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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5582
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 04:22 pm: | 
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Check Out Grandma's Biceps!
New research shows that exercise can help reverse the aging process at the cellular level. Strength training for the senior set.
By Anne Underwood
Newsweek
May 22, 2007 - We all know that exercise is good for us. It boosts circulation and tones the cardiovascular system. It builds strength, burns calories and reduces depression. It improves insulin sensitivity in people with diabetes. It may even help delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. But here's what you didn't know: it can partially reverse aging at the cellular level.
A study appearing this week in the online journal PLoS One looks at the effects of six months of strength training in 25 elderly volunteers aged 65 and older (average age: 70). The researchers took small biopsies of thigh-muscle cells from the seniors before and after the six-month period, then compared them with muscle cells from 26 young volunteers (average age: 22). "To be honest, we were expecting some indication that the exercise program improved strength," says biologist Simon Melov, director of genomics at the Buck Institute in Novato, Calif., and coauthor of the study. What the scientists didn't expect was what they actually found—that after six months of resistance training, there were dramatic changes at the genetic level. As Melov puts it, "The genetic fingerprint [of the elderly participants] was reversed to that of younger people—not entirely, but enough to say that their genetic profile was more like that of young people than old people."
What kind of workout routine does it take to produce these changes? The seniors went through a rigorous exercise program—an hourlong session of strength training twice a week for six months, using the same types of machines found in most gyms. At each session, they performed three sets of 10 contractions for each muscle group, similar to a standard workout (albeit using lighter weights than most young people would use). Trainers and kinesiologists were on hand throughout to make sure the participants used the machines properly and did not injure themselves. It helped that all the participants were in good shape to start with—able to go shopping, walk the dog, play golf or swim. That was deliberate, according to Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky of McMaster University in Canada, who headed up the clinical portion of the trial. The researchers wanted to zero in on genetic changes related to aging itself, not changes that might be due to cancer or heart disease.
And how did the genes change? At the beginning of the six-month period, Melov found significant differences between older and younger participants in the expression of 600 genes, indicating that these genes become either more or less active with age. By the end of the six months, exercise had changed the expression of a third of them. Admittedly that leaves two thirds of the genes unchanged. "The others appear to be related to aging, but not exercise," says Melov. But he was struck by a common feature of the ones that did change. Overwhelmingly, they are involved in the functioning of mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells, which process nutrients into energy.
You might expect that, as a result, the participants had more energy—and that's exactly what they reported. "Anecdotally, some reported that before the training, they had a hard time picking up their grandchildren," says Tarnopolsky. "Afterward, they could pick them up." Others reported that it became easier to carry heavy grocery bags or run up the stairs. And objective measurements showed that their strength improved by 50 percent. For Barbara Ford, 72, of Hamilton, Ontario, the real thrill came when her grandchildren came to visit and admired her new biceps. "They thought it was a scream I was getting 'Popeye muscles'," she says. "When they saw this, they all laughed."
The take-home message is clear. "It's never too late to start exercising," says Tarnopolsky. You're only as old as your genes.
© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18808971/site/newsweek/?nav=slate?from=rss |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5591
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 01:56 am: |
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Dang, Cynnique…I’m surprised you haven’t thanked me yet. I found a way for you to live FOREVER!!!
I don’t get no thanks???
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8687
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 01:05 pm: |
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Thanks for thinking of me, Tonya. But I actually get exercise doing the things the article says people can do after they adopt an exercise routine: I pick up grand babies. Push a grocery cart around the store, bring bags in from the car. Walk up and down steps. And - I haven't made up my mind whether or not I want to live forever.... |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5596
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 05:08 pm: |
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Excellent. Staying active is also key, I heard.
(And - I haven't made up my mind whether or not I want to live forever....
Ditto!)
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Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4510
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 09:27 pm: |
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But I actually get exercise doing the things the article says people can do after they adopt an exercise routine:
(I was going to make a smart crack but you make it so easy it ain't fun anymore--
As an old fart, let me tell you that unless you keep moving you will stiffen up.
Other than that, there ain't no way to prolong your life. You can be in great shape and keel over dead as a doornail or have a stroke.
Look at the bright side--you won't have to deal with this bullshit anymore-- |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8694
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 11:38 pm: |
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You are an old fart all right, chrishayden, and the last person in the world to give any recommendations on how not to be one, you big addled-brained tub of lard. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4514
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 10:55 am: |
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My parents were good churchgoers who didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't party and they died like dogs just like we all will.
I have had my fun, and you have too-- SIN-eke! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8698
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 11:05 am: |
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And your point is??? |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4826
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 11:26 am: |
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Churchgoers who didn't smoke, drink or like to party. Next thing Chris will try to tell us that his parents didn't have sex either.
Newsflash for ChrisHayden - your parents were freaks just like everybody else. And you're living proof.
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8701
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 11:30 am: |
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Chrishayden is in denial. He thinks he was the result of an immaculate conception. That's why he has a Jesus complex. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4520
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 11:30 am: |
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Newsflash for ChrisHayden - your parents were freaks just like everybody else. And you're living proof.
(Being that you are from Texas, a Godforsaken Hellhole of sin and depravity, I can understand that you can't believe that everybody isn't a skag shooting, meth swallowing, pill popping, livestock screwing, window peeping, exhibitionist scumbag.
But it does happen in other parts of the world. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4521
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 11:31 am: |
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Chrishayden is in denial. He thinks he was the result of an immaculate conception. That's why he has a Jesus complex.
(You think you was brought by the stork--a WHITE one!) |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8702
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 11:35 am: |
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Storks only come in white, - as chrishayden continues his obsession with whiteness. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4525
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 11:41 am: |
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Have you ever read Moby Dick, you poor culturallly deprived nincompoop? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8705
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 11:55 am: |
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Herman Melville was a white man, right? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8708
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 02:10 pm: |
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And chrishayden is a big white whale, right? |
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