Category Archives: Advocacy

Kriittinen tarve edistää ikääntymistutkimusta, ikääntymiseen liittyvien sairauksien parantamista sekä lisätä terveyttä ja elinikää vanhuksille pohjoismaissa sekä maailmanlaajuisesti.

Advocacy, Finnish Suomi

The English version: http://www.longevityforall.org/nordic-longevity-outreach-english/

The Swedish version: http://www.longevityforall.org/det-akuta-behovet-av-att-framja-forskning-om-aldrande/

The Danish version: http://www.longevityforall.org/det-kritiske-behov-for-at-fremme-forskning-omkring-aeldning/

The Finnish version (by Antti Peltonen):

Kriittinen tarve edistää ikääntymistutkimusta, ikääntymiseen liittyvien sairauksien parantamista sekä lisätä terveyttä ja elinikää vanhuksille pohjoismaissa sekä maailmanlaajuisesti

Viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana, keskimääräinen elinikä on maailmanlaajuisesti noussut, ja oli vuonna 2014 noin 70 vuotta (6 vuotta enemmän kuin vuonna 1990) ja noin 80 ikävuotta kehittyneissä maissa . Kehitys on ollut hurjaa, 1900-luvun alkupuolella keskimääräinen elinikä kehitysmaissa oli 50 vuotta, ja suomessakin 50-55 vuotta vielä 1940-luvulla. Pohjoismaissa – Suomi, Ruotsi, Norja, Tanska ja Islanti – elinajanodote on korkein maailmassa, ja on selvästi yli 80 vuotta. Siitä huolimatta, että elinajanodote yleisellä tasolla heijastelee kehitystä, uusia haasteita kuitenkin nousee esiin kaiken aikaa. Nämä uudet ongelmat kumpuavat siitä tosiasiasta, että vanhentuessaan ihminen alkaa kärsiä enenevissä määrin biologisista ja kognitiivisista rappeumista, siitä huolimatta, että näiden ongelmien vakavuus ja kehittymisen nopeudet vaihtelevat yksilöittäin. Rappeuttavat ikääntymisprosessit ovat suurin pinnan alla oleva ei-tarttuvien tautien, kuten syövän, sydänsairauksien, aivohalvausten, tyypin 2 diabetes, Alzheimerin taudin, sekä keuhkosairauksien aiheuttaja. Ikääntyminen lisää kuolemisen riskiä tartuntataudeissa, kuten keuhkokuumeessa ja influenssassa. Alttius vahinkoihin ja traumoihin (kuten kaatumiset ja aivotärähdykset) ihmisen vanhetessa johtuu vanhuuden heikentyneestä tasapainosta ja mielentilasta, sekä myös riski joutua fyysisen väkivallan kohteeksi lisääntyvät merkittävästi iän myötä. Ikääntyminen lisää ja pahentaa epäterveellisistä elintavoista, kuten tupakoinnista, huonosta ruokavaliosta, liikkumattomuudesta ja alkoholin käytöstä aiheutuvia terveyshaittoja. Yhteenvetona voidaan todeta, että ikääntyminen, siihen liittyvine terveyshaittoineen, on tärkein kuolleisuuteen ja sairastavuuteen liittyvä syy maailmanlaajuisesti, ja siihen pitäisi myös suhtautua ongelman vakavuuteen suhteutetulla tavalla. Näiden vakavien ja negatiivisten vaikutusten takia ikääntymistä pidetään jo nyt yhtenä suurimmista taloudellisista ja sosiaalisista haasteista, jotka useimmat maat – erityisesti teollistuneet maat – joutuvat kohtaamaan tulevina vuosikymmeninä.

Ikääntyvän yhteiskunnan haaste on jo pitkään tunnustettu ja lukuisia tutkimus- ja kehityshankkeita maailmanlaajuisesti on aloitettu ikääntymisen negatiivisten vaikutusten hidastamiseksi tai välttämiseksi. Kuitenkin moni lääketieteellinen tutkimus- ja kehitystyö keskittyy pääsääntöisesti yksittäisten tautien, kuten Alzheimerista johtuvan dementian, sydän- ja verisuonitautien, osteoporoosin, diabeteksen, syövän jne. torjuntaan. Kuitenkin alla piilevä, hajottava ikääntymisprosessi, joka on ratkaisevassa asemassa näiden tautien syntyyn, on usein alipainotettu. Uusi, kokonaisvaltaisempi tutkimussuunta, tai ajattelutapa, ottaa jalansijaa ikääntymistutkimuksessa ja vaikuttavampien lääkkeiden kehitystyössä, jossa keskitytään muutamaan tärkeimpään, mutta toisiinsa liittyviin, ikääntymisen perussyistä kerralla. Tällaiset lähestymistavat ovat erittäin lupaavia seuraavista syistä:

– Niitä tukee jo nyt tieteellinen näyttö, joka sisältää tieteellistä todistusaineistoa eliniän pidentämisestä eläinmalleilla ja uusimmista teknologisista innovaatioista, joilla voidaan puuttua suoraan itse ikääntymisen mekanismeihin. Kaikkea tätä tukeva tutkimus vaikuttaa kumulatiivisesti ja siten nopeuttaa muutosta ikääntymisen perustutkimuksesta laajasti saatavilla oleviksi terapioiksi.

– Näistä on apua myös moniin ei-tarttuviin ikääntymiseen liittyviin tauteihin, kunhan kyseiset taudit ovat vahvasti sidoksissa ikääntymisen rappeuttaviin prosesseihin (kuten krooniset tulehdukset, makromolekyylien sakkautuminen, somaattiset mutaatiot ja kantasolujen väheneminen). Lisäksi parantuneen immuniteetin ansiosta, näillä on mahdollisuus vähentää vanhusten alttiutta saada jokin tarttuva tauti.

– Innovatiivisesti käytettynä nämä johtavat kestäviin ratkaisuihin monissa ikääntymiseen liittyvissä lääketieteellisissä ja sosiaalisissa haasteissa, jotka ovat mahdollisesti globaalisti sovellettavissa. Tärkeimpänä on mittavat säästöt ikääntyneiden terveydenhuoltokuluissa, sekä pitämällä ikäihmiset pidempään tuotteliaina ja vähemmän taakkana yhteiskunnassa. Tämänkaltaiset näkymät tekevät yleisestä ja biolääketieteen tutkimuksesta potentiaalisesti tuottavinta mahdollista tutkimusta.

– Tätä tutkimusta ja kehitystä pitäisi tukea eettisistä syistä, jotta kaiken ikäisille olisi tarjolla tasa-arvoista terveydenhuoltoa ikään katsomatta.

Näistä syistä, erityisesti biologian asiantuntijoilla, terveydenhuoltohenkilöstöllä, sekä talous- että poliittisilla järjestöillä on velvollisuus suositella suurempia investointeja ikääntymisen biologian selvittämiseen, ja kääntämään tästä saadut tulokset turvalliseen, kannattavaan ja yleisesti saatavilla oleviksi teknologioiksi ja hoidoiksi.

Näin ollen, kehotamme teitä viemään eteenpäin maan hallituksen, tai oman alanne verkostojenne kautta joissa vaikutatte, alla lueteltuja toimenpiteitä, toimenpiteitä joilla edistetään ja laitetaan toteen ikääntymisen biologian selvittämistä, ikääntymistutkimusta, jotta ikääntyneiden terveyden tilaa saadaan parannettua:

1) Rahoitus: Toimia lisäämään merkittävästi yksityistä ja valtion rahoitusta tavoitehakuiseen tutkimukseen, joka tähtää rappeuttavien ikääntymisprosessien kehittymisen estämiseen, ikääntymiseen liittyvien kroonisten ei-tarttuvien tautien ja kyvyttömyyden ehkäisyyn, sekä lisäämään tervettä ja tuotteliasta aikaa koko elinkaaren ajaksi.

