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An Anti-Stress Pill that Prevents Your Body from Aging

io9.com — Stress runs down the body's immune system, which is why people with high-stress jobs or events in their lives are vulnerable to illness. Now a researcher at UCLA has discovered the link between emotional stress and physical damage — and she's going to develop a pill that will allow you to endure stress without the nasty side-effects.

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  • pistonhonda, on 07/16/2008, -2/+23Telomerase me up, baby. Forever twenty one won't just be the name of a store.
    • NeelxSarkar, on 07/16/2008, -1/+2Now vampires can stop killing young, beautiful women to suck out their youth.
  • SimonTB, on 07/16/2008, -1/+4Good luck.
    • linagee, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over.
  • tykwondingo, on 07/16/2008, -3/+8this is going to be awesome. especially for family reunions.
  • QuantumBios, on 07/16/2008, -4/+4My ex is a total pill, hence the stress.
  • Fangsinmybeard, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3Now I know why worry lines and pain wrinkles can really represent aging.
  • PoliticalMan922, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3Well it makes sense...Stress takes energy away from the body and that is less energy to be given to the immune system to fight diseases. Interesting article.
  • alapoet, on 07/16/2008, -4/+8Nothing prevents your body from aging. And if it did, we'd hear about somewhere besides Digg.
    • thebassmaster, on 07/16/2008, -3/+7Nothing prevents your body from aging YET. If medical research continues the way it is going, life expectancy is going to rise exponentially over the course of our lifetimes.
      • pauleric, on 07/16/2008, -3/+1Since we only age linearly (not exponentially), that means we're all going to live forever! Yay! And here I was, silly me, thinking the headline was wrong.
    • masterm1nd, on 07/16/2008, -1/+4Preventing aging and drastically slowing it down are two different things. I don't think we will ever 'prevent' aging, but we're well on the way to slowing it down. So far, we can find and 'turn off' the 'aging gene', making test animals live more than 10x longer. We also have many synthetic and synthetically made natural replacements to body parts.
    • theeEqualizer, on 07/16/2008, -3/+0Let's see. The article clearly states:

      "Rita Effros, the researcher who led the UCLA study, believes that she can synthesize a pill that combats stress by putting more telomerase — the substance that builds telomeres — into the body. "

      And a little more searching turns up this info from http://dgsom.healthsciences.ucla.edu:

      "Rita B. Effros is an immunologist who has been at the UCLA School of Medicine since 1979."

      Or this from http://www.bio-medicine.org:

      "Rita Effros, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at ucla, and a member of the Jonsson Cancer Center, Molecular Biology Institute and ucla AIDS Institute"

      But nevermind Rita. Your life's work is without merit. Because someone decided to post an article about it on Digg. And the extra sharp and insightful "alapoet" saw through you.

      Hey alapoet, you might want to use a search engine or two before you go saying inane things.

      Or do you just decry science because your pastor has convinced you that the world is only 6000 years-old?
    • mallikpo, on 07/17/2008, -0/+0I heard about it inside your moms uterus..dang I wish I had some way to verify it
  • ricoboy24, on 07/16/2008, -11/+2When you make ***** like this, Your playing JESUS!!!
    • insanebrain, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4Welcome to the REAL world.
    • GlassAgate, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Or, perhaps Jesus was doing the same exact thing that we are....

      Who is to say Jesus wasn't an ordinary guy who meet up with
      some aliens who gave him futuristic technology. He then showed
      it off to some locals, and called it a miracle.

      Think about it like this:
      compare a person with the best and greatest technology with an Amish
      person. If a group of Amish people didn't know that we existed, we could
      dress up like them, move into their town, and "wow" them with our technology.
      If we ever figure out how to control the weather, or teleport large objects, or
      feed voices into their heads, we may be able to make them think that we are Gods.

      It's actually not that far fetched.

      If you're going to digg me down, please provide a reason.
    • theeEqualizer, on 07/16/2008, -0/+0Actually, JESUS doesn't seem to be getting it done. Hence the need.

