Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: life extension

Degradation and Failure Phenomena at the Dentin Bonding Interface

Damage in the bonding interface is a significant factor that leads to premature failure of dental bonded restorations. The imperfectly bonded dentin-adhesive interface is susceptible to hydrolytic degradation and bacterial and enzyme attack, severely jeopardizing restorations’ longevity. Developing caries around previously made restorations, also called “recurrent or secondary caries,” is a significant health problem. The replacement of restorations is the most prevailing treatment in dental clinics, leading to the so-called “tooth death spiral”. In other words, every time a restoration is replaced, more tooth tissue is removed, increasing the size of the restorations until the tooth is eventually lost. This process leads to high financial costs and detriment to patients’ quality of life.

New lightweight polymer film can prevent corrosion

MIT researchers have developed a lightweight polymer film that is nearly impenetrable to gas molecules, raising the possibility that it could be used as a protective coating to prevent solar cells and other infrastructure from corrosion, and to slow the aging of packaged food and medicines.

The polymer, which can be applied as a film mere nanometers thick, completely repels nitrogen and other gases, as far as can be detected by laboratory equipment, the researchers found. That degree of impermeability has never been seen before in any polymer, and rivals the impermeability of molecularly-thin crystalline materials such as graphene.

“Our polymer is quite unusual. It’s obviously produced from a solution-phase polymerization reaction, but the product behaves like graphene, which is gas-impermeable because it’s a perfect crystal. However, when you examine this material, one would never confuse it with a perfect crystal,” says Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT.

An Immunomodulating Peptide with Potential to Promote Anticancer Immunity Without Compromising Immune Tolerance

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in patients with lung cancer and metastatic melanoma is associated with exacerbation of autoimmune-related diseases. The efficacy of treatment targeting the programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) checkpoint relies upon a feedback loop between interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and the interleukin-12 isoform, IL-12p40. Paradoxically, both cytokines and the anti-PD-1 antibody worsen psoriasis. We previously reported an immunomodulating peptide, designated IK14004, that inhibits progression of Lewis lung cancer in mice yet uncouples IFN-γ from IL-12p40 production in human immune cells. Methods: Immune cells obtained from healthy donors were exposed to IK14004 in vitro to further characterise the signalling pathways affected by this peptide.

Scientists Use “Supercentenarian Longevity Gene” to Slow Rapid Aging Disease

Researchers discovered that a longevity gene from centenarians can reverse heart damage linked to progeria, suggesting a new approach to treating rapid and age-related heart aging.

A major advancement has been made in understanding a rare genetic disorder that causes children to age prematurely. Scientists from the University of Bristol and IRCCS MultiMedica identified “longevity genes” found in people who live beyond 100 years, which appear to protect the heart and blood vessels during aging. Their study suggests these genes could potentially reverse the damage caused by this fatal condition.

Understanding progeria and its effects.

New ultrasound technique could help aging and injured brains

Scientists at Stanford have created a non-invasive ultrasound method of brain cleansing that boosted the survival rate of mice after stroke by activating natural detoxification mechanisms. The technology, accidentally discovered during experiments with the blood-brain barrier, stimulates microglial immune cells to dispose of toxic waste and improves the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid. The method opens the way to treating the consequences of strokes and injuries without drugs.

A non-invasive, drug-free ultrasound method helps cleanse the brain and reduce inflammation, potentially offering a radically simple new approach to treating neurological diseases.

Alzheimer’s risk calculator could spot danger years before symptoms begin

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new tool that can estimate a person’s risk of developing memory and thinking problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease years before symptoms appear.

The research, published in The Lancet Neurology, builds on decades of data from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging—one of the world’s most comprehensive population-based studies of .

The study found that women have a higher than men of developing and (MCI), a transitional stage between healthy aging and dementia that often affects quality of life but still allows people to live independently. Men and women with the common genetic variant, APOE ε4, also have a higher lifetime risk.

Want a younger brain? Learn another language

Speaking multiple languages could slow down brain ageing and help to prevent cognitive decline, a study of more than 80,000 people has found.

The work, published in Nature Aging on 10 November1, suggests that people who are multilingual are half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing as are those who speak just one language.

“We wanted to address one of the most persistent gaps in ageing research, which is if multilingualism can actually delay ageing,” says study co-author Agustín Ibáñez, a neuroscientist at the Adolfo Ibáñez University in Santiago, Chile. Previous research in this area has suggested that speaking multiple languages can improve cognitive functions such memory and attention2, which boosts brain health as we get older. But many of these studies rely on small sample sizes and use unreliable methods of measuring ageing, which leads to results that are inconsistent and not generalizable.

“The effects of multilingualism on ageing have always been controversial, but I don’t think there has been a study of this scale before, which seems to demonstrate them quite decisively,” says Christos Pliatsikas, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Reading, UK. The paper’s results could “bring a step change to the field”, he adds.

They might also “encourage people to go out and try to learn a second language, or keep that second language active”, says Susan Teubner-Rhodes, a cognitive psychologist at Auburn University in Alabama.

Continue reading “Want a younger brain? Learn another language” | >

How Do Your Age and Diet Influence Your Thinking?

Having too many fat cells can lead to low-grade, body-wide inflammation that underlies brain aging.

Chronic venous insufficiency due to obesity may impair cognitive function.

It’s never too late to positively impact brain aging by losing weight.

Mind wandering, confusion, and a reduced ability to focus thoughts are classic early symptoms of obesity related cognitive decline.

/* */