29. The changing concept of aging and the quest for immortality

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
D. Wile
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Unsolved Problem ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
Core Group ◽  
Human Lifespan ◽  
Fundamental Part ◽  
Achievable Goal

The desire to extend human lifespan has spurred scientific and philosophical interest back to the earliest recorded piece of human literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, which documents the quest of a mythical king to become immortal. In the intervening years between then and now, and particularly in the last century, human lifespan has increased dramatically. Though it is commonly held that there is an upper biological limit to human lifespan, there are some who believe its recent meteoric rise can continue indefinitely. The story of human lifespan has two largely separate prongs: that of the important advances in sanitation, agriculture and medicine that have effected the greatest change in our life expectancy, and the recurring myth, legend and popular beliefs surrounding greatly advanced or eternal human life. In recent years, the myth and science of life expectancy have coalesced, creating a core group of people who believe that immortality is a technically achievable goal. Such claims have muddied the concept of aging such that it is now commonly described as both a disease process and a fundamental part of life. Hackler C. Extending the life span: Mythic desires and modern dangers. HEC Forum, 2006; 16:182-196. Holliday R. Aging is no longer an unsolved problem in biology. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 2006; 1067:1-9. Rando TA. Stem cells, ageing and the quest for immortality. Nature 2006; 441:1080-1086.

Significance to human health of carbamazepine detected in fruits and vegetables irrigated with recycled water

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 1059-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahman Sheikh
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Daily Intake ◽  
Food Crops ◽  
Acceptable Daily Intake ◽  
Recycled Water ◽  
The Individual

The relevance and significance of the findings of chemicals of emerging concern at nanogram concentrations in recycled water is critically important for the consumers of these crops. The relevance and significance of these chemicals at these concentrations is placed in perspective in terms of the number of years of consumption necessary to accrue one acceptable daily intake every day, over a lifetime, specifically for carbamazepine. In this paper, the number of years is calculated and found to far exceed the maximum human life expectancy, even assuming that the individual consumes a mix of fruits and vegetables irrigated with recycled water throughout an 80-year life span, excluding other food crops free from carbamazepine.

scholarly journals Inborn errors of immunity to infection

2005 ◽  
Vol 202 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Laurent Casanova ◽  
Laurent Abel
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Human History ◽  
Inborn Errors ◽  
Inborn Errors Of Immunity ◽  
Human Life Span

The immune system's function is to protect against microorganisms, but infection is nonetheless the most frequent cause of death in human history. Until the last century, life expectancy was only ∼25 years. Recent increases in human life span primarily reflect the development of hygiene, vaccines, and anti-infectious drugs, rather than the adjustment of our immune system to coevolving microbes by natural selection. We argue here that most individuals retain a natural vulnerability to infectious diseases, reflecting a great diversity of inborn errors of immunity.

scholarly journals Is Financial Inclusion a Determinant of Life Expectancy? Evidence from West African Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-37
Author(s):  
Aderopo Raphael Adediyan
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Production Quality ◽  
West African ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
African Region ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Human Life Span

This study is a contribution to the debate on the significance of financial inclusion with much emphasis on its impacts on human life span. The sample used for the analyses consisted of 14 West African countries over the period 2010 and 2018. The study employed a dynamic 2-Step System GMM approach, and under different model specifications, control for public and private health expenditure, food production quality, population, access to electricity, and the number of people practicing open defecation. The estimated results, among others, showed considerable evidence of positive feedback of financial inclusion on human life span. As such, substantial improvement in the access to and use of financial services is key to a high life expectancy in the region.

