Is science on the cusp of confirming the existence of the elixir of youth?
If you want to stay younger for longer and remain healthy all the way into a youthful longevity, then paying some attention to your sleep, diet and exercise, as well as avoiding chronic stress, and meditating, all have a part to play. This is the advice contained in the new book, 'The Telomere Effect' by Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Nobel laureate and President of the Salk Institute of Biological Studies, and Dr. Elissa Epel, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, at University of California, San Francisco.
But, in an increasingly health-conscious society, most people are already aware of the benefits of all the prescribed paths to self-maintenance.What may not be so widely-known is that all these life-enhancing activities merely support but do not cause youthful longevity. Irrespective of our life-style choices, the body has an in-built capacity for a disease-free, non-ageing existence. The mechanism for this is at cellular level in the 'caps' at the ends of chromosomes, which are called 'telomeres'.
We age because our cells age. Cellular ageing or cellular senescence occurs when the telomere lengths shorten to a critical point with each repeated cycle of cell division until the number of divisions hits the 'Hayflick limit' and the cell stops dividing.
Since cell division is a 'rejuvenating' function, when the cell stops dividing, then it's downhill all the way and the body becomes subject to all the illnesses and diseases attendant on ageing, such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis and Alzheimers.
However, the body has a certain class of cells that are not subject to the Hayflick limit and these are the stem cells. Furthermore, the Hayflick limit can be overidden in ordinary cells due to the presence of an enzyme called Telomerase, which restores the length of telomeres and so preserves them and therefore preserves cellular rejuvenation. It's this exciting potential that's the subject of the book, The Telomerase Revolution, by Dr. Michael Fossel, former Professor of clinical medicine at Michigan State University.
So is Telomerase the elixir of youth and can we bottle it?
The answer may be a No. Despite the fascinating nature of the discovery, the suggestions for capitalising on it seem relatively prosaic, such as the recommendation to meditate. But could the ability to 'meditate' have a larger role in the human scheme of things than we currently fully understand?
It was Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn herself who discovered the anti-ageing effect of meditation. In her book, the negative impact of stress is discussed at some length, as well as certain habitual mental modes most of us exhibit such 'wandering mind' and rumination which actually age us.
If thinking can have it's downside, then the ability to 'rest the mind' by not thinking must have an upside. And indeed it does . In some recent research[1] Dr Katya Rubia , Professor of Neuroscience at King's College, London , and colleagues showed the positive neuroplastic effects from achieving a state of mental silence.
While mindfulness and other forms of meditation have also been shown in other studies to have similarly postive effects, there is a qualitative difference between learning how to focus in the present moment which mindfulness teaches and the ability to switch off the mind altogether in mental silence/'thoughtless awareness' - see below:
The state of mental silence is referred to as 'nirvichar samadhi' in the source book of yoga , The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In the canons of yoga there is a practice called 'Khechari Mudra' which purportedly leads to the flow of a 'rejuvenating nectar' from the crown of the head into the throat during deep meditation.
So, in review, we have a biological mechanism for rejuvenation/non-ageing represented by telomeres and telomerase. This has been linked to meditation. And meditation has been linked to an Elixir .
To make the leap, the following could be suggested:
It is possible in the future, that people will no longer have to suffer old age or illness, but live a pleasant life of healthy and youthful longevity. This will come about as a result a of a new and effortless ability to be in a state of 'thoughtless awareness' or mental silence.
How far into the future before we reach this elysian existence?
To quote the author William Gibson: " The Future is already here - it's just not evenly distributed"
And this 1 minute video record may be the proof: How to be Happy and Never Get Sick or Grow Old.
Ref:
[1] Gray Matter and Functional Connectivity in Anterior Cingulate Cortex are Associated with the State of Mental Silence During Sahaja Yoga Meditation.