      And btw, Jesus didn't create computers or the internet, so he didn't want you to have them. So you'd better get off of both, or you're committing blasphemy, and going to hell because he loves you.
  • e2superman, on 07/16/2008, -3/+5Digg.com: Where Real News* Breaks First




    *certain restrictions apply... don't see site for details (we don't have any).
  • thrallie, on 07/16/2008, -7/+20I already have it. It's called Marijuana.
    • LordSkywalker, on 07/16/2008, -0/+6How about we all stop calling it marijuana and just go with cannabis.
  • Borgcube636, on 07/16/2008, -10/+5Seriously?? An anti-stress PILL?!?!? STOP SUPPORTING THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY!!! You do NOT need a pill for EVERYTHING!! There are much better, healthier, natural ways to deal with stress. Please try waking up with a positive attitude...meditation...sigh, there's so many better ways to heal stress than with a damned pill!
    • gradivus, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2 If it works and is properly prescribed its fine. I know I want some.
    • newms32, on 07/16/2008, -1/+0sounds like someone hasn't tried oxy
    • GlassAgate, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1Borgcube636, you ideas work for some, but not for all. Not all of the pharmaceutical
      companies are completely evil. Just because a company or two does some dirty
      things doesn't mean that they are are evil. Even

      Here's a thought: some people bitch about "bio piracy". Here's a possible
      example: There's a plant, deep in some tropical rain forest, which happens
      to produce a chemical, or chemicals, which can cure some forms of cancer.
      I don't know if one really exists, but for the sake of argument, let us say that
      one does. Now, biologists have tried to grow the seeds in the US, in condition
      controlled environments, but the environment they make aren't good enough to
      grow the plant, so growing it local is out of the question. Also, the plant doesn't
      grow very much, by which I mean that it produces very little offspring. And to
      make a bad situation even worse, it blossoms every 10 years. Let's say, that in
      the end, that there is enough of the cancer killing chemical to save a hundred
      lives a year. That's not a lot. Seeing how there is so very little of it, and a very
      high demand for it, the means that it will be very expensive, so only the rich can
      afford it.

      Now, this plant is a great, great plant. Millions, if not billions, of years of evolution
      produced a plant which can cure some forms of cancer. Now, what happens if
      some sort of fungus sprouts up that kills off the plant? Without a copy of it, we're *****.
      What is needed is to find the specific chemical(s) that cure cancer, and find a way
      to replicate them. This is where the "evil pharmaceutical" companies come in

      So, if you want to travel to some remote part of the world, when someone you know
      develops cancer, to fetch a plant, that will probably be in an area reserved for biologists
      and chemists, then go ahead.

      If my reasoning if not correct, could some of my fellow Diggers fill in my logic
      flaws? Thank you, in advance.

      I don't buy into conspiracy theories. Most of them, if not all of them, can easily be dissolved
      when you apply logic, and basic understandings from a few areas of study to them, such as
      economics, chemistry, and simple math, to them.

    • GlassAgate, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Sorry about the extra "to them" found at the end of the last paragraph.

  • wexmajor, on 07/16/2008, -1/+12I fully expect to live forever at the current rate of medical progression. No I am not setting myself up for a crushing disappointment.
    • GoIgo13, on 07/16/2008, -2/+0I'm sure you mean "forever" in a figurative sense, as not even the protons that comprise matter last forever.
      • gradivus, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2What about electrons and neutrons?
      • TheMoniker, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2As far as I know, the proton has nothing to decay into. There have been several attempts at observing proton decays, but (again, as far as I'm aware) none have been observed to date. While this doesn't mean that they can't decay, it places a lower bound on thier half-life of something ridiculous like 10^38 years (for comparison the universe is something like ~10^10 years old).
      • GoIgo13, on 07/16/2008, -0/+0We can't observe proton decay because it takes a googol years for it to happen.

        Photons last longer, but even those will decay as well. Ultimately, the universe will be a void sterilized of all matter.

