A Better Lifestyle Means More Telomerase?
The San Francisco Chronicle reports on an intriguing, if small, study: researchers "studied the levels of an enzyme called telomerase in the prostate tissue of the 30 cancer patients who had volunteered to follow a low-fat diet, exercise moderately and reduce their stress. After only three months, 24 patients showed a highly significant increase in their telomerase levels - an indication that the cell-protecting telomeres in their cells were being restored. ... The long telomere proteins protect the ends of chromosomes in the body, but they shorten naturally and ultimately die unless the telomerase enzyme acts to repair them and increase their length. ... even with only 30 patients [the] association between their extremely healthy habits and the increased amount of telomerase proved highly [statistically] significant." Telomerase is apparently also involved in reducing age-related damage to mitochondria, which in turn slows the rate at which failing mitochondria cause telomeres to shorten.
Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/16/MNEL12UBJ5.DTL