2) Kannustimia: Toimia kehittämään ja omaksumaan lakeja ja säätelyä, jotka kannustavat tavoitehakuiseen tutkimukseen ja kehittämiseen, ja jotka on erityisesti suunnattu ikääntymisprosessien selvittämiseen, ikäihmisten sairauksien vähentämiseen ja terveellisen elämän edistämiseen.

3) Instituutiot: Toimia perustamaan, edistämään ja laajentamaan kansallista ja kansainvälistä koordinaatiota, konsultaatiorakenteita, ohjelmia ja instituutioita ohjaamaan tutkimusta, kehittämistä ja koulutusta. Nämä toimet tulisi kohdentaa ikääntymisen biologian selvittämiseen ja ikääntymiseen liittyvien sairauksien hoitamiseen ja kliinisten ohjeiden kehittämiseen, joilla moduloidaan ikääntymisprosessia ja lisätään tervettä ja tuotteliasta elinikää koko väestölle.

Nämä toimet on suunniteltu vähentämään ikääntymisprosessien luomaa taakkaa taloudelle, sekä lievittämään ikääntyvien kärsimystä ja omaisten surua. Positiivinen uutinen on se, että mikäli tukea myönnetään riittävästi, näillä toimilla saadaan lisättyä ikäihmisten tervettä elinajanodotetta, lisättyä ikäihmisten tuottavuutta ja kanssa käymistä yhteiskunnassa, vahvistettua heidän elämän arvostusta, sekä vahvistettua heidän ilon, merkityksen ja tasa-arvon tunnetta

Pohjoismaissa on todistettavasti korkeat elinajanodotteet, terveimmät vanhukset, mahtavat lääketieteelliset, sosioekonomiset ja humanitaariset resurssit, joten on luontevaa että juuri täällä voitaisiin myös näyttää tietä muulle maailmalle, kuinka yllä luetellut tavoitteet olisi mahdollista saavuttaa niin alueellisesti, kuin myös maailmanlaajuisesti.

Me painotammekin siis teitä käyttämään tilaisuutta  pohjoismaisessa gerontologian kongressissa hyväksi, ja nostamaan tietoisuutta näissä asioissa ja edistämään tavoitetta saada terveempi ikääntyminen kaikkien saataville, tukemalla ikääntymisen biolääketieteellistä tiedettä.

Katso myös: The Critical Need to Promote Research of Aging and Aging-related Diseases to Improve Health and Longevity of the Elderly Population” Aging and Disease, 6 (1), 2015

http://www.aginganddisease.org/EN/10.14336/AD.2014.1210

http://www.longevityforall.org/the-critical-need-to-promote-research-of-aging-around-the-world/

 

The Critical Need to Promote Research of Aging and Aging-related Diseases to Improve Health and Longevity of the Elderly Population in Nordic Countries and Globally

Advocacy, Finnish Suomi

Flag_of_FinlandFlag_of_Sweden.svg2000px-Flag_of_Norway.svgFlag_of_Denmark.svg2500px-Flag_of_Iceland.svg

This is an outreach letter that was launched toward the 23rd Nordic Congress of Gerontology that took place in Tampere, Finland, on June 19-22, 2016. This was an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about the need to promote longevity research in Nordic countries. Suggestions are welcome for planning further outreach and helping to spread the word.

The Finnish version: http://www.longevityforall.org/nordic-longevity-outreach-finnish/

The Danish version: http://www.longevityforall.org/det-kritiske-behov-for-at-fremme-forskning-omkring-aeldning/

The Swedish version: http://www.longevityforall.org/det-akuta-behovet-av-att-framja-forskning-om-aldrande/

The English version:

The Critical Need to Promote Research of Aging and Aging-related Diseases to Improve Health and Longevity of the Elderly Population in Nordic Countries and Globally

On behalf of the International Society on Aging and Disease, the Longevity Finland association and other allied longevity research advocacy organizations, we would like to address you toward the 23rd Nordic Congress in Gerontology (Tampere, Finland, June 19-22, 2016, http://23nkg.fi/), and bring the following open letter to your attention.

Over the past decades, the average life expectancy has increased globally, reaching a worldwide average of about 70 years in 2014 (6 years longer than in 1990) and around 80 in the developed countries (compared to about 50 years in the developed countries in the early 20th century).  In the Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland – the life expectancy is of the highest in the world, well over 80. Although the increasing life expectancy generally reflects positive human development, new challenges are arising. They stem from the fact that growing older is still inherently associated with biological and cognitive degeneration, although the severity and speed of cognitive decline, physical frailty and psychological impairment can vary between individuals.  Degenerative aging processes are the major underlying cause for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, ischemic heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, obstructive lung disease, and others. Aging also increases the risk of morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases like pneumonia and influenza. Moreover, the susceptibility to injury and trauma (such as falls and concussions), due to the impairment of balance and mental state, and even falling victim to violence, are strongly increased by the aging process. Also, the processes of aging exacerbate and reinforce the effects of other risk factors of non-communicable diseases (tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol). In sum, aging-related health decline is the main cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide and should be addressed according to the severity of the problem. Because of these severe and negative effects, aging is already regarded as one of the greatest economic and societal challenges that most countries – especially in the industrialized world – will face in the coming decades.

The challenge of the aging society has been widely recognized and numerous research and development programs around the globe have been initiated to tackle age-related diseases. Yet, medical research and development efforts currently are focused mainly on single diseases, like Alzheimer’s dementia, heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer, etc. The underlying degenerative aging processes, determinative for the emergence of those diseases, are often underemphasized. New directions in research and development take a more holistic approach for tackling the degenerative processes and negative biological effects of human aging, addressing several major fundamental causes of aging and aging-related diseases at once and in an interrelated manner.  Such approaches are very promising, for the following reasons:

  • They are already supported by scientific proofs of concept, involving the evidential increase in healthy lifespan in animal models and the emerging technological capabilities to intervene into fundamental aging processes. Any reinforcement in this research can produce cumulative effects and speed up the translation from basic studies to widely available therapies.
  • They can provide solutions to a number of non-communicable, age-related diseases, insofar as such diseases are strongly determined by degenerative aging processes (such as chronic inflammation, cross-linkage of macromolecules, somatic mutations, loss of stem cell populations, and others). Moreover, they are likely to decrease susceptibility of the elderly also to communicable diseases due to improvements in immunity.
  • The innovative, applied results of such research and development will lead to sustainable solutions for a large array of age-related medical and social challenges, that may be globally applicable. The most important of them are the savings in healthcare costs for aging-related diseases and increase in the period of productivity of older persons. These prospective effects make this research potentially the most profitable form of general and biomedical research.
  • Such research and development should be supported on ethical grounds, to provide equal health care chances for the elderly as for the young.

Therefore it is the societal duty, especially of the professionals in biology, medicine, health care, economy and socio-political organizations to strongly recommend greater investments in research and development dealing with the understanding of mechanisms associated with the human biological aging process and translating these insights into safe, affordable and universally available applied technologies and treatments.

Hence we urge you to advocate with the government, or in any institutional framework where you are active and influential, for the creation and implementation of the following policies to promote research into the biology of aging and aging-related diseases, for improving the health of the global elderly population:

1)               Funding: Act to ensure a significant increase of governmental and non-governmental funding for goal-directed (translational) research in preventing the degenerative aging processes, and the associated chronic non-communicable diseases and disabilities, and for extending healthy and productive life, during the entire life course.

2)               Incentives: Act to develop and adopt legal and regulatory frameworks that give incentives for goal-directed research and development designed to specifically address the development, registration, administration and accessibility of drugs, medical technologies and other therapies that will ameliorate the aging processes and associated diseases and extend healthy life.

3)               Institutions: Act to establish and expand national and international coordination and consultation structures, programs and institutions to steer promotion of research, development and education on the biology of aging and associated diseases and the development of clinical guidelines to modulate the aging processes and associated aging-related diseases and to extend the healthy and productive lifespan for the population.

These measures are designed to reduce the burden of the aging process on the economy and to alleviate the suffering of the aged and the grief of their loved ones. On the positive side, if granted sufficient support, these measures can increase the healthy life expectancy for the elderly, extend their period of productivity and their interaction with society, and enhance their sense of enjoyment, purpose, equality and valuation of life.

