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Astragalus, Astragaloside IV


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#1171 GreenPower

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Posted 26 February 2011 - 09:42 PM

GreenPower

I guess I zeroed in on your Astragalus use and did not give enough weight to the rest of your regimen. Still it will be interesting to follow your progress if you choose to publish further test results. You have done a great service in publishing your tests.
I did revisit Jim Green's site and it looks like, to me anyway, that for quite a while he used 6 capsules of Solaray Astragalus extract, and liquid Astragalus extract drops, two weeks on two weeks off. I don't think he took growth hormone, but rather used Alpha GPC as a GH realeaser.


GregL


I stand corrected, GPC is used as a HGH. I looked around and found this interesting article (http://www.hghmagazine.com/alpha-gpc/) on GPC which indicates it might improve on short term memory. This is just a thought, but maybe it can be used to counteract possible negative effects by higher doses of Cycloastragenol.

L-alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine (GPC) readily converts to acetylcholine in the brain. GPC also helps maintain neuronal structural integrity. Found in the brain and peripheral nervous system, acetylcholine is a messenger molecule that plays an important role in memory, learning, and attention.


The most commonly used memory-enhancing nutrients are precursors to the neurotransmitter "acetylcholine." Short-term memory function depends on acetylcholine acting as a signal to transmit messages between brain cells. Common acetylcholine precursors are various forms of choline and lecithin. Because acetylcholine helps brain cells to communicate with each other, it plays an important role in learning and memory.


#1172 niteinnyc

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 07:50 AM

I just received the following message:

Sent Today, 03:40 AM


I am from Germany and have been supplementing Astral Fruit for 11 months and I got a cancer.

And it is not just me, at least 4 international users I befriended in this forum got cancer from Astral Fruit. Why are we telling you this by PM? Because our posts, complete with scanned Astral Fruit receits and hopital records, all got deleted and our accounts deactivated. They even permanently blocked our IP addresses. I had to get a new ISP from Luxembourg to get this message through!

Listen to me, astral fruit is NOT TA-65, is neither Cycloastragenol nor Astragaloside IV. TA-65 is a new, unknown compound. And it is absolutlely insane to take any of these without medical supervision.

Telomerase activators do give you cancer!

Here is the horrendous truth you should know: Imminst is an infomercial site owned by Revgenetics and the so-called 'moderators' are paid sales men. These guys got zero background in bio related fields. Try asking moderators' credentials. You will get booted out! They have no idea what they are talking about and any posts from true experts get deleted and their accounts deactivated!

This is a SCAM. I'm telling you, NEVER trust a thing they say. They make money out of your life. Let the forum users know what is going on! I am dying!!!
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#1173 Thorsten3

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 11:20 AM

^^^^What??? I seriously hope this isn't true :(


Yeah I recieved that message too. I don't even take astragalus so it wasn't anything that relevant to me.

Curiously I did a google search anyway to try and find if there might be something there...'can astragalus give you cancer' and it came up with ... nothing. All articles came up with how it helps against cancer. So if this even true, it seems to be reletively unspoken of. Although I just glanced through this, didn't really study each page.

Edited by HyperHydrosis, 16 March 2011 - 11:26 AM.


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#1174 mikeinnaples

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 12:03 PM

^^^^What??? I seriously hope this isn't true :(


If it was true, why would they allow other supplement companies to advertise here and take away business. It must be a gigantic conspiracy!
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#1175 maxwatt

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 01:10 PM

^^^^What??? I seriously hope this isn't true :(


If it was true, why would they allow other supplement companies to advertise here and take away business. It must be a gigantic conspiracy!

FYI, not every potential advertiser is accepted, it gets voted on by leadership. For instance, B....via asked to advertise. I would have approved them, but many objected to their marketing style and ethics which raised other doubts about the company, and they were rejected in a vote.

I suspect that many of these negative posts are coming from sock puppets created by a disgruntled competitor. One can buy forum management software that creates multiple identities with different IP addresses in a forum, and tracks their posts for the purpose of controlling the forums content, or for viral marketing. Last fall we had an attack of this sort with a dozen sock puppets, obviously the same person behind the fake identities. He's back.
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#1176 Zaion

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 03:10 PM

I received the msg too. I don't know. it could be true or could be a competitor company... but a competitor company would not receive a direct advantage...
Anyway before receiving it I ordered Astragalus extract and Purslane extract because they are more economic and they have a long history of use.
Daily meditation, exercise and supplements also help stop the shortening of the telomeres...

