Rob Baer (KC10%NEMOMUS.bitnet at ACADEMIC.NEMOSTATE.EDU) wrote:
: First, with regard to aging of wild rats:
: I agree that there is no way to obtain an exact age of wild
: species because of individual variablity. I will mention,
: however, a correlate that I have not seen mentioned by others
: and that is cross-linking in the extracellular matrix. A paper,
: discussing this in human's is :
: Sell, DR, and Monnier, VM. Structure elucidation of a Senescence
: cross-link from human extracellular matrix. J. Biol. Chem. 266:
: 21597-21602, 1990.
: This process also occurs over the life-time
: of the primitive least shrew (Orin Mock, Ph.D., Personal
: Communication). I don't know for sure, but presume it also
: occurs in more advancd rodents like the rat.
: Second regading nutrition and aging:
: Several contributors have asserted recently that eating well
: is associated with an increased life span. There is a wealth
: of experimental evidence to suggest exactly the opposite.
: That is, caloric restriction has been shown to promote longevity
: in experimental animals. A place to start reading about this
: might be:
: YU, BP, How diet influences the aging process of the rat. Proc.
: Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 205: 97-105,1994.
: Clearly, starvation hastens death; but so too does overeating
: hasten death.
: I'm headed home to dinner now!! Oh well.
The doctor says "you only have 6 mo. to live" and the patient says
"that's terrible, is there anything I can do"? The doctor says "become a
no fat vegiterian and restrict your calories to bear minimum".
Will that really make me live longer Doc?
No, but the time you have left will seem like eternity!
This is a funny story but it is the fear of giving up something you like
for something you don't like that governs some of the thought(?) processes
that attempt to distort the facts about nutrition vs average and maximum
life span.
1. You are born with genes that govern your maximum lifespan potential
Your enviornment and personal habits can shorten your life or bring you
closer to living out the full potential life span.
2. Married men AND women outlive unmarried men AND women, on average.
Furthermore women in general outlive men.
3. Most (>80%) "health problems" are self induced trying to prove facts
1. and 2. wrong.
I don't mean my comments to be anti-anything. I just want everyone to do
what they can to live long enough to get a new ultra long life set of
genes when they become available.
