Articles in Healthspan

Is science on the cusp of changing the future of disease prevention via  a deeper understanding of an individual’s biology at a molecular level?

The adaptive immune system is responsible for the more complex and optimized immune responses that develop when innate immunity is insufficient to manage a threat. It is the specific immunity we acquire over time as the immune system is challenged with new antigens and learns to deal with them.

In 1958, Jack Preiss and Philip Handler published a scientific paper describing how NAD⁺ was made from niacin in three steps.(1) This pathway was later named the Preiss-Handler pathway after the co-discoverers. It describes the enzyme steps needed to convert niacin into the NAD⁺ molecule.

A recent article in the New York Post suggested that wearing glasses might offer some degree of protection against respiratory viruses. We’ve also read in quite a few places comments about wearing eye protection as a possible respiratory virus prevention suggestion. Is it likely to work?

The gut microbiota influences many aspects of human physiology, from metabolism, to the cardiovascular system or the nervous system, for example. In this article, we focus on the interaction between the gut microbiota and our immune system.

Any way we can boost mitochondria helps us to increase the longevity of our cells and support energy production. In this article, we explore lifestyle habits that improve mitochondrial health and support healthy aging.

Fatty acids are an important fuel for the generation of cell energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Fatty acid oxidation, also known as beta-oxidation, is the metabolic pathway of fatty acid breakdown for energy production. Fatty acids are the primary source of energy for the heart (i.e., the cardiac muscle) and skeletal muscle during rest or moderate physical activity.

The NAD⁺ form of the molecule is required for certain cellular signaling reactions that change the way cells behave. Unlike redox, where the molecule is conserved, the NAD⁺ molecule is broken apart or “consumed” when used for signaling. It’s these NAD⁺ consumption uses that have been a main reason for the resurgence of scientific interest in strategies to boost NAD⁺.

In Silicon Valley, the hub of anti-aging research and funding, countless entrepreneurs and high-profile celebrities use fasting to combat the effects of aging. In Anti-Aging Benefits of Fasting, we will explore the mechanisms that create these fasting benefits. This part is more scientific than the others, but we emphasize only crucial components in an easily digestible format.

Our bodies and brain thrive on short-term acute “stress” exposure by ramping up growth and repair. Here are three science-backed ways to increase resilience with hormesis.

Immunometabolism is the crosstalk between metabolic and immunological processes. Mitochondria, the cellular structures that generate cell energy, are key elements in the crosstalk between metabolic and immune signaling pathways. 

Matt Maruca, CEO of Ra Optics, shares with us 8 steps to optimizing, both mitochondrial and vision health through the power of light

We think you are going to be as excited about this upgrade to Qualia Life as we are. Here’s what’s changed and why.

In this article, we’re going to introduce an indirect way of supporting NAD⁺. Rather than making more, this article will be teaching you about using less. Using less requires downregulating a protein called cluster of differentiation 38 (CD38 for short). When CD38 is not as active, less NAD⁺ is used by it. The result is higher NAD⁺ levels and greater NAD⁺ availability for important healthy aging uses.

Selectively eliminating dysfunctional mitochondria (mitophagy) and replacing them with new mitochondria (mitochondrial biogenesis) helps us stay biologically younger. But what exactly are the functions of mitochondria and how does mitochondrial health affect aging?

In this article, we will take a look at how mitochondrial dysfunction can cause damage to cells and mitochondrial quality control pathways act to prevent or overcome that damage. We will also discuss how aging affects mitochondrial function and nutritional strategies to support it.

On the Collective Insights podcast, Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Dr. Dan Pardi, Daniel Schmachtenberger, and Dr. Dan Stickler share their insights on the difference between beneficial and damaging stress. We answer "What is hormesis?" and "How can we effectively manage stress?" Read on to understand how certain kinds of stress actually benefit the body, and which ones to avoid. 

Any way we can boost mitochondria helps us to increase the longevity of our cells and support energy production. Here we explore temperature and light therapy to improve mitochondrial health and support healthy aging.

As Neurohackers, longevity, in relation to both lifespan and healthspan, is a topic of great interest to us. Scientific understanding in these areas is advancing rapidly as are studies linking algae to longevity.

We all age. But, we don’t all age at the same rate. From a bottom-up point of view, we are a complex colony of tens of trillions of individual cells. We care about what healthier cells allows the body to do better. Qualia Life is our solution to cell support for better aging. 

The salvage pathway is used to produce NAD⁺ from nicotinamide molecules. Whether the source of the nicotinamide is vitamin B3 (as niacinamide), newer nicotinamides (e.g., nicotinamide riboside [NR], nicotinamide mononucleotide [NMN]), or molecules in food that get broken down during digestion into nicotinamide, the salvage pathway turns them into NAD⁺ in our tissues.

Most organisms have several alternatives for producing the NAD⁺ molecule. In humans, there are three major NAD⁺ biosynthesis pathways: the De Novo Pathway, starting from the essential amino acid L-tryptophan; the Preiss-Handler pathway, using niacin (nicotinic acid); and the Salvage Pathway from niacinamide (nicotinamide). In this article, we’ll be covering the De Novo Pathway.

Viruses are everywhere cellular life is present, often in unfathomable numbers. They mutate very often, frequently by recombining with other viruses. This means that new viruses are constantly being generated.

As we’ll learn in this article, viruses are very simple, but despite their simplicity, they are very effective and impressive little creatures. We’ll also learn how our immune system rises to the challenge.   

The citric acid cycle, also known as the Krebs cycle or tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, is a circular loop rotating through eight organic acid intermediates (e.g., citrate, malate, oxaloacetate). This cycle plays a critical role in moving cell energy production forward, because it is the first pathway of the final stage of energy extraction from nutrients, in which carbon units are fully oxidized. The intermediate products formed in this cycle are also used to build molecules including proteins, DNA, and RNA.

To improve our healthcare we need important research that is not being done. Often times health topics aren't studied due to lack of funds and resources. We’ve been asking our podcast guests where the missing research is in the field they are experts in. Read on to find out what they said.