Nordic countries – building on their proven achievements in increasing healthy life expectancy, their tremendous medical, scientific, social, economic and humanitarian capabilities – can play a leading part in achieving these goals in the region and globally. We urge to use the occasion of the  23rd Nordic Congress in Gerontology to raise the awareness of the issue and advance the goal of achieving healthy longevity for all through the support of biomedical science of aging.

See also: “The Critical Need to Promote Research of Aging and Aging-related Diseases to Improve Health and Longevity of the Elderly Population” Aging and Disease, 6 (1), 2015

http://www.aginganddisease.org/EN/10.14336/AD.2014.1210

http://www.longevityforall.org/the-critical-need-to-promote-research-of-aging-around-the-world/

 

Frequently asked questions about life extension

Advocacy, English

The most frequently asked questions about life extension (or extended longevity, lifespan or healthspan extension) concern the possibilities of its accomplishment, potential changes in individual and social identity and meaning, ethical values, and the availability of resources due to expected life extension, as well as questions about some possible actions that should be undertaken to accomplish life extension. In the presentation below, you may find some materials that may help address some of these questions:

The Tasks of Longevity Promotion: Science, Ethics and Public Policy – Potential presentation topics on longevity research

Ilia Stambler, PhD

Originally published at: http://www.longevityhistory.com/all-articles/

The task of healthy life extension, or healthy longevity extension, dictates a broad variety of questions and tasks, relating to science and technology, individual and communal ethics, and finally public policy, especially health and research policy. Despite the wide variety, the related questions may be classified into 3 groups. The first group of questions concerns the feasibility of the accomplishment of life extension. Is it theoretically and technologically possible? What are our grounds for optimism? What are the means to ensure that the life extension will be healthy life extension? The second group concerns the desirability of the accomplishment of life extension for the individual and the society, provided it will become some day possible through scientific intervention. How will then life extension affect the perception of personhood? How will it affect the availability of resources for the population? Yet, the third and final group can be termed normative. What actions should we take? Assuming that life extension is scientifically possible and socially desirable, and that its implications are either demonstrably positive or, in case of a negative forecast, they are amenable – what practical implications should these determinations have for public policy, in particular health policy and research policy, in a democratic society? Should we pursue the goal of life extension? If yes, then how? How can we make it an individual and social priority? Given the rapid population aging and the increasing incidence and burden of age-related diseases, on the pessimistic side, and the rapid development of medical technologies, on the optimistic side, these become vital questions of social responsibility.

Download Presentation

LONGEVITY PROMOTION

Aging research meetings calendar

Advocacy, English

Aging research meetings calendar

Gathered by John D. Furber

Disease Drivers of Aging: 
2016 Advances in  Geroscience Summit
April 13-14, 2016, New York City
Co-sponsored by AFAR, GSA, NIH, NYAS
Cognitive Aging Conference
April 14-17, 2016, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
31st International Conference
Alzheimer’s Disease International
April 21-24, 2016, Budapest, Hungary
Biomedical Innovation for Healthy Longevity
April 25-28, 2016, St. Petersburg, Russia
Australian Biology of Ageing Conference
April 29, 2016, Coogee NSW, Australia
Registration is FREE, including snacks and lunch.
Keystone Symposium:  
Epigenetic and Metabolic Regulation of Aging and Aging-Related Diseases
May 1—5, 2016, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Oxygen Club of California World Congress
Redox Medicine and Nutrition
May 4-6, 2016, University of California at Davis
Abstract deadline extended to April 12. (Proceed although web site says March 31 😉
MITOCHONDRIAL MEDICINE: 
DEVELOPING NEW TREATMENTS FOR MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASE
May 4-6, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
Closed: Past registration deadline
Conference on Translational Research in Healthy Ageing
Healthy Ageing Research Centre (HARC)
May 11-13, 2016, Medical University of Lodz, Poland
2016 NHLBI/NIDDK Mitochondrial Biology Symposium: 
Novel Roles of Mitochondria in Health and Disease
May 19-20, 2016, Natcher Conference Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Registration is FREE. Register by May 6.
Abstract deadline: April 8, 2016
Bay Area Aging Meeting
May 26, 2016, University of California, Berkeley
3rd World Congress on Glycation & Maillard Reaction
International Society of Antioxidants in Nutrition and Health (ISANH)
May 26–27, 2016, Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
This congress talk about all the fields related to glycation: pathologies & diseases, mitochondria, microbiota, food, RAGE, i-RAGE, etc.
Early registration deadline: March 17, 2016
Oral abstracts deadline: April 11.
Poster abstracts deadline:  May 8.
American Aging Association 45th Annual Meeting
“Targeting Aging: the Ultimate Preventative Medicine”
June 3-5, 2016, Seattle, Washington
held in conjunction with the
Nathan Shock Center Summit on Personalized Geroscience
June 1 – 2, 2016. Note: Registration fee to the Nathan Shock Summit will be waived for those registering for the American Aging Association meeting.
President and Meeting Chair: Matt Kaeberlein
Abstracts due April 15, 2016
Alzheimer’s Disease Congress
June 7-9, 2016, London, England, UK, EU
The Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology 2016
AGEN2016
June 9 – 12, 2016, Art Center of Kobe, Kobe, Japan
Abstract Submission Deadline: April 15, 2016
Mitochondria: balancing health and disease
June 14, 2016, University College London
Registration deadline:  June 2, 2016
FREE, but registration is required.
Harvard/Paul F. Glenn Symposium on Aging
June 17, 2016, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Please register Free online at:
You can download the upcoming program, as well as past programs and photos here:
23rd Nordic Congress of Gerontology
‘Good ageing – better society’
June 19-22, 2016, Tampere, Finland
Comparative and Experimental Approaches to Aging Biology Research
Training Course
MDI Biological Laboratory
June 19 – July 3, 2016, Mount Desert Island, Maine, USA
This is a 2-week intensive research training course using comparative models and approaches to explore biological aging. Models include C. elegans, Drosophila, mice, and African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri).
Cellular Senescence: From Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Opportunities
July 3-6, 2016, Israel
Cell Symposium:  Aging and Metabolism
July 10-12, 2016, Melia Sitges, Spain
Thirteenth International Symposium on Neurobiology and Neuroendocrinology of Aging
July 17-22, 2016, Gasthof Hotel Lamm, Bregenz, Austria
Organizer: Holly M. Brown-Borg, Ph.D., Univ of North Dakota
Early discounted registration before March 1, 2016
Aging, Metabolism, Stress, Pathogenesis, and Small RNAs in C.elegans
July 21-24, 2016, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Abstract deadline: May 9
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference AAIC 16
July 22-28 2016, Toronto, Canada
RAAD Festival
The Coalition for Radical Life Extension
August 4-7, 2016, San Diego, California
Gordon Research Conference on Thiol-Based Redox Regulation & Signaling
“Thiols in Biology and Medicine: Innovations Driving Disease Prevention, Therapeutics and Quality of Life”
August 7-12, 2016, Stowe, Vermont, USA
     ( Note: An affiliated Gordon Research Seminar for graduate students and postdocs will take place on the preceding two days.  Separate registration is required.
“Redox Biology in Diseases of Aging: Fundamental Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential”
EMBO Workshop: Molecular mechanisms of ageing and regeneration – 
From pluripotency to senescence
August 16-24, 2016, Spetses, Greece
Registration deadline:  May 1, 2016
Abstract deadline:  June 15, 2016
EMBO Workshop:  Organelle Contact Sites:
Intracellular Communication and Role in Disease
September 15-18, 2016, Domus de Maria, Italy
Registration deadline:  July 15, 2016
Abstract deadline:  June 15, 2016
Basel Life Sciences Week – BLSW – MipTec 2016
September 19-23, 2016, Basel, Switzerland
Aging and Drug Discovery Forum
September 21-22, 2016
Deadline for abstract submission is 21 April 2016
4th World Parkinson Congress
September 20-23, 2016, Portland, Oregon
Abstracts due 25 April 2016
Early registration discount before July 5, 2016
Future of Ageing
10th European Congress of Biogerontology
6th Biogerontological Meeting at the Nencki Institute
September 23-24, 2016, Warsaw, Poland
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting on 
Mechanisms of Aging
September 26 – 30, 2016, New York
Abstract Deadline: July 25, 2016
Organizers:  Vera Gorbunova, Malene Hansen, Scott Pletcher
International Conference on Aging and Disease (ICAD)
International Society on Aging and Disease (ISOAD)
September 30 – October 2, 2016, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
    Proposal Submission Deadline: May 1, 2016
    Abstract Submission Deadline: September 1, 2016
Eurosymposium on Healthy Ageing (EHA)
September 29 – October 1, 2016, Brussels, Belgium
Canadian Association on Gerontology
45th Annual Scientific & Educational Meeting
October 20-22, 2016, Montreal, Quebec
Gerontological Society of America (GSA)
69th Annual Scientific Meeting
“New Lens on Aging: Changing Attitudes, Expanding Possibilities”
November 16-20, 2016, New Orleans, Louisiana
Abstracts deadline: March 15, 2016
Society for Redox Biology and Medicine: 23rd Annual Meeting.
Society for Free Radical Research International 18th Biennial Congress.
(SFRBM and SFFRI joint meeting)
November 16 – 19, 2016, San Francisco, California
21st IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics
“Global Aging and Health: Bridging Science, Policy, and Practice.”
with GSA
July 23 – 27, 2017, San Francisco, California
GSA is the largest membership organization of IAGG and will serve as the host society for the IAGG World Congress. GSA will not convene its own Annual Scientific Meeting that year. IAGG convenes every four years.
IAGG Abstracts deadline: July 15, 2016
Gerontological Society of America (GSA)
Annual Scientific Meeting
“Aging as a Lifelong Process”
November 14–18, 2018, Boston, Massachusetts
####### END OF AGING RESEARCH MEETINGS LIST #######
Compiled by John Furber.
Several other lists on related topics are at the following websites:
Society for Free Radical Research International: http://www.sfrr.org
FASEB Scientific Meetings: http://faseb.org/Home.aspx
FASEB Science Research Conferences: http://faseb.org/Science-Research-Conferences.aspx
Gordon Research Conferences: http://www.grc.org
Alzheimer’s Research Forum:  http://www.alzforum.org/res/res/conf/default.asp
UCL Consortium for Mitochondrial Research:  http://www.ucl.ac.uk/mitochondria/meetings
A variety of biology-related conferences are listed at F1000Research: 
See some of the excellent interviews and lectures online at http://thesciencenetwork.org
For example:
     **  Stem Cells on the Mesa
     **  20 Jan 2011 Barzilai and Cuervo on The Science Network
     **  Interview with Paul F. Glenn
Poster and oral presenters might wish to deposit their posters and slides in the Open Access F1000Research website, so that more people can see them.
By John D. Furber
Legendary Pharmaceuticals

