Jim Warner's World Undressed

Anti Aging – Marketing Hype and Emerging Science

Forever Young

 

 

 

Just what does the term Anti Aging mean anyway?

Just mention the term Anti aging and watch the eyes start to roll. The significance of the term Anti Aging is losing traction with the public at large due to the co opting of the term by mass marketing interests. The mainstream association seems limited to exploiting a cultural obsession with looking and feeling younger.

In the context of medicine, Anti Aging refers to the early detection, prevention or treatment of age related diseases. Drugs targeting specific cures or prevention of age related diseases using emerging technologies, are only now entering clinical trials and are still years away from FDA approval. That hasn’t stopped Pharmaceutical companies from investing billions acquiring that technology based on its early promise and the vastness of the potential market. In the near term, however, some impressive nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products are currently entering the market that can demonstrably slow down the natural aging processes of the body in much the same manner. While mass marketers are understandably focused on appealing to the vanity of aging baby boomers by associating the term anti aging with products that attack the signs of aging such as wrinkles. The legitimate value is in the products offered by companies with the ability to not only increase life span but improve health span, by measurably influencing the cellular and genetic sources of aging using these scientifically valid technologies.

Anti aging in terms of current scientific reference has much to do with emerging research around the notion of modulating gene expression in order to manipulate the cellular level aging processes of the human body. Some scientists foresee a common lifespan of 120 – 150 years as feasible in the near future, but who wants to look or feel that age in the current paradigm. The more meaningful discussion is probably one of Health Span over Life Span in terms of what Anti Aging or perhaps more appropriately, “Graceful Aging” means to the common man.

Since the late nineties a lot of published scientific work has emerged around the observed effects of Caloric Restriction or CR on the body’s natural aging process. Scientists have become aware that CR, in certain animals under study, extended the usual lifespan of those animals and resulted in less disease and obvious signs of aging. With further study it has become clear that many of these same effects occur in humans who undertake a Calorie Restricted Diet.

With the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 the research on this phenomenon has taken a quantum leap forward. Scientists have been examining ways to fool the body, and more specifically, certain types of  gene clusters, into reacting in the same manner as if the body was experiencing a Caloric Restriction.

Recently developed technologies allow scientists to monitor the vibrancy or level of Gene Expression in response to various stimuli – thus giving them the ability to manipulate – or more accurately – modulate specific gene expressions. These modulations can increase gene expression having positive impacts on cellular aging functions and can lower gene expression exhibiting a negative impact on cellular aging function. When done properly, an optimization of cellular renewal occurs resulting in fewer symptoms of aging both internally and externally.

Of course this is a major simplification of an emerging technological revolution but it lays the foundation for separating fact from fiction when looking at the claims of marketers trying to capitalize on the term anti aging. Now that we know that effective products exist and we have the ability to scientifically measure the results of specific anti aging products, it would seem folly to blindly accept commercially hyped or sensationalized claims of effectiveness when choosing an anti aging product for personal use.

A few well positioned companies are gaining name recognition and claiming market share as the benefits of their products are becoming more understood and widely recognized in the legitimate Anti Aging Arena.

The wise consumer will seek these companies out and ask to see the science behind the claims before buying into the hype.

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The Mindset of a Winner – Revisiting “The Dip”

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Out of This World – A Cosmic Rose

The big news of the day was that Tiger Woods is going to play golf again. Wow, really!!!

Meanwhile some thousands and millions of light years away whole galaxies are forming and colliding and providing spectacular images that we are only now beginning to capture using a $320 million dollar space telescope called WISE for Wide field Infrared Survey Explorer.

So while down here on earth it’s all about the Tiger, there is so much else going on out there. I thought I’d share these images and this article in case you missed it.

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Roger Ebert – Finding His Voice

Most anyone reading this post probably knows who Roger Ebert is. He and his longtime protagonist and best friend, Gene Siskel, became pop culture icons in the 90’s with their candid and feisty movie reviews puctuated by a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” recomendation. For years they were seated weekly “in the balcony” of their TV studio set on “Siskel and Ebert at the Movies“ debating the technical and not so technical attributes of current movie industry offerings. Their bickering was legendary as they both championed with vigor, their opinions of whatever movie was under scutiny.

