Telomeres - enderne på vores kromosoner - er sommetider genstand for diskussion når snakken falder på sundhed. Længe ledt efter en saglig og kritisk artikel indtil denne.

May 30, 2012
The Tall Tail of Telomeres



For years now, it’s been said that telomeres – the tips of your chromosomes – are the key to cancer and aging. The shorter they are, the worse off you are – so the story goes. But what do we really know about them? Can the length of your telomeres help predict how long you’ll live? Could telomere research unlock a modern fountain of youth? Could humans one day live to be hundreds of years old?

Dr. Ron Rosedale is here to answer some of these questions in this special guest post. In it he will introduce you to these little bits of genetic sequences, and provide his expert commentary on the state of telomere science. It will get somewhat technical in parts, but it’s well worth the read.

Summary – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: With considerably more research in the control of telomere length specific to different issues, it may be a new and powerful therapeutic tool to improve health.
The Bad:It is not likely a modality to extend maximal lifespan. It is far from the fountain of youth.
The Ugly: Without proper and exact knowledge of when and where to control telomere length, it will likely greatly increase one’s risk of cancer. In other words, it may very well increase healthspan as it reduces lifespan.

Fuld artikel:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-tall ... telomeres/

Ja, det er også blevet min overbevisning.

En søgning på telomeres og alle de relaterede hits giver næppe godt indblik hvor den bedste videnskab står, men er mest udtryk for ønsketænkning.

Jeg bed mærke i noget han skrev, som er så banalt at selv jeg har tænkt på det,

"Many so-called experts on health and longevity talk a lot about increasing telomere length as proof of efficacy of some sort of diet or other health modality. Let’s look at that statement. What do they mean by increasing their telomeres? They have about 15 trillion cells. Did they increase the telomere length of all chromosomes in all cells? Were they all measured? Was a representative sample measured? Is telomere length even indicative of health, or aging? Is it even a biomarker of aging, and if so, is that relevant?

One of several major problems with all this; less than 1% of a person’s cells have the enzyme telomerase and thus are even capable of increasing their chromosome’s telomere length. The other 99% are incapable of doing so. What about neurons, and heart cells that typically do not divide and where their telomeres do not shorten with age? The large majority of liver and kidney cells can’t lengthen telomeres, etc., etc. Perhaps the 1% that can are the most critical. They include white blood cells (WBCs) and many stem cells. We will examine that a bit more later."