Young Blood Reverses the Signs of Aging

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Young Blood Reverses the Signs of Aging

Postby The Madame X » Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:46 am

Young Blood Reverses the Signs of Aging
By Adam Clark Estes | The Atlantic Wire

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/young-blood-rever ... 51109.html

The world has long been fascinated with the idea that the blood of young people could have rejuvenating qualities, like a glorious fountain of youth, only horrifying. Turns out the world is sort of right.

A new study by researchers at Stanford University shows that injections of young blood can reverse the signs of aging in mice. The experiment is as simple as it sounds. Give an old mouse a syringe full of blood from a young mouse, and run some tests. Leader of the research team Saul Villeda and his team found that the boost of youth improved learning and memory in the older mice. Villeda shared his research with the Society for Neuroscience conference in New Orleans on Wednesday and did not understate its implications for conditions that are caused by deteriorating brain function. "I think any sort of disease that has that component, there is a chance this might help," he said. "What I am thinking is if we can address it earlier, when our body still has the control to prevent this from happening, then we might not have to cure Alzheimer's, we might just be able to stop it."

This is crazy, because in the past, crazy people have latched on to the idea that young blood could get them closer to immortality. Kim Jong-il, for example, used to "inject himself with blood from healthy young virgins in a bid to slow the aging process," according to The Guardian. Quite remarkably, it now appears that Kim Jong-il wasn't aggressive enough. Villeda actually supplied a group of 18-month-old (read: very old) mice with eight transfusions over the course of a month -- that amounts to about 5 percent of a mouse's blood supply -- and found that the brain connections in the older mice had increased by 20 percent after the treatment. "One of the main things that changes with ageing are these connections, there are a lot less of them as we get older," said Villeda. "That is thought to underlie memory impairment -- if you have less connections, neurons aren't communicating, all of a sudden you have [problems] in learning and memory."

This is actually not the first study to suggest that young blood reverses signs of aging. In 2010, a team of Harvard researchers connected the circulatory systems of young and old mice so that their blood mixed and found that it rejuvenated the blood-forming stem cells in the older mice. In the words of MIT's Technology Review, "They found that the procedure made the blood-forming stem cells in older animals act young again." The biggest difference in that study seems to be the mice's ability to produce immune cells, though it's unclear exactly what the long term effects of the blood mingling would have on the animals.

We've hardly discovered the fountain of youth, and we certainly haven't found proof of vampiric immortality. Oddly enough, though, we've discovered something in between, in mice at least. This does not mean you should take your vampire costume more seriously this year, though. The study did not cover the effects of drinking young blood.
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Re: Young Blood Reverses the Signs of Aging

Postby The Madame X » Thu Oct 18, 2012 11:19 am

You know... with all the vampire lore that has been an intrinsic part of our culture for hundreds of years, you would think that studies have been conducted on blood drinking, if for nothing other but to dismiss the 'myth'.
Its very odd there are no documented studies.
or maybe there have been studies but the results could not be released...
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Re: Young Blood Reverses the Signs of Aging

Postby The Madame X » Thu Oct 18, 2012 11:36 pm

Dr Dracula: Young blood might regenerate cells

Full article:http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/the-other-side/dr-dracula-young-blood-might-regenerate-cells/story-e6frfhk6-1226498792475


IT might sound like something from Dracula, but old brains have been made sprightly again thanks to young blood.

Giving ageing mice blood from much younger animals rejuvenated connections between brain cells and improved memory, experiments have shown.

The treatment is so effective that 18-month-old animals did as well in memory tests as those of only four months. Mice usually live to between 18 months and two years.

If the treatment is shown to be safe and as successful in humans, it could be used to stave off the ravages of old age.

Those in middle-age could be given regular jabs of blood donated by 20-somethings, a conference heard. Diseases such as Alzheimer's could also be held at bay. Researcher Saul Villeda told the Society for Neuroscience's annual conference in New Orleans: 'Do I think that giving young blood could have an effect on a human? I'm thinking more and more that it might.

'It's not a drug that will have deleterious effects. It's just blood. We do it all the time for blood transfusions.'

Scientists from Stanford University in the US 'sewed together' two mice of different ages.

They created connections between their veins and arteries that allowed young blood to flow into the older animal's body, and vice versa. The younger animals' brains appeared to age. But in the older animals, young blood boosted the number of connections between brain cells. The connections, which are thought to be vital to memory, were also stronger.

The older mice also did just as well as the younger ones in memory tests. The treatment is now being tested on mice with an Alzheimer's-like disease. Experts said that if the research continues to bear fruit, it could lead to treatment that brings even greater benefits than penicillin.

Other work suggests an infusion of young blood could be good for the muscles, liver and immune system. However, the work is at an early stage and it will be some time before it is tested on humans.

It may be possible to identify the compounds in blood that are rejuvenating the brain and turn them into a pill.

Professor Andrew Randall, a brain disease expert from Exeter and Bristol Universities, said: 'Although this may suggest that Dracula author Bram Stoker had ideas way ahead of his time, temporarily plumbing teenagers' blood supplies into those of their great-grandparents does not seem a particularly feasible future therapy for cognitive decline in ageing.

'Instead this fascinating work suggests there may be significant benefit in working out what the "good stuff" is in the high octane young blood, so that we can provide just those key components to the elderly.'

Professor Chris Mason, an expert in regenerative medicine from University College London, added: 'The important questions are; what is in the blood of the younger mice that impacts the ageing process, and is it applicable to humans?

'Even if the finding leads only to a drug that prevents, rather than reverses the normal effects of ageing on the brain, the impact upon future generation will be substantial – potentially outweighing other wonder drugs such as penicillin.'

Dr Villeda said: 'Our findings open the possibility of utilising young blood towards future therapeutic interventions aimed at reversing cognitive impairments in the elderly.

'It now becomes a promising prospect to test whether this extends beyond normal ageing towards reversing cellular and cognitive decline in those suffering from age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.'
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