find ourselves, this story makes sense. I know
it's the era because of the all the Vamp shows
and Son of Vamp, and Camp Vamp, the Gay
Siphon.
Anyway. Apparently old folks are helped by
getting transfusion of young blood. I know
it has kept Keith Richards alive and looking
almost life-like, that pastey white Englishman.
Keith: gimme a shovel an' some drugs, pffelft eehhh
I've been a blood donor since I was young, and
did so because it was a gift to hospitals. we have
public health care in Canada, so far. Then I heard
it was good for you because it keeps the blood-works
busy, creating replacement blood.
But this is much more ghoulish. Enjoy:
checkit: AlterNet
By Laura Gottesdiener
Amazing Medical Discovery: Transfusions of Young Blood Appear to Rejuvenate the Elderly
Looks
like vampire movies are on
to something. So far, it's just mice.
October
18, 2012
Human history-altering newsflash: Scientists
have demonstrated that injections of youthful blood carry semi-magical,
rejuvenating qualities--at least for gray-whiskered mice. The researchers
believe that the same might hold true for humans, suggesting that diseases like
Alzheimer’s and indeed aging itself might be prevented through the transfusion
of the youth’s vigorous lifeblood.
To
clarify: No, this revelation is not the premise of the next blowout
romance-vampire movie trilogy. It is a real scientific discovery made in
Stanford University’s laboratories and presented earlier this week at the
Society for Neuroscience conference in New Orleans.
The study showed that 18-month-old mice who
had been received eight transfusions of young
blood had a much easier time making it through a watery maze than the old
mice who had not received any transfusions.
"They were 18 months old but they were
acting much younger, like a four to six-month-old," said Dr. Villeda, one
of the lead researchers.
The study also demonstrated that older mice
who had received the blood transfusions also began to grow new synapses in their brain--connections which are essential
for the retention of memory.
This
result holds promise far beyond solving the plight of grandparents accompanying
their grandchildren through those pesky Halloween hay labyrinths. The researchers
said that this information could, in the future, be used to prevent mental
aging itself.
"Do I think that having young blood could
have an effect on a human? I am thinking more and more that it might,” said Dr.
Villeda.
If the same does hold true for humans, this
discovery could become a major scientific breakthrough at a time when the
world’s elderly population is growing exponentially. Scientists predict that by
2050 global population over 60 will reach a dizzying two billion people, which
could cause a massive health care and economic crisis as societies struggle to
care for these seniors. Some scientists have said that this explosion of
Alzheimer’s alone could cause a “ looming medical-care disaste r is beyond
comparison with anything that has been faced during the entire history of
humanity.”
Scientists are excited about the potentials of
this study.
Chris Mason, professor of regenerative
medicine bioprocessing at University College London , told The Guardian , “Even
if the finding leads only to a drug that prevents, rather than reverses the
normal effects of ageing on the brain, the impact upon future generations will
be substantial – potentially outweighing other wonder drugs such as
penicillin."
As significant and surprising as this study
is, the results are supported by past research. Last year, the same Stanford
researchers demonstrated that injecting
young mice with old blood led to mental deterioration in the rodents.
This research led them to undertake this more
recent experiment to see whether the reverse could be true.
Moving forward, it is unlikely that a vial of
youthful blood itself will become the treatment for aging. Instead, scientists
say that the new challenge is to identify what compounds inside young blood carry this rejuvenating
effect--potentially allowing researchers to extract or replicate these
particularly chemicals.