        So it's impossible to live "forever" since matter itself ultimately expires.
      • ShakeWell, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1why does that matter? by that time, we can all just trade in for a new set of protons.
    • Tralobyte, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2Would you like some statistics about dying from a car accident? I seriously doubt we're going to be alive during a medical breakthrough like you're talking about, but even if we do, everyone will still die, eventually.
      • GoIgo13, on 07/16/2008, -0/+0Of course even if a person could never die of old age or disease, something else would get them in the end. Accident, murder, natural disaster, meteor chunk that burns up to the size of a softball on reentry with your name on it, etc.

        Something would get you eventually.
    • CosmicJustice, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1"No I am not setting myself up for a crushing disappointment."
      Yes you are.
  • huaone, on 07/16/2008, -7/+3is the pill made out of... marijuana?
  • ptFoe, on 07/16/2008, -1/+3What ***** lame spam artice.
    I am going to develop a pill that blah blah blah ....
  • l31101, on 07/16/2008, -1/+5We already have this. Everybody has a different names for it, but the end result is the same. I call mine Heineken.
  • dalnet22, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1Wonder what the side effects will be.
  • Budro3, on 07/16/2008, -4/+2"How do you feel about marijuana in a pill?" - Doug Benson - Super High Me
  • elblinguino, on 07/16/2008, -5/+13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ./ It’s a trap!
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  • Tyrghast, on 07/16/2008, -4/+3Smoking your cares away will result in higher quality of life. Also, your kids wont end up with psychological and physical abnormalities from all the lab created chemicals you've been pumping in to yourself.
  • dhVyse, on 07/16/2008, -2/+5Yeah and lightning sometimes shoots out of my ass.
  • insanemike, on 07/16/2008, -2/+3The True® girls in the sidebar seem to always stay the same age: 18 and ready to flirt.
  • CptSaladin, on 07/16/2008, -1/+3I heard it also burns fat, raises your charisma, empowers you sexually, and helps you forget painful memories! I mean, why take personal responsibility and take control over your own life?
  • NiGHTSChao, on 07/16/2008, -2/+1Sounds like SOMA
    Now I can totally ***** up my brain and not have side effects!
  • KIERANMULLEN, on 07/16/2008, -8/+3Morpheus: I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
    Neo: You could say that.
    Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
    Neo: No.
    Morpheus: Why not?
    Neo: 'Cause I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
    Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind -- driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
    Neo: The Matrix?
    Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
    (Neo nods his head.)
    Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
    Neo: What truth?
    Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.
    (In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)
    Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill) Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.
    (Neo takes the red pill and swallows it with a glass of water)
  • prodromus, on 07/16/2008, -1/+12This article is misleading, telomere length being correlated to age is nothing new. But making a pill to lengthen them is more easily said than done. The problem in this day and age isn't finding drug targets, it's finding substances that hit the target and only the target, have low side effects, aren't toxic, are absorbed by the body and that can be synthesized easily.

    Also, the article fails to mention that cancerous cells have longer telomeres as well so while you are lengthening them throughout the body to increase longevity you need to make sure not to cause spontaneous tumor generation.
    • CosmicJustice, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Exactly. Getting from theory to product can be a long road that often runs into a dead end.
  • tchynerd, on 07/16/2008, -1/+2What do you think the odds are that it will cause cancer, give you bad breath and give you constant paranoia?
    • Wartyboskfapped, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2I already have all those anyway.
  • samssf, on 07/16/2008, -1/+4It really is amazing how little the average person understands about human physiology, psychology, the immune system, etc. Want to live longer? Get a good education and study physiology and psychology. Understanding how it is that companies successfully market products that you don't need, how to save money, why its actually impossible to lose more than 6 - 8lbs of fat a month despite what you hear on tv, overcoming FUD, raising kids correctly, relationship dynamics, etc.... will eliminate a whole lot more stress than taking a damn pill. Might even help out in other ways too.
  • wildfire, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1Update: Scientist dies from stress of creating anti-stress pill. Irony was unavailable for comment.
  • Wartyboskfapped, on 07/16/2008, -2/+1It makes your balls go black and fall off, though.
  • mal1964, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1Your inner-self is manifesting itself on the outside
  • spookyttws, on 07/16/2008, -3/+1All of a sudden the lack of hover cars, and jet packs is alright. We really are entering the 'future'.