http://LegendaryPharma.com/chartbg.html

A Celebration Of The Oldest Person On Record: Calment’s Day

Advocacy, English

A Celebration Of The Oldest Person On Record: Calment’s Day

On the 21st of February this year there will be a celebration of the birthday of 122-year old Jeanne Calment, the oldest verified human being ever  [1875 – 1997]. This is an initiative launched by longevity advocate Victor Björk, and the celebration involves posting a picture of oneself consuming Calment’s favourite foods (olive oil/dark chocolate/port wine)

So who was Jeanne Calment?

Calment lived alone without any help at all until aged 110, when she moved into a nursing home, not because she needed to, but because of a fire in her apartment. Aged 114 she was still able to take care of herself and walk up and down stairs without help. However, shortly before her 115th birthday she fell down a stairway and never fully recovered her ability to walk. When Calment was 118 years old she went through several thorough cognitive tests, and surprisingly she scored within the normal range of a person without dementia, despite by now being physically frail and requiring a wheelchair.

Since aging itself is the major cause of death, extreme ages are only reached by people aging biologically slower. Calment is therefore so far the slowest-aging individual ever recorded. It is also clear from looking at pictures of her that she looked better than expected at different ages, so all that we know is that “something” (a rare genetic combination paired with epigenetic expression) slowed her aging process. But what was that “something”? We will likely not find out, as an autopsy was not done and genome sequencing did not exist back then.

Personally, I think the historical lack of research on maximum lifespan is a problem, reducing focus on what stops us from getting even older. While lots of biomedical research is chasing low-hanging fruit like diabetes, as of 2016 precious little is being done to study the pathologies of the oldest old, which sharply limit human lifespan (Read more on this in a previous article)

The new Calment’s of the future?

Dmitry Kaminskiy, Moldovan businessman and director of Deep Knowledge Ventures (a company focusing on investment in upcoming anti-aging biotechnologies) offers a $ 1 million dollar price for the first person to reach 123 (201 days older than Calment at age of death). This might superficially seem like an easy record since longevity is increasing globally, however 98% of people living to 110 fail to reach 115 and no one else has reached within 3 years of Calment’s age at death. Nevertheless it remains an interesting question who the first 123-year old is going to be, and one should expect someone to reach it within at least a few decades. However will that 123-year old have achieved this “naturally”, or will it be a centenarian who has been treated with some partially “rejuvenating” medical treatments?.

So on the 21st of February we will commemorate Calment by consuming her favourite foods, olive oil/dark chocolate/wine. Post your picture and check out the facebook event here

Future Day – March 1, 2013 – theme “longevity”

Advocacy, English

Since 2012, there has been a global initiative to institute March 1 as an international “Future Day” dedicated to envisioning and working for a better future. In 2013, it was proposed to make “Longevity” the special theme of that day in that year, and mark this theme by conducting meetings and study groups in different countries, dedicated to discussions of longevity, on that day. That first of its kind international action in support of longevity research was a success. People from over 20 countries organized events, ranging from meetings with a few like-minded friends to mini-conferences and seminars, through lobbying actions to online communications. This was just a first drill and further actions of this kind will take place in the future.  Such events can be a very positive and unifying force both for the local and international life-extensionist communities and organizations, and ultimately for the social acceptance of our cause. Notably, the celebrations of the Future Day were not (and could not) be restricted just to the topic of longevity, and many organizations were involved and organized events, including International Longevity Alliance (ILA), Humanity+, Heales, LongeCity, various national transhumanist and life-extensionist associations, such as British Longevity Society, the Russian Transhumanist Movement, the Brazilian Transhumanist Association, the Mormon Transhumanist Association, and many more – with members often belonging to several allied organizations at one at the same time. Below I list all the events celebrated on that day that I am aware of, regardless of their “official” affiliation and emphasis. Yet, essentially, in all of these events, people expressed an optimistic and proactive attitude toward the future, in which the promotion of longevity is an indispensable component, moreover the promotion of longevity almost automatically brings in its train the advancement of other positive life-preserving and life-enhancing tasks: peace, science, education, quality of life, equality. It is to be hoped that all our joint efforts will contribute even minimally to their achievement.

Ilia Stambler – event coordinator.

And here are the reports from around the world (as were made back in 2013):

1. Russia. Maria Konovalenko and Daria Khaltourina report: We celebrated Future Day yesterday. Actually, even twice) Alexey Turchin, Peter Fedichev and Mikhail Batin discussed the possible future scenarios of our civilization at Expert Online round table. Life extension and its social implications were the main topics of this stimulation conversation. Later in the evening the Russian Transhumanist Movement celebrated Future Day under the sign of radical life increase. Valeria Pride, Danila Medvedev, Maria Konovalenko, Daria Khaltourina, Viktor Zykov, Elena Milova, Igor Kirilyuk, and others gathered together to celebrate and to share their plans in fighting aging for the following year.

 

 

In the picture, celebrations by the Russian Transhumanist Movement (left to right): Maria Konovalenko, Viktor Zykov, Igor Kirilyuk, Daria Khaltourina.