#1177 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 03:14 PM

Wow, I didn't think folks would stoop so low.

Well, according to the Astral Fruit and TA-65 lab results:

1- TA-65 has 5mg of Cycloastrgenol, and a tiny part of Astragaloside IV
2- Astral Fruit has Cycloastragenol, a tiny part of Astragaloside IV, and something that TA-65 does not have according to the COA... a tiny part of astragenol.


Since our material comes from the Astragalus plant, along with two other plants... it appears we have just a tiny bit more of the natural extracts. That and our other ingredients make Astral Fruit a great choice for most folks.

Remember this was done by an independent ISO 17025 certified company, which is stricter than US requirements and internationally recognized. (http://www.aaclabs.com/). A couple of screen shots are shown below from the lab COA's. TA-65 is simply a trademark owned by Telomerase Activation Sciences, Inc. while Astral Fruit is owned by RevGenetics LLC:

Attached Thumbnails

  • Astral-Fruit-NF.Png
  • TA-65-COA-LOT-23063.Png

Edited by Anthony_Loera, 16 March 2011 - 05:24 PM.


#1178 mikeinnaples

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 03:26 PM

Remember this was done by an independent ISO 17025 certified company, which is stricter than US requirements and internationally recognized. (http://www.aaclabs.com/). A couple of screen shots are shown below from the lab COA's:


What is the purpose of blacking out the cycloastragenol content in the COA? Given that there has been discussion and concerns as to the actual content of it in your latest formulation, I see no real reason to black it out unless it contains less than what people are expecting and you want to avoid answering for it. Disconcerting to say the least.
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#1179 mikeinnaples

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 03:32 PM

Excuse my English, I have been pondering to buy astral fruit for some time but now above post got me real curious.
Niner and Maxwatt, the two voice of authority in this thread, what are their credentials?

Supplementing telomerase activator is essentially a life or death matter... because of one obvious big question mark - Will I develop cancer?
Anthony, Niner and Maxwatt expressed many times that astral fruit will not develop cancer but this is unreasonably optimistic view, after all why is TA-65 only available under rigoros medical supervision?

So Anthony, for you to push your telomerase activator, I believe you owe us extremely well-qualified advisors. I demand a detailed, verifiable credentials of Niner and Maxwatt. I also believe it is not just me, I believe everyone demands this.


1. You created a brand new forum account and just now decided to make a post because of this? I am not buying it.

2. Even if you are legit, and frequent this forum enough ...then you should know it is absolutely silly to ask Niner and Maxwatt for credentials. They aren't posing or pretending to be officials or providing free medical advice. If you ask them for credentials, I might as well ask you for yours. What are your credentials to even comment on the subject? It is silly. This is a public forum and people are free to post thier thoughts and opinions.

3. Lastly, do the research yourself and come to your own conclusions. That is what any reasonable person would do. There is a ton of discussions in this very thread on the subject, and lots of available research. In other words, act reasonably and figure it out.

#1180 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 03:37 PM

It appears we are back to the question... "Is transient Telomerase an Oncogene, that has the potential to cause cancer?"

Well it is not according to Calvin B. Harley:
http://www.nature.co...s/1205076a.html

Please review all the posts discussing this question in this thread.

Niner and Maxwatt are great, however I take my advice from our own CSO Dr. Valenzuela, who's credentials are on our website.

Most folks assume that if you are certified in family medicine, you also do research. Well that is not the case. Most folks who do family medicine are not trained in small molecule or gene research, and take their direction for new medicine and discoveries from those who are trained. If you see a group of doctors advocating a product, I would ask you to check to see if any f them actually do research, most simply don't.

To Sum up:
My expert was trained by Geron and has the following credentials: He is In charge of research, and small molecule gene research. Has lectured in year-long team-taught courses at UCLA entitled "Frontiers of Human Aging: Biomedical, Social, and Policy Perspectives" and "Biology of Cellular Aging and Disease." He had a postdoctoral position at UCLA through a National Institute of Health Tumor Cell Biology Fellowship. Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology, UCLA; B.S., San Diego State University. More detail on our expert is on our website. He also blogs here on the latest studies: http://goo.gl/1DHVD

If you have another company that provides a telomerase activator to the public with a research expert in the field of telomerase as the CSO, please provide that information.

