Bioavailable Zija restores telomeres better than anything else.
~ Uncle Russ
Nothing Like Being In The Right Place at The Right Time……
Press Release – Mar 25, 2012
The Long, Err, Short of It: Scientists Link Chromosome Length to Heart Disease Risk
BOSTON, MA—No one really wants the short end of the stick, in this case the short end of a chromosome. Telomeres, which are DNA-protein complexes at the ends of chromosomes, can be thought of as protein “caps” that protect chromosomes from deteriorating and fusing with neighboring chromosomes.
It is typical for telomeres to shorten as cells divide and chromosomes replicate over time. Now a new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) suggests a strong link between telomere shortening and poor cardiovascular outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome.
The study is being presented at the American College of Cardiology 2012 Annual Scientific Session, March 24 to 26 in Chicago.
Scientists measured telomere length in 5,044 patients with an acute coronary syndrome who were followed for 18 months.
Chromosomes with telomeres (in red) 
Scientists evaluated the risk of cardiovascular death or heart attack based on telomere length and other characteristics.
Shorter telomeres were associated with older age, male gender, smoking, prior heart attack and heart failure; although, the correlation between each individual factor and telomere length was modest. Age, for example, only accounts for seven percent of the variability in telomere length.
Telomere length was strongly associated with risk of cardiovascular death or heart attack. Patients with shorter telomeres had the highest risk. This relationship was consistent across various age groups.
“We know that many different genetic and environmental factors, like diabetes, high cholesterol and smoking predispose patients to suffering cardiovascular events,” said Christian T. Ruff, MD, MPH, Cardiovascular Division, BWH Department of Medicine, and lead study investigator. “Even when accounting for all of these other known risk factors, patients with short telomeres have an increased risk of having a heart attack or dying from heart disease.”
Taking the research findings from bench to bedside, Ruff points out that measuring telomere length may be useful in a clinical setting, providing a sort of predictor for cardiovascular events.
“Telomere shortening may represent some sort of ‘biological clock’ which integrates the cumulative effect of environmental and genetic stresses on the body, both of which can contribute to cardiovascular events.” said Ruff.
The researchers will continue to validate their findings to see if the relationship between telomere length and cardiovascular outcomes holds true in broader populations of patients. They also plan on experimenting on whether the rate of telomere shortening over time also predicts adverse cardiovascular events.
“In the future, we hope to identify clinical, biochemical and genetic characteristics that predict telomere shortening,” said Ruff. “We hope to have the ability to determine if therapies and medications that impact these processes may delay telomere attrition and lessen the risk of cardiovascular events in these patients.”
THE MORINGA ANTIOXIDANT ASSORTMENT AND AGING
If you cut an avocado and leave it on the counter and that light green colour turns black. That colour change is oxidation. When metal oxidizes we call it rust. The connotation itself of something being rusted conjures up a mindset of something far from ideal. The negative effects of oxygen can be witnessed throughout the realm of biological interactions and yet it is the most essential element for life. Cells can last no more than four and a half minutes without oxygen as it leads to cellular death however it is essential for the production of energy in mitochondria. Combine this with toxins prevalent in our air, food and water accumulating in our bodies and add to it the further discovery that a great deal of the damage (disease and aging) was being carried out by free radicals (oxidants) in our system[1]. The problem with these positively charged ions is that they are looking for an electron to steal. They search the body seeking an electron indiscriminately, not considering the source, or the potential damage caused, and our immune systems had been overwhelmed in the process of trying to handle this onslaught. This is known as oxidative stress.
So what can be done? We have all heard of anti-oxidants. Science has progressed to the point that availability of antioxidants will allow the body to eliminate the damage caused by free radicals (oxidative stress). Anti-oxidants are substances that are generally ingested and provide electrons to bind with dangerous free radicals and neutralize them in order for the body to dispose of them.
Different parts of the body are protected by different antioxidants. Structures containing lipids (fats) are mainly protected by the fat soluble vitamins A and E, whereas the water-soluble vitamin C helps us against free radicals in the blood, body fluids and within cells. If there was a method by which countless negatively charged ions could be delivered into your body (most of us aren’t getting it from our cooked processed food diets anymore) would it not be totally beneficial. In the recent past, everyone was scrambling to find powerful anti-oxidants. The cause of aging, along with most of humanity’s diseases, has been determined to be due, in large part, to actions of free radicals on our body. The relationship between telomeres, aging and disease was recently brought to light by Blackburn et al (2006).[1] She and her co-authors were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2009 for their discovery of the protective cap at the end of chromosomes, telomeres. They shorten every time a cell divides and when they become too short, the cell can no longer divide and the cell dies.[2] The pace at which telomeres shorten is associated with the cell’s ability to withstand oxidative damage,[3] therefore the more antioxidants present in one’s body, the less damage that occurs to the chromosome.[4]
The trace elements zinc and selenium are essential for our antioxidant enzyme system. Antioxidants, outside of the carotenoids, enter the electron cascade, which means their combined effect is more than the sum of effect of the single components. Antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, E and selenium (all present in Moringa oleifera) will release an electron to a free radical and bind it, transforming it into a relatively harmless molecule fit for excretion. Moringa oleifera contains ample amounts of forty-six different antioxidants including Vitamin A and the carotenoids. The proprietary formula containing assorted parts of the Moringa oleifera tree (leaf, leaf puree, fruit, fruit puree and seed cake) insures a diverse assortment of bioavailable antioxidants.
________________________________________
[1] Blackburn et al. Telomeres and telomerase: The path from maize, Tetrahymena and yeast to human cancer and aging. Nature Medicine. 2006;12:p.1133-1138.
[2] Allsopp R C, Harley C B, Evidence for a critical telomere length in senescent human fibroblasts. Experimental Cell Res. 1995;219:p.130-136.
[3] Sozou P D, Kirkwood T B. A stochastic model of cell replicative senescence based on telomere shortening,oxidative stress, and somatic mutations in nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. J Theoretical Biology.2001;213:p.573-576.
[4] Serra V, Grune T, Sitte N, Saretzki G, von Zglinicki T. Telomere length as a marker of oxidative stress in primary human fibroblast cultures. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2000;908:p.327-330.
