The Cold Hard Truth About Aging

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I can imagine that people are sick of hearing me talk about cancer and dying, but one of the benefits of it is that it leads me to read and research all sorts of information on how to live longer and healthier. I was given a second chance and I am not trying to blow this one. Hopefully, we can learn together before you have to have the same awakening. I was never too badly out of shape in my life, but this journey has really pushed me into seeing how much healthier we can all be, and how long we can all live.

Medical technology is improving at such a rapid pace, that it is not unheard of to think that our children will live past 120, and if that isn't shocking...most of those years can be younger healthier years. Someday 80 will be the new 50. So, we are not just looking to live longer, but live longer and better!

I was one of the fortunate 22,000 people in the US to receive a successful stem cell transplant. 10 years ago when, my son, Axel was born, we were given the option to collect and store his stem cells from his umbilical cord and store them. It costs us about $200 a year to keep them frozen and in storage but with the way medical technology is moving, this might be the single best investment that anyone can make for their children. Right now, we are living in an age of science fiction where stem cells are being used to cure diseases and repair organs and muscles. I hope Axel never needs to use his, but if the day comes he will have many more options than if we didnt do that.  I point this out to show you that when it comes to medical science, the future is now.

One of the things I have found in my research on medical advancements in aging is that drugs like metformin (a diabetes drug) and rapamycin have been shown to slow down aging at least and even reverse aging at the cellular level. Right now, you cant get metformin without also having diabetes, but it is believed that it and other drugs like it will eventually be given to people to slow aging.

The point here is that those drugs I mentioned slow and reverse aging by stimulating the survival circuit by activating sirtuins which when triggered help to repair damaged DNA ultimately extending our lifespan. Now, this is definitely over my head scientifically, but the point I took from this research is how the "survival circuit" can be activated to help us live longer. These drugs and expensive research are all being done to trick our cells into thinking we are in "survival mode". The good news is that the same thing that the drugs do to cells we can do to our cells and stimulate the survival circuit all on our own, and you are not going to be shocked at how you can do this ...continue reading

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