Read More at Fight Aging! Researchers here show that, in mice, intermittent fasting can protect against the damage done by cardiovascular aging that leads to a reduced blood supply to the brain. Forms of calorie restriction, such as intermittent fasting, are generally beneficial for long term health. This is well demonstrated in both mice and humans, though only short-lived species exhibit significant gains in life span as a result. It is interesting to note the opinion that intermittent fasting may be better than straight calorie restriction when it comes to mitigation of pathological mechanisms in neurodegenerative conditions. Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) embodies a spectrum of cognitive deficits that range from mild cognitive impairment to vascular dementia (VaD). VCI is associated with cerebrovascular diseases that arise from vascular pathological processes such as atherosclerosis, microvascular protein deposits, haemorrhages and microbleeds. These vascular…
Cellular Senescence in Vascular Smooth Muscle Accelerates Medin Aggregation
Read More at Fight Aging! Medin is one of a number of different amyloids that form in aging tissue, each a protein that can misfold in ways that encourage other molecules of the same protein to do the same, aggregating together to form solid deposits. Some amyloids are evidently toxic and disease-associated, while others, like medin, originally appeared more innocuous. It isn’t harmless, however, just more subtle. Recent research suggested a pathological role for medin amyloid in Alzheimer’s disease, in that it accelerates the aggregation of amyloid-β. Further, there is evidence for medin aggregation to contribute to cerebrovascular dysfunction. On that topic, researchers here note that cellular senescence in the vascular smooth muscle of blood vessel walls can provoke greater medin aggregation in that tissue, providing a link between those two distinct mechanisms of aging. Vascular amyloidosis, caused when peptide…
Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Become Prone to Altered Behavior with Age
Read More at Fight Aging! The altered signaling environment in aged tissue produces changes in cell behavior, some of which is adaptive and helpful, and some of which is maladaptive and harmful. In some cases the same process can be one or the other depending on context. Cellular senescence, for example, is helpful in the contexts of cancer suppression and regeneration from injury, but only up until the point at which senescent cells are no longer removed as rapidly as they are created, at which point their continued, unrelenting pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signaling contributes to many of the forms of tissue dysfunction observed in aging. Vascular smooth muscle is vital to the operation of the vasculature, determining blood pressure via appropriate contraction and dilation of blood vessels in response to environmental cues. Today’s open access paper is focused on the ways…
‘I’m a Vascular Doctor, and These Are the 10 Best Compression Socks for Travel’
Read More at Well+Good It’s officially one of the busiest times of year to travel. Not only are we looking at long flights and road trips—but also long wait times and layovers, too. Basically, if you plan on traveling soon, be prepared to sit. A lot. If you’re just settling back into a life on the road (or in the air), we highly recommend you gear yourself with flight essentials to make life more comfortable, like your neck pillow, a book, and comfortable shoes. But perhaps the most important (yet forgotten) travel must-have of all: compression socks. The best compression socks, at a glance: Best overall: Comrad Knee-High Compression Socks, $28 Best budget: Charmking Copper Compression Socks (Pack of 3), $14 Best style: Bombas Performance Compression Socks, $36 Best medical: Jobst Relief Knee High 20-30 mmHg Compression Socks, $36 Best…
A Short Tour of Scientific Thought on Vascular Aging
Read More at Fight Aging! The aging of the vasculature, set aside from any other part of the body, arguably kills the largest fraction of humanity at the present time. It isn’t just the dysfunctions of macrophages that lead to atherosclerotic plaque, and the narrowing of blood vessels and stroke and heart attack. It isn’t just the declining density of capillary networks, reducing blood supply to energy-hungry tissues. It isn’t just blood-brain barrier leakage and the consequent inflammation of the brain, or the stiffening of arteries that causes hypertension and remodeling of the heart. The vasculature is so vital that a great many mechanisms compete in their ability to cause harm with advancing age and the growing burden of cell and tissue damage. Aging represents the main risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) which carries the highest burden for the…