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Insulin and
Longevity
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By Dr. Di
Pasquale
More
evidence
have come
out from a
number of
research
pointing to
the
significant
role of
insulin in
human
longevity.
 In
a study
conducted by
a team of
Brown
Univeristy
researchers
led by
biology
professor
Marc Tatar,
when
chemical
messages
sent by an
insulin-like
hormone are
reduced
inside the
fat cells of
the fruit
fly, the
fly's
lifespan
increases
significantly.
Same results
had been
observed in
worms but
the fruit
fly study is
more
significant
as the fruit
fly's 13,601
genes are
shared in
many ways by
humans.
One of the
important
findings is
the role
insulin
plays in the
regulation
of its own
synthesis.
The key is
blocking the
hormone's
action
inside a few
specific
cells with
the body
ending up
healthier.
The study
found that
insulin
regulates
its own
production
and that it
directly
regulates
tissue
aging. If
insulin
levels are
kept low,
cells stay
stronger and
are
protected
from
age-related
diseases
such as
cancer,
dementia and
stroke.
“Think of
the body
like a car,”
Tatar says.
“We knew
insulin
controlled
the car’s
speed by
regulating
things like
the gas
pedal and
the fuel
injectors.
Now we know
that insulin
is also the
fuel that
makes the
engine go.”
Tatar and
four other
Brown
researchers
created a
line of
genetically
altered
flies which
had dFOXO –
a protein
controlled
by the fly
equivalent
of insulin –
inserted
into the
genetic
material of
fat cells
near their
brains.
Some flies
were fed
mifepristone,
a chemical
copy of
progesterone.
This hormone
activated a
switch
attached to
dFOXO, which
in turn
repressed
the normal
insulin
signals
inside the
cells. As a
surprising
result,
insulin
production
was lowered
throughout
the body.
These flies
lived an
average of
50 days – 18
days longer
than flies
whose
insulin
signals went
unchecked.
“We now know
that insulin
is a direct
player in
the aging
process,”
Tatar says.
“So the
research
fits some
key puzzle
pieces
together.
And it
should
change the
way we think
about
aging.”
Tatar’s
research is
part of a
growing body
of evidence
linking low
insulin
levels to
increased
longevity.
In recent
years,
scientists
have found
that mice
and other
animals live
longer when
they eat a
low-calorie
diet, which
reduces
insulin
production.
“Aging
regulation
is a complex
physiological
process of
nutritional
inputs,
metabolic
regulation
and hormone
secretion,”
Tatar says.
“But we
still have
so many
unanswered
questions.”
In another
study, a
group led by
Andrzej
Bartke,
professor
and chair of
physiology
at Southern
Illinois
University
School of
Medicine
seek to find
out why
dwarf mice
postpone
aging,
living
longer than
their normal
siblings
from an
average of
two years to
an average
of three.
One clue was
the improved
responsiveness
to insulin.
Humans
usually lose
sensitivity
to insulin
with age and
in some
cases this
led to
adult-onset
diabetes.
In contrast,
dwarf mice
have low
sugar and
low insulin
at the same
time. ''This
means that
they respond
to insulin
better than
a normal
animal,''
according to
Bartke. This
endocrine
situation is
the opposite
of type 2
diabetes.
Bartke notes
that
diabetics
can increase
their
insulin
sensitivity
using diet
and
exercise.
''So this is
something
which even
without the
use of drugs
can be
achieved by
a normal
person by
very
accepted
means.''
Dr.Mauro
Di Pasquale
is a
licensed
physician in
Ontario,
Canada,
specializing
in Nutrition
and Sports
Medicine.He
holds an
honors
degree in
biological
science, and
a medical
degree
(1971). He
is also
certified as
a Medical
Review
Officer (MRO)
by the
Medical
Review
Officer
Certification
Council (MROCC),
and as a
Master of
Fitness
Sciences (MFS)
by the
International
Sports
Sciences
Association
(ISSA).
www.maurodipasquale.com
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