For now, I hope this helps.

Cheers
A

Edited by Anthony_Loera, 16 March 2011 - 03:41 PM.

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#1181 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 03:46 PM

Remember this was done by an independent ISO 17025 certified company, which is stricter than US requirements and internationally recognized. (http://www.aaclabs.com/). A couple of screen shots are shown below from the lab COA's:


What is the purpose of blacking out the cycloastragenol content in the COA? Given that there has been discussion and concerns as to the actual content of it in your latest formulation, I see no real reason to black it out unless it contains less than what people are expecting and you want to avoid answering for it. Disconcerting to say the least.


Hi Mike,

I have stated that each bottle has a minimum of 150mg or more of Cycloastragenol.
That hasn't changed.

I am still debating the trade secret formulation issue, since showing folks how MUCH more we put in, might have competitors try to copy our formulation. You can do all your calculations based on 150mg for now, but I will state that each bottle actually has more than this amount.

Cheers
A
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#1182 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 03:55 PM

It appears we are back to the question... "Is transient Telomerase an Oncogene, that has the potential to cause cancer?"

Well it is not according to Calvin B. Harley:
http://www.nature.co...s/1205076a.html

Please review all the posts discussing this question in this thread.

Niner and Maxwatt are great, however I take my advice from our own CSO Dr. Valenzuela, who's credentials are on our website.

Most folks assume that if you are certified in family medicine, you also do research. Well that is not the case. Most folks who do family medicine are not trained in small molecule or gene research, and take their direction for new medicine and discoveries from those who are trained. If you see a group of doctors advocating a product, I would ask you to check to see if any f them actually do research, most simply don't.

To Sum up:
My expert was trained by Geron and has the following credentials: He is In charge of RevGenetics small molecule gene research. Has lectured in year-long team-taught courses at UCLA entitled "Frontiers of Human Aging: Biomedical, Social, and Policy Perspectives" and "Biology of Cellular Aging and Disease." He had a postdoctoral position at UCLA through a National Institute of Health Tumor Cell Biology Fellowship. Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology, UCLA; B.S., San Diego State University. More detail on our expert is on our website. He also blogs here on the latest studies: http://goo.gl/1DHVD

If you have another company that provides a telomerase activator to the public with a research expert in the field of telomerase as the CSO, please provide that information.

For now, I hope this helps.

Cheers
A


Did I mention Dr. V is a great guy?


For the most part he is open to questions, but is horribly busy. Maybe I can convince him to set aside some time from teaching and research to help provide a type of Q and A session with some questions folks can provide here.

Is that something you all would be interested in?

A

Edited by Anthony_Loera, 16 March 2011 - 04:04 PM.


#1183 maxwatt

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 04:04 PM

I just received the following message:

Sent Today, 03:40 AM


I am from Germany and have been supplementing Astral Fruit for 11 months and I got a cancer.

And it is not just me, at least 4 international users I befriended in this forum got cancer from Astral Fruit. Why are we telling you this by PM? Because our posts, complete with scanned Astral Fruit receits and hopital records, all got deleted and our accounts deactivated. They even permanently blocked our IP addresses. I had to get a new ISP from Luxembourg to get this message through!

Listen to me, astral fruit is NOT TA-65, is neither Cycloastragenol nor Astragaloside IV. TA-65 is a new, unknown compound. And it is absolutlely insane to take any of these without medical supervision.

Telomerase activators do give you cancer!

Here is the horrendous truth you should know: Imminst is an infomercial site owned by Revgenetics and the so-called 'moderators' are paid sales men. These guys got zero background in bio related fields. Try asking moderators' credentials. You will get booted out! They have no idea what they are talking about and any posts from true experts get deleted and their accounts deactivated!

This is a SCAM. I'm telling you, NEVER trust a thing they say. They make money out of your life. Let the forum users know what is going on! I am dying!!!

Deleted posts never really get deleted, but they do get archived. No such posts "complete with scanned Astral Fruit receits [sic] and hopital [sic] records, all got deleted and our accounts deactivated." are in the archive, so no moderator has taken any such action. The rest of the PM which seems to have been sent to much of the member list is probably just as truthful. If the resveratroll wants to post slander libel and calumny that won't get deleted, he can do it in the Free Speech forum where anything goes.
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#1184 mikeinnaples

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 04:08 PM

Hi Mike,

I have stated that each bottle has a minimum of 150mg or more of Cycloastragenol.
That hasn't changed.

