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In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

nature.com

191–198 of 198 posts

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#192
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've also heard it in relation to not eating meat, not eating candy and not eating various other categories of food. Never have I heard it in a meaning of not consuming anything at all, however.

Maybe it's common in a religious context? Fasting meaning abstinence from food is fairly well-established. Breakfast is literally break-fast, with the fasting period being overnight while you slept.

Yes, I mostly hear it in a religious (catholic) context. Fasting lasts a couple of months for them, I think.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#193

What is the "third" drug in this combo, the article says: ".. growth hormone and two diabetes medications". So far only the DHEA and Metformin has been discussed and I have no access to the source article.. any takes? edit-1: the answer is that the nature.com article got it wrong and other net sources parroted that article, https://www.leafscience.org/study-results-suggest-human-agin... is more accurate overview: the…

It is in the paper:

of the trial, rhGH alone (0.015 mg/kg) was administered to obtain an initial insulin response, and during the second week, rhGH was combined with 50 mg DHEA to evaluate insulin suppression by DHEA alone. During the third week, the same doses of rhGH and DHEA were combined with 500 mg metformin. Beginning at the fourth week, all doses were individualized based on each volunteer's particular responses.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a time I wouldn't wake up early. I enjoyed sleeping till late morning. At that time I was kind of unable to feel why people who wake up early insist that it is more enjoyable than sleeping till 9 AM. Then I develop this habit of waking up early. Initially I wasn't very comfortable but now I too can say it is more enjoyable. I guess you get the point.

Damn, I had to do a double take on this. 9 AM is super early for me, noon is normal and 2-3 PM is sleeping late. What is appealing and tolerable will not be the same for everyone and sometimes it's not just a matter of getting used to something. It's hard to say in advance.

Exactly the same hours for me. Parent confused me!

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been doing it for about a year and a half, just skipping breakfast each day and lunch one or two workdays a week. At this point, most days it’s not even hard. When I’m hungry I just realize that the hunger is temporary, and it’s honestly unrelated to the degree to which I need food. And tbh nowadays I can tell when my body actually feels weak and needs food, and when it’s just whining. I think of it like getting…

> I’ve been doing it for about a year and a half, just skipping breakfast each day and lunch one or two workdays a week. You call that a fast? As someone who's lost and kept off about half their body weight, I feel qualified to tell you that skipping a meal here and there is not fasting. In fact, if you're eating every day you're not fasting. Fuck, I mean, I only eat about 1.5 meals a day as a requirement of merely m…

The person I replied to was talking about intermittent fasting, usually eating within a 6- or 8-hour window. Don't be a dick.

I guess since I never let myself go as much as you did, I'm not allowed to share my experiences?

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#196
post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's finally available: https://www.gwern.net/docs/longevity/2019-fahy.pdf

Thanks! How did you get it? Were you part of the research? It's interesting to me how important the results are and how underreported this research is at the same time.

Third-hand by way of Daniel Lemire via Twitter. Moot at this point, however, as the official DOI-linkable version is now up: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acel.13028

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#197
„The atrophy [of the thymus] is due to the increased circulating level of sex hormones, and chemical or physical castration of an adult results in the thymus increasing in size and activity.“ ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thymus )

So the study might simply have show, that by decreasing sex hormones the thymus is stimulated to grow. But the side effects of no sex hormones might be much greater than the advantages of a younger immune system.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, this (lousy, but interesting) study is basically "fasting by using drugs." That sounds to me like a big deal, given that most people find fasting difficult (and unpleasant).

Fasting is easy and fun, you just have to work up to it. You can just go from zero to not eating for a week. Building up your tolerance to it takes a bit, like anything else, but when you do it improves mental acuity, gets you a general sense of well-being and energy too.

It is also ill-advised for women, and this study, like many on fasting, only used male subjects.
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