Podcast 2 – Dr. Ed Park explains his Stem Cell Theory of Aging and rejuvenation.
In just over 30 minutes, you will fully comprehend the reasons for aging and discover the ways to reverse those changes.
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At the end of this post, you’ll hear from Don Biondich, who has ridden his ‘hog’ on six continents and was a certified pilot of nearly every kind of aircraft class… that is before his vision was ravaged by Macular Degeneration.
Don Biondich, one cool hombre
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a loss of vision because of deterioration in the central portion of the RETINA (the inside surface of the eyeball upon which optical images are focused and then interpreted into sight by rods and cones connected to your brain.)
AMD can be accelerated by genetics and environment, but the root cause, in my opinion, is the same as other age-related diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, COPD, and cancer….
In my opinion, these conditions are all caused by telomere erosion, as explained in my “Stem Cell Theory of Aging.”
———————->> If you actually attempt to read my perspicacious yet bemusing blogs, you are probably very smart and should be asking: “Come on Dr. Park, you think everything is caused by telomere erosion! What is your proof?
Well, in 1999, a very interesting study was performed testing the relationship between retinal cells’ telomere length, senescence and population doubling counts. And, in just a moment, you should understand it as well as I do!
——————–First, let’s first review a few facts that my blog readers already know:
———————- Next, some jargon that you will need to understand this study:
———————- And finally, we can all understand the study!
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1999 Jan;40(1):197-202.
Beta-galactosidase histochemistry and telomere loss in senescent retinal pigment epithelial cells.
Matsunaga H, Handa JT, Aotaki-Keen A, Sherwood SW, West MD, Hjelmeland LM.
Department of Ophthalmology, University of California Davis, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate the relation of senescence-related beta-galactosidase activity and telomere shortening to replicative senescence in cultured human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells.
METHODS: A human RPE cell line was serially passaged until 80% of cells were nondividing in a 72-hour 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling study. Early- and late-passage cells were double-stained for BrdU and senescence-related beta-galactosidase activity (pH 6). The average chromosomal telomere length at several population doublings was estimated by Southern blot analysis after double digestion of DNA with RsaI and HinfI and using a telomere-specific probe.
RESULTS: BrdU-beta-galactosidase double-staining revealed an inverse correlation between the number of BrdU-labeled nuclei and beta-galactosidase-labeled cells as a function of population doubling level (PDL).
In plain English, that means the more times the colony had divided (PDL), the fewer viable (BrdU+) and more burned-out (Beta galactosidase +) cells there were.
At PDL 58, only 20% of all cells labeled for BrdU, whereas 57% stained for beta-galactosidase. The mean terminal restriction fragment length (TRF) was reduced from 10 kb in early (PDL 12) cultures to 4 kb in late (PDL 57) cultures.
In plain English, that means that after dividing 58 of the theoretical 60 times of the Hayflick Limit, only 20% were still alive, and 57% were burned-out. The telomere length in cells that had divided only 12 times was 10,000 base pairs. The telomere length in cells that had divided 57 times was only 4,000 base pairs.
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Last week, the FDA approved an embryonic stem cell trial for treatment of Macular Degeneration, which is very promising since there is currently no adequate treatment for the condition which is known to affect 2% of those over 50, and 30% of people over 75. And in my opinion, if people could live that long, it would probably affect 99% of people over 130.
Now, as promised, Don’s email from last week:
Dr. Park,
I would like to share with you my results using TA 65.
I am 76 years old and in great health for my age. I do have a problem with my eyesight. I have had dry macular degeneration in my right eye for years, however, my eyesight was still excellent. Within the last year and a half my eyesight started to diminish. It is not due to my macular degeneration but rather a loss of vision acuity. All of the ophthalmologists that I consulted said that although I will not go blind my eyesight is slowly going to get worse, so much so that in a couple years I will not be able to drive a car.
Then I saw your TV interview about TA-65 and other news releases on this product and was intrigued about the positive results with eye problems. I am taking four capsules every night and have been doing so for a little over a month. I have noticed that my overall health has improved to the point that I can now stand up from a sitting position without the aid of a product. Now this could be a placebo effect however, I have definite measured results that are very positive as far as my eyesight is concerned.