I am still debating the trade secret formulation issue, since showing folks how MUCH more we put in, might have competitors try to copy our formulation. You can do all your calculations based on 150mg for now, but I will state that each bottle actually has more than this amount.

Cheers
A


Is the fact that each bottle contains a minimum of 150mg on the label of the bottle now? I don't believe my last order has that on them. I am at work now and can't double check, but I will later.

From a legal perspective, if it is on the bottle ...then it has to contain it. From a consumers perspective, if it isn't labeled on the bottle and you show a COA with it blacked out, then I get extremely sketchy about the product. We have had this discussion before, so there is no real need to rehash it I suppose. Just understand, that I am most likely not the only person that would prefer to know exactly what they are putting in thier bodies and the amount. I would be comfortable though if the bottle does in fact say 'no less than 150mg' on the label. At least then we know it has to actually be there in an identifiable amount.
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#1185 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 04:29 PM

I would be comfortable though if the bottle does in fact say 'no less than 150mg' on the label. At least then we know it has to actually be there in an identifiable amount.


Hi Mike,

I promise it will state that your words "no less than 150mg" on the label for cycloastragenol amount in the new batch we will be making. At this time, we have the statement on our website which the FDA also looks at (and provides warning letters for), but I completely understand your point regarding the labeling.

We will be getting ready for a new batch soon, and will have the label edited to help satisfy this issue.
Thanks again for your input, it is helpful.

A

Edited by Anthony_Loera, 16 March 2011 - 04:30 PM.


#1186 mikeinnaples

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 04:37 PM

I would be comfortable though if the bottle does in fact say 'no less than 150mg' on the label. At least then we know it has to actually be there in an identifiable amount.


Hi Mike,

I promise it will state that your words "no less than 150mg" on the label for cycloastragenol amount in the new batch we will be making. At this time, we have the statement on our website which the FDA also looks at (and provides warning letters for), but I completely understand your point regarding the labeling.

We will be getting ready for a new batch soon, and will have the label edited to help satisfy this issue.
Thanks again for your input, it is helpful.

A


Awesome, that is good news.

#1187 GreenPower

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Posted 16 March 2011 - 09:00 PM

Awesome, that is good news.


I second that, I prefer to know the exact amounts of what I'm taking.

By the way Anthony, did you ever take any more FLOW-Fish tests or perhaps the BioPhysical 250 test (which you are marketing)? It would be really interesting to see which results you personally got from taking AstralFruit C and AstralFruit NF.

#1188 aLurker

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Posted 17 March 2011 - 02:15 PM

I've read this thread from time to time and the question I keep asking myself is:
What are the most compelling arguments for supplementing with these kinds of products?
There doesn't seem to be any but this is at least something (probably posted in here before somewhere):

A Natural Product Telomerase Activator As Part of a Health Maintenance Program

Most human cells lack sufficient telomerase to maintain telomeres, hence these genetic elements shorten with time and stress, contributing to aging and disease. In January, 2007, a commercial health maintenance program, PattonProtocol-1, was launched that included a natural product-derived telomerase activator (TA-65®, 10–50 mg daily), a comprehensive dietary supplement pack, and physician counseling/laboratory tests at baseline and every 3–6 months thereafter. We report here analysis of the first year of data focusing on the immune system. Low nanomolar levels of TA-65® moderately activated telomerase in human keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and immune cells in culture; similar plasma levels of TA-65® were achieved in pilot human pharmacokinetic studies with single 10- to 50-mg doses. The most striking in vivo effects were declines in the percent senescent cytotoxic (CD8+/CD28−) T cells (1.5, 4.4, 8.6, and 7.5% at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, respectively; p = not significant [N.S.], 0.018, 0.0024, 0.0062) and natural killer cells at 6 and 12 months (p = 0.028 and 0.00013, respectively). Most of these decreases were seen in cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositive subjects. In a subset of subjects, the distribution of telomere lengths in leukocytes at baseline and 12 months was measured. Although mean telomere length did not increase, there was a significant reduction in the percent short (<4 kbp) telomeres (p = 0.037). No adverse events were attributed to PattonProtocol-1. We conclude that the protocol lengthens critically short telomeres and remodels the relative proportions of circulating leukocytes of CMV+ subjects toward the more “youthful” profile of CMV− subjects. Controlled randomized trials are planned to assess TA-65®-specific effects in humans.


