Embracing Health #60 – New Radio Post Talking About Life Extension, Protein and Alzheimer’s

Here’s a fresh new radio post that just aired today on WBCX, where I talked about a few interesting topics you might be interested.  First, some new technologies being created through stem cell research that can extend lifespan, and especially restore severe damage to organ systems.  Next, I discuss a recent research paper in Nutrition Journal where once again, we see that diets higher in protein, compared to high-fiber higher carbohydrates, are much better to drop body fat and improve blood pressure control.  Then, I talk about the recent guidelines that were released last month that help to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease earlier, as it is becoming a serious threat to our economic health structures.  Tune in and click below to hear the rebroadcast.  Below that, I post the show notes for your reference.  Enjoy!

Ricardo

 Extreme Life Extending Technologies Are Around the Corner: Take a Peek into the Future of Medicine; More Data Supporting a High Protein Diet for Weight Loss Yielding Better Results, Including Better Blood Pressure Control; New Alzheimer’s Guidelines Stressing Early Diagnosis

 

David Kekich of Maximum Life Foundation

Dear Future Centenarian,

Do you remember how much you paid for your first digital watch, pocket calculator or mobile phone? It was probably a whole lot more than you pay for equivalents now, right? In fact, you can barely give away the products you paid so much for then. But you were the first kid on the block to own one, and you paid a premium price.

Extreme life extending technologies won’t be cheap when they are introduced either. And you can bet they’ll be a lot more than you would ever expect to pay for a cell phone. In fact, they most likely may only be affordable to the well off. Sure, prices will drop… and fairly rapidly. But what if you are at the age when you don’t have time to wait?

We will soon be entering the era in which money can buy significant amounts of additional healthy life. So saving for later years has never been more beneficial than it is now, and that benefit will grow rapidly.

We’re on the verge of ordering organs grown to replace those that are failing. Stem cell transplants that heal our age-damaged tissues are right around the corner. BioTime’s subsidiary ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc, will utilize its ReCyte™ technology to reverse the developmental aging of human cells. Then it will be used to generate embryonic vascular and blood progenitors from the ReCyte cell lines for therapeutic use in age-related vascular and blood disorders such as coronary disease and heart failure.

I’m thrilled to see this revolutionary stem cell therapy actually approaching the clinic. BioTime’s CEO, Dr. Michael West, can reset the telomere clock of aging in stem cells created from normal adult cells. And all of this is done without the use of embryos or cloning. ReCyte is forthrightly announcing it will cure conditions caused by normal human aging. This is truly revolutionary.

These new “pluripotent” stem cells, made from your own cells, are identical to embryonic stem cells in that they do not age and can be designed to become any cell type in your body. They can also be multiplied and stored indefinitely. Only when these cells have started down the path to their final cell state does the biological clock begin ticking.

ReCyte has announced it will begin banking individuals’ cells this year in preparation for regulatory approval. When ReCyte has enough of these cardiovascular repair cells (and regulatory approval in some legal jurisdiction), they will be given back to patients via transfusion. There will be no immune reaction, because they are your own cells. We know what they will do because you have lots of these cells already, though they are as old as you are. The new cells though, will be only weeks or months old biologically and will displace the older and less effective endothelial precursor cells.

Once in your body, your new rejuvenated stem cells will produce the various cells needed to replace old and damaged heart and vascular cells. These new cells will be vigorous, fully functioning, and youthful. In time, you will have, essentially, a new heart and vascular system – without surgery. The same technology can and will be used to rejuvenate your immune system.

These cells are inside you now. The actual mechanism of action, the replacement of aged cardiovascular cells with new cells, is taking place in your body even as you read this article. If it didn’t work, you would already be dead. BioTime is exploiting natural biological processes, but they will use rejuvenated versions of your own cells.

Until now, four out of ten of us were destined to die from age-related cardiovascular disease. If you’re one of them, your healthy life span will be extended significantly by endothelial precursor therapy. Initially, BioTime’s therapy will be expensive, but not as expensive as the cost of treating an end-stage heart condition. In time, most of the procedure will be roboticized. Costs will plummet.

Coming later, you’ll see artificial cells and engineered bacteria that scour our bodies for harmful levels of waste products in the elderly. Then, you’ll see artificial immune systems, much superior to what you have now, complete rejuvenation when the SENS program matures, and eventually, full-blown nanomedicine. That will give you tools you need to reverse aging, and to keep you from aging. You’ll be able to get everything from drugs, to bioimplants, to cell repair and enhancements, built atom by atom.