CHOP TMC Single Cell Multiome ATAC + Gene Expression v1

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Po Hu ◽  
Liming Pei
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Human Heart ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Molecular Signature ◽  
Normal Heart ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Human Lifespan ◽  
Normal Human ◽  
Human Life Span

The human heart is vital for our survival and health, and it presents remarkable anatomical, cellular and functional heterogeneity. The four chambers of the heart, together with specialized arteries, veins, valves and conduction cells, perform distinct yet essential physiological functions. A significant gap of knowledge is that different cell's molecular signature, spatial distribution and interactions, and functional state remain little understood at the single-cell level. The goal of the heart Organ-Specific Project (OSP) is to address this knowledge gap and generate high quality, single-cell resolution, longitudinal imaging and multiomics data of normal human hearts across the entire human lifespan. To achieve this goal, we propose the following three specific aims: 1) To refine protocols of biospecimen processing, multiomics and imaging assays and define inter-individual variability using our existing banked normal human hearts. 2) To procure, archive and annotate high-quality normal heart samples across the entire human life span. We have established a streamlined procurement and biorepository infrastructure to support our heart OSP. We will procure normal heart and bone from the same donor of 5 different age groups across the entire human life span. 3) To spatially and quantitatively profile normal heart specimens across the entire human lifespan using a set of robust and scalable imaging and single-cell omics assays. In summary, the heart OSP will broadly impact the entire research community and jumpstart basic-science and medical discoveries based on a sophisticated understanding of the key molecular circuits underlying the development and aging of human heart.

LIFE SPAN PREDICTION AT METASTATIC NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 522-527
Author(s):  
Aleksey Shutko ◽  
Viktor Mus
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Small Cell Lung Cancer ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Cell Lung Cancer ◽  
Poor Prognosis ◽  
Small Cell ◽  
Hemopoietic Stem Cells ◽  
Small Cell Lung ◽  
Individual Life

Individual parameters of circulating hemopoietic stem cells (HSC) lymphoid origin were measured by cytofluorometry before treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and were retrospectively compared with individual life span's (LS). The possibility of poor prognosis of treatment's results (LS

Mesenchymal Stem Cells and their Exosomes: Promising Therapeutics for Chronic Pain

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 644-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinxuan Ren ◽  
Na Liu ◽  
Na Sun ◽  
Kehan Zhang ◽  
Lina Yu
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Analgesic Effects ◽  
Pain Models ◽  
Inflammatory Drugs ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Chronic pain is a common condition that seriously affects the quality of human life with variable etiology and complicated symptoms; people who suffer from chronic pain may experience anxiety, depression, insomnia, and other harmful emotions. Currently, chronic pain treatments are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids; these drugs are demonstrated to be insufficient and cause severe side effects. Therefore, research into new therapeutic strategies for chronic pain is a top priority. In recent years, stem cell transplantation has been demonstrated to be a potent alternative for the treatment of chronic pain. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a type of pluripotent stem cell, exhibit multi-directional differentiation, promotion of stem cell implantation, and immune regulation; they have also been shown to exert analgesic effects in several chronic pain models. Exosomes produced by MSCs have been demonstrated to relieve painful symptoms with fewer side effects. In this review, we summarize the therapeutic use of MSCs in various chronic pain studies. We also discuss ways to enhance the treatment effect of MSCs. We predict in the future, cell-free therapies for chronic pain will develop from exosomes secreted by MSCs.

scholarly journals Water Quality and Life Expectancy: Parallel Courses in Time

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 752
Author(s):  
Andreas N. Angelakis ◽  
Heikki S. Vuorinen ◽  
Christos Nikolaidis ◽  
Petri S. Juuti ◽  
Tapio S. Katko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Water Supply Systems ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Concomitant Factors

Since ancient times, the need for healthy water has resulted in the development of various kinds of water supply systems. From early history, civilizations have developed water purification devices and treatment methods. The necessity for fresh water has influenced individual lives as well as communities and societies. During the last two hundred years, intensive and effective efforts have been made internationally for sufficient water quantity and quality. At the same time, human life expectancy has increased all over the globe at unprecedented rates. The present work represents an effort to sketch out how water purity and life expectancy have entangled, thus influencing one another. Water properties and characteristics have directly affected life quality and longevity. The dramatic increase in life expectancy has been, indisputably, affected by the improvement in water quality, but also in other concomitant factors, varying temporally and spatially in different parts of the world throughout the centuries. Water technologies and engineering have an unequivocal role on life expectancy. In some cases, they appear to have taken place earlier than the progress of modern medicine. Among these, improved sanitation, personal hygiene, progress in medicine, and better standards of economic living have played the greatest roles.

