Vitamins and Supplements Funded Research
Life Extension Foundation members are a dedicated group of individuals who adopt aggressive measures to help retard age-related disease, including consuming an optimal diet, the prudent use of dietary supplements, a sound exercise program, and the replacement of hormones that decline with age (such as DHEA and human growth hormone). By staying healthy now, Foundation members hope to avail themselves of longevity breakthroughs that will be the outcome of medical research occurring over the next few decades.
The Life Extension Foundation contributes to medical research in two ways: by conducting clinical studies of vitamins and supplements in order to determine the best vitamins and dietary supplements to make available to Life Extension Foundation members, and by funding research in the field of gerontology. Both of these areas will help accelerate the development and availability of long-awaited anti-aging supplements.
Recent research funded by the Life Extension Foundation was summarized in Life Extension magazine's The Life Extension Foundation: At the Forefront of Longevity Research and Life Extension's Visionary Plan to Conquer Aging and Death articles.
What follows is a history of the Life Extension Foundation’s support of critical studies that will contribute to all of us living longer and healthier lives.
Nutritional Supplements on the Frontiers of Science
The Life Extension Foundation was formed in December, 1981 for the purpose of supporting research aimed at extending the healthy human life span. The Foundation's policy is to award grants to scientists who are personally committed to extending the human life span, as these dedicated professionals take extraordinary steps to make their research as cost-effective as possible. We also are careful to commit our research dollars to projects that are difficult or impossible to fund with conservative government and institutional grants. This enables our grant dollars to accomplish a lot more than most government-sponsored research, which tends to be conservative, is often wasteful, and is, in some cases, useless.
Funding PROJECT 2000
In 1985, The Life Extension Foundation launched PROJECT 2000 to research mechanisms by which human aging could be slowed. Following are the 15 initial grants that were made by The Foundation in 1985-1986:*
Richard G. Cutler, Ph.D.
National Institute on Aging, Gerontology Research Center
Baltimore, MD
Grant Total: $38,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Cutler worked at The National Institute on Aging developing the Gerontology Research Center SOD-transgenic mouse. The purpose of such research was to enable scientists to learn about the role of SOD in aging, and whether SOD-enhancing therapies could slow aging.
Joan Smith-Sonneborn, Ph.D.
University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY
Grant Total: $42,000.00
Purpose: Smith-Sonneborn sought to apply genetic engineering techniques to the study of aging. She was striving to learn the role of DNA repair in aging and whether manipulation of DNA genes could extend life.
Don Ingram, Ph.D.,
Research Psychologist
National Institute on Aging, Gerontology Research Center
Baltimore, MD
Grant Total: $15,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Ingram investigated the transplantation of brain tissue from young to old animals. This research held the promise of new therapies to treat brain disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and aging itself.
Gregory M. Fahy, Ph.D.
American Red Cross
Bethesda, MD
Grant Total: $20,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Fahy pioneered the development of a new method of low-temperature cell preservation called vitrification. This research was aimed at perfecting the long-term preservation of hearts, kidneys and livers for transplant.
Allan Goldenstein, Ph.D., Chairman, Dept. of Biochemistry
George Washington University
Washington D.C.
Grant Total: $25,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Goldstein researched the role of the thymus gland as it related to aging and cancer. He discovered thymosin, the thymus gland hormone that plays a major role in regulating the immune system. Thymosin was approved as a drug in Europe, but rejected by the FDA.
Richard Weindruch, Ph.D.
UCLA Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA
Grant Total: $25,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Weindruch conducted research on calorie restriction and sought methods to manipulate diet in order to prevent diseases, such as heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, hypertension, cancer and aging.
Paul Segall, Ph.D. and
Paola Timiras, Ph.D.
University of California at Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Grant Total: $25,000.00
Purpose: Drs. Segall and Timiras pioneered research showing a tryptophan-deficient diet early in life slowed down aging in mice. They sought to identify the mechanisms of action that enabled tryptophan-deficient mice to live longer.
Alexander S. Sun, Ph.D.
Dept of Neoplastic Sciences,
Mt. Sinai Medical Center
New York, NY
Grant Total: $16,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Sun discovered an enzyme that is present in high amounts in normal aging cells; he sought out an inhibitor to that enzyme.
George C. Webster, Ph.D.
