Aging Gracefully with Thymus Extract, DHEA, Yoga and ...mail.encognitive.com/files/Aging Gracefully with... · Thymus Extract, DHEA, Yoga and Calorie Restriction Aging, like the weather,

Therapeutic Nutritionby Gina L. Nick, PhD, ND

Chief Scientific Officer at Longevity Through Prevention, Inc.E-mail: [email protected]

P.O. Box 6936 • Laguna Niguel, California 92677 USAwww.LTPonline.com • www.YogiHeaUh.com

Aging Gracefully withThymus Extract, DHEA,

Yoga and CalorieRestriction

Aging, like the weather, is a subject everyone talks aboutbut no one seems able to do much about. Theories andnostrums abound, from wrinkle creams to hormonesupplements, many with compelling evidence in their favor,but none has earned the consensus of the scientificcommunity, save one. There is substantial and acceptedevidence that caloric restriction (CR) can increase lifespanby at least 30% in every animal tested. So far theseexperiments have indicated that the maximum effect isreached at a 33% reduction in daily calories, but a moremodest 10% is presumed to have at least some beneficialeffect. They also suggest that a longer interval between mealsis an important factor, independent of total caloriesconsumed. The principal drawback to these studies is thatthey are by-and-large limited to subjects with short life spans,like mice, rats, flat worms, insects and a variety of one-celledorganisms. The few human subjects that have producedreliable data, such as those in Biosphere 2, seem to havefared well despite substantial weight loss, but they have yetto reach even their actuarial lifespan.'

This information certainly gives one pause to reflect onwhere a nation that is 60% overweight is headed, in spite ofour miraculous advances in medicine and health care. Onemight say that the popular vote favors death and diseaseover hunger. Isn't there an easier way?

Although explanations abound, the stress consequentupon reduced caloric intake takes center stage as afundamental factor. A variety of adaptive scenarios has beenproposed.• Stress induces cells to slow their growth rate, and the

lifespan of cells appear to be limited to a finite number ofcell divisions.

• As growth slows, so does metabolism, reducing thepopulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that causeoxidative damage, a principal mechanism of diseaseactivation.

• CR lowers hlood glucose and consequently levels of insulinand the variety of associated hormones. Recollecting thenumerous destructive effects of diahetes brings theadvantages of this metabolic alteration into sharpperspective.

• A coincident mechanism lowers body fat, reducing thedetrimental excess of adipose-generated hormones.

• At the same time,the stress of CRpromotes protectivehormones andstimulates theimmune system.The favored

explanation currentlycirculating is thatreduced mitochondrialdamage accompaniesthe lowered metabolicrate. Mitochondria arepoorly protected from oxidative damage by free radicals(ROS) and have but a single enzyme to effect repairs inmitochondrial DNA. As the cells' sole energy sourcediminishes, so do all their other functions. The result is aging.

An extension of these theories and findings has beenexplored by David Sinclair at Harvard Medical School.̂ Henotes that the many beneficial chemical nutrients derivedfrom plant products all come from stressed plants.Organically grown foods are stressed by insects and disease,theoretically making them far healthier food sources. IsNature indeed so well designed that there is universal benefitfrom stress, as long as it is contained within defined limits?

A fresh concept is achieving growing recognition intoxicology these days. Hormesis is the term applied to J-curvephenomena, where a certain amount of a toxin is better thannone at all. It is obviously true of basics such as sunlight,food, water and sleep. It has proved true of alcohol, wherean ounce of ethanol is protective against heart disease. Andsome helieve it is miraculously true of radiation, where,putting aside the obvious negative effects for a moment, lowlevels of exposure reduce the incidence of cancer.̂ Sinclaircalls his theory xenohormesis - the observation that stressedplants {and animals?) produce nutritional benefits fororganisms higher up the food chain. It embraces bothnutrition and pharmacology, whence come all our foods andmost of our medicines.

It need not be proposed that we need more stress in ourlives. Leave that to the plants. There is convincing evidence,particularly from the cardiologists, that our stress levels arefar to the right on the J curve and that stress reduction isfundamental to improving the health of the population.

62 TOWNSEND LETTER for DOCTORS & PATIENTS - DECEMBER 2005

Putting aside its metaphysical inclinations, yoga has aremarkable ability to counteract stress. A recent study fromthe Amen Clinic in California sponsored by the Universityof California at San Diego recorded SPECT brain imagesbefore and after 12 minutes of meditation.'* The after imagesshowed a more generalized distribution of tracer andilluminated the previously dark thalamus. These findingswere interpreted as improving attention, concentration, andshort-term memory, according to the principal investigator,Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD.

Sinclair and others are discovering ways to fool cells intothinking they are stressed, without the negative effects. Acertain ubiquitous protein called sir2 seems to produce thislife-extending effect in multiple species of laboratory animals.Stay tuned; this may be real.