Which brings us back to money. As biotechnology advances, the more important money to pay for it becomes. Being self-sufficient and not depending on a broken healthcare system can save your life.

With each passing year, the amount of additional healthy life you could purchase increases. While that increase is comparatively gentle now, and the amount of extra life modest, both will become much larger in ten or twenty years.

Long Life,
David Kekich

Comparison of high protein and high fiber weight-loss diets in women with risk factors for the metabolic syndrome: a randomized trial

Lisa A Te Morenga, Megan T Levers, Sheila M Williams, Rachel C Brown and Jim Mann

For all author emails, please log on.

Nutrition Journal 2011, 10:40 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-40

Published: 28 April 2011

Abstract (provisional)

Background

Studies have suggested that moderately high protein diets may be more appropriate than conventional low-fat high carbohydrate diets for individuals at risk of developing the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. However in most such studies sources of dietary carbohydrate may not have been appropriate and protein intakes may have been excessively high. Thus, in a proof-of-concept study we compared two relatively low-fat weight loss diets – one high in protein and the other high in fiber-rich, minimally processed cereals and legumes – to determine whether a relatively high protein diet has the potential to confer greater benefits.

Methods

Eighty-three overweight or obese women, 18-65 years, were randomized to either a moderately high protein (30% protein, 40% carbohydrate) diet (HP) or to a high fiber, relatively high carbohydrate (50% carbohydrate, >35g total dietary fiber, 20% protein) diet (HFib) for 8 weeks. Energy intakes were reduced by 2000 – 4000 kJ per day in order to achieve weight loss of between 0.5 and 1 kg per week.

Results

Participants on both diets lost weight (HP: -4.5 kg [95% confidence interval (CI):-3.7, -5.4 kg] and HFib: -3.3 kg [95% CI: -4.2, -2.4 kg]), and reduced total body fat (HP: -4.0 kg [5% CI:-4.6, -3.4 kg] and HFib: -2.5 kg [95% CI: -3.5, -1.6 kg]), and waist circumference (HP: -5.4 cm [95% CI: -6.3, -4.5 cm] and HFib: -4.7 cm [95% CI: -5.8, -3.6 cm]), as well as total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose and blood pressure. However participants on HP lost more body weight (-1.3 kg [95% CI: -2.5, -0.1 kg; p=0.039]) and total body fat (-1.3 kg [95% CI: -2.4, -0.1; p=0.029]). Diastolic blood pressure decreased more on HP (-3.7 mm Hg [95% CI: -6.2, -1.1; p=0.005]).

Conclusions

A realistic high protein weight-reducing diet was associated with greater fat loss and lower blood pressure when compared with a high carbohydrate, high fiber diet in high risk overweight and obese women.

Larry King Returns to CNN for Alzheimer’s Special

May 2, 2011 — In his first CNN special since stepping down from his nightly talk show, Larry King discusses Alzheimer’s disease. The 1-hour special, called Unthinkable: The Alzheimer’s Epidemic, aired last night. It looked at who gets the disease and why, the race to find effective treatments, and a possible cure.

King hung up his suspenders in December, ending Larry King Live, the program he hosted for 25 years, but he was back again Sunday speaking with neurologists and celebrities affected by Alzheimer’s.

Larry King

King talked to Ronald Petersen, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Dr. Petersen treated President Reagan. “If we don’t do something about Alzheimer’s disease right now, Alzheimer’s disease in and of itself may bankrupt the healthcare system,” he warned.

King also spoke with Jeffrey Cummings, MD, director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. They discussed how doctors are treating patients and what people can do to diminish their risk.

“It’s a progressive fatal disease,” King said during the special. “The number is expected to hit 16 million by 2050 — that’s an epidemic.”

“It’s an epidemic today,” Harry Johns, president of the Alzheimer’s Association, responded. “5.4 million people have the disease and there are 15 million caregivers. The heartbreak is so real for individuals and families and the cost to the country is expected to be 1.1 trillion by mid-century.”

Johns said the greatest researchers from around the world believe there are remedies for Alzheimer’s disease. “They’ve convinced me it can be done. The real question is when it will be done, not if. But if we don’t make those investments at the federal level in America soon, it will be too late for this boomer generation.”

In Maria Shriver’s first interview since the death of her father, Sargent, from Alzheimer’s, Shriver told King she’s concerned there is no national policy.

“I’m really adamant about finding a cure and getting policies in place to help caretakers. I call it a mind-blowing disease because not only does it blow the mind of the person who gets it, but it blows the mind of everybody who loves that person because it’s forever changing.”