 

In the picture: Round Table at Expert TV, including: Alexey Turchin, Maria Konovalenko, Peter Fedichev, Mikhail Batin

2. Ukraine Elen Obabkova, Andrey Vergazov and Anton Kulaga report: An open conference was organized on the Future Day in Smart Cafe Bibliotech in Kiev, by Ukrainian Transhumanists. The program included presentations by Alexander Koliada “On the way to personalized medicine,” Vania Pasechnik “Hacker space – the community of the future” Evgeny Sluzko “Venus project – future without politics, poverty and war”, Anton Rzhevsky “Ecology and technology: How do we influence the Future”.

 

 

In the picture, the future day organizers and presenters: Elen Obabkova, Anton Kulaga, Evgeny Sluzko,  Andrey Vergazov, Alexander Koliada, Anton Rzhevsky, Vania Pasechnik

 

In the picture: the attendees of the Kiev Celebration of the Future Day.

3. Venezuela: Greetings and mutual support were kindly and generously shared among different countries during this day. Thus the Ukrainian event was greeted by Jose Cordeiro – President of the Venezuela branch of the “Millenium Project”, professor at the Singularity University, and an active promoter of radical life extension in South America and around the world. Here’s the video greeting. On March 1, Jose was preparing a documentary about Radical Life Extension for the History Channel.

4. Republic of Georgia, Jaba Tkemaladze reports: On March 1, students and professors of the International Black Sea University interested in Transhumanism, as well as students of Grigol Robakidze University, Tbilisi, gathered at the conference hall of Grigol Robakidze University to celebrate Future Day. Ministers of health and of education were invited, but did not attend. The newspaper “Asaval – Dasavali” interviewed the organizer, Dr. Jaba Tkemaladze. After the meeting at Grigol Robakidze University, an additional meeting took place at the Club of Young Scientists with the representative of Shota Iamanidze Foundation – Irina Iamanidze, and editor of the cultural-philosophical journal “Homli” Nino Sadgobelashvili. There was reached an agreement to cooperate. Technical details of the cooperation were considered. There emerged the idea to create an educational internet portal for those who wish to live in the future-oriented civilization, and are even now ready to change their habits of life.

 

In the picture: Dr. Jaba Tkemaladze conducts a Seminar on the Future Day at Grigol Robakidze University, Georgia.

5. UK. Dr. Marios Kyriazis reports: The activities in the UK went very well. We concentrated mostly on targeted political information, specifically: – We contacted members of the UK Parliament with information about longevity, life extension and the need for dialogue and funding. – We discussed issues of longevity and politics at a meeting with senior members of age-related organisations in the UK, and planned a way forward. For example, we planned a major meeting at the House of Lords in 29th October 2013. For the 1st October we will be organising meetings in Cyprus as we will be there for some weeks.

6. Israel. Ilia Stambler (myself) reports: On March 1, Future Day dedicated to the pursuit of longevity, a seminar was held in Bar Ilan University. The program included a lecture on the “Past and present of life extension”, a report about activities of the “International Longevity Alliance”, and then a brainstorming session on the ways Israeli pro-longevity activists can make a practical impact. Several long time veterans in the fight for healthy longevity were present: Dr. Yaakov Ben-Shaul, Dr. Rafael Marilus, Dr. Amit Fliess, Dr. Tal Galili, Dr. Eli Eshed, as well as participants from all walks of life – students, soldiers, workers. Some of the potential actions may include cooperation in collecting and processing data related to aging, social promotion of preventive medicine, and creating study groups.

 

In the picture: Bar Ilan University, Israel, the venue of the Future Day seminar. In the heat of discussion, i forgot to take pictures of the meeting. So here is a picture of Bar Ilan university, that people believe i was there (not perfect). The picture goes to all those who did not take or did not send pictures…

7. France. Edouard Debonneuil reports

I held a meeting in Café el Sur in Paris. It was a nice first try, there were good friends of mine as well as people I had not met yet. The discussion was great and covered a wide range of topics, with a particular focus on associations (ILA, Heales, Longévité & Santé, Sceaux Longévité Santé, Association Française Technoprogressiste), projects (Quantified Health and incitative pedometers, Linking Researchers, next conferences in France, an ongoing thesis), PR (longevity & health, aging as the root of most diseases today), organizational structures (fonds de dotation lié à une association reconnue d’intérêt général), health data collection and law (CNIL, données minimales requises et possibilité de travailler avec des des données non personnalisées), promises of ongoing research (in worms, in mice, NBIC) and how society gradually integrates longevity increases.

 

 

In the picture: Dinner on Future Day at Café el Sur. Paris. (Edouard – second from right)

8. Japan. John Leonard reports: The Longevity Alliance Japan had our first meeting on March 1st (Future Day) 2013 in Akihabara, Tokyo. Our group was small but I think it was a very big step! Meeting with each other in person created inspiration and motivation to really pursue longevity causes. And Miriam Ji Sun (Miriam Leis) adds: Mainly we discussed our interest in future-oriented topics (incl. robotics, biostasis research, biotech, regenerative medicine and longevity research) and how we came to got to know about them. It turned out that we all have similar networks in common. Some next steps would focus on growing our network in Japan.

 

In the picture (left to right): Miriam Ji Sun, Erico Narita, John Leonard

9. USA. Utah. Lincoln Cannon reports: The Mormon Transhumanist Association sponsored a Future Day lunch at Thanksgiving Point in Utah. All enjoyed casual conversation on such subjects as news of brain-to-brain interfacing between mice, comparisons of libertarian socialism and benevolent authoritarianism, and release of a new edition of Mormon scriptures by the LDS Church. A particularly passionate debate arose around the topic of maintaining identity during radical longevity or shared consciousness. We look forward to continuing these and related conversations at the 2013 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association on 5 April in Salt Lake City. In the US, further meetings on Future Day (as far as I am aware) took place at Stanford University, California, and San Jose, California.

10. Portugal. Vanderlei Martinianos reports: A meeting was held at Café A Brasileira in the heart of Lisbon, and after gathering everybody, the participants headed to have dinner at Fabulas Restaurant. At Fabulas the participants celebrated the day as well as discussed about “The Evolution: The Future”, a novel written by Marco Santini (Foreword by Vanderlei Martinianos)  that was freely distributed. Mind uploading and longevity were also discussed.

 

 

According to Vandelei Martinianos: This is a picture related to the Future Day’s celebration in Lisbon. Note that I have created the F sign made with hands to recall the word F as in FUTURE. So I asked everybody to do it in order to celebrate the day.

11. Brazil.    Vandelei Martinianos together with Leo H.M. Arruda, Isabel Alves and Gustavo Rosa Diego Caleiro and João Lourenço coordinated two meetings that were held on Future Day in Rio De Janeiro and São Paulo. A third meeting took place on that day in Brazil in Santa Maria (in the Southern part of the country): Mateus Stein reports about the meeting in Santa Maria: We had a great conversation about longevity, transhumanism, emerging technologies and our expectations about the future for almost three hours. It was worth it to have had this meeting because of our conversation and friendship, but I’m still disappointed because it would be better if more people could be with us.

12. Belgium. Didier Coeurnelle reports: A meeting was held in Brussels, on 1st of March, in the Café ‘A la mort subite’. We had an interesting conversation during two hours among other things about · The most important progresses that we expect/hope to see concerning longevity in the next decades · The biggest risks related to (opposition to) life extension technological progression that we are afraid to see in the next decades

13. Canada, Edmonton. According to Kim Solez: University of Alberta Campus featured music by Joel Crichton, two student presentations by Damon Monroe – Plight of Globalization of Technology, Vanessa Rogers – From Sense to Intelligence: Enhancement of the Human Mind.; Excerpts from Doug Wolens The Singularity documentary with some fun interruptions, Three more student presentations, by Matt Herman – The Future of Freedom and Security. Peter Wood – Echocardiography: The Future of Cardiac Imaging. Diane Laverty – Genomics: Letting the Gen(i)e out of the Bottle. More Joel Crichton music, dancing and merriment!

