Why This Matters to Us
As longevity enthusiasts, we're always looking for ways to extend our healthspan – the period of life spent in good health. Exercise is a well-known way to combat ageing, but what if we could capture the rejuvenating power of exercise and transmit it to others? This research suggests that blood plasma from regularly exercising individuals contains beneficial molecules that could potentially slow down ageing and combat age-related diseases, even for those who can't exercise themselves. It opens up exciting possibilities for new therapies and interventions to improve our quality of life as we age.
The Detail
The idea behind this research is that when we exercise, our muscles don't just get stronger – they also release special substances into our bloodstream. These substances, called exerkines, act like messengers, travelling to different parts of the body and triggering beneficial changes. Think of it like sending out a company-wide email after a successful project, telling everyone to keep up the good work and implement the changes in other areas!
Goh and colleagues at the National University of Singapore suggest that human trials should be initiated to test if blood plasma from people who exercise regularly can combat age-related conditions like cancer and metabolic disease.
One key concept in understanding ageing is the "seven pillars of aging". These pillars, identified by the National Institute of Aging (NIA), include things like:
- Disruption in proteostasis: Problems with how our cells manage proteins.
- Dysregulated stress response: Difficulty dealing with stress.
- Epigenetic drift: Changes in how our genes are expressed.
- Inflammaging: Chronic, low-grade inflammation.
- Macromolecular damage: Damage to important molecules in our cells.
- Metabolic dysregulation: Problems with how our bodies process energy.
- Stem cell exhaustion: A decline in the number and function of our stem cells.
The study published at the URL https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34968001/ notes that regular physical exercise can modulate these pillars to stave off age-related chronic diseases and maintain functional capacity.
Now, what if we could isolate these beneficial exerkines found in blood plasma? According to research, scientists have been exploring this idea in animal studies. For example, when older mice received blood plasma from young, exercised mice, they showed improved brain function, specifically in the hippocampus, a brain region associated with memory. This suggests that exercise-conditioned blood plasma can rejuvenate the brain.
To take the concept a step further, researchers are conducting human trials where they transfuse blood plasma from young, fit individuals into patients with Alzheimer's disease. The goal is to see if the exerkines in the blood plasma can improve cognition and quality of life in these patients. While the results are still pending, this research offers hope for a new approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases.
This technique could be particularly beneficial for individuals who are unable to exercise, such as those who are bedridden or paralyzed. By receiving exercise-conditioned blood plasma, they may be able to experience some of the molecular benefits of exercise without physical exertion. This is particularly relevant because regular exercise is known to prevent or control age-related diseases and increase life expectancy.
Of course, more research is needed to fully understand the potential of exercise-conditioned blood plasma. However, the initial findings are promising and suggest that we may be able to harness the power of exercise to combat ageing and improve healthspan.
In simple terms, this means that scientists are exploring whether giving older people blood from young, healthy, and active people can make them healthier and slow down ageing.
In conclusion, the concept is that exercise releases good stuff into our blood and that blood can be transferred into someone else to make them healthier without having to move a muscle!