Aging Hearts, Free Radicals, Mitochondria

Fight Aging!

Do you want to live a longer life in good health? Simple practices can make some difference, such as exercise or calorie restriction. But over the long haul all that really matters is progress in medicine: building new classes of therapy to repair and reverse the known root causes of aging. The sooner these treatments arrive, the more lives will be saved. Find out how to help »

A fascinating article at ScienceBlog looks at the work of Christiaan Leeuwenburgh into the biochemical mechanisms of aging in the heart. "We discovered that within the heart [mitochondria], there were large increases of the antioxidant defenses ... When you are younger, those antioxidants act like the supermen of your life to eliminate the free radicals. With age, the free radicals begin to win the battle ... In future studies, we want to look at lifelong calorie restriction and lifelong moderate exercise to prevent the breakdown of the [mitochondria]. The reason we are alive is mitochondria. Discovering how they break down is the first step to understanding the mechanisms of aging."

Link: http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/node/6754