Why do all organisms age and die? Here's my half baked theory: #aging

Regardless of the disgraceful nonsense we will likely hear from this administration in the coming days on vaccine “recommendations,” Americas healthcare insurers issued a joint statement tonight saying coverage for Covid and flu shots will remain unchanged from prior years. Speaks for itself.

They brought in a guy from his house, the circumstances weren't clear. He was found on the ground, unk downtime but the body was covered in pressure sores. He was emaciated and breathing rapidly through his mouth.

Nice write up in the times for the medical storytelling program (airwaystories.com)

A pilot of reverse transcriptase inhibitors for the treatment of tau-opathies. Probing the hypothesis that retrotransposons underlie pathophysiology of Alzheimer's. Results are interesting.

Poor sleep disrupts the glymphatic system in humans, which hastens dementia. Exercise improves glymphatic functioning (at least in mice).

Study in @nature.com (Nature Medicine) “exposes the #exposome in #aging” by exploring how 164 exposures relate to mortality and age-related disease. How and where we live matters big time! www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Here is a theoretical problem with overdriving anabolism with BCAA supplementation in older adults. It paradoxically causes sarcopenia.

Update on my life: Last year, I joined my kids' school's PTA, because they needed a treasurer and I'm good enough with numbers. It was a straightforward, self-contained job: balancing the checkbook for an organization that only did a few fundraisers each year.

My Chinese patient has a tattoo on his arm. It says 7-5-1986. I ask him its meaning and he says that he did it himself. I say, but why did you write that date, what is the significance of the date? He says that’s what day it was when he did the tattoo.

How exercise during pregnancy can improve metabolic health of offspring: a key mediator (Serpina3c) from mother's white adipose tissue gets into fetal circulation, suppresses inflammation, as demonstrated in the mouse model www.nature.com/articles/s42... www.nature.com/articles/s42...

A landmark paper claiming that somatic mutations to DNA (due to replicative errors, toxins, radiation, etc.) are the sought after drivers of epigenetic changes and account for the ticking of the clock. If true, then it seriously complicates ambitions to reverse aging with Yamanake Factors.

Today we report a new compendium of human gut microbiomes with >168,000 samples By analyzing this massive dataset, we discovered distinct microbiome patterns across the globe, and show we can predict where a person lives just from their gut bacteria Now out in Cell: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Reconciling 2 major explanations for #aging, study in Nature Aging @nature.com finds somatic mutations are fundamental driver of aging and #epigenetic changes simply track process. Reversing aging may be harder than previously thought. Time to rethink strategies? www.nature.com/articles/s43...

It's a new year! ...and a new #MVIF program is out! 🤩 Registration here: cassyni.com/s/mvif-35 ⭐️MicroTalks: Minna Chang @hariszaf.bsky.social ⭐️ Keynote: @chmoei.bsky.social ⭐️Selected talks: Pratyay Sengupta @fatimacpereira.bsky.social @cladigar.bsky.social

Price gouging by the ‘Big 3 PBMs’—Caremark Rx (CVS), Express Scripts (ESI), and OptumRx —marked up numerous specialty generic drugs at their pharmacies by **thousands of percent***, and many by hundreds of percent—resulting in 📌 $7.3 billion📌 in excess revenue. www.ftc.gov/news-events/...

Oscillations in gut microbiota composition regulate the diurnal rhythmicity of HPA axis function, which leads to altered stress responsivity across the day.

Redefining obesity, report of a new commission, to override current BMI categories and better define features and pathophysiologic consequences of pre-clinical and clinical obesity www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... open-access

Move over #Horvath. #Histone specific epigenetic changes highly predictive of aging, rivaling CpG methylation sites. They typically specify genes important to the aging process. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Our assessment of a person's epigenetic ("biological") age has been centered on DNA methylation. A new report shows that a set of 7 histone markers has comparable accuracy and also uncovers new pathways of aging biology www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

www.cell.com/trends/endoc... @cp-trendsendomet.bsky.social

Our lab's latest study, spearheaded by a fantastic colleague, Colleen, reveals that the blood glucose-lowering effect of metformin requires the inhibition of mitochondrial ETC complex I. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/.... An insightful focus by Prof. Doug Green: bit.ly/41Hc4fX

CDC confirms first severe case of #H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. 💣💣💣 www.cdc.gov/media/releas...

Delightful

Nuclear kappa beta receptor ligand administration (RANKL) regrows thymus and restores immune function in mice. A potential cure for immune senescence.

Ketones, either endogenous or consumed, help clear misfolded protein in the brain through autophagy.

@neurosciencenews.bsky.social please start posting

"Our results reveal that whenever handwriting movements are included as a learning strategy, more of the brain gets stimulated, resulting in the formation of more complex neural network connectivity...typewriting do[es] not activate...networks the same way that handwriting does”

Seems like a big deal

Association of #sleep quality and #mitochondrial DNA copy number in healthy middle-aged adults www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...