Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

cbc.ca

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 125 posts

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#11

Post by tempestn »

noobermin wrote: post #8

So, I thought serotonin was basically the "happiness" hormone. Wouldn't inhibiting serotonin have side-effects like making them feel depressed or at least less happy? Can any biologists comment? EDIT: as a replier mentioned, it's discussed in the article.

The article discusses this:

Steinberg also noted that the serotonin found in the brain is not linked to what's happening in the digestive tract serotonin. He said it's strictly reflective of "periphery serotonin," and that the serotonin found in the brain, some five per cent of total serotonin in the body, does not interact. The two pools of the same hormone are separated by what's called a blood brain barrier, and do not mix.

It leaves the question of the link between depression, serotonin levels and obesity up in the air, something Steinberg says he can't answer just yet.

So my understanding is, "probably not, but they can't be entirely sure yet."

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#12

Post by JoshTriplett »

exelius wrote: post #7
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #2

Seems like we are trying to engineer a solution that is fundamentally a behavioral issue rather than mechanical. I do realize though that assuming we can reign in consumption socially is a non-starter at the same time though I think enabling high levels of consumption is the opposite of what we should be doing. That said, anything we can do to reverse aging I am all for, I just hope our consumption patterns can becom…

> That said, anything we can do to reverse aging I am all for, I just hope our consumption patterns can become less extreme. I disagree; aging and death are natural processes that could wreak havoc economically if significantly altered. Right now, the young have the ability to progress in the economy because older people eventually leave the workforce through retirement or death. People need to be able to die natural…

Feel free to die then. Don't condemn everyone else.

Are you going to complain because life expectancies have already gone up by decades?

"We need more resources because we cured death" is precisely the kind of problem we ought to have.

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#13

Post by noobermin »

exelius wrote: post #7
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #2

Seems like we are trying to engineer a solution that is fundamentally a behavioral issue rather than mechanical. I do realize though that assuming we can reign in consumption socially is a non-starter at the same time though I think enabling high levels of consumption is the opposite of what we should be doing. That said, anything we can do to reverse aging I am all for, I just hope our consumption patterns can becom…

> That said, anything we can do to reverse aging I am all for, I just hope our consumption patterns can become less extreme. I disagree; aging and death are natural processes that could wreak havoc economically if significantly altered. Right now, the young have the ability to progress in the economy because older people eventually leave the workforce through retirement or death. People need to be able to die natural…

Taking that hypothesis, do you suppose that the lengthening of the life expectancy of developed countries has had a negative impact on said countries? Or do you think about life prolongation is a good thing up to a point?

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#14

Post by fluidcruft »

noobermin wrote: post #8

So, I thought serotonin was basically the "happiness" hormone. Wouldn't inhibiting serotonin have side-effects like making them feel depressed or at least less happy? Can any biologists comment? EDIT: as a replier mentioned, it's discussed in the article.

That's pop-neuro-psych gibberish marketing talk--molecules aren't moods any more than motor oil is velocity. Also, synaptic serotonin is in a different compartment. But I was pondering about the link between SSRIs and weight gain.

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#15

Post by RyanMcGreal »

aculver wrote: post #5

Sorry to be off-topic, but I was drawn to the story because of the McMaster reference and I bet some other Hamiltonians probably will be to. Would love to connect with any HN folks in Hamilton!

Count me in, too.

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#16

Post by tptacek »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #2

Seems like we are trying to engineer a solution that is fundamentally a behavioral issue rather than mechanical. I do realize though that assuming we can reign in consumption socially is a non-starter at the same time though I think enabling high levels of consumption is the opposite of what we should be doing. That said, anything we can do to reverse aging I am all for, I just hope our consumption patterns can becom…

Behavior and biology are intimately linked.

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#17

Post by danudey »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #4
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #2

Seems like we are trying to engineer a solution that is fundamentally a behavioral issue rather than mechanical. I do realize though that assuming we can reign in consumption socially is a non-starter at the same time though I think enabling high levels of consumption is the opposite of what we should be doing. That said, anything we can do to reverse aging I am all for, I just hope our consumption patterns can becom…

Isn't the change in metabolism as you age mechanical?