Mind-Blowing

Shriver is the author of the children’s book, What’s Happening to Grandpa. “It’s very challenging to look at your father or your mother and have them not know who you are and have to introduce yourself to them over and over again,” Shriver said during the special. “Even though they look like your parent, they’re not your parent; they become really your child.”

King also spoke with Angie Dickinson whose late sister had Alzheimer’s. “It’s a long good bye, isn’t it?” King said.

“Yes, it is,” Dickinson said. “It was horrible to watch her be afflicted.” Dickinson said she is skeptical there will ever be a cure for Alzheimer’s. “I think they will definitely find something to slow it down,” she noted.

For families in the throes of the disease with someone they love, Dickinson recommended, “Love them and I don’t mean just love them with your soul and your head, but with your arms and your company and your touch and whatever pleasure still might be there for them, and don’t ever let up,” she said.

While promoting the special to HLN’s Dr. Drew Pinsky, King said he asked Dr. Paul Dudley White, the first cardiologist in America, in the first recognized medical specialty, if he were starting again today, what specialty he would choose. Dr. White, who treated President Eisenhower, said he’d choose neurology “because the brain is today what the heart was 50 years ago.”

Dr. Pinsky, also known for his show Celebrity Rehab, said he agrees. “It’s the century of the brain. We just had the decade of the brain and now people are really realizing there’s a lot more.”

The special will re-air Saturday, May 7, at 8 pm ET/PT.

 

 

New Alzheimer’s Guidelines Stress Early Diagnosis

Spinal Fluid, Imaging Tests Still Experimental but May Confirm Early Alzheimer’s

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

April 19, 2011 — Alzheimer’s disease should be diagnosed early, before a person develops severe, late-stage dementia, new guidelines suggest.

It’s been 27 years since guidelines for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease were laid out. Since 1984, research has shown Alzheimer’s to be a disease that begins decades before dementia appears.

Now panels from the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association have split Alzheimer’s disease into three stages:

• Dementia, including mental impairments not as severe as those previously required for an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
• Mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease. This new category of Alzheimer’s disease includes patients with changes in memory and thinking ability that do not keep them from performing everyday functions, but which strongly suggest that a patient will develop Alzheimer’s dementia.
• Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. The new guidelines recognize that the Alzheimer’s disease process begins before there are any symptoms. But for now, there aren’t good enough tests to tell whether a person has this stage of Alzheimer’s.

Perhaps the biggest change is the way doctors will diagnose Alzheimer’s dementia, says Gary Kennedy, MD. Kennedy, a geriatric psychiatrist who specializes in treating patients with Alzheimer’s disease at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, was not a member of the guideline-writing committees.

“The real new component here is you need not have memory impairment to have Alzheimer’s dementia. They are ratcheting down the dementia criteria,” Kennedy tells WebMD. “If you’re having trouble making plans, have problems adapting to changes in your environment, or have lapses that impair your social involvement with others, you may have Alzheimer’s disease even if your memory is not so bad.”

Slideshow: When a Loved One Has Alzheimer’s

Diagnosis of Early Alzheimer’s Disease

Also new is that the guidelines assume it is possible to identify people with mild cognitive impairment whose worsening symptoms likely reflect an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease.

The criteria for diagnosing mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease are:

• Concern expressed by a patient, family member, friend, or doctor, about a change in mental function: specifically, memory, reasoning/problem solving, language ability, visual/spatial skills, or ability to pay attention.
• Objective evidence, usually test results, showing that a patient has one or more of these changes in mental function.
• The person is still independent and able to carry out everyday functions.
• The person is not demented.

“‘Mild’ here means you are not socially impaired, but it does imply you know there is a problem, and your family and friends notice a problem,” Kennedy says.

The problem, of course, is that many people with mild cognitive impairment deny there is a problem.

“So the criteria need refinement,” Kennedy says. “This is more of a provisional diagnosis. That is why the guidelines put an emphasis on biomarkers — signposts that dementia may be down the road.”

Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease

Biomarkers are tests that detect a disease process. Examples are tests of cholesterol levels to predict heart disease risk or blood sugar tests to predict diabetes.

Biomarkers are being developed for Alzheimer’s disease, but the guidelines stress that they are not yet ready for clinical use except in certain well-defined situations.

