New way that exercise heals and slows aging....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 6-21-2016

Ever read about experiments showing successful healing using stem cells?

Targeted use of stem cells looks like it will one day be in routine use to repair heart failure and damage from heart attacks that people survive and even damage from severe strokes.

(Medical News Today recently reported research at Stanford using stem cells to repair strokes that literally took people who couldn’t talk and needed institutional care and restored them to normal life.)

These will not be vetted as safe and in general use for many years, unfortunately.

But for partial repair, you can do it today or start next week!

We already know that regular vigorous exercise such as effective strength training and more vigorous short cardio with rests or slow down periods for recovery in between have stunning anti-aging effects.

One study found that people who do this kind of exercise every weeks for years get better heart health readings every year they do them!

Then there was the rather astonishing study at Stanford University.

There was an existing group of over 50 regular exercisers who began as runners but tended to go to other forms of exercise at Stanford to compare to a control group at Stanford who had the same access to good medical care and stable employment as professors or staff at Stanford.

The advantage of the exercisers was quite convincing.  The exercisers aged more slowly.  They lived longer. And they had fewer strokes and heart attacks.

The groups were both advantaged compared to average US adults.  But the exercisers were dramatically healthier and aged more slowly.

From separate studies we also know why this is the case!:

We know that exercised muscles have genes that express the same youthful genetic message as younger ones. 

We know that such exercise causes the development of new mitochondria which keeps the cellular energy and ability to move in exercisers at a much more youthful level.

We know that exercised muscles release BDNF which grows new nerves and brain cells.  So exercise also tends to prevent or even help reverse mental decline

And, we know that all over their bodies, their telomeres stay longer which directly slows aging!

NOW new research has also found that exercised muscles cause the formation and release of new stem cells.

Yesterday, Dr Al Sears sent an email with that news

(Dr Sears created and teaches a form of vigorous short cardio with rests or slow down periods for recovery in between that begins at a very easy and safe level but gradually progresses to more vigorous levels.  He calls it PACE and the P stands for Progressive.)

He begins by saying how very effective such exercise is for growing more mitochondria.

Then he adds the news that exercise also releases stem cells that have healing and repair properties.

Here’s the key quote from his email:  

“Swedish researchers studied what happens in muscle cells during bouts of short, high-intensity exercise.5 They asked a group of people to perform 30 seconds of maximum exertion cycling followed by a brief period of rest.

Repeating this just six times triggered the generation of healthy new mitochondria in ALL of the subjects.

PACE also boosts your supply of stem cells. Your body uses these healthy master cells to regenerate damaged tissue in any organ from your brain to your heart to your liver.

Your reserve of stem cells drops as you age but the right kind of exercise can replenish your supply.

A recent study in the European Heart Journal showed that vigorous exercise in mice activated 60% of their cardiac stem cells. After just two weeks of exercise the mice had a seven percent increase in their cardiomyocytes, the "beating" cells in heart tissue. 6

It works for humans, too. In another study, a simple exercise program made dormant stem cells in the heart leap into action. And amazingly, these new stem cells could help remodel the heart in a group of heart failure patients.7

Other studies show strenuous exercise can lead to high levels of stem cells in bone, liver, and other organs. These stem cells can morph into exactly the kind of cells your body needs.

 They have been shown to help heal heart attacks, stroke, skin burns, and nerve damage from toxins.  They also prevent infections and repair muscle and tissue damage.”

For more serious damage, we may need to wait for the larger, more focused infusion of stem cells for more complete healing.

But for mild heart attacks or the early stages of heart failure or mild strokes, things like brisk walking for a bit and walking a bit slower to catch your breath done several times each week may help cure the damage!

(Of course eating and taking supplements in a way that tends to prevent strokes and heart attacks as you do so is safer and more likely to work!)