A grid like Don's describes
Because of my macular degeneration I have been using a grid chart for years to make sure that the dry degeneration does not turn wet which is serious. Since I have been using TA-65 the area of the grid chart that used to be distorted is now diminishing and I can see more of the chart that is not distorted.
The other positive results are that I can now use my computer with much more ease and less straining of my eyes. I like to play solitaire on my computer and the cards, of course, are much smaller than regular deck. Before the treatment I had some difficulty in distinguishing the number eight or nine card. I now can make this distinction and I think this is quite amazing and is a positive measured result.
Also, my vision for distance is improving. The reason I can judge this positively is that as I was experiencing the diminished sight I would practice looking at objects around me. Now these objects are getting clearer and brighter.
I will continue with the program and keep records of my improvements.
Thank you very much for your help and guidance,
Regards,
Don Biondich
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Disclaimer: The preceding testimony is presented as only one man’s experience.
TA-65 is not a cure nor a treatment for AMD.
Stress is a survival mechanism that evolved to protect us from danger. One familiar stress hormone, adrenaline (that jolt you feel if you fall asleep and drift across your freeway lane,) helps you survive by causing your heart to race, lungs to open, pupils to widen, and by shutting down non-essential functions like digestion.
A second stress hormone is cortisol and it generates high blood pressure, high glucose, salt retention…in short, the physiology of running away from something trying to eat you.
Every night, Telomerase tries to repair your stem cells, but the stress-induced hormone, cortisol, inhibits telomerase activity, as shown in this study, causing your immune function to be ground down, and other stem cells to fail.
Here is a video explaining the link between stress and illness:
Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.-Anthony Burgess
Lack of sleep makes you irritable, prone to mistakes, and depresses your immune system. But Sleep Apnea (aka OSAS or Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome) is also linked with heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, arrhythmias, and diabetes.
Sleep Apnea is arguably the most common and serious medical condition that there is (other than telomere erosion, of course.) Over 18 Million (or 6%) of Americans suffer from Sleep Apnea, yet only half of those affected have been diagnosed.
Sleep Apnea will be recognized by roommates and spouses as an eerie and impossibly long pause in the sleeper’s breathing or snoring, followed by a gasping back to life that happens just before you were considering CPR or calling 911. While the witness to Sleep Apnea can be freaked out, the person sleeping is completely unaware of their nightly near-death experiences.
The space behind the nose and mouth collapses
Sleep apnea is caused by a collapse in the soft tissues behind the hard palate. If you recognize these symptoms in yourself, you should call ASAP to arrange a sleep study.
A Sleep Study
During a sleep study, technicians will connect your scalp to an EEG, measure your pulse and oxygen saturation with a finger monitor, and record what happens throughout the night.
Hypopneas (apneic events) are defined by at least 10 seconds without breathing or snoring, accompanied by either a neurological arousal (a 3-second or greater shift in EEG, or brain wave, frequency) or a blood oxygen desaturation of 3–4% or greater. Clinically significant levels of sleep apnea are defined as six or more of these hypopneas per hour.
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During my reading about telomere biology, I came across a study showing that OSAS is strongly associated with shortened telomeres:
Respir Med. 2010 Aug;104(8):1225-9. Epub 2010 Apr 28.
Telomere shortening in sleep apnea syndrome.
RESULTS: Telomere Length was significantly shorter in patients with OSAS than in controls (p<0.001). This difference persisted after adjustment for age, body mass index, cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and uric acid levels, smoking status and the presence of arterial hypertension (p=0.018).
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Sleep should ideally involve 4-5 pleasant and consecutive 90-minute journeys down into the oblivion of slow-EEG wave sleep, and then back up to R.E.M. (Rapid Eye Movement or dreaming) sleep.
Nightly sleep stages
Interestingly, sleep is evolutionarily-conserved so it must be important, right? Did you know that all mammals, birds, and many reptiles, amphibians, and fish require sleep? Yes, even sharks that need to constantly swim to oxygenate their gills, sleep one hemisphere at a time.