Florida Institute of Technology
Melbourne, Florida
Grant Total: $16,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Webster discovered a specific chemical compound that appeared to be responsible for the loss of protein synthesis that occurs with aging. He worked on a method that would neutralize this chemical so that youthful cellular protein synthesis could be maintained throughout life.
David Harrison, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
The Jackson Laboratory
Bar Harbor, ME
Grant Total: $25,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Harrison investigated how removal of the pituitary gland rejuvenates laboratory animals and is working to develop tests to measure aging in animals.
Mike Darwin
ALCOR Foundation
Riverside, CA
Grant Total: $56,000.00
Purpose: Mike Darwin investigated methods of protecting brain cells against the effects of blood flow loss and suspended animation techniques.
Matthew Witten, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Louisville, KY
Grant Total: $15,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Witten worked on developing a computer model to measure aging.
Eugene Breznock, Ph.D.,
Prof. of Veterinary Medicine
University of California at Davis
Davis, CA
Also Director, BioSurg, Inc.)
Grant Total: $20,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Breznock worked on developing a primate (monkey) colony to study aging and suspended animation.
Eric Drexler, Research Associate
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA
Grant Total: $8,000.00
Purpose: Dr. Drexler worked on molecular engineering (nanotechnology) projects as a means of extending life-span
All of this research came to a crushing halt on February 26, 1987, when the FDA raided The Foundation's facilities. The FDA seized most of the supplements we were selling to support the research and then launched a full-scale criminal investigation and prosecution that lasted until 1996 (when the U.S. Attorney's Office dropped the case completely).
The Critical Care Research Project
In 1993, The Life Extension Foundation initiated funding to a Southern California laboratory that was making significant progress in protecting against the damage that normally occurs to cells when blood flow is interrupted. As most people know, any disruption of blood flow (ischemia) causes severe cellular metabolic disturbances that often result in irreversible damage and eventual death. Nowhere is this ischemic damage more pronounced than in brain cells, where just a few minutes of blood deprivation results in cognitive dysfunction, paralysis and death.
The progress made in protecting against ischemic cellular damage has been so impressive that we've increased funding to The Critical Care Research Project every single year. We believe their work will produce a major breakthrough in protecting against the most common cause of death: lack of blood flow to the brain and other organs.
One of the great fears people have of undergoing surgical procedures is the risk of neurological impairment induced by blood flow disruption. The scientists working at The Critical Care Research Project have developed medical techniques that could greatly reduce surgical complications and neurological impairment. This new technology will also enable more victims of sudden heart attack, stroke or trauma to be revived without permanent brain damage.
When people die during surgery, it is often due to a complication that surgeons are unable to correct in time before irreversible brain damage occurs. If the technologies funded by The Life Extension Foundation were utilized in these patients, surgeons would have several hours to correct the complication, rather than just several minutes as is now the case.
It is well known that normal aging results in reduced blood flow to the brain, and that this circulatory deficit is a primary cause of diseases ranging from mild cognitive decline to senility. The discoveries being made at The Critical Care Research Project have enabled The Life Extension Foundation to develop better formulas for healthy people to take today in order to protect against aging-induced reduced blood flow to the brain.
An exciting breakthrough made at The Critical Care Research Project is an Automated Liquid Ventilation System that can lower whole-body temperature extremely rapidly with an automated system that introduces cooled liquid perflurocarbon into the lungs without causing lasting injury.
The kind of rapidly-induced hypothermia that's possible with this liquid ventilation system could save the lives of large numbers of people who suffer heart attacks, strokes and severe closed head injuries. The system could also be used in-hospital to give doctors extra time to perform intensive surgical procedures.
The Critical Care Research Project has generated several anti-ischemia drug cocktails, an automated induced-hypothermia system, and an advanced cardiopulmonary rescue system which have the potential of saving the lives of millions of people.
Genetic Antiaging Research, University of California at Riverside
The length of an animal's life is regulated by the amount of food they eat. The more calories they eat, the faster they age. Not only do they age faster, but they are also more likely to die of cancer and develop heart disease and diabetes. The reverse also applies: the fewer the calories consumed (provided malnutrition is avoided), the slower an animal ages, the lower the death rate from cancer, and the lower the rate of heart disease and diabetes. These relationships are found in organisms as diverse as mammals, insects and worms. Even though these surprising results were originally reported back in 1935, the mechanisms of action of caloric restriction are only now beginning to be understood. It appears that calorie restriction may produce many changes in organisms that together lead to better health and to a longer life.
