"WHAT??"
Posted on 11/07/2006 7:38:34 PM PST by annie laurie
The refrigerator is used to lengthen the life of your food, and a new study suggests a similar principle could prolong your life, too.
Researchers have found that lowering the body temperature of mice by just 0.5°C extends their lifespan by around 15%. In the future, people might be able to take a drug to achieve a similar effect on body temperature and enjoy a longer life, they say.
...
Bruno Conti at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, US, and colleagues designed genetically engineered mice with a specific brain-cell defect in a region called the lateral hypothalamus. The defect forces brain cells into "overdrive", causing the region to heat up and become warmer than in a normal mouse.
Since, in mice, the lateral hypothalamus sits just 0.8 millimetres away from the brain’s body-temperature-controlling thermostat – called the preoptic area – it was tricked into thinking its body temperature was too high, causing the mouse to cool down.
The average body temperature of the genetically engineered mice was about 0.6°C lower than that of their control counterparts.
Even this small decrease in body temperature appeared to have a noticeable effect on lifespan, extending their lives by 12% to 20%. And the decrease in body temperature extended the lifespan of female mice more than male mice, the team found, although they are unsure why ...
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
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"WHAT??"
Good advice for a lot of FReepers on the election threads tonight. ;)
Too true :)
Slowing your body's metabolism by cooling would also (one could assume) slow your perception and thought processes proportionally.
Your lifespan will feel the same either way, and your reactions may be dulled a little.
Thanks, bfl
I wonder if something would explain why I'm always 97.8 degrees instead of 98.6 like most other people. Or is there someone with more medical knowledge that can explain it?
Slower metabolic rates have been known to increase lifespan for decades now. This is not news.
I moved to North Dakota.
"I wonder if something would explain why I'm always 97.8 degrees instead of 98.6 like most other people. Or is there someone with more medical knowledge that can explain it?"
Because your thyroid output is too low. Thyroid gland controls the body temperature.
It's a common condition which can be easily and safely treated with medication. Get your doctor to give you a blood test. There's lots of info online about it. Look up "Hypothyroidism".
My dad (who is 78) and I both customarily run at 97.6. I had my thyroid checked recently (for other reasons) and it is well within normal limits. I told my dad that we are obviously both aliens. (Just ask Art Bell!)
Hey, me too. I'm generally around 97.4 or so. And for years my blood pressure was low as well (now 'normal').
Makes me wonder - does keeping a cooler house also help keep us 'cooler'? (I don't mean A/C in summer.) My grandparents and my mom always kept the houses cooler in winter, even before Jimmah Cartuh's lower your thermostat stuff. And my sibs and I still like to keep it cooler.
While the study was "very ingenious and original," it had some flaws, said Holloszy, a professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.
Most notably, the study showed that "lowering body temperature does not prolong life span," Holloszy said. "It allows more mice to reach old age." Calorie restriction, by contrast, does extend life span, he said.
In addition, "the paper gave no information about what the animals died from, so there is no way of knowing what aspect of aging is affected by lower body temperature," he said.
So button up that sweater, and don't eat so much "fuel" -- is that about right?
I think keeping the house cooler would signal your body to crank up the heat. I know that keeping cooler is recommended for weight loss, for just that reason: your metabolism goes into higher gear, and your body starts burning more fat to maintain body temperature.
Hmm, interesting. You think I'd be really thin then! ;-) I wonder if, then, it doesn't signal the body to store more fat because of the 'crisis'? Still, I'm so accustomed to it that except for the coldest winter days, I can't get used to the 72 that many of my friends set theirs to.
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