The Quantified Body Blog does a podcast interview with Dr. Jun Yoon, "the man behind the Palo Alto Longevity Prize. I found the interview very worthwhile.
"A $500,000 Homeostatic Capacity Prize will be awarded to the first team to demonstrate that it can restore homeostatic capacity (using heart rate variability as the surrogate measure) of an aging reference mammal to that of a young adult."
Thoughts...
- I like Dr. Yoon's distinction between achieving a state of Homeostasis via a drug/supplement and restoring Homeostatic Capacity. I believe he makes a strong argument for the value of the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Biomarker.
- I've frequently posted on the HRV Biomarker and the only problem I have with the interview is that Dr. Yoon has dramatically understated the case for the HRV Biomarker in that it IS the Biomarker that has a causation Relationship with NF-kB Inhibition and, at the very least, a Correlation relationship with Telomerase expression.
More than that, Higher HRV has already been shown In Human Studies be correlated with Longevity... We already have 1 study demonstrating it's relevance In Human Survival Curves...
The text below In Italics are excerpts from the Opening Post of the NF-kB and Telomerase thread...
Here’s the study context... Take a known, Human, Surrogate Marker for Health, it’s a Computed Statistic... Measure this marker for 24 hours in old, wild-type Humans, 65 years old and up with a mean of 73 years… Wait 10 years… 53% of the 347 study animals are now dead... Do some statistical analysis of that surrogate marker data and plot the two survival curves below… That marker, Heart Rate Variability (HRV), has profound implications for human health and longevity... Here’s a link to this study from 1998...
<< SNIP >>
2 - Evidence about HRV and its inverse correlation with NF-kB Transcription Activation
Establishing this evidence is basic physiology and biology research and has been the lifework of Karolinska Institute Honorary Doctorate Kevin Tracey, participant in 440+ studies per ResearchGate.
— Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is simultaneously increased with intracellular NF-kB Transcription Inhibition, especially in the Spleen, both via a Vagal-Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway (CAIP) mechanism (http://tinyurl.com/nogth6b).
— I recommend two additional study summaries to get a handle on the basic physiology/biology research that Tracey has spearheaded. (http://tinyurl.com/k7r7vzx and http://tinyurl.com/njy4kl6)
— I have been following the Vagus-HRV-CAIP science for a while now and have posted about it here.
<< SNIP >>
6 – Evidence about HRV, telomere length, telomerase, and NF-kB
Elissa Epel’s [and Elizabeth Blackburns's] life work asks the questions that lead, inexorably, to the conclusion that the larger Longevity Benefit Mechanism underlying NF-kB Inhibition, measured by its HRV surrogate marker, is the same as that for Telomerase Expression. Her work demonstrates at least two things…
— Meditation, among other Techniques Promoting “Positive Cognition,” increases, both, HRV and telomerase expression. (http://tinyurl.com/pqsh6ae)
— Chronic Stress (i.e., Autonomic Ill Health, aka Lower HRV) shortens Telomeres (http://tinyurl.com/nrawp9w).
— Meanwhile, Fredrickson has also found that Positive Emotions increase HRV (http://tinyurl.com/bxqwyym). And in another study, Fredrickson and Cole found that individuals with Eudaimonic Intent (aka, Noble Intent, a type of Positive Cognition (Emotion) that contrasts with Hedonic Intent) have reduced NF-kB expression in their peripheral blood (http://tinyurl.com/pzuupxu).
— It’s a puzzling thing that Epel, Fredrickson, and Cole have not yet referenced Kevin Tracey’s work...
It's a puzzling thing... Does Dr. Yoon know that Higher HRV has a coincident causal relationship with NF-kB Transcription Inhibition via the Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway? He provides no hint in the interview that he does...
Edited by HighDesertWizard, 24 September 2015 - 02:58 PM.