Can DHEA help reverse my wrinkles?

Last few years, many people have been advertizing DHEA as an anti-aging treatment. In addition, these charlatans also claim that DHEA can ward of any disease, increase your libido and boost your energy. All these statements are bogus. There is no scientific evidence that DHEA can erase your wrinkles or make you look young. 

DHEA is sold at exorbitant prices and in many cases the products are fakes or counterfeit. Many health food stores sale herbal DHEA which is available without a prescription. DHEA is also obtained with a doctor’s prescription but most doctors are unwilling to prescribe it for anti aging benefits. 

If you want to reverse wrinkles, Botox is the best. The results of Botox only last a few months and it is expensive, but it does work. All DHEA will get you is disappointments and more stress lines.

Do moles have an anti aging affect?

Scientists in London, England claim that people who have many moles tend to look younger on the inside and prettier on the outside. The reason for this is that the cells in moles are continually being replaced and the renewal process means a younger and fresher looking skin. However, the fast turnover of mole cells also has a downside -moles because they turn over faster also have a higher rate of cancer.

While most people have 10-30 moles, some may have a few hundred. In the study from London, it was observed that people who had many moles tended to age gracefully. These individuals were less vulnerable to wrinkles, lines and skin blemishes which normally happen to other people. In addition it was observed that individuals with a high number of moles were also less affected by age related thinning of bone, which means a lower risk of osteoporosis and factures later in life.

The reason for these changes is due to the differences in strands of DNA, especially the end called telomeres.

So what does all this mean?

People who have many moles certainly look young, develop fewer wrinkles and have a less risk of developing osteoporosis, but on the other hand these individuals have a high risk of developing cancer. To date mucking around with these telomeres or “elixir of youth” has not been easy. Our human DNA system has been reproducing itself for millions of years and it is very unlikely that a cream or seaweed from the Red Sea is easily going to alter that. Tinkering around with DNA and aging is closely linked to cancer. While more cell divisions will help one regain youth, it will also increase risk of cancer.

For people who do not have moles, unfortunately they will have to learn to live with reality and accept the wrinkles. For those who have many moles and already look young, make sure that your doctor thoroughly checks you out to ensure that you do not have a cancer growing somewhere in your body.

My doctor says i need a nootropic drug. What is this drug?

In the last decade newer anti aging drugs have been developed called nootropics. In truth, every single of this class of drugs is junk and has serious side effects.

The manufacturers who make nootropic drugs claim that these drugs can make the brain young and improve many brain functions. The nootropics have been designed to help individuals who have Alzheimer’s dementia. In Alzheimer’s dementia, there is progressive loss of cognition, thinking, speaking and a variety of behavior problems. The cause of Alzheimer’s is not known but it does get worse with time.

Since Alzheimer’s is a disorder of aging, a lot of research is directed anti aging therapies. Presently two classes of drugs are used to treat Alzheimer’s- cholinesterase inhibitors and partial glutamate antagonists. Neither class of drugs has been shown to significantly affect the progression of disease. In addition, many studies indicate that the drugs are no better than placebo but they are also quite toxic and many patients do not tolerate them well.

In the last decade, nootropics or smart drugs (brain enhancers) have been widely touted to have anti aging and delay or reverse Alzheimer’s dementia. Nootropic essentially means –bending or changing of the mind. These new drugs are thought to work by altering or changing the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain and improve the brain's ability to stimulate nerve growth. While the manufacturers of these drugs have hyped up claims about these drugs for Alzheimer patients, there are in fact no clinical trials which demonstrate their benefits.

The Nootropic drugs are sold all over cyberspace and in many retail health food stores. Some of the drugs include piracetam, aniracetam, and oxirecetam. The manufacturers claim that animal work does reveal that these drugs improve memory. Perhaps it is lack of clinical research which has contributed to our ignorance about these drugs, or they may only work in rats. Whether these pills can reverse aging or any signs of dementia is anyone’s guess. The price of these tablets ranges from $40-$80 for 60 tablets.

Final point: The more pills you take, the greater the chance that you will end up with a serious side effect. If your doctor says you need this drug, then you need to change your doctor as there is zero evidence that these drugs do any good for your brain. Nootropics drugs are best left for people who believe that there is a cure for all health problems in a pill.

Vitamin C: Is it the anti aging supplement? Part 2

However, when healthy mice were given vitamin C, longevity was not prolonged. The researchers observed that vitamin C had an impact on only premature aging disorders caused by a defect in the Werner gene.
The researchers now plan to determine if vitamin C can have similar benefits on humans with the Werner syndrome who are at risk for diabetes, stroke, cancer and heart disease. If so vitamin C could possibly be a treatment for these individuals.

As a final note:

Before you buy your year’s supply of vitamin C-Vitamin C is not a substitute for treatment of diabetes, hypertension, cancer or stroke. Werner syndrome is estimated to affect 1 in 200,000 individuals in the United States. This syndrome is more common in Japan where it occurs 5 times more frequently than in the USA. Werner syndrome presents with premature aging disease that begins in adulthood and results in appearance of old age by 30-40 years of age. The typical features are short stature, wrinkled skin, baldness, cataracts, muscular atrophy and a tendency to diabetes mellitus. Vitamin C or any other health supplement in these patients has made no difference in outcome.

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal, 2010

Vitamin C: Is it the anti aging supplement? Part 1

Many people want to remain young and have been searching for the elusive magic pill. People have been spending fortunes on questionable anti aging remedies. Well, now a recent study from Canada shows that anti aging may be remedy available at your local grocery store.

Vitamin C is a potent anti oxidant and a new study reveals that it could prevent premature aging.

Canadian researchers showed that regular vitamin C could not only reverse symptoms but prevent accelerated aging in mice. The results of this study suggest that vitamin C may also be helpful in disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s dementia.

Said Michel lebel co researcher of the study from Quebec Cancer Research Centre at the Hotel-Dieu hospital in Quebec City, "We think that more studies should be done on other types of premature aging diseases to see if the vitamin C could have a positive impact on them as well."

The study recently done on ill mice who were ill, fat and diabetic recovered to becoming near normal after receiving vitamin C.

"We think that vitamin C could have a more positive impact on humans since, unlike mice or other animals, we don't produce our own vitamin C," Lebel said.