    And realistically, the idea of driving anything hovering, and crashing/losing power/any single problem is unbelievably dumb to begin with. Following that logic, having a real time machine, no matter what the consequences is the single most idiotic idea ever imagined. Can you see a world where one exists (realistically) would you trust anyone with the power (especially the government) to change history, even if it simply resulted in parallel universes? Has to be the dumbest idea ever. But I digress.
  • 0Xonox0, on 07/16/2008, -2/+3The world is overpopulated. We can hardly feed the six billion that currently live here. We are destroying the planet for the sake of continuing our extreme population growth. The one thing that keeps chaos in check is our mortality rate. Before we eliminate death, we must first eliminate poverty, war, and so many things that plague the human race. Otherwise it won't be a future worth living in.
  • FreshPineSent, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1For some reason, I doubt that.
  • pbrubaker, on 07/16/2008, -1/+2What could possibly go wrong?
  • Wujian01, on 07/16/2008, -1/+0I worried if there's side effect!
    Plenty of pills out there.

    Just go for vacation to relaese our stress
  • dafunkmonster, on 07/16/2008, -1/+4Great, now we can live long enough to develop 18 varieties of cancer instead of dying of old age.
    • newms32, on 07/16/2008, -2/+0You do know that people don't "die of old age," right?
      • dafunkmonster, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2Actually, they do. It's called cancer, and it happens more often with cells that don't "die out" when they run out of telomeres. If the cell doesn't stop reproducing after this, then they are at severe risk for becoming cancerous cells.

        It's just that, today, we can't deal with the fact that people aren't supposed to be immortal, and so we try and prevent every single cause of death, including one's own stupidity. Cancer isn't a disease, its a person's body screwing up en route to its inevitable end. What used to be labeled as "death from natural causes" is now "victim of cancer".

        Given the fact that we don't even know how to prevent leukemia, I really don't think its a good idea to go around trying to give ourselves infinite telomeres.
  • GoIgo13, on 07/16/2008, -1/+0Wonder if this will cause cancer.
  • bigbangbuddha, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1Do a little research and you'll find that the idea of this being a longevity drug is quite off. Telomeres, the RNA that she claims to be boosting is only significantly present in a handful of cells in the human body. Yes increasing it would increase the ability for these cells to reproduce (indefinitely) , such as being able to heal from cuts easier, but one thing she is not telling you is that Telomeres are prevalent in all cancer cells, its why cancer is so relentless. Normal cells can only reproduce a few dozen times before they wear out (thus we age) while those with high telomerase levels can reproduce hundreds or thousands of times. What this drug will do is most likely give any cancerous growth the feul it needs to keep going. Also, since most cells are unaffected (or minimally so) by this compound it would be pointless to take the drug as a means to stop aging, we would have to reprogram the dna of most of our body to accept it and use it the way cancers do. I'm sure she is onto something with it being a stress reducer but its far from the fountain of youth and without serious (extensive) research into how it effects cancer, don't sign up for any drug trials.
  • cnycompguy, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1I don't know whats up here with all these people who are afraid of medical advancements.
    Just doesn't make sense to me.
    • CosmicJustice, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1Nobody is "afraid of medical advancements". Just calling BS. Call me back when I can pick up the pills at Walgreens.
  • Twee, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Isn't that stupid CortiSlim supplement supposed to get rid of your stubborn belly fat by eliminating cortisol? I wonder if this pill will be the same ***** that doesn't work.
  • Key2gb, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1she's making a THC pill?..they have those at festivals
  • Chronodigg, on 07/16/2008, -1/+0Stress causes the body to go into immunosupression, which basically makes you ill a lot less, if you remove the stress then you're likely to get ill - fast. It's one of the reasons people in high-stress jobs have low life expectancies after they retire, this is both fake and annoying, beta blockers, which is what this essentially seems to be, do not help you live longer, infact they can make you both listless and prone to illness.
  • Chtiwi, on 09/18/2008, -0/+1find out if you are stressed http://www.answercage.com/questions/are_you_stress ...
  •  

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