There are several Alzheimer’s biomarkers being explored, but two basic types are in the most advanced stages of development:

• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) test. A protein called beta-amyloid begins to accumulate in the brain even in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. When this happens, beta-amyloid levels drop in the CSF. Tests of CSF, collected by a spinal tap, measure beta-amyloid levels.
• Imaging tests such as PET scans, SPECT perfusion imaging, and even MRI scans can detect beta-amyloid accumulation or markers of brain injury typical of Alzheimer’s disease.

The new guidelines stress that none of these tests have been fully validated and that there are no cutoff levels that clearly distinguish normal people from those who have Alzheimer’s.

Nevertheless, the guidelines suggest that for some patients with mild cognitive impairment suggestive of Alzheimer’s disease, biomarker tests “would affect levels of certainty in the diagnosis.”

Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

There’s no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, so why the emphasis on early detection? Kennedy says the earlier you detect possible Alzheimer’s, the more you can do about it.

“Ten years ago we said there was no treatment for Alzheimer’s. That isn’t true now,” he says. “We can’t cure it, but just like diabetes, we can delay the illness and disability associated with it. I counsel patients to be aggressive about diet and exercise, to take the medications they need for other conditions, and to stay intellectually engaged.”

The new Alzheimer’s guidelines appear in the April 19 online issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Thinking of Spring

The weather here in the North Georgia Mountain area is challenging this time of year isn’t it? It is officially spring time, trees and flowers are blooming and the allergies have kicked in, yet we still have to layer our clothes or just end up inappropriately dressed for the weather on any given day.

I speak of spring because traditionally this time of year is when we all tend to break out the short sleeved shirts, shorts, and yes……the dreaded bathing suits. It is my job to help others to not only get ready for this time of year, physically and mentally but to learn to look forward to spring rather than dread it’s impending arrival. No, we can’t hide under our layers all year, unless of course we move to Alaska.

Anyone in their 40’s and above can attest that it takes much more commitment and diligence than it used to in our 20’s and 30’s, to have what would be a pleasant experience when we shed our layers  of clothing. This process should not be a similar situation to cramming for a final exam. I find that so many of us wait until March to decide to develop a fitness and nutritional plan in order to shed some excess weight. Though, it’s better late than never, I believe that for the long term health of the body, we must be more proactive and learn to develop new and lasting lifestyle habits and have them remain year round.

Here are a few tips on shedding the fat for Spring 2011:

• Find a friend or group of like-minded individuals who are also looking to live healthier lifestyles.
• Take the time each week to plan out your meals; it helps cut grocery costs as well.
• Minimize your intake of process food and complex carbohydrates; eat more protein, vegetables and fruit.
• Start moving; find a group class, personal trainer or a buddy who will hold you accountable. Start with 30 minutes 3 x week minimum.

Join us here on April 7^th at The Spa on Green Street for our “Shed the Fat” Seminar at 6pm. We will discuss the details and starting points to helping you change the way your live and transform your body permanently!!! Sign up soon as space is very limited. Call us today 678.450.1570

Got Sleep? Here’s A Wake Up Call!

Next week represents National Sleep Awareness Week, so if you have found yourself dozing off in the middle of day, at your desk or in the classroom, you are not alone in the CDC’s current wake up call.  More than one third of Americans get less than seven hours of sleep each night — a deficit that could put your health at risk, a new report  says.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed sleep surveys of 74,571 adults in 12 states and is offering up its findings in a report released Thursday. In questions about habits within the prior 30 days, almost 38% of respondents said they had fallen asleep by accident and almost 5% said they had nodded off or fallen asleep while driving. 

The map below depicts age-adjusted percentage of adults who reported 30 days of insufficient rest or sleep during the preceding 30 days. Data is from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, United States.

The health hazards of not getting enough sleep cannot be overlooked.  The official report is called the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, and it states that “sleep difficulties, some of which are preventable, are associated with chronic diseases, mental disorders, health-risk behaviors, limitations of daily functioning, injury and mortality.”  It’s true – multiple studies have demonstrated the negative health consequences of insufficient sleep, which appears to afflicting more and more people as the years go by.  In this way, it sounds eerily similar to ‘catching a bug’, like something that gets you from the outside – a plague of sorts - though it actually has everything to do with our modern accoutrements and lifestyle choices.

Whether staying up late to finish a project or update your  facebook and twitter accounts, or overstressed and unrelaxed after a hectic day and catching up with the nightly news, proper sleep is something that your body cannot do without.  There is a saying in health, that if you do not give to your body what your body requires, it will take it from you regardless.  The way you see this is through various physical and psychological imbalances.  Everything from erratic blood sugar fluctuations and higher cortisol to strange mood swings can be some of the first signs.  Dozing off is to be expected.  And this can happen just after even 1-2 nights of poor sleep.