Gene Siskel died eleven years ago in 1999. Roger Ebert was forced to leave television for good in 2006 after complications from treatment for cancer and hasn’t been seen much since. He remains, however, a respected movie reviewer, comentator and columnist.

I was alerted to an article in Esquire Magazine this week, when Oprah had Ebert on her show to discuss a new voice simulator that has been customized to sound very much like Roger Ebert when he could still speak. He can now type his thoughts and have them read aloud by the computer in his own voice. More than that incredible development though, the article allowed us a glimpse into the world of Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz. The article was touching, revealing and inspiring.

Roger Ebert has found his voice again in more ways than one. He continues to share his passions and opinions through his prolific writings on myriad subjects. He has embraced new media such as twitter and blogging which allows him to be heard by a whole new generation. But most of all, the article showed once again that people can endure an awful lot in life and still choose enjoy their time on earth.  I am happy to point you in the  direction of the article in Esquire Magazine and encourage you to take it in.

I miss Siskel and Ebert at the Movies. I was gratified to learn that Roger Ebert is carrying on and doing very well. It reminded me that life is full of challenges and in the end it’s how we respond to them that matters most. 

Two thumbs up for a life well lived, still!

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How are you “measuring up”

Too often it seems, many of us feel the need to check ourselves and the progress of our lives by comparing our situation to that of someone else. Issues around happiness and success are often viewed through the prism of relativity. When we measure our own success or happiness by the standards of others, by how we are doing in relationship to someone else’s accomplishments or ideals, we are robbing ourselves of the most important components of true happiness and success and therefore making them impossible to attain.

Each person’s life is made up of two realms. the realm of that which is within our control and the realm of that which is beyond our control. The things we control are few, what we think, what we say and how we act.

Understanding this allows us to simplify the means by which we design our own lives and therefore define for ourselves the true meaning of Happiness and Success.

The keys to intentional creation in this regard are then clear…

1. Learn with intent. Never become complacent about the discipline of self improvement and the power of actionable knowledge. A little each day is more than enough.

2. Speak with conviction. Talk to yourself and others with clarity of purpose. This comes from having unshakable goals, values, a mission and beliefs written down and committed to memory and your subconcious mind.

3. Act in accordance with your purpose. Act in a manner which assumes you have already attained that which you seek. Be specific in defining the actions that are congruent with your aspirations.

Measuring your personal success or failure, happiness or disappointment against external benchmarks is a prescription for failure. It is in defining and progressing  along a personal journey that one finds true happiness and in the end that is what represents true success.

Define a vision of your preferred future and begin to live it. Never measure your success, your happiness or your potential by the expectations of others.

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The Nature of Recovery – Market Trends

Just as Tulips poking through the ground each spring are a harbinger of better weather and the growing season to come, so to it is with investors in the housing market. A recent MSNBC.Com story shared the story of first time buyers venturing out into the marketplace to capitalize on the low interest rates, falling prices and tax breaks only to find themselves in stiff competition over a dwindling inventory of bargains with investors offering cash.

Now more than ever cash is king in the marketplace. Financing, while promising historically low rates for buyers, is still relatively hard for many to access for a number of reasons and injects a level of uncertainty into many conventional transactions. A cash offer, even for less money, is sometimes preferable for a seller on the edge or a bank trying to move inventory off the books.

Reports are that as much as 54% of  recent purchases in markets such as Miami are cash. Nationwide the percentage in December was 22%. 

While frustrating for some, the presence of this many investors in the market portends better times ahead for housing prices. They represent an early sign of a thaw and some much needed confidence that can only serve to support the housing market as a whole. With tax breaks ending soon and the Feds reigning in their exagerated purchases of mortgages on the secondary market in the near future – the housing market can use the boost. For first time homebuyers especially, now is the time to take stock of your financing options and plant the seeds for a successful harvest. Waiting much longer could prove costly indeed.

