From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Jan 30 2003 - 18:29:34 MST
Chromosome Study Links Telomere Length to Survival
LONDON (Reuters) - Could extending telomeres, those bits of DNA at the ends
of chromosomes in cells, prolong lives?
Some scientists think so.
Researchers in the United States, who discovered that elderly people with
longer telomeres lived five to six years longer than people with shorter
ones, think increasing the length of telomeres could be a possible key to a
longer life.
"This is the first research study showing that telomere length is predictive
of survival in humans," said Dr Richard Cawthon, of the University of Utah,
who headed the research team.
Telomeres are similar to the plastic caps on the end of shoe laces that
prevent fraying. The bits of DNA wear down and get shorter as cells divide,
which scientists believe is a natural process of aging.
Cells from people with a variety of diseases have been found to have
shortened telomeres.
Cawthon and his colleagues measured and ranked the telomere length in blood
samples of 143 people over the age of 60 and compared their cause and age of
death.
In a research letter published in The Lancet medical journal, they reported
that people with the longest telomeres lived up to five years longer than
those with shorter telomeres, who had higher rates of death from heart
disease and infectious illnesses.
Cawthon believes the results of his research support the hypothesis that
telomere shortening is a natural aging process which may contribute to
deaths from a variety of age-related diseases.
"If this is correct, then it may be possible to extend the duration of
healthy adult life using medical interventions that maintain telomere
length," he added in a statement.
Research into telomeres is still in its early phases but scientists believe
that increased understanding about telomeres and telomerase, an enzyme that
strengthens and lengthens them, will improve understanding of age-related
diseases and the aging process itself.
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