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"Double stress" and CRON

 
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A1CR
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Joined: 18 Jan 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:16 pm    Post subject: "Double stress" and CRON Reply with quote


Air and water pollution affect our health and longevity in impactful ways. Because awareness of immediate, harmful contaminants is not common knowledge, environmental health often seems beyond our control. With proper tools and techniques, you can inform yourself about the presence of hazardous compounds around you and in you. With CRON, you may be able to mitigate some the health risks imposed by these pollutants.

A useful tool for gauging the environmental conditions in a particular US location is Scorecard:

http://www.scorecard.org/

Put in your US zip code ... and hold your breath -- perhaps, literally Wink

Bloodwork tests, such as those offered by MetaMetrix and similar labs, sometimes reveal the presence of certain environmental toxins in an individual. A member of the CR Society once reported that his tests indicated a higher-than-normal concentration of xylene (a derivative of #2 heating oil). The presence of this compound is not surprising because this person resides in the Northeastern US, an area of the country where #2 heating oil is more frequently used.

An important question is:

Since CR already stresses the body somewhat, are CRONies more or less at risk from environmental toxins/stressors? That is, beyond "optimal" hormesis -- again, with respect to CRONies. Such "double stress"* -- whether the other (non-CR-related) stress is environmental, psychological, prolonged illness, excessive sleep deprivation, etc. -- may effectively "undo" some of CR's benefits.

All that said, CR'd lab animals that are deliberately subjected to environmental stress or toxins usually live longer and healthier. An example of this comes from a study on Alzheimer’s disease:


Quote:
In Alzheimer’s disease, molecular reactions are thought to kill cells in the hippocampus, a brain area important for memory. The images above show what happens when researchers inject a toxin into the hippocampus of rats that stirs up similar deadly reactions. They found that cells in rats that ate a regular diet degenerated while cells in rats that ate a calorie-restricted diet resisted the toxin. [In the images above] Notice the difference in the amount of cells near the yellow arrow toward the right of each image. Furthermore, the researchers found that the unrestricted eaters suffered from severe learning and memory deficits similar to Alzheimer’s patients, but the restricted rats showed little or no deficits. This work and other studies in animals suggest that caloric restriction may be able to protect the brain from some aspects of brain disease.

For more details on the Alzheimer’s study above, visit:
http://apu.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainBriefings/caloricrestriction.html

Conclusion:

In "harsh" environmental conditions or during prolonged illness, a CRON lifestyle may lead to some health-compromising effects. On the other hand, CRON may, in fact, be "necessary" in a world filled with diesel emissions and UV rays.


*Please note that the term "double stress" is used to simplify this discussion. There may very well be more than two concurrent stressors.

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