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| Flickr.com |
How well we
are aging? That question is often pondered upon but, till now there was no readily
available tests to measure our cellular age and compare it with the chronological
age. Telomere Diagnostics(TDx), a molecular testing company based in Silicon
Valley, California has launched Teloyears. It is home based, easy to use test that requires just a drop of blood sent to the lab, where the telomers in White
Blood Cells (WBC) are analyzed and the results are mailed back in 6 weeks. The
results show that how well or bad you are aging as compared to others of your
age and gender, along with insights into improving it.
One of the
TDx founder, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, was recipient
of 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine and a trailblazer in molecular biology. It’s
been more than two decades that numerous research papers have well established the
importance of measuring Average Telomere Length (ATL) as a predictor of overall
health.
The New York Times bestselling book is coauthored by the Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn who discovered telomerase and telomeres'
role in the aging process and the health psychologist who has done original
research into how specific lifestyle and psychological habits can protect
telomeres, slowing disease and improving life. Get the bestseller by Dr Elizabeth Blackburn
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| Teloyears |
Unlike other
genetic test which just tells you about traits or risk for a particular
disease, knowing telomere length is much more dynamic because personal lifestyle
interventions can slow down or even reverse the aging. In fact, it is known that
stress, serious illness or infection can accelerate the telomere shortening and
during period of good health the shortening is slowed down. Along with your results, you also receive
expert guidance from ‘Telocoach’ to establish your own custom lifestyle
improvement plan based on telomere science. It’s way beyond the routine cholesterol
test or tracking ordinary vital signs.
Studies have
shown that it’s possible to slow down aging by managing diet, exercise, stress
and sleep.
Telomeres
are protective caps at the end of our DNA stands. If we imagine that the DNA
strand is a big ladder with millions of rungs, telomeres are few thousand rungs
at the end of each strand that keep it from ‘unzipping’ and protect the genes
which are in the middle of the ladder. Remember the stopper like thing at the
end of ordinary zipper, telomeres are just like that.
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| https://beautyblackbook.com |
As we age,
the telomere shorten because of repeated division and a stage comes when they
can no longer replicate and become “senescent” which is the cellular equivalent
of aging. There is growing evidence (nearly 20,000 peer reviewed publications) that
shortened telomeres are related to many chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular
diseases. Average telomere length is associated with risk of cardiovascular
disease independent of other vascular risk factors.
The company
wants to increase awareness among consumers and physician about the Teloyears
test, so that it is integrated in annual physical exams, as the information it
provides can help change the life style.
It will also
help physician in managing individual patients as the Telomere blueprint is
different for each one of us.
It is worth
noting that Teloyears test does not replace age appropriate medical tests recommended
by physicians based on your risk profile or age, nor does the results should be
used in making any treatment decisions for existing medical conditions.
Telomere
Diagnostics has successfully resolved the lawsuit it brought to prevent
Titanovo from using the patented technology behind the TeloYears™ genetic test
for cellular age. In response to the lawsuit, Titanovo has taken down its
website and ceased all sales and distribution of all of its products and
services.
Teloyears has not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.
Here is a video about Telomere length by Teloyears.
