 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 The estimated life span of rhesus monkeys is 25 years, so the monkeys in the study were the human equivalent of 60 to 70 years old. Those on a calorie-restricted diet were fed 30 percent less than the control animals.
Nikolich-Zugich said that people who restrict the number of calories they take in may also live longer because their immune system is "better and stronger." He also said it may be possible to find a drug that mimics calorie restriction that could improve the immune system. "Then, you would not fear viruses," he added.
Nikolich-Zugich is careful to note that improvement in the immune system is only one aspect of calorie restriction that extends life. "I don't think that it is solely the effect on the immune system," he said. "It is likely it is one of the important contributors. Calorie restriction has a beneficial effect on many different cells and tissues."
Text Continues Below
One expert thinks that strengthening the immune system is an important key to extending life.
"These results support the growing body of evidence that the beneficial effects of calorie restriction may be mediated through an anti-inflammatory mechanism," said Todd E. Morgan, a research associate professor at the University of Southern California's School of Gerontology.
The crucial next step will be to determine the molecular mechanism underlying calorie restriction's anti-inflammatory actions, Morgan said.
The monkeys in the project were part of an ongoing study of aging and calorie restriction in rhesus monkeys, conducted by the U.S. National Institute on Aging at the Primate Unit of the U.S. National Institutes of Health Veterinary Research Program.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can tell you more about healthy aging (www.cdc.gov ).
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
|
.gif)