So what’s the goal to shoot for?  The National Sleep Foundation recommends seven to nine hours of sleep per day for adults and 10 to 11 hours for school-age children.

One of the first things to aim for in improving any health condition, is to improve the quality of your sleep.  This is why I mention sleep as one of the components of The Big 3 (click).  For those of you interested in taking the survey used by the National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), click here and see how you score.

Night Night!

Fitness meets Skin Care

Ricardo and I are so excited to hold our second Fitness in the Round meeting of the year this Tuesday night at 6:00pm at The Spa on Green Street. We are going to have an exciting evening centered on anti-aging skin care through nutrition and our top Spa line of skin care products, Anakiri. This will be an interactive event where one of our estheticians will take you through an anti-aging and skin care routine, utilizing Anakiri products as well as our new skin care tool, the renowned Clairsonic, a sonic facial cleansing device. Ricardo will finish the evening discussing the importance of nutrition in skin health and offer tips on nutrients to help fight the aging process.

Our goal this year is to continue to offer quality educational opportunities each month, giving our clients and community as many tools as possible to live long optimal lives. We will be holding fun, interactive events that will include massage, skin care, exercise and nutrition, in an effort to inspire and to promote new perspectives on wellness. We understand at The Body Sanctuary Inc. and The Spa on Green Street that as we age we have to often change our habits and how we care for our minds and bodies; this will often create a plateau as we look to find the right rhythms for each decade of our life. Take the time today to step back and look at your life and assess your needs, please feel free to bring your questions and concerns to us via our blog, our events or our individual services at The Spa on Green Street, where people are eager to find new paths to health.  Have a wonderful week and please give us a call if you would like to attend our Tuesday night event at 6pm, as space is  limited. 678.450.1570

 

 

Fitness in the Round Success !!

Last night we had our first “Fitness in the Round Meeting” of 2011 here at The Spa on Green Street, it was a great success. Everyone arrived enthusiastic, excited and full of appreciation for the opportunity to gain education and connect with others who have chosen to take on the daunting task of making “permanent lifestyle changes”.   We discovered over the course of our very short time together, that each one of us has many things to learn and that we each have the ability to make a difference to others.  The sun had set on a great day and signaled a new start for all of us, a new mindset is emerging.

Our country is currently in the middle of a massive health crisis, mostly due to “lifestyle” related diseases, preventable diseases. The only way we can make a difference on a larger scale is to create connections and communities where health and wellness are priorities, and exercise is not considered an option. Exercise can look different for each of us, depending on our goals, physical abilities and our interests. It does not have to look like spending every Wednesday in the gym or slinging around heavy weights to a video in your living room.  Exercise is not about getting in a workout on Wednesday, it is about adding 20 years to your life! If we can look at getting active as a way of extending our lives with quality living, maybe we can find the motivation and inspiration to do so.

A great man passed away recently who lived this motto to the very end, Jack Lalane. He was a heavy child who fell in love with physical fitness in his teens and lived every day as an example to others, an inspiration! He set out to do things that nobody had done relative to group exercise and fitness instruction. He leaves behind an amazing legacy, he revolutionized the world of fitness and created many of the fitness tools we all use today. The last few years of his life were lived vibrantly, not in a nursing home carting around oxygen tanks and various other external containers. Isn’t that how we all want to live our lives?  What we choose to do each day will be the example we set for our children and grandchildren. If we can change the course of OUR future relative to OUR  health we can lift a  great financial and physical burden off of our loved ones, and hopefully break the cycle of disease and create  a legacy of health for our descendants.

 The following are a few questions we left with our group to ponder over the next few weeks . Please take the time to answer these questions and feel free to make any comments or ask any further questions. We will be providing solutions along the way to help with the challenges we face when we are making long lasting lifestyle changes. Hope to see you on February 22,2011 at 6pm for another great Fitness in the Round meeting!

• What have been the biggest obstacles to achieving your fitness goals?
• What is your biggest concern relative to exercise: time, energy, money, motivation?
• What is your biggest challenge when it comes to eating healthy?
• What percentage of ingredients do you understand when you read food labels?
• Do you pay attention to how you feel after you eat? Are you aware of how certain food affect your body?
• Do you know which foods are good to eat and which ones you should be avoiding? Ie: healthy fats, sweeteners, salt, natural foods, soy, etc….