With sleep apnea, you are suffocating and being momentarily jarred closer to consciousness at least 6 times an hour. With normal regenerative sleep, you should be enjoying a heightened anabolic (building up and restoring) state, with growth and rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems.
Returning to the study findings, perhaps the failure to maintain the deeper unconscious stages of sleep is preventing the healthy and prolonged lowering of levels of adrenaline (the “fight or flight” hormone) and cortisol (the “stressed-out” hormone) that should normally occur during the ‘wee hours’ of the morning. The dozens of near-awakenings keep the Sleep Apnea sufferer in a vigilant and catabolic (breaking down and using up) state that should be reserved for your on-the-go, waking hours.
Whether or not you subscribe to my stem cell theory of aging, you absolutely must get help if you have the symptoms of sleep apnea. It will transform your life in a way that I can only liken to Dorothy awakening from a dreary black-and-white Kansas into the Wonderful World of OZ.
"You're out of the woods...Hold onto your breath...Hold onto your hope"
And yes, I am speaking from my personal experience of using a CPAP machine every night for the last 17 years (not coincidentally, the year I got married.) In the interests of health, well-being, and telomere stability, you or your loved ones must get tested and treated for Sleep Apnea. It will transform your life so that you will never, ever want to leave the “Merry Old Land of ZZZZZZzzzz”
(1927) – Muller and his Microscope
Dr. Muller irradiating Fruit Flies
Did you know that the very first theory of the telomere got it right? Lucky guess? No. Just sound deductive reasoning.
Twenty-six years before Watson and Crick described DNA’s double helix, Herman Muller, a scientist from Harlem and the Bronx, was irradiating fruit flies at Woods Hole to produce mutants with deletions and inversions involving the ends of chromosomes. High energy rays produce DNA breaks, which is why UV exposure gives us skin cancer.
Because he never created deletions or inversions that affected the natural tips of the chromosomes, he concluded that:
‘‘. . . the terminal gene must have a special function, that of sealing the end of the chromosome, so to speak, and that for some reason a chromosome cannot persist indefinitely without having its ends thus sealed.’’
Muller coined the term “telomere” for the tips of chromosomes from Greek: “telo” for ‘‘end’’ and “mere” for “body.” For his work in creating genetic mutations with X-rays, he takes home the Nobel Prize in 1946.
(1953) – Watson and Crick explain the double helix
Watson and Crick explained the structure of the double helix of chromosomes. They explained that DNA is a code paired to an opposite strand. For this, they won the Nobel Prize in 1962.
(1961) – The Hayflick Limit
Leonard Hayflick discovered that cells are not immortal and can only divide about 50 times before becoming non-viable (the so-called “Hayflick Limit” for telomerase-insufficient cells.)
He theorized that there must be a way the cells remember how ‘old’ they are and pass it along. We now know that is primarily from the length of the cell line’s telomeres.
Okazaki explained that since it is impossible to assemble a lagging strand of DNA in the 3′ to 5′ direction, it has to be written in small 5′ to 3′ segments, begun with primers, and joined together before replacing the primer RNA with regular DNA.
(1973) – Olovnikov’s telomerase theory
"I told you so!"
Alexey Olovnikov, a Russian biologist, theorized that there must be a mechanism to create actively generate more length in the telomeres. His reasoning was that since DNA always shortens with replication, without elongation, we could be unsustainable.
(1984) – Telomerase discovered
Blackburn, Sjostak & Greider find Olovnikov’s theorized mechanism in the form of the enzyme, telomerase.
For this discovery, the trio won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2009.
(2004) – Telomerase activator TA-65
Geron patented the extraction of TA-65, a small molecule activator of the body’s normal telomerase healing mechanism.
People begin taking this via TA Sciences in 2005.
(2009) – Dr. Ed Park’s Stem Cell Theory of Aging
Knowledgeable people may consider my stem cell theory of aging to be a statement of the obvious, as do I. But a greater number believe that aging is more complicated than just telomere erosion in stem cells and favor other theories. To read their theories and compare them with mine, go to http://www.rechargebiomedical.com/aging.html
Of course, theories are like opinions…everyone has one. I very much welcome your emails telling me why my theory has holes or is just plain wrong.