Seems far from conclusive to me and without a placebo controlled study this is vaguely interesting rather than convincing. Anything else to support this except a few anecdotes?

Edited by aLurker, 17 March 2011 - 02:17 PM.

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#1189 aLurker

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Posted 17 March 2011 - 03:16 PM

From the TA-65 FAQ:

In 2005 we did a Pivotal Anti-Aging Trial that statistically shows in black and white what real people experienced from TA-65. This was a double-blind, placebo controlled study with data interpreted by Stanford University Ph.D., Dr. Jochen Kumm. For a summary of the findings from this trial, go to the top of this page and click on “Human Trials.”

I can't seem to find this study, I can't even find the summary. It's also kind of weird that I failed to find any reference to this study in the much more recent paper I linked to above (perhaps I missed it). This part from the paper published in 2011 (available 2010) is kind of strange:

Physicians who monitored the health of the current study subjects through 1 year on the product reported no adverse events that were likely related to the protocol. However, 2 subjects who recently escalated their daily dose reported feeling “anxious” on 100 mg/day but not when they switched back to 50 mg/day. A placebo-controlled study will be needed to determine if this potential adverse effect is real.

Doesn't this kind of imply that a placebo-controlled study hasn't been done yet? What about the 2005 study mentioned in their FAQ?

I'd appreciate some help finding this double-blind placebo controlled study because it sounds very interesting and I'd like to read it.

Edited by aLurker, 17 March 2011 - 03:27 PM.

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#1190 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 17 March 2011 - 03:27 PM

It does sound kind of odd.

Since Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn stated that different telomere's shrink at different rates depending on cell type, I would think that most benefits would come from the immune cells telomere's lengthening using Astral Fruit or another Cycloastragenol based product, since UCLA and Geron found these cells to be most affected in vitro.

A

#1191 aLurker

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Posted 17 March 2011 - 04:00 PM

Here is a previous discussion about the 2005 study. Here is some site with a bunch of pictures they claim are from the study. Even if that information is legit the p-values are pretty huge and most of the effects could very well be random so I'd love to hear that statistical analysis they were talking about. I'd very much like the full study from a reputable source rather than what I've managed to find so far.

Edited by aLurker, 17 March 2011 - 04:39 PM.

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#1192 maxwatt

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Posted 17 March 2011 - 07:40 PM

It is a valid point that some have raised: (some types of) cancer cells produce telomerase, and there is a concern among some biologists that telomerase activators might induce cancer in healthy cells. I do think this was addressed earlier in this thread, but it would not hurt to revisit it.

It is not quite so simple, for some immortal cancer cells have very short telomeres, so lenghtening telomeres is not critical to these cells survival. All told, I find the area still inchoate and awaiting clarification with further research.

#1193 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 17 March 2011 - 08:13 PM

Just to recap on some facts:

UCLA Study by Rita Effros used TAT2 provided by Geron which is Cycloastragenol (CAS Registry no. 84605-18-5):
http://www.natap.org...V/060209_01.htm

Dr. Valenzuela verifies cycloastragenol based telomerase by using material provided by RevGenetics:
http://www.jimmunol....Abstracts/90.30

Transient Telomerase is not an Ocogene, from Calvin Harley (Geron):
http://www.nature.co...l/1205076a.html

Transient telomerase in wound healing:
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11983007

Other Items:
TA Sciences does NOT appear to do small molecule research to discover new materials like Sierra Sciences or Geron, they only appear to license materials for dietary supplements sold through doctor's offices.
TA Sciences does not confirm TA-65 to be the same as TAT2 from Geron.
TA Sciences TA-65 is tested by an independent lab, and is found to contain cyloastrgenol.

RevGenetics confirms Astral Fruit's RGTA complex to use the same material as TAT2 that UCLA tested from Geron (which is called Cycloastragenol and naturally found in Astragalus in very low quantities.)
RevGenetics confirms 150mg or more of Cycloastragenol in each bottle of Astral Fruit.
RevGenetics confirms the addition of two more telomerase support ingredients in Astral Fruit-NF, other than cycloastragenol, in the proprietary RGTA complex.
RevGenetics confirms the addition of two ingredients for increased absorption in Astra Fruit-NF, in the proprietary RGTA complex.