The article discusses the change in metabolism as being (at least partly) as a result of fatty, awful North American diets; it's possible that the change is normal over time as a cumulative result of diet but that the North American diet accelerates the process.

That would also explain the childhood obesity epidemic; forcing our kids to run laps and play sports doesn't help if they have a fundamentally flawed diet that rapidly accelerates their serotonin production/accretion, especially if younger children are more prone to the process.

The metabolic change would also explain the various studies/experiments I've seen where people who became obese and then lost significant weight retained the same appetite as they had when they were obese.

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#18

Post by danudey »

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #3

> They're calling it a possible solution to obesity and a preventative measure for diabetes, one that turns up the body's metabolic rate without the negative side effects of increasing the heart rate or blood pressure. I think "possible solution" is too strong. According to the CDC, as of 2012 "more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese" so it logically follows that simply restoring the…

> I think "possible solution" is too strong. According to the CDC, as of 2012 "more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese" so it logically follows that simply restoring the metabolic rate of adults to their teenage rates probably won't help a sizable portion of the population.

I think the message here is slightly different; it's not talking about 'setting it back to what your metabolism was like as a teenager', but rather 'setting a healthy person's metabolism back to what a healthy teenager's would be'.

It's entirely possible that the reason for the childhood obesity epidemic is an underdeveloped biology pumped full of these metabolism-destroying foods (accelerating the production of serotonin, etc.), resulting in a ruined metabolism far earlier than would be normal.

In other words, the diet that would cause obesity after 20 years starting at age 15 might cause obesity after 10 years starting at 5.

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#19

Post by jonnathanson »

fluidcruft wrote: post #14
noobermin wrote: post #8

So, I thought serotonin was basically the "happiness" hormone. Wouldn't inhibiting serotonin have side-effects like making them feel depressed or at least less happy? Can any biologists comment? EDIT: as a replier mentioned, it's discussed in the article.

That's pop-neuro-psych gibberish marketing talk--molecules aren't moods any more than motor oil is velocity. Also, synaptic serotonin is in a different compartment. But I was pondering about the link between SSRIs and weight gain.

"But I was pondering about the link between SSRIs and weight gain."

Indeed, there may be some connection there. But frustratingly, we don't really know what the connection is, or if it has multiple factors--and if so, how those factors relate to one another. To date (to the best of my knowledge), reports of weight gain from people taking SSRIs have been anecdotal. There is a large enough sample size to draw a clear connection; the weight gain isn't imaginary. (It occurs in about 25% of SSRI users, and the risk for weight gain increases over the duration of SSRI usage.) But there haven't been controlled, clinical studies of of the effect. Do SSRIs affect metabolism in some way? Possibly. Do they affect appetite instead, or in addition to, metabolism? Possibly. Do they affect gut microflora? Possibly. Could be any of these things; could be all of these things; could be something we haven't even hypothesized yet. There is a relationship; we don't yet know the directionality of cause and effect, or the factors involved, or their individual significance in the causal web.

These new results are fascinating, and they give further impetus for further study.

Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels

#20

Post by Florin_Andrei »

exelius wrote: post #7
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #2

Seems like we are trying to engineer a solution that is fundamentally a behavioral issue rather than mechanical. I do realize though that assuming we can reign in consumption socially is a non-starter at the same time though I think enabling high levels of consumption is the opposite of what we should be doing. That said, anything we can do to reverse aging I am all for, I just hope our consumption patterns can becom…

> That said, anything we can do to reverse aging I am all for, I just hope our consumption patterns can become less extreme. I disagree; aging and death are natural processes that could wreak havoc economically if significantly altered. Right now, the young have the ability to progress in the economy because older people eventually leave the workforce through retirement or death. People need to be able to die natural…

It's not like the eternal life police will one day show up at your door and condemn you to immortality.

You can always die whenever you want to. That's not the hard problem to solve.

Post reply on HN