14. Australia. According to Adam Ford, Future Day was held in Melbourne as a joint project of Amplify, Second Tree, Humanity+ and Singularity Summit AU. The program included: Welcome by Adam Ford, Director Humanity+, and presentations by Peter Ellyard on “Rapid prototyping the Future” (extremely participatory), a presentation, by Mark Ciotola (formely at NASA) on“The Future of Space Exploration”, and by James Newton-Thomas (Engineer, Field Roboticist) on “Automation, and The Future of Work.”

15. China Special thanks to Adam Ford for providing this interview with Dr. Ben Goertzel (currently researching AI in Hong Kong, China) — the man who originated the idea of the Future Day. And now Ben joined in the celebration of Longevity on that day. Watch the video of Ben Goertzel on Longevity

16. India. According to Siddartha S. Verma

A meeting was held in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. Attention and awareness to this day will let the younger generation to understand the hidden potential behind emerging technologies and rapid technological acceleration.

17. South Africa. According to Belinda Metlitsky Silbert

“Since 2012, there has been a global initiative to institute March 1 as an international “Future Day” dedicated to envisioning and working for a better future.” In honor of that day, Belinda Metlitzky Silbert  gave a free talk on Healthy Longevity at Marina Da Gama, SA. 18. Finland.  The future day was celebrated in Tampere, Finland, by Longevity Finland.

19. Romania. According to Mihai Cirimpei

A meeting in support of longevity was held in Bucharest at the CUGET research group. 

20. Korea. Dr. Kyung-Jin Min delivered a lecture on aging research at the retreat of Incheon Central Church.

 

In the picture: Prof. Kyung-Jin Min with a group of students at the spring camp of Incheon Central Church.

21. The Netherlands. On March 1, Amanda Stoel organized “Health and Longevity Day” for a narrow circle in Bussum, near Amsterdam.

22. Italy. David de Biasi reports (according to Massimiliano Maidano): We met at the Galleria Alberto Sordi (A gallery dedicated to a famous Italian Actor ) in Rome. We talked about cryonics, politics and technology for a couple of hours.

23. Germany. Daniel Wuttke organized the submission of two proposals for longevity research to develop the Denigma (Deciphering the Enigma of Aging) platform (http://www.denigma.de/): “Quantified Self Intelligent Collective Platform For More Healthy Life Years” as a Commitment to the Action Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP AHA) and another entitled “Crowdsourcing for the Biological Sciences: Open Distributed Science for Ageing Research”.

In several more countries there were efforts to organize events dedicated to longevity on the Future Day: Egypt, Mexico, Poland, Denmark, Ireland, Uganda, Philippines.  Yet, it was still difficult to gather the initial support. This is not at all discouraging, for the mere fact that such efforts take place is the best hope for the international movement for healthy longevity for all.

Looking forward to more and even stronger initiatives of this kind!

Trường thọ

Advocacy, Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
Trường thọ

Chúng tôi ủng hộ sự tiến bộ của tuổi thọ khỏe mạnh cho toàn bộ dân số thông qua nghiên cứu khoa học, y tế công cộng, vận động và hoạt động xã hội. Chúng tôi nhấn mạnh và thúc đẩy cuộc đấu tranh chống lại kẻ thù chính của tuổi thọ khỏe mạnh – quá trình lão hóa.
Quá trình lão hóa là gốc rễ của hầu hết các bệnh mãn tính đau đớn dân số thế giới. Quá trình này làm cho tỷ trọng lớn nhất của người khuyết tật và tử vong, và cần phải được điều trị phù hợp. Xã hội cần dành nỗ lực hướng tới điều trị và điều chỉnh của nó, như đối với bất cứ căn bệnh vật chất khác.
Các vấn đề của lão hóa là nghiêm trọng và đe dọa. Tuy nhiên, chúng ta thường chứng kiến sự lãng quên gần như hoàn toàn với thực tế và mức độ nghiêm trọng của nó. Có một xu hướng nhẹ nhàng để bỏ qua tương lai, để đánh lạc hướng tâm từ lão hóa và tử vong do lão hóa, và thậm chí để trình bày quá trình lão hóa và chết trong một ánh sáng gây hiểu nhầm, xin lỗi và không tưởng. Đồng thời, có một niềm tin vô căn cứ rằng lão hóa là một quá trình không thể lay chuyển hoàn toàn không thể quản lý. coi thường này của vấn đề và ý nghĩa vô căn cứ này bất lực không góp phần vào việc cải thiện sức khỏe của người già và tuổi thọ khỏe mạnh của họ. Có một nhu cầu để trình bày các vấn đề trong mức độ đầy đủ của nó và tầm quan trọng và hành động để giải quyết hoặc giảm thiểu nó đến hết khả năng của chúng tôi.
Chúng tôi kêu gọi nâng cao nhận thức của công chúng về các vấn đề lão hóa trong phạm vi đầy đủ của nó. Chúng tôi kêu gọi công chúng để nhận ra vấn đề nghiêm trọng này và dành những nỗ lực và nguồn lực – trong đó có nguồn lực kinh tế, xã hội, chính trị, khoa học, công nghệ và truyền thông – để giảm tối đa khả năng của mình vì lợi ích của dân số lão hóa, kéo dài tuổi thọ cho sức khỏe của họ. Chúng tôi thúc đẩy ý tưởng rằng sự trưởng thành về tinh thần và tâm linh và sự gia tăng tuổi thọ khỏe mạnh không đồng nghĩa với sự lão hóa và thoái hóa.
Chúng tôi ủng hộ việc tăng cường và đẩy mạnh nghiên cứu y sinh học cơ bản và ứng dụng, cũng như sự phát triển của công nghệ, công nghiệp, môi trường, y tế công cộng và các biện pháp giáo dục, đặc biệt là đạo diễn cho tuổi thọ khỏe mạnh. Nếu được hỗ trợ đầy đủ, các biện pháp như vậy có thể tăng tuổi khỏe mạnh tuổi thọ của dân số già, thời gian sản xuất của họ, đóng góp của họ cho sự phát triển của xã hội và nền kinh tế, cũng như ý thức của họ về hưởng thụ, mục đích và giá trị của cuộc sống.
Chúng tôi ủng hộ sự phát triển của các biện pháp khoa học để mở rộng cuộc sống khỏe mạnh được sự hỗ trợ công cộng và chính trị có thể tối đa mà nó xứng đáng, không chỉ bởi các cộng đồng nghề nghiệp mà còn bởi sự rộng rãi công chúng.