On the additive side of anti-aging interventions, twosupplements have shown considerable promise, both in pre-clinical and in clinical studies - thymus extract anddehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Hormones associated withthese two supplements invariably decline with age and areinversely related to most ofthe diseases of aging.

The thymus produces a remarkable variety of hormones.Specific to the thymus are half a dozen immunostimulants,but thymic tissue also expresses oxytocin, vasopressin, beta-endorphin and calcitonin.'̂ '̂ Salmon calcitonin is availablehy prescription, but crude thymus tissue has been shown tohave the same effect in preventing bone loss in post-menopausal women.^ Added benefits from thymus

Aging Gracefully

supplementation include immune augmentation^^ andantioxidant activity.̂

Declining levels of DHEA have been specifically associatedwith many major diseases of the elderly - osteoporosis,menopause, sarcopenia, dementia, depression,cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic inflammatorydiseases, type 2 diabetes and shortened lifespan.'"'^ DHEAsupplementation has been shown to favorably infiuence thesesame conditions.'^'^ DHEA is an intermediary in themetabolic conversion of cholesterol to estrogen andtestosterone, but it also appears to have activity of its own.Its sulfated form crosses the blood-brain barrier to infiuencecognition and mood.'̂ In peripheral tissues DHEA is anactivator of calcium-gated potassium channels,'^ which areessential to both muscle activity and nerve signaling. Itsconversion to estrogens and androgens, controlled byenzymes such as aromatase, adds yet another layer ofcomplexity to its already elaborate physiology. DHEA activitydepends upon its local chemical environment, producingdifferent responses in men than in women.̂ *̂ Its associationwith major disease conditions is so closely (and inversely)related to cortisol levels that many researchers studyingaging speculate that it is the DHEA/cortisol ratio that is thecontrolling factor.'̂ •̂ ''

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TOWNSENO LETTER tor DOCTORS & PATIENTS - DECEMBER 2005 83

Aging Gracefully

With such a complicated physiology and so many feedbacksystems controlling the activities and metabolic pathwaysof DHEA, it is unlikely that simply pumping more into thesystem will produce predictable results. Yet the implicationsof declining DHEA and its association with other majorhormones that alter dramatically with age, clearly demandattention.

SummaryCaloric reduction is the only method of age extension that

has earned a consensus within the scientific community, yetseveral other interventions have shown convincingexperimental results and have much to recommend themfor their numerous and solid associations with aging and itsrelated conditions. Stress has demonstrated a J-curveassociation known as hormesis, with implications across thebiosphere. Stressed plants, for example, those that areorganically grown, produce most of the nutritional andpharmaceutical factors enjoyed by those of us higher up thefood chain. Anti-aging effects of yoga and meditation, thymusextract and DHEA are all supported by solid laboratory andclinical evidence from numerous experiments.

Progress is being made. A protein common to all complexorganisms appears to control aging and may someday be thepanacea we are all talking about.

Dr. Gina L. Nick has published a new book entitledYogic Nutrition. In this book, Dr. Nick marries modernmedical research with the age-old wisdom^ ofAyurvedicmedicine to help you on your path to greater healthand vitality. Learn more about the book and newsupplements researched and formulated by Dr. Nickby visiting www.YogiHealth.com.

References1. LaFee, Scott. Eating less may mean a longer life if you can stand the hunger

pangs. Available at: http://www.si^()nsandiego.com/news/science/20041124-9999-lzlc24cr.html.

2. Shaw J, The Aging Enigma. Harvard Magazine Sep tern ber-October 2005:46-53.3. Miller D. Radiation-Heaith Effects - and Fears. Available at: http://www.sepp.org/

NewSEPP/Radiation%20-%20M iller.htm.4. Roderick K, Kirtan Kriya. Available at: http://www.yogltiineB.com/07_2005/

healtbyyogi.html

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If you choose to participate you will:• Help direct the focus of future studies & products• Enjoy dinner with a group of your peers• Discuss presented data amongst your peers• Discuss experiences as a practitioner" Be paid for your time and expertise

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5. Jevremovic M. Pesic MC, Thymus endocrine activity and osteoporosis. Int JThymology 1996;{4) Supl:23-29.

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15. van Vollenhoven RF, Morabito LM. et al. Treatment of systemic lupuserythematosus with dehydroepiandrosterone: 50 patients treated up to 12months. J Rheumatol. 1998 Feb;25l2):285-9.

16. Racchi M, Govoni S. et al. Dehydroepiandroaterone and the relationship withaging and memory: a possible link with protein kinase C functional machinery.Brain Res Brain Res Rf.v. 2001 Nov;37(l-3j:287-93.

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TOWNSEND LETTER tor DOCTORS & PATIENTS - DECEMBER 2D05