Scientists study ways to predict longevity
By Jessica Berman
Scientists say it may be possible to predict longevity based on the levels of
certain proteins and hormones in the body. Their research involved an assessment
of body systems that are not usually suspected of causing premature death.
A routine part of a doctor's examination usually involves a blood pressure
check and blood test for cholesterol. If either of those numbers is too high,
chances are the doctor will prescribe medication.
But, scientists are finding out there are a host of other body systems that
do not get measured that are equally important to good health. These include
proteins involved in glucose metabolism and stress hormones.
In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, researchers studied 13 so-called biomarkers, which included not only
cholesterol and blood pressure, but also immune system markers and stress
hormones.
They wanted to find out which combinations of biomarkers increased the risk
of death.
In a study that began in 1988, researchers measured levels of these markers
in a group of 1,200 healthy men and women in their 70s and followed them for 12
years.
Lead investigator Tara Gruenewald of the Division of Geriatrics at the
University of California in Los Angeles says that in men, the presence of two
biomarkers most strongly predicted early death: elevations of a stress hormone
called cortisol and immune system proteins that measure inflammation.
She says inflammation is a response by the body to infection and injury.
"And we also know that levels of inflammation increase with other types
of experiences such as exposure to stress and poor sleep patterns, as well as
markers of hormones, hormone stress markers," said Tara Gruenewald.
In women, the study found that elevated blood pressure in combination with
any abnormal biomarker significantly increased the risk of death.
Gruenewald says it is hard to say whether measuring the same 13 biomarker
combinations in people in their 30's or 40's could predict whether they are
likely to die prematurely.
But she says investigators selected the markers because they are indicators
of the major regulatory systems in the body.
"And so I would suspect that if we were seeing biomarkers at the same
levels that we saw in these old adults when folks were younger decades earlier
that it would be my hypothesis that the same biomarkers at high levels would
most likely predict the greater likelihood of death and disease in later
adulthood," she said.
But Gruenewald says biomarkers are not fixed and can be changed early enough
in life, for example through exercise, to improve the chances of a long life. -
VOA
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