Blood rebirth: Over time, blood stem cells (shown in green) lose their ability to replenish blood. Researchers have discovered that exposing old mice to circulating blood from younger mice restores this ability.
Amy Wagers
A mysterious substance in blood rejuvenates blood-forming stem cells.
The antiaging power of blood might not be just the stuff of vampire stories. According to new research from Harvard University, an unspecified factor in the blood of young mice can reverse signs of aging in the circulatory system of older ones. It's not yet clear how these changes affect the animals' overall health or longevity. But the research provides hope that some aspects of aging, such as the age-related decline in the ability to fight infection, might be avoidable.
"At least some age-related defects are reversible, and the factors to reverse them are carried in blood," said Amy Wagers, a researcher at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Joslin Diabetes Center, in Boston, at a press conference on Tuesday. Identifying those factors could lead to new strategies to boost resistance to infection, and perhaps a decrease in some cancers, she said.
In the experiment, Wagers and team surgically connected the circulatory systems of two mice, allowing older animals to be exposed to blood--and all the molecules and cells it carries-- from young animals. They found that the procedure made the blood-forming stem cells in older animals act young again; the overall number of these cells decreased, and the cells generated different varieties of blood cells in more appropriate ratios. "In aged animals, many of the changes we see normally that are associated with age were reversed," said Wagers.
The findings, published today in the journal Nature, and which follow similar results with muscle stem cells, also suggest that the regenerative capacity of stem cells is highly influenced by their environment, which could have both positive and negative implications for regenerative medicine.
As we age, our body loses its ability to regenerate different tissues. The circulatory system reflects this decline clearly--the number of blood-forming stem cells, which reside in bone marrow and generate all types of blood cells, increases. But these cells paradoxically lose their ability to repopulate the blood and generate cells in inappropriate ratios, creating too few immune cells, called B lymphocytes, and too many inflammatory cells.
One theory for aging is that our stem cells eventually wear out, thanks to intrinsic changes within the cells. While previous research supports this idea, findings from Wagers and others show that the age-related decline in stem cells is also influenced by external forces. For example, exposing skeletal muscle to blood-borne factors from young mice can restore the regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells.
A study suggests that age-related chemical signals in blood impair the growth of new neurons, but young blood can refresh old brains.
A new forensic test can estimate a person's age, to within nine years, from blood at the scene of a crime.
I wonder whether the fetus' blood affects a pregnant woman in this way, to some degree. Their circulatory systems are connected, though there must be some filtering to avoid immune interactions.
That is interesting and explains the 'glow'. But from my understanding there is no intermingling of the fetus and maternal blood. The fetus umbillical cord is connected to the placenta where the exchange of nutrients and gas occur. So the baby is isolated from the mother's blood. Is it the chemicals responsible for reverse aging in the blood or in the blood cells?
Correct. There is no mingling of fetal and maternal blood. The placenta prevents mingling but lots of different plasma proteins do cross the placental barrier.
Since the placenta is created and sustained by the mother's body, wouldn't this question still apply? At some level the child's blood must be linked with its mother's. Case in point is the transmission of Lyme Disease bacteria from mothers to fetuses in utero. Also, pregnant women are often noted for their increased beauty, as if some force were invigorating them and creating a deepened beauty.
Of course, this might also be the result of an interaction between the apparently anaerobic metabolism of the fetus creating a negative ionic energy that creates a magnetic tension with the mother's positive ionic energies. (My take on Asian yin/yang theory.)
I am wondering if the mystery substance in young blood that invigorated the older mice' signs of aging is not a chemical, but rather energy itself. From Asian traditional beliefs (ie yin/yang theory) one learns to see the body as a complex energy-generating mechanism. The more one moves, and the more intense the exercise/emotions, the greater one's ionic energy production and reserves. So, the older one gets, the less energy would be circulating or available, as one moves less, the movement/emotions decrease in intensity and one's systems produce/retain energy less efficiently.
Thus, like caffeine on the American consciousness-- ionic energies might revitalize/reinvigorate tired, wounded, old systems...
............
Related to this topic, I would add as a caution that the above ideas are derived from experience with Asian/New Age practices, and my experience suggests sickness caused by such practices. It may even be that practitioners have learned to use bacteria/fungus/viral elements to enhance such physiological energy effects (hence the awesome board-breaking abilities and other physiological feats of strength and prowess as well as development of psychic powers). And, one must also question-- if true, are such practices healthy, particularly when not regulated or authorized by our society? What of the consequences to public health?)
The presence of an underlying systemic fungal and/or bacterial connection could also explain Asian concepts like the mysterious "Triple Burner organ" (which might be related to the nervous-endocrine-immune system interconnection, but made far more intense, probably related to triggering of the anaerobic/stress system)and chi meridians that that appear to correlate loosely to nerve centers identified by Western scientific understanding. Interestingly certain bacteria (like Lyme Disease) and fungi require zinc for growth, while zinc is also used in electrical systems as a fuse. So an overgrowth of these pathogens would cause normal body channels to become a kind of electrical channel.
So, in studying the topic of how to research and apply the benefits of "young blood", please recognize that this might not be such a new topic, nor one without grave ethical responsibilities. It is no good to anyone to regain one's youth, but lose the essence of our being-- the normal function of our organs/systems and the development of the body into what amounts to be a giant magnet capable of exerting positive or negative energy vibes capable of attracting or repelling the energies of others without their expressed consent or even recognition.
God bless,
I wonder if the stem cells in the younger animal were traveling to the older animal, and account for the blood-cell ratios.
If you take this information for face value, we need not wait for biotechnology to find out how it works. It's obviously marketable.
Let's say you are 18 years old. A lab opens up in town offering to accept your blood and hold onto it for you and you alone. They prep you by having you eat very well the night before hand and maybe take trace mineral supplements to optimize the value of the blood. Then you decide how much you want to store. You may go in multiple times and each sample is dated.
Then let's say you are 30. About the time most of the signs of aging start to impact people. You go back to that lab. You donate some of the blood you have at age 30, and then it is replaced with your first sample of blood from age 18.
Eventually you will get to the blood from age 30, but if it is done gradually enough, and if you donated a large enough while younger, it would still be of value to you to have injected since you might be 50 or 60.
The above process can easily be marketed based on the facts with reason to believe that this will delay your aging. Should you die before using all your blood, you can will that it be given to a twin for the same purpose or maybe just donated. In the mean time, bio technology can catch up.
Additionally, this should revolutionize blood donation. Since the younger you are the better your blood is for saving someone else's life. The younger you are, then, the more important it is to donate blood. Blood could therefore be given an age of donor added to the identification, and those most critical would get the youngest blood available to speed their recovery.
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dmm
270 Comments
Lifeblood
It is interesting how many times the Hebrew Scriptures say, "the life is in the blood." Do other ancient religious texts say similar things?
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doanwon
76 Comments
Re: Lifeblood
By written accounts the Mayan's sacrifices were very bloody offerings to the gods. Perhaps they sensed that blood had something to do with life--and if we have some 5th codec maybe we would see something mentioned. But the ancients probably saw blood in the context of someone getting hacked. Upon observation of that person turning pale and died after losing blood, they concluded that blood is the stuff of life.
This idea delves into the Italian macabre movies of the 70's--they have got it right. But give credit to the person who had the guts to propose this idea and carried out the experiment.
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