Gerontological Manifesto

Advocacy

The Gerontological Manifesto

By Alexey Olovnikov, PhD

The necessity to create various remedies for degenerative age-related diseases is beyond any doubts. But this process is somewhat like a Sisyphean task, because the aging of each person only deepens over time, persistently destroying the results of treatment. Pharma is forced to deal with the countless consequences, rather than with their cause. The primary cause of aging is still deeply buried in gerontological terra incognita. Meanwhile, a growing and imminent new threat for humankind is becoming increasingly apparent. This threat is the increasing aging of the human population as a whole. The menace to the society is in the ongoing change in the ratio of the able-bodied and the disabled-bodied populations in the advanced countries. This trend may lead to the numerical superiority of disabled old persons already by the middle of the 21st century. According to the current estimates, the medical expenses on non-communicable diseases for the period 2010-2030 will be $47 trillion by 2030, with two thirds of this sum to be linked to the costs of the elderly healthcare. (http://www.weforum.org/news/non-communicable-diseases-cost-47-trillion-2030-new-study-released-today) A solution to this problem by attracting young migrants only shifts the burden of care to the countries of exodus. If no action is taken to radically enhance the ongoing studies in the field of aging biology, this problem will became a burden unbearable for our civilization: Humanity will not be able to maintain the elderly people! The solution to such a gerodemographic situation, the potentially fatal and vitally important problem, can be achieved only through a radical slowing down of the pace of the aging process, or by stopping it! And this can be done only via the discovery of the primary causes of aging that still remain elusive. The search for medicines against degenerative diseases of aging and the studies of the primary mechanism(s) of aging are two related but clearly independent tasks. The striving to the radical slowing down of aging is as important today as the struggle against infectious pandemics was in the past. Even under the most favorable scenario, several decades will be spent until finding the conditions for the radical slowing down of mammalian aging (and for the subsequent translation of the results to the clinic). But within the next several decades, the number of disabled elderly people in the developed countries can exceed the number of able-bodied adults. The favorable resolution of this unprecedented historic challenge can be found only in case of the unprecedented concentration of intellectual and financial efforts in a new life extension project. The enemy, that has quietly crept up onto our civilization, is quite capable of either destroying the basic moral values (in the way of forced absence of care for the elderly), or undermining the financial foundations of the society (in the way of the back-breaking costs of servicing the elderly). A more likely scenario is that it will do both! The non-biological alternatives to the ongoing efforts in biology and medicine are the robots, but they are not ready to take the frail portion of mankind on their iron shoulders. But even with the robots, the humans would hardly have forgotten their oldest dream – the dream of a significant life extension. Non-aging or delayed aging in essence means the potential for a very long healthy life. A potential critic may argue that a very long healthspan will lead to overpopulation. However the answer to this objection is known. The experience of birth control on the large state scale has already been gained, albeit with other goals. It is of course possible to leave everything as it is, so that life itself will put everything in its place. Life will do it, but at the cost of mass misery and huge losses. Are those necessary or can be avoided by human effort?

And finally we should note one of the most formidable companions of aging – cancer. It is known that, after sexual maturity, cancer incidence increases exponentially with age (de Magalhães JP. How ageing processes influence cancer. Nat Rev Cancer. 2013 May;13(5):357-65.). Why? According to a widespread view, occasional changes in chromosomal DNA accumulate as long as there will appear some fatal mutations. However, there are some facts that do not fit into such a simple scheme, and therefore, a generally accepted theory of cancer origin is still absent. There are reasons to suppose that the genuine cause of this multiform pathology is the non-mutational flaws in the functioning of a special, so called chronographic, mechanism. This hypothetical mechanism directs the timely sequential changes of the body structures (hence, it directs the control over the biological age of an individual organism) in the course of the development, maturation and aging of multicellular organisms (Olovnikov A.M. Chronographic Theory of Development, Aging, and Origin of Cancer: Role of Chronomeres and Printomeres. Current Aging Science, 2015, Vol. 8, No.1, 76-88.). Non-mutational errors, which rarely occur during the functioning of this mechanism changing the age, can lead to a loss of proper genetic control in some cells. Only after that, the progeny of these cells begins to obtain and accumulate mutations which eventually can give rise to a malignant growth. If so, the delaying of aging can bring another nice bonus – the prevention of cancer. The sooner we will get this bonus, the better for all of us.

Alexey M. Olovnikov   

olovnikov@gmail.com

January 19, 2016

https://healthspanpolicy.org/person/alexey-matveyevich-olovnikov/

alexey-olovnikov2 Alexey Matveyevich Olovnikov, PhD, Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences.

In 1971, Olovnikov was the first to recognize the problem of the DNA end underreplication and to suggest the telomere hypothesis of cellular aging and the relationship of telomeres to cancer. In more details: 1) He predicted telomere DNA shortening during normal cell doublings and foretold the correlation between telomere length and the cell doublings potential, or Hayflick’s limit; 2) He predicted also the existence of a compensatory DNA polymerase responsible for maintenance of telomeres (now the compensatory enzyme is known as telomerase); 3) He supposed that cancer cells should have the same compensatory DNA polymerase (telomerase) as the  germline cells, and assumed that this enzyme endows cancer cells, like the  germline cells, with their immortality; 4) In addition, Olovnikov interpreted a circular form of bacteria’s genome as a means of protection of their DNA from shortening.

History has shown the validity of these basic predictions and explanations that were made by Olovnikov at the tip of a pen and essentially began a new area of research. Later, other researchers, for their experimental demonstration of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase, were awarded the Nobel Prize (2009).

Currently, A.M. Olovnikov is elaborating a new “Chronographic Theory of Development, Aging, and Origin of Cancer”, positing a critical role of new hypothetical organelles – chronomeres and printomeres –  in these processes. According to this theory, aging of a multicellular organism is caused by the stepwise programmed loss of chronomeres, whereas senescence of dividing cells is associated with the shortening and loss of printomeres. Both printomeres and chronomeres are small perichromosomal amplificates of the regulatory segments of chromosomal DNA, and they encode regulatory RNAs. Chronomeres are located in neurons of brain’s chronograph, or a specialized clock, which records the lived time in the form of nonrandom changes of body structures. According to the new theory, in the future, the key techniques to postpone organismal aging and to stop tumor growth could be: 1) a stopping of the pacemaker of the biochronograph mechanism, and 2) a forced regeneration, or re-synthesis, of chronomeres and printomeres.

 

 

Långt liv

Advocacy, Swedish Svenska

Vi jobbar för ett långt friskt liv för alla invånare genom forskning, folkhälsa, och social aktivism. Vi vill betona vikten av att prioritera den vetenskapliga kampen mot den stora fienden till ett långt friskt liv – åldrandeprocessen. Åldrandeprocessen är roten till de flesta kroniska sjukdomar som drabbar jordens befolkning. Denna process orsakar majoriteten av handikapp, sjukdom och lidande, och måste behandlas därefter. Samhället måste lägga sina resurser för att behandla åldrande precis som övriga sjukdomar. Åldrandeproblemet är allvarligt och hotande. Trots detta ser vi ofta ett total likgiltighet till dess realitet och allvar . Det finns en tendens att ignorera framtiden, att distrahera sig från åldrande och död, och även att presentera åldrande och död på ett missvisande, ursäktande och utopiskt synsätt. Samtidigt, finns det en ogrundad tro att åldrandet är en fullständigt ohanterbar, oundviklig process. Denna ignorans av problemet och den ogrundade känslan av vanmakt hjälper inte till med att förbättra hälsan hos de äldre och deras möjligheter till ett långt friskt liv. Det finns ett stort behov av att presentera problemet med dess fulla allvar och vikt och agera för dess lösning med det bästa av vår förmåga. Vi vill öka allmänhetens medvetande kring problemet med åldrande med de följder som det innebär. Vi vill att allmänheten ska erkänna detta allvarliga problem och lägga våra resurser – ekonomiska, socio-politiska, vetenskapliga, teknologiska och media – till mesta möjliga nytta för att hjälpa den åldrande befolkningen, för möjligheten till ett långt friskt liv. Vi hävdar att mental och själslig mognad och förlängningen av ett långt friskt liv inte nödvändigtvis är samma sak som åldrande och försvagning. Vi kämpar för tillämpningen och ökningen av basal och applicerad biomedicinsk forskning, och även utvecklandet av teknologier, industriella, miljömässiga, kring folkhälsoaspekter och utbildningar, speciellt inriktat på ett långt friskt liv,. Om dessa satsningar ges tillräckligt stöd, så kan de öka den friska livslängden hos den åldrande befolkningen, perioden av produktivitet,de äldres bidrag till utvecklingen av samhället och ekonomin, såväl som deras känsla av mening och livskvalite. Vi förespråkar utvecklandet av vetenskapliga metoder för förlänging av det friska livet, och att detta får mesta möjliga genomslag och det politiska stöd som det förtjänar, inte bara av det grupper av experter utan också av den stora allmänheten.

The 21st Century Cures Act

Advocacy, English

The 21st Century Cures Act

Summary:

The 21st Century Cures Act (House Resolution 6) is a bi-partisan proposal  introduced by US Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI) and introduced May 19 2015 and assigned to the House Energy and Commerce Committee chaired by Rep. Upton. Representative Diana DeGette as cosponsor and 230 cosponsors, received a favorable vote of 344 – 77 in the House and on July 13, 2015 was sent to the Senate Committee on Health, Labor and Pensions. It has been called a “breakthrough” in bi-partisan politics by none other than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and is designed to streamline medical interventions for cures.