scholarly journals Lung Cancer Stem Cells—Origin, Diagnostic Techniques and Perspective for Therapies

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2996
Author(s):  
Agata Raniszewska ◽  
Iwona Kwiecień ◽  
Elżbieta Rutkowska ◽  
Piotr Rzepecki ◽  
Joanna Domagała-Kulawik
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Early Recognition ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Clonal Evolution ◽  
Diagnostic Techniques ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Lung Cancer Stem Cells

Lung cancer remains one of the most aggressive solid tumors with an overall poor prognosis. Molecular studies carried out on lung tumors during treatment have shown the phenomenon of clonal evolution, thereby promoting the occurrence of a temporal heterogeneity of the tumor. Therefore, the biology of lung cancer is interesting. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are involved in tumor initiation and metastasis. Aging is still the most important risk factor for lung cancer development. Spontaneously occurring mutations accumulate in normal stem cells or/and progenitor cells by human life resulting in the formation of CSCs. Deepening knowledge of these complex processes and improving early recognition and markers of predictive value are of utmost importance. In this paper, we discuss the CSC hypothesis with an emphasis on age-related changes that initiate carcinogenesis. We analyze the current literature in the field, describe our own experience in CSC investigation and discuss the technical challenges with special emphasis on liquid biopsy.

scholarly journals Daily Lifestyle and Cutaneous Malignancies

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 5227
Author(s):  
Yu Sawada ◽  
Motonobu Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Skin Diseases ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Lifestyle Factors ◽  
Merkel Cell ◽  
Fundamental Part ◽  
Skin Cancers ◽  
Beneficial Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Daily lifestyle is a fundamental part of human life and its influence accumulates daily in the human body. We observe that a good daily lifestyle has a beneficial impact on our health; however, the actual effects of individual daily lifestyle factors on human skin diseases, especially skin cancers, have not been summarized. In this review, we focused on the influence of daily lifestyle on the development of skin cancer and described the detailed molecular mechanisms of the development or regulation of cutaneous malignancies. Several daily lifestyle factors, such as circadian rhythm disruption, smoking, alcohol, fatty acids, dietary fiber, obesity, and ultraviolet light, are known to be associated with the risk of cutaneous malignancies, malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and Merkel cell carcinoma. Although the influence of some daily lifestyles on the risk of skin cancers is controversial, this review provides us a better understanding of the relationship between daily lifestyle factors and skin cancers.

scholarly journals Dynamics of life expectancy and life span equality

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (10) ◽  
pp. 5250-5259 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Manuel Aburto ◽  
Francisco Villavicencio ◽  
Ugofilippo Basellini ◽  
Søren Kjærgaard ◽  
James W. Vaupel
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Mortality Increase ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

As people live longer, ages at death are becoming more similar. This dual advance over the last two centuries, a central aim of public health policies, is a major achievement of modern civilization. Some recent exceptions to the joint rise of life expectancy and life span equality, however, make it difficult to determine the underlying causes of this relationship. Here, we develop a unifying framework to study life expectancy and life span equality over time, relying on concepts about the pace and shape of aging. We study the dynamic relationship between life expectancy and life span equality with reliable data from the Human Mortality Database for 49 countries and regions with emphasis on the long time series from Sweden. Our results demonstrate that both changes in life expectancy and life span equality are weighted totals of rates of progress in reducing mortality. This finding holds for three different measures of the variability of life spans. The weights evolve over time and indicate the ages at which reductions in mortality increase life expectancy and life span equality: the more progress at the youngest ages, the tighter the relationship. The link between life expectancy and life span equality is especially strong when life expectancy is less than 70 y. In recent decades, life expectancy and life span equality have occasionally moved in opposite directions due to larger improvements in mortality at older ages or a slowdown in declines in midlife mortality. Saving lives at ages below life expectancy is the key to increasing both life expectancy and life span equality.

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