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McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
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Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#32Sorry 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!
'04 comp sci grad here. Love the hammer!!
Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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?
It's a good thing up to a point, but we're seeing the negative sides of it too. Namely, we as a society expend a lot of resources on prolonging our lives (in the form of health care costs). We're probably about as far as we can go on life expectancy using cheap/preventative methods like antibiotics and diet/lifestyle changes. So any additional growth in life expectancy will probably be exponentially more expensive (and again, likely only available to the most wealthy members of society).
If you look at Japan or the US, the increase in life expectancy has coincided with a drop in the birth rate - which leads to a situation where you have a lot of old people, but relatively fewer younger workers to support them than in the past. The effect has been stronger in Japan because their population growth has actually been negative for a while, but it's happened in the US and western Europe as well. The effects of this kind of "mix shifting" are subtle, but have a profound effect over a long period of time. Societal constructs that once worked when there was a high proportion of young workers break down when the balance is flipped (e.g. fewer people paying into social security, etc.)
Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 brain chemistry is inextricably linked to human moods. That's why we prescribe people psychoactive drugs. And why people take them recreationally.
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Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#35So, 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.
Ask anyone who has ever been on Paxil (a common SSRI) if they've had any weight gain. It's nicknamed "Packs-on" for a reason.
Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#36> 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…
Again, you're focusing too much on weight. "Healthy" does not mean "not overweight."
There are tons of people, including young people, who can't do 5 minutes of moderately intense walking without becoming excessively winded. There are lots of people who can't do more than a pushup or two, and many can't even do a single pushup. And so on and so forth. A good percentage of these people are not overweight.
Many of the problems that become particularly troublesome as people age are related more to cardiovascular health and functional strength than they are to weight alone. If we create a magic pill that prevents or delays the onset of excessive weight gain from poor diet and lack of exercise, it's not going to produce "healthy" people and it won't address many of the quality of life issues that arise from unhealthy lifestyles.
In some ways, weight gain is a good thing. For young people who otherwise feel okay, it is sometimes the only visible symptom of a destructive lifestyle. And I say that as someone who lost nearly a third of my body weight by radically changing my lifestyle in my 20s.
Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#37I don't really understand the comments here, and especially on the article itself, deriding this research because "people should just get off their butts and exercise" or similar. I'm sure the researchers wouldn't dispute the benefits of exercise. But if there really is a safe, effective way to improve the metabolism and make it easier to keep off fat, why exactly is that a bad thing? (Naturally the research is far too early on to know that, but hypothetically speaking.) Of course you should continue to exercise and stay healthy in other ways, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't also look for other ways to make it easier for people to get to, or remain at, a healthy weight.
Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#38I don't really understand the comments here, and especially on the article itself, deriding this research because "people should just get off their butts and exercise" or similar. I'm sure the researchers wouldn't dispute the benefits of exercise. But if there really is a safe, effective way to improve the metabolism and make it easier to keep off fat, why exactly is that a bad thing? (Naturally the research is far t…
There are few topics that create as much controversial conversation. The well known ones are religion and politics, the third is 'diet/exercise.' Always a lot of energy.
Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#39Seems 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…
Fixing metabolic slowdown isn't going to end obesity or reduce the need for exercise, but it will level the playing field. It's still going to require effort, for many people, to maintain a healthy weight and exercise enough. But it's hard enough to do that as it is; if you can turn off a defect that causes the body to pile on unneeded pounds of fat (that interfere with health, mood, and the ability to exercise) with…
How is metabolic slowdown a defect? I don't see middle-aged people dropping dead around me, so clearly all that has happened is that their bodies are now more efficient. Great news!
And piling on fat making it harder to exercise? Sure, on the face of it that's true, but usually the one happens because theres a dire lack of the other.
Re: McMaster researchers may have found a way to restore metabolism to youth levels
#40Seems 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…
It's often not behavior changes that turn healthy 20 year olds into obese 50 year olds -- it's that behaviors stay the same while the body changes. If we can find a way to bring some of those perks of youth into older age, I think it's great.
This is very true, I'm a creature of habit. When I go to restaurants I always order the same thing, at home I eat the same things. Each week I rotate the same few options. To me it's very satisfying (my wife hates it, she ventures out more often)
Right around age 25 or so despite nothing changing in my life other than my age, I started to gain weight. Very slowly, but it was adding up.
After doing some calorie counting I lost about 30lbs over 8 months, and returned to my original weight. Though since then I've been struggling to find the right number to increase to. The suggested number of 2000 seems to be too high.