I Hope this helps

A

Edited by Anthony_Loera, 18 March 2011 - 02:53 AM.


#1194 AlexB

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Posted 18 March 2011 - 10:17 PM

Another fact : Astragalus extract has anti-cancer properties.

Effects of Huangqi (Hex) on inducing cell differentiation and cell death in K562 and HEL cells.
Cheng XD, Hou CH, Zhang XJ, Xie HY, Zhou WY, Yang L, Zhang SB, Qian RL.
State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological
Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yueyang Road, Shanghai 200031, China.
March 2004

Effect of astragalus injection combined with chemotherapy on quality of life in patients with
advanced non-small cell lung cancer
Zou YH, Liu XM.
Jiangmen Central Hospital, Guangdong 529071.
2003

#1195 maxwatt

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Posted 18 March 2011 - 11:03 PM

This was posted in sci.life-extension:

Now a UK company at http://www.mackenzie....com/index.html is
offering what appears to be a superior service with a similar product,
and at a much more reasonable price. They plan to start soon.

I've corrosponded with them and they will be measuring the shortest
telomere length rather than, or in additon to the average. This
meassurement is much more clinically pertinent. They say their product
is 98% cycloastrogenal, the aglycone of astrogalaside IV. Telomere
measurements will be taken at baseline, six, and twelve months. For
half the price of a funeral you could be rejuvenated with lab reports
to prove it. They will not be using the Maria Blasco method which is
now available for research purposes at the Spanish national cancer
research center, but apparently another method which gives similar
results.

A recent paper in Rejuvenation Research by Charles Harley who
developed TA-65 reported that the Patton protocol did increase the
length of the shortest telomere. This is likely anticarcinogenic and
concievably could be partial rejuvenation.

Two other companies, one of which is Innovative Vision Products, are
planning to launch a telomere maintinence product containing
carnosine.

Altho there are some cancer issues with telomerase activation, this
is a very attractive option for antiaging, especially in conjunction
with a measurement of a credible biomarker.



#1196 jettax

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Posted 19 March 2011 - 03:13 AM

Just to recap on some facts:

UCLA Study by Rita Effros used TAT2 provided by Geron which is Cycloastragenol (CAS Registry no. 84605-18-5):
http://www.natap.org...V/060209_01.htm

Dr. Valenzuela verifies cycloastragenol based telomerase by using material provided by RevGenetics:
http://www.jimmunol....Abstracts/90.30

Transient Telomerase is not an Ocogene, from Calvin Harley (Geron):
http://www.nature.co...l/1205076a.html

Transient telomerase in wound healing:
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11983007

Other Items:
TA Sciences does NOT appear to do small molecule research to discover new materials like Sierra Sciences or Geron, they only appear to license materials for dietary supplements sold through doctor's offices.
TA Sciences does not confirm TA-65 to be the same as TAT2 from Geron.
TA Sciences TA-65 is tested by an independent lab, and is found to contain cyloastrgenol.

RevGenetics confirms Astral Fruit's RGTA complex to use the same material as TAT2 that UCLA tested from Geron (which is called Cycloastragenol and naturally found in Astragalus in very low quantities.)
RevGenetics confirms 150mg or more of Cycloastragenol in each bottle of Astral Fruit.
RevGenetics confirms the addition of two more telomerase support ingredients in Astral Fruit-NF, other than cycloastragenol, in the proprietary RGTA complex.
RevGenetics confirms the addition of two ingredients for increased absorption in Astra Fruit-NF, in the proprietary RGTA complex.

I Hope this helps

A





Telomerase is an enzyme found in a cell and this enzyme has control over the DNA of the cell, to be more specific, it has control over the lifespan of that DNA. At the 'end-cap' region of DNA, there is a structure called Telomere. And whenever the cell divides(replicates), the telomere shortens. And when there is no more telomere left, the cell can't divide any longer and eventually die. Picture a cutter knife. You can renew the knife by snapping off the end of the blade, but only a preset number of times. Telomere works like that.

Ok. so now how do you keep the cell alive forever? - By keeping the telomere from getting short. right? And indeed there is an enzyme that re-lengthens the telomere. It is called Telomerase enzyme or in short, Telomerase. 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to the discoverer of this enzyme. But unfortunately Telomerase enzyme also, is set to deplete and when Telomerase enzyme is no more, telomere keeps getting short and the cell dies.