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Kevin Halls “Aspire” – Words Matter

Occasionally a book gets published that transcends the genre and becomes something of a milestone for social development. Steven Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” for example or Napolean Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich”.  These are timeless classics with a message that endures and instructs decades after their original publication.

Keven Hall’s  Newly Released “Aspire” is another such book. While exploring the origin, meaning and power of words Hall opens the door to a much deeper understanding of the way words can be used to inspire and motivate. Conversely when misused, we come to find the words we choose when talking to ourselves and others can powerfully limit or impede one’s full potential in ways we don’t always realize.

Publisher Harper Collins has been kind enough to offer up a glimpse of what lies between the covers of this meaningful work. You can read the first chapter here, and get a sense of just how relevant this work is in the moment and may yet prove to be in years to come. Read the book, become inspired and Spread the Word.

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A Speed Bump on Recovery Road

Experts are saying it is not asign that we’re going to experience a douple dip in the housing downturn. There’s plenty of signs that the economy is in recovery and things are getting better. That said, it is going to be a bumpy road to recovery and last month’s drop in sales of existing homes would appear to be one of those bumps. Frankly, after the uptick in home sales that occured before the tax credit was extended and with seasonality factored in, this was to be expected. What may seem like bad news on the face of it really is a word to the wise that the opportunity to buy is really right now! Low interest rates, sluggish sales and a recovery underway make for three good reasons buyers should get busy and make the most of this window of opportunity!

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The Quants – Too Incredible to Make Up

Details are finally beginning to emerge on just how things spun out of control on Wall Street so quickly back in 2007. A new book due out in February by the Wall Street Journal’s Scott Patterson, shines a light on a highly profitable but little understood segment of trading that for years had essentially ‘printed money’ for the large Wall Street investment banks.

Run by a core of Math Whiz kids using supercomputers and complicated mathmatical formulas and pimped to the bank executives by high powered brokers and investment fund managers – it was a meltdown looking for a place to happen and when it did, those responsible were powerless to stop it.

You could not make this stuff up – as Tom Clancy once said, the difference between writing fiction and non fiction is that fiction has to be believable!

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Molly Hightower – A Big Why & A Life Well Lived

I didn’t know Molly Hightower of Port Orchard. I learned of her as I watched the news of the Haitian Disaster unfold.

Molly was from Port Orchard and that brought things closer to home for me as I am a graduate of Bainbridge Island High School in Kitsap County. 

Molly’s Plight made the images and the desperation all seem much more personal for me as I tried to comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy. For days rescuers were trying to find Molly amidst the ruins of the orpahange she had spent the last seven months working at. The seven story building had collapsed on her as she napped. On Thursday news and hope came in the form of reports that experienced rescue crews from Virginia were on site and help was at hand to try and save Molly. Today, Sadly, we get news that her body has been recovered from the debris.

I went to facebook and then followed a link to her blog. As I read about her efforts and experiences in Haiti, working with the orphans, Tears welled up in me and I was profoundly moved by the incredible spirit and dedication of this bright and gifted 22 year old “neighbor” I had never met.

I have always understood that true success in life is only possible when one has determined a “Big Why” for themselves. Something that drives them beyond their own personal needs and comfort. I have found that when things are out of balance in my life it is generally because I have taken my eye off the bigger picture, the Big Why.

At such a young age, the 22 year old Molly Hightower was already an enormous success. Having followed her heart and passions to a far away place to help those in need of her talents and generous spirit.

Take a moment and read about Molly. In her story one can truly come to appreciate the difference a truly committed person can make in this world. You may also find some inspiration to help you define a bigger why for yourself.

I did not know Molly Hightower, but I believe her story has changed my life in ways I have yet to understand fully. Her early demise is not the loss it might have been for she has made the most of her time among us.

Molly lives on as a shining example of a life well lived and as an inspiration to all of us to find a Big Why and Live it!

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