Lifeboat Foundation

Is there such a thing as a longevity mantra? A routine or set of guidelines that can help you extend your lifespan and healthspan – in a nutshell, giving you more life in your years and more years in your life?

A new study involving over 700,000 US veterans reports that people who adopt eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can expect to live substantially longer than those with few or none of these habits.

While it’s a list full of the usual suspects, having such a large data set has allowed the research team to put some numbers alongside these pillars of longevity.

British health tech startup Twinn Health recently emerged from stealth, boasting an AI-powered platform that analyzes MRI scans to detect preventable disease “earlier than ever before.” Starting with metabolic disease, the company’s AI platform leverages validated imaging biomarkers to improve diagnosis and treatment decisions.

With age-related frailty and liver disease also on its roadmap, Twinn Health is positioning itself squarely in the domain of longevity and preventive healthcare. The company is supported by WAED, a $500 million venture capital fund backed by Saudi Aramco, which invests in innovative tech-based startups.

Longevity. Technology: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used in healthcare for decades and is widely used in hospitals and clinics for the diagnosis and follow-up of disease. In recent years, AI tools have appeared that help identify the presence of specific conditions within MRI scans, but the technology is not yet widely used in healthcare to support healthspan and longevity improvements. Twinn Health aims to change that, combining MRI and AI to enable the early detection and management of multiple age-related diseases. To learn more, we caught up with founder and CEO Dr Wareed Alenaini.

Scientists have found a way to use nanotechnology to create a 3D “scaffold” to grow cells from the retina—paving the way for potential new ways of treating a common cause of blindness.

Researchers, led by Professor Barbara Pierscionek from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), have been working on a way to successfully grow retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells that stay healthy and viable for up to 150 days. RPE cells sit just outside the neural part of the retina, and when damaged, can cause vision to deteriorate. Their work is published in Materials & Design.

It is the first time this technology, called “electrospinning,” has been used to create a scaffold on which the RPE cells could grow, and could revolutionize treatment for one of age-related macular degeneration, one of the world’s most common vision complaints.

Can the fountain of youth come in the form a pill?

Imagine this: a cocktail of specialized chemicals that rejuvenates your whole body, from your eyes and brain to your kidneys and muscles—bringing you back to a more youthful version of yourself.

Continue reading “Breakthrough in Age Reversal” »

The rich world is ageing fast. How can societies afford the looming costs of caring for their growing elderly populations? film supported by @mission.winnow.

00:00 The wealthy world is ageing.
01:17 Japan’s elderly population.
02:11 The problems of an ageing world.
04:01 Reinventing old age.
05:48 Unlocking the potential of older years.
07:09 Reforming social care.
08:20 A community-based approach.
11:08 A fundamental shift is needed.

Continue reading “The true costs of ageing” »

The doctor, podcast host and author of the bestseller “Outlive” says medicine needs to rethink longevity.

A team of researchers has recently claimed to have discovered six chemical cocktails that could help reverse biological aging. Yet these preliminary laboratory results are a long way away from being applied to humans.

Scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered what they believe to be the central mechanism behind cognitive decline associated with normal aging.

“The mechanism involves the mis-regulation of a brain protein known as CaMKII which is crucial for memory and learning,” said the study’s co-senior author Ulli Bayer, PhD, professor of pharmacology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “This study directly suggests specific pharmacological treatment strategies.”

The study was published today in the journal ‘Science Signaling.’

In 2023, several breakthroughs have shaken the academic community. Freezing entire organs to sub-zero temperatures for future transplantation is now a reality.