Wired has produced an apt description of where science and medicine (and the research arms of both disciplines) stand in relation to making a breakthrough in the study of antiaging. As with many people, I have been unsure about the exact science behind antiaging research and some of the claims of firms promoting so-called antiaging products. Is it all geared towards producing new vitamin formulations, hormone therapies, creams and lotions, and drugs to reverse the aging process? First, the antiaging industry still needs to get free of its "snake oil salesman" reputation. The whole industry is on the verge of self-parody without more serious investigations into useful treatments and less emphasis on selling snake oil. How to Do the Ultimate Aging Study:

Longevity is one of the hottest areas of science, but there’s a curious hole in the research: Scientifically speaking, nobody knows how to measure aging, much less predict reliably how people will respond to time’s ravages.

After all, aging isn’t just chronological. Some people are spry and nimble in their elder years. Others are afflicted by the diseases of aging — heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, dementia and stroke — by middle age.

Many researchers think those diseases are manifestations of a common underlying cause, known conversationally as aging but as yet undefined by science. They call for studies that would gather exhaustive clinical and genetic data from thousands of people over many years, hopefully identifying the biological mechanisms of growing both older and unhealthier.

“Unlike models of drug development for the diseases of aging, which have consensus endpoints to evaluate, we have not reached a consensus in aging,” said gerontologist Don Ingram of the Pennington Biomedical Reseach Center. “We don’t know how to predict how someone will function later in life, and we need to.”

That such a basic gap exists seems counterintuitive. After all, longevity-enhancing research has never been so prominent. Following leads revealed by animals on calorically restricted diets — they tend to live longer, apparently because dietary stress triggers cell-protecting routines that prevent aging diseases — scientists have found genes and pathways that can be targeted by drugs.

Felipe Sierra, director of the National Institute on Aging’s Division of Aging Biology, laments the lack of authoritative studies on the nature of aging in humans. Researchers have had neither the technology nor the long-term understanding of aging factors to proceed.

Sierra noted that — at a moment of cheap gene sequencing and high-powered genome association studies, when desktop computers crunch terabytes of gene and protein data — the most reliable indicator of aging is still whether people look old. It’s hardly scientific.

“The technology has advanced to the point where we should be able to try,” said Sierra.

Ya think? Read it all.

I am always amused when some organization does a study that reveals what common sense and regular life's observations already told us. And very often these ain't-it-obvious research pieces take the obvious to ridiculous lengths -- for example, gun-toting drivers are more prone to road rage, faraway objects are tougher to see, swallowing more than one magnet is dangerous, etc. Here's the latest one and it's all about facial wrinkes: Women are More Prone to Facial Wrinkles Than Men:

Findings from a new study published in the November/December issue of Aesthetic Surgery Journal (ASJ), a publication of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), suggest that gender-specific differences in the perioral skin (skin surrounding the mouth) account for more and deeper skin wrinkling in women than in men. The study, conducted by a team of plastic surgeons from the Netherlands, was presented at the annual meeting of the European Association of Plastic Surgeons last May in Barcelona, Spain.

The study found that all of the following could be contributing factors to the presence of more and deeper perioral wrinkles in women:

    * Women’s perioral skin contains fewer sweat glands and sebaceous glands (microscopic glands in the skin that secrete an oily/waxy matter, called sebum, to lubricate skin and hair), which could influence the natural filling of the dermis (skin).
    * Women’s perioral skin contains fewer blood vessels and, therefore, is less vascularized compared to men, which could accelerate the development of wrinkles.
    * In women, the closer attachment of the muscular fibers surrounding the orifice of the mouth to the dermis may cause an inward traction, thereby creating deeper wrinkles.

Many of my female friends are chuckling over the study. "In addition to this so-called scientific information," one wrote, "keep in mind that men shave everyday and by their grooming habits exfoliate on a regular basis from an early age. There are also hormonal reasons for why women's faces wrinkle more than men. You can run down the list. Every woman knows what these doctors spent a lot of time and effort trying to 'prove'."

Read about the study here.

The September 2009 issue of Nature Genetics carried an interresting research story coming out of Asia -- a scientist at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has discovered a new direction for the creation of anti-wrinkle treatments:

Scientists in Singapore and Germany report that mutations in the PYCR1 gene cause the rare genetic condition that results in premature skin aging and that is known as "wrinkly skin syndrome."

Their findings not only suggest that increasing levels of the PYCR1 protein could reverse conditions that cause fast aging and wrinkly skin but also provide insight into how some unexpected genes help maintain youthful skin.

Bruno Reversade, Ph.D. of Singapore's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) led the international research team that involved collaborations with over 15 hospitals and research centres in 13 countries.

Using bioinformatics tools, Dr. Reversade and his team analyzed DNA samples collected worldwide from patients who, at a young age, displayed signs of premature aging. They identified the PYCR1 gene on chromosome 17 of these patients to be defective and found specific mutations in the gene that led to conditions often seen in elderly people, such as loose skin, loss of bone density, hip dislocation and cataract.

They also determined that skin and bone were the two tissues most severely affected in patients with wrinkly skin syndrome. Since skin and bone contain high levels of the PYCR1 protein under normal circumstances, developing therapies that could increase the activity of the PYCR1 protein could possibly reverse the process of aging in affected individuals or slow it down in normal people.

The scientists found that the PYCR1 protein is located in mitochondria, the cell's "power house," providing energy for the cell's consumption. In their experiments, they observed changes in mitochondrial morphology and cell death in the connective tissues of individuals with PYCR1 mutations.

To determine the effects of reduced levels of PYCR1 protein, the scientists studied the growth of frog and fish models in which the PYCR1 gene had been experimentally shut off. They found that the mitochondrial function in the animal models' skin was altered, and there was also an increased occurrence of cell death.

"Our findings confirm the significance of mitochondrial function in the aging process," said Dr. Reversade. "They also unexpectedly highlight the importance of metabolism as PYCR1 is important in the synthesis of proline, a common amino acid involved in metabolism. Age-defying and anti-wrinkling treatments for common disorders related to ageing may also benefit from sustaining proline metabolism."

Read it all.