Inside your organism, there is a part that is related to immortality. It is telomerase an enzyme that helps cells stay alive by adding DNA to telomeres.
These are found at the ends of chromosomes and their length is related to life expectancy and general health. So the short telomeres are linked to aging and the diseases associated with it.
The problem is that this is disabled at birth. However, cancer cells seem to have learned to activate it, which makes them immortal, compared to the death of your “normal” cells.
As stated in our country the team of Dr María A. Blasco, Director of the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) the enzyme telomerase is present in more than 95% of all types of human cancers and is absent in normal body cells.
What is telomerase and how is it related to longevity?
Your DNA strands get a little shorter each time a chromosome replicates. Telomeres help prevent gene loss in this process. But it also means that As chromosomes replicate, your telomeres shorten.
That’s where an enzyme called telomerase comes in. Helps prevent excessive wear and tear, including telomere shortening. what he does add sequences to the ends of your chromosomes.
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Most cell types don’t have it. Telomerase is found in germ cells (such as those that make up the egg or sperm), in fetal tissues, and in some stem cells. But in others, it is repressed after birth.
Each time a cell multiplies, the telomeres lose a small amount of DNA and get shorter. Over time, chromosomes are damaged and cells die. Telomerase would help prevent this from happening by slowing down the cellular aging process. For this reason, in the field of science focused on combating age-derived deterioration, they focus on it.
Can I do anything to lengthen my telomeres?
Given the links between telomere shortening and diseaseyou might be wondering if there is anything you can do to maintain the length of these.
Telomere lengthening research is still in its infancy, but with promising results. Although it is not clear if it can actually be stretched, it is likely that there is ways to slow down the shortening process.
For example, a small pilot study of 2013 collected by Health Line analyzed the telomere length of 10 men with low-risk prostate cancer. after having done various lifestyle changes (healthy diet, some exercises and stress management) the group had longer telomeres 5 years later than participants who did not make the changes.
Recently Spanish researchers have pointed out that a higher consumption of ultra-processed products increases the risk of exposure to these toxic substances which can influence the length of telomeres, thus accelerating aging.
Against this, some evidence suggests that a Mediterranean-style diet rich in antioxidants could be beneficial by reducing oxidative stress and hence telomere length.
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