But there are a couple of substances called Telomerase activator. It is a bit of a misnomer, it should be called Telomerase re-activator. But anyway as its name suggests, it (re) activates or replenishes Telomerase enzyme, which translates into a never-ending telomere hence an immortal cell. This is all the buzz is about.

Easy right?
but unfornately nothing in life(pun intended) is that simple.

As is always the case with most "discoveries", the mother nature already had cells that have been doing this on their own for millenia. They are known as cancer. And cancer cells are the one and only self - Telomerase activating cells found in nature.

Please read on, as you will see what the Telomerase-discovering Nobel Prize winner think about all this.

http://www.hopkinsme...mn/w01/top.html
In this article,
"More than 90 percent of cancer cells do reactivate their telomerase."

Now the author of the above 2001 article, Carol W. Greider, is the winner of Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2009, the very Telomerase-discoverer. If you allow me to digress a bit, she is also the one who created mice that are genetically devoid of telomerase enzyme.

"By early 1996, she had created a mouse model in which she genetically“knocked out”the telomerase enzyme. The mouse showed no adverse effects."
"“Her mice that lack telomerase are viable and normal for several generations, and there’s evidence that this lack of telomerase is detrimental to cancer cells. This has turned into a kind of Holy Grail for cancer therapy.”"

Now most of the forum users must have heard the "Harvard scientists created immortal mice" news.
Here is one article, "Harvard scientists reverse the ageing process in mice – now for humans"
http://www.guardian....ing-mice-humans

Now for humans? Like mice news wasn't sexy enough.
But if you read it carefully, you will learn that the mice they have used are the telomerase-lacking mice created by the Nobel Laureate Carol W. Greider, not normal mice. Simply put, this experiment bears little relevance to normal mice, much less to human. Spelled out cleary in the article are:
"Raising levels of telomerase in people might slow the ageing process, but it makes the risk of cancer soar."
"Furthermore, there is the ever-present anxiety that telomerase reactivation is a hallmark of most human cancers."

Amazing how journalistic hoopla gets you totally confused.

What we should learn from this is that, it was Carol W. Greider's achievement of identifying the telomerase enzyme and her subsequent work with it that won her the Nobel Prize, but it was not the potential role of telomerase for longevity/immortality that won her the Nobel Prize, and if anything, her entire lifework with telomerase is focused on DE-activating telomerase in order to cure cancer, as is clearly expressed in her article.

More words from the article, http://www.hopkinsme...mn/w01/top.html
"By the mid-’90s, Greider had begun thinking about cancer cells—they divide far more often than average cells. If the telomeres in cancer cells shortened with each division, as they do in other cells, cancerous cells should die in the same way. But they don’t. Greider and Harley hypothesized that telomerase might somehow be reactivated in cancer cells, allowing them to go on lengthening their telomeres and dividing indefinitely. The two researchers began to imagine a treatment for cancer in which telomerase could be inhibited long enough to wipe out the telomeres in the malignant cells. This would trigger death in the cancer cells but not in normal ones with their longer telomeres. No one took the idea seriously...."

Now, a world renowned scientist like Ms. Carol W. Greider could have profited billions with the slightest hinting of a possible connection between telomerase activation and longevity but she didn't and never will since she knows in heart that it just isn't true, on the contrary what she realised and won nobel prize for was a profound connection between telemerase activation and occurance of over 90 percent of cancer. The Nobel comittee saw her work as a great potential for cancer cure, but not for longevity. What happened and is happening is that, "Nobel Prize was given to Telomerase enzyme discoverer!" has got distorted to "Telomerase keeps cells alive so it must expand lifespan!" and running rampant, misguiding the uninformed and confused mass, as clearly stated in her article, http://www.hopkinsme...mn/w01/top.html

"“Don’t believe it!” Greider yells. “If you put telomerase back in normal cells in culture, you can extend the lifespan of the cells, but extending cell life has nothing to do with the lifespan of an organism.”Her voice gets faster as she talks. “Journalists don’t call me as much anymore. I think they’re tired of hearing me say, ‘Look guys, the aging thing is not that big a deal.’ On the cancer side I still say there’s great hope for treatments, but telomerase is definitely not going to change human longevity.”"

