LIFE SPAN PROLONGATION: REALITY OR FANTASY?
G.Nesterenko, S.Zilberman, V.Baru, O.Galavina, I.Gromakova, N.Babenko
Kharkov National University, Institute of Biology, Department of Physiology of Ontogenesis, 4,Svobody pl., Kharkov, 61077, Ukraine.
Fax: (0572)352923, e-mail: babenko@univer.kharkov.ua
What is aging?
Scientists are still not certain.
Aging has been identified as a potential risk factor for arteriosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, etc. Aged people experience difficulties in communicating, learning, thinking and reasoning, that can have an impact on person's work, social and family life.
What causes aging?
Each year scientists are discovering important new clues to potential causes of the features and diseases of old age, which is helping to generate better treatment options for old affected individuals.
Among the factors that can interfere in the life span are behavioral and biological factors. Food is among both of them. Food is the most powerful environmental factor that influences the organism function and health. It is known that food preferences and style are important reasons of aging acceleration.
Unique calorie restricted diet has been developed in Kharkov State University ( Ukraine ):
Maintaining of experimental animals on new diet leads to their life span prolongation from 680 days / in control/ to 1030 - 1336 days / in experiment /.
While many mechanisms may contribute to organism aging and death, it is important to determine which ones are critical in causing or exacerbating the degenerative processes of aging. There are several important questions studied:
What initiates the process leading to cell disfunction and what are the key steps in the cascade of events leading to cell death?
What are the key interactions between the different cellular changes, changes in membrane structure affecting the activity of memrane-bound enzymes....
Why are some types of cells in some anatomical systems affected and others not ?
How do genetic factors in combination with other systemic or metabolic factors
influence these processes of cell disfunction and /or death?
Some of important diet targets and the most promising leads in delaying or preventing the onset of symptoms involve:
Hormone and neurotransmitter replacement
Restoring energy metabolism
Reducing oxidative damage
Mimicking the effect of steroid and thyroid hormones to repair and/or restore
function in damaged or dying cells.
Reduced body weight of old animals treated by experimental diet is accompanied by restored hormonal state of organism and improved sexual behavior and reproductive function. Recent research discoveries further support the notion that we soon may be able to delay the onset of aging through diet treatment.