In Dr. Spindler's laboratory at the University of California at Riverside, one of the areas of focus is the effects of caloric restriction and eating on metabolism. Dr. Spindler has found that aging reduces the ability of the liver to function properly. Caloric restriction seems to restore the ability of the liver to carry out its functions efficiently. Research is continuing to investigate the manner in which caloric restriction achieves this restoration of function.
In other studies, Dr. Spindler has explored the effects of aging and caloric restriction on certain stress genes. One of the things he's found in old age is that stress gene expression seems to increase to a higher level, but that caloric restriction decreases this type of expression. Dr. Spindler's studies suggest that lower levels of stress gene expression may be related to less damage to the kidney and blood vessels during aging.
As you can imagine, Dr. Spindler thinks that a proper diet, supplements and under eating is very important to remaining younger longer. Research funding by the Life Extension Foundation for Dr. Spindler's lab is aimed at a method of assessing the effects on aging of drugs, nutrients and tissue transplants, and the subsequent use of this approach in the search for authentic antiaging therapies. This research will be using the new scientific method developed by Drs. Richard Weindruch and Tomas Prolla of the University of Wisconsin to study gene expression during aging. It involves assessing the expression of thousands of genes at a time with high-tech micro-array gene chips in normally-fed and calorically restricted animals. The long-term objective of this research is the development of a validated antiaging therapy that would act to prevent cancer, heart disease, stroke and other age-related diseases, while adding years of health and youth to the human life span.
Cell, Tissue and Organ Preservation Project
The Life Extension Foundation has provided extensive funding for another Southern California laboratory called 21st Century Medicine that is developing advanced methods of supercooling cells, tissues and organs for medical uses, such as kidney, heart, cornea and liver transplants. This technology will also improve the freezing of human and animal sperm for artificial insemination. The chief scientist for this project, Dr. Gregory M. Fahy, is the world's foremost cryopreservation expert. Dr. Fahy formerly worked in the American Red Cross' research laboratories. He and fellow staff member Dr. Brian Wowk are the world's leading experts on ice control.
Drs. Fahy and Wowk have developed the first two agents ever found to block the formation of ice in concentrations as low as one part per million. It is well known that there is a critical shortage of available organs for transplant. Most people who need heart or liver transplants die before a suitable organ becomes available. A major reason why more organs aren't available is that the preservation methods are so archaic that many potentially transplantable organs cannot be used. The advanced preservation methods being developed at the 21st Century Medicine laboratory in Rancho Cucamonga will enable hearts, kidneys and livers to be maintained in a viable condition for far longer time periods than current preservation techniques allow. This will result in tens of thousands of organs being transplanted into humans who would otherwise die.
The main goal of research currently being conducted is to demonstrate that it is possible to cool entire organs to cryogenic temperatures, store them as long as may be desired, and show that they can provide useful function in the body. In addition to the synthetic ice-blockers developed by Drs. Fahy and Wowk, Foundation funds have been used to support scientists at The University of Notre Dame who have discovered a natural beetle antifreeze protein that could be the best cryoprotective agent yet. This is yet another of the technologies that will be used to improve and perfect advanced cryopreservation methods.
Funding Health and Nutrition Research
The Life Extension Foundation does not receive government funding, nor has it pursued public donations. Instead, members support the Foundation's innovative, path-breaking health and nutrition research projects primarily by purchasing their dietary supplements through The Life Extension Buyers Club. The Buyers Club offers the best vitamins and supplements - years ahead of the rest of the supplement industry.
Unlike other nutritional supplements companies that spend their profits to grow their businesses, the Life Extension Foundation uses the proceeds from product sales to support innovative scientific research to extend the healthy human life span, and to protect the health freedom of Americans. Since little money is spent on advertising, The Foundation depends on its members for referrals of people they know who could benefit from the integrated approach to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This is the primary way The Foundation continues to grow.
It is essential that The Foundation increase the amount of scientific research we fund in order to gain total control over human aging (and the diseases of aging) by the year 2020. It will be too late for most of our members if we fail to accomplish this goal by 2020.
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