleagues enrolled 15 men and women (average age 69 years) to walk for 30 minutes or more, three times weekly; and 15 men and women (average age 69 years) to run on a treadmill at three speeds (0.75, 1.25, and 1.75 m/s), for 30 minutes or more, three times weekly.  The team determined walking economy using expired gas analysis and walking mechanics via ground reaction force.  Older runners had a 7-10% better walking economy than older walkers over the range of speeds tested, and had walking economy similar to young sedentary adults over a similar range of speeds.  In contrast to older runners, older walkers had similar walking economy as older sedentary adults and about 26% worse walking economy than young adults.   The study authors conclude that: “Running mitigates the age-related deterioration of walking economy whereas walking for exercise appears to have minimal effect on the age-related deterioration in walking economy.”

Remarks Dr. Goldman: “This study suggests that seniors who run three times a week have a lower metabolic cost of walking than older, sedentary adults as well as lower than seniors who regularly walk for exercise.”

Veggie Extracts May Improve Skin Health
As the structure of the skin weakens, the level of type-1 collagen, the main structural component in the extracellular matrix, decreases, and the function of dermal fibroblast cells reduces – all of which associate with skin aging.  There is keen interest in discovering natural-based approaches that offset these effects.  Vegetable peptones are plant-derived peptides from protein-rich vegetables such as wheat and pea.  Eulji University (Korea) researchers conducted in vitro experiments that exposed human dermal fibroblast cells to vegetable peptones for 5 hours.  Type-1 collagen production was enhanced, and cell proliferation improved, with greater exposure to the vegetable peptones producing a greater effect.  The study authors report that: “these findings suggest that increased proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts and enhanced production of type I collagen by vegetable peptones occur primarily by inducing the p90 ribosomal s6 kinase–CCAAT/enhancer binding protein [beta] phosphorylation pathway, which is mediated by activating Raf-ERK signaling.”

Comments Dr. Klatz: “Korean researchers reveal that vegetable peptones help to promote the production of type-1 collagen and proliferation of skin cells.”

Anti-aging medicine is the fastest-growing medical specialty throughout the world and is founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases.  It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy lifespan in humans.  As such, anti-aging medicine is based on solid scientific principles of responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties.  The goal of anti-aging medicine is not to merely prolong the total years of an individual’s life, but to ensure that those years are enjoyed in a productive and vital fashion.  Visit the A4M’s World Health Network website, at www.worldhealth.net, to learn more about the A4M and its educational endeavors and to sign-up for your free subscription o Longevity Magazine™ e-Journal.