Lower core body temperature linked with extended lifespan

Email this article to a friend

Printable Version

Articles Related to This Article: • Calorie restriction appears better than exercise at slowing primary aging (press release) • Researchers Study Whether Cutting Calories May Help You Live Longer (press release) • Calorie Restriction in Non-Human Primates May Prevent, Reduce Alzheimer’s Neuropathology (press release) Sign the Health Revolution Petition Join the call for genuine health freedom in America. End FDA tyranny and Big Pharma corruption. Watch the video and sign the petition here.

(NaturalNews) A report appearing in the Nov. 3 issue of the journal Science states that lowering the core temperature of mice increased their lifespan by about 15 percent, casting new light on the debate over the role of lower body temperature from calorie restriction and its association with lifespan.

Restricting mammals' caloric intake has prolonged life in previous studies, but scientists are not sure why. The associated lowering of core body temperature may be the reason, said lead study author Bruno Conti, associate professor at Scripps Research Institute in California.

The mice were bioengineered to produce large quantities of uncoupling protein 2, which subsequently tricked the hypothalamus -- the thermostat of mammals' bodies -- into believing the outside temperature was high, and subsequently cooling the mice by 32.54 to 32.9 degrees Fahrenheit to compensate.

When allowed to eat as much food as they wanted, the female bioengineered mice lived 20 percent longer than controls, and were about the same weight. The male bioengineered mice's lifespan was increased by 12 percent when compared to controls, although their weight increased by about 10 percent. The researchers theorized that they need less energy to maintain body temperature.

Dr. John O. Holloszy, a professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis and a calorie restriction expert, said the study was "ingenious and original," but had some flaws.

He pointed out that, while calorie restriction actually extends life span, this study only showed that lowering body temperature allows mice to reach old age. He added that, "the paper gave no information about what the animals died from, so there is no way of knowing what aspect of aging is affected by lower body temperature."

Conti did not take the results of the study lightly, noting future researchers should proceed carefully.

"This study is showing a way of life extension that is independent of calorie restriction," he said. "It has not elucidated the actual methods of body temperature control. The reduction (in temperature) was very small, so we do not know what the effect would be if it were larger."

###

Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter

Related CounterThink Cartoons:

Related Articles: • Calorie restriction appears better than exercise at slowing primary aging (press release) • Researchers Study Whether Cutting Calories May Help You Live Longer (press release) • Calorie Restriction in Non-Human Primates May Prevent, Reduce Alzheimer’s Neuropathology (press release)	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/020984_calorie_restriction_life_span_lifespan.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. Embed article link: (copy HTML code below): <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/020984_calorie_restriction_life_span_lifespan.html">Lower core body temperature linked with extended lifespan</a>