 

What Can Be Done Generally:

Provide bi-weekly updates tracking progress of bill through Senate and Executive Office

 

Support recognition of degenerative aging processes as a medical condition, and as the major underlying factor of all aging-related diseases and conditions (incl. cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, pulmonary obstructive disease, type 2 diabetes, frailty) hence subject to diagnosis, development and application of “cures” and therefore an indispensable part of the Act, entitled to participate in all its programs.

 

Use it as a rallying call to enlist top researches of aging (from Buck Institute, Barshop Institute, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Rochester University, University of North Texas Health Science Center, etc. etc) to support our coalition.

 

Key Point A

The 21st Century Cures Act would establish in the U.S. Treasury an NIH and Cures Innovation Fund endowed with $1.86 billion in mandatory funds per year for FY2016 through FY2020 to be disbursed across the following initiatives: biomedical research, cures development, an accelerating advancement program, high-risk high-payoff research, and special funding support for early career researchers. The fund offers encouragement to researchers seeking assurance that lack of money will not represent a prominent roadblock to advancement of their lines of inquiry.

 

What Can Be Done Specifically:

Connect researchers and fellows to appropriate contact persons overseeing CI Fund.

 

Support dedication of funds to translational aging research within the Cures Innovation Fund.

 

Key Point B

The 21st Century Cures Act authorizes annual increases in NIH’s overall budget from $3.1 billion in 2016 to $3.4 billion by 2018, while directing the agency to target resources, through a “strategic plan,” which it is directed to develop to broaden its mission beyond its stronghold in crucial biomedical research and identify contributions to improving U.S. public health through biomedical research.

 

What Can Be Done Specifically:

Learn how it may be possible to become a part of strategic plan, or how one of the fellows and allies could.

 

Include fundamental and translational research of aging into the “strategic plan” of the NIH.

 

Key Point C

It accepts alternatives to multiphase clinical trials in certain circumstances, and permits accelerated approval pathways for certain classes of drugs such as novel antibiotics. Under the new criteria the agency may consider not only randomized clinical trial data, but also, observational studies, registries and therapeutic use as evidence of efficacy for drug and device approvals.

 

What Can Be Done Specifically:

Create brief to distribute to fellows, allies and labs, to enlighten on new opportunities for bringing their work to market.

 

Support inclusion of trials specifically directed for diagnosis and treatment of degenerative aging processes, as underlying causes of aging-related diseases.

 

Support increased transparency and reproducibility of studies as additional proofs of efficacy and thus additional indications for accelerated approval.

 

Support complementary modes of evidence (e.g. comprehensive in silico modeling or integrative models relating different levels of biological complexity) as additional proofs of efficacy and thus additional indications for accelerated approval.

 

Support international collaboration in the development and distribution of cures against aging-related ill health.

 

Key Point D

Over 250 organizations sent a letter of support to Congress.

 

What Can Be Done Specifically:

Contact the person who organized the sign-ons to that letter (or coalition/alliance org) and ask to sign on, and to connect to their contacts OR just go about forming strategic, PR-based partnerships with the biggest organizations listed.

 

In negotiations with the partners in the Act support coalition, urge them to recognize the importance of degenerative aging processes as the main underlying risk factor and often direct cause of all aging-related non-communicable diseases, and as a strong aggravating factor in communicable infectious diseases – and therefore in need of urgent inclusion into the Act.

 

References:

http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/news/21st-century-cures-act-five-things-know?page=0,3

The critical need to promote research of aging and aging-related diseases to improve health and longevity of the elderly population. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4306469/

 

Provided by Global Healthspan Policy Institute

 

დღეგრძელობა

Advocacy, Georgian ქართული

  • დღეგრძელობა

    ჩვენ ვიღწვით სრულიად მოსახლეობის ჯანსაღი დღეგრძელობის განვითარებისთვის მეცნიერული კვლევების, ჯანმრთელობის დაცვის, პროპაგანდის და სოციალური აქთიურობების დახმარებით. ჩვენ მკაფიოთ გამოვხატავთ, რომ ჯანსაღი დღეგრძელობის მთავარ მტერს – დაბერებას- გამოვუცხადეთ ბრძოლა!

    დაბერების პროცესი არის ფუძე და ფუძე უმეტესი ქრონიკული დაავადების, რომელიც ადამიანებს ტანჯავს. ის ავსებს ინვალიდობისა და სიკვდილიანობის უდიდეს წილს და მოითხოვს შესაბამის მკურნალობას. ყველამ უნდა გამოვიჩინოთ ძალისხმევა, რომ სიბერის მკურნალობა შესაძლებელი გახდეს ისევე, როგორც სხვა დაავადებები.

    დაბერების პრობლემა თვალსაჩინო საფრთხეა. ამის მიუხედავად ხშირად ვაწყდებით მის მივიწყებას რეალობის და სერიოზულობის მიუხედავად. საზოგადოებაში დამკვიდრებულია მომავლის იგნორირების ტენდენცია რათა ადამიანების გონებამ ყურადღება არ მიაქციოს სიკვდილს და დაბერებას. მეტიც, დაბერება და სიკვდილი უტოპიურ კონტექსტში განიხილება. გავრცელებულია აზრი, რომ “ბუნებრივი” დაბერება სრულიად უმართავია და გარდუვალი. ეს პრობლემაზე თვალების დახუჭვაა. ასეთი უსაფუძვლო უძლურების პოზიცია ხელს არ უწყობს ხანდაზმული ადამიანების მდგომარეობის გაუმჯობესებას და ჯანსაღი დღეგრძელობის მიღწევას. აუცილებლია დაბერების პრობლემის მნიშვნელობის სრული ხარისხით წარმოჩინება და მისი გადაჭრისთვის მოქმედება.

    მოგიწოდებთ სიბერის პრობლემის გათვითცნობიერების ხარისხი გაზარდოთ საზოგადოებაში.. ვაღიაროთ ამ პრობლების სერიოზულობა, არ დავიშუროთ ძალისხმევა და რესურსები – ეკონომიკური, სოციალური, პოლიტიკური, მეცნიერული, ტექნოლოგიური, მასმედიური – იმისთვის, რომ მაქსიმალურად გაიოლდეს ჯანსაღი დღეგრძელობის მიღწევა. ჩვენ ვნერგავთ იდეას, რომ გონებრივი და სულიერი განვითარება, ჯანსაღი დღეგრძელობა არ არის სიბერის და გაუარესების სინონიმები.

    ჩვენ ვაცხადებთ, რომ მხარს ვუჭერთ ფუნდამენტალური და გამოყენებითი ბიომედიცინური კვლევების წარმოებას და მათ დაჩქარებას. ასევე მხარს ვუჭერთ ტექნოლოგიურ, სამეწარმეო, ეკოლოგიურ, ჯანდაცვით, საგანმანათლებლო ღონისძიებებს, რომლებიც მიმართულია ჯანსაღი დღეგრძელობის მისაღწევად. ვთვლით, რომ საკმარისი მხარდაჭერის პირობებში შესაძლებელია ხანდაზმულთა სიცოცხლის გახანგრძლივება, მათი სიცოცხლის ხარისხის შეცლა, რაც საზოგადოების და ეკონომიკის განვითარებას წაადგება და მათ სიამოვნებას მოუტანს, სიცოცხლეს გაუხალისებს და ახალ მიზნებს გაუჩენს.

    ჩვენ ვაცხადებთ, რომ ჯანსაღი დღეგრძელობისთვის მეცნიერული კვლევების განვითარება საჭიროებს მაქსიმალურ საზოგადოებრივ და პოლიტიკურ მხარდაჭერას. ეს პრობლემა იმსახურებს არა მხოლოდ პროფესიულ, არამედ სრულიად საზოგადებრივ ყურადღებას.

     

    See further materials from Georgia Longevity Alliance http://www.longevity.ge/