Now when someone shows a "study" that guarantees the safety of some substance/product, you first need to check if the study has been peer-reviewed. This ensures the study has undergone thorough scrutiny. Now there are a couple of studies that tell you Telomerase activators will not give you cancer, but up to this moment to my knowledge, none of these studies are peer-reviewed, not to mention none of these studies were conducted on human, except one, the TA-65 study on volunteering humans, which unfortunately is not peer-reviewed. On the other hand there are plenty of peer-reviewed, PubMed published studies that link deactivating telomerase and curing cancer.

I'll tell you one story. There is a new antibiotic on the block. It is called Ketek. And obviously for any new drug to earn FDA's approval, the drug has to undergo strict clinical trials, Ketek was no exception. And only after Ketek received pass notice from FDA, unearthed a fraud on a clinical trial study on 24,000 patients. The doctor who faked the study result is now serving 57-month sentence in federal prison. Note that this happened only 4 years ago, also note that it was no other than the pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis, this doctor was conducting the clinical trials for. Enough said why you should be vigilant with any studies, let alone those that did not go through the peer-review process.

When the smoke clears, Two facts remain;
More than 90 percent of cancer cells activate their telomerase and these cancer cells are the only existing 'Telomerase - activating' cells found in nature.
No one in the world can guarantee you that you won't get cancer when you intake Telomerase activator.

Examples of good studies that link elimination of telomerase enzyme and curing cancer.

Telomerase in cancer diagnosis and therapy: a clinical perspective.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/18031190

Strategies Targeting Telomerase Inhibition.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC2628964/

Telomerase in cancer and aging.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11796230

Treatment of bladder cancer cells in vitro and in vivo with 2-5A antisense telomerase RNA.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11320413

Edited by jettax, 19 March 2011 - 03:18 AM.

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#1197 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 19 March 2011 - 03:24 AM

Thanks,

However we are talking about TRANSIENT telomerase in regular cells... do not confuse it with telomerase as it is attributed in cells which are ALREADY cancerous.

I believe the confusion between the two is a major factor upon understanding the value of Astral Fruit.

A

#1198 jettax

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Posted 19 March 2011 - 03:44 AM

Mr. Loera,

No one in the world can tell you with conviction that Telomerase activation will not give you cancer, regardless Telomerase activation is transient(temporary) or not. If there are peer-reviewed studies on human that say so, I'd love to see it.

And when you intake Telomerase activator (Once Telomerase activator gets into your system), Telomerase activation is non-discriminatory (Telomerase activation will occur in normal cells and in cancerous cells).

#1199 AlexB

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Posted 19 March 2011 - 04:28 AM

Jettax,

"By early 1996, she had created a mouse model in which she genetically“knocked out”the telomerase enzyme. The mouse showed no adverse effects."
"“Her mice that lack telomerase are viable and normal for several generations, and there’s evidence that this lack of telomerase is detrimental to cancer cells. This has turned into a kind of Holy Grail for cancer therapy.”"

Mice have very long telomeres compared to humans. They can live for generations without telomerase but ultimately their offspring will show signs of premature aging and infertility.

No one in the world can tell you with conviction that Telomerase activation will not give you cancer, regardless Telomerase activation is transient(temporary) or not. If there are peer-reviewed studies on human that say so, I'd love to see it.

Telomerase is -luckely for you- already active in some cells in your body : stem cells.
The cells in your small intestines and colon renew every few days. This isn't possible without telomerase.
Not everyone develops colon cancer during his lifetime, taken into account that the cells in your colon are -more than other cells- in contact with carcinogens.

And when you intake Telomerase activator (Once Telomerase activator gets into your system), Telomerase activation is non-discriminatory (Telomerase activation will occur in normal cells and in cancerous cells).

A cancer cell already expresses telomerase by definition.
You mean a pre-cancerous cell.
A pre-cancerous cell must turn on telomerase indefinitely to become cancerous.
This can happen to any cell in your body and transient telomerase does not increase the odds of this event.

#1200 Anthony_Loera

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Posted 19 March 2011 - 04:28 AM

Jettax,

again... transient telomerase happens when you are fighting off a cold, healing a wound, etc...
You tell me a single study where a cold (or getting a cut while chopping tomatoes) caused cancer, and I will agree with you.

Until then, I will agree to disagree with you.

Again, I believe you are confused about this issue, and maybe should ask Carol about transient telomerase in the course of a normal human lifespan.

Cheers
A
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