Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Young blood and old brains


The long read: A series of experiments has produced incredible results by giving young blood to old mice. Now the findings are being tested on ..



Young blood and old brains

It seems that young blood,

may be very  good

in mice,

for an old brain

and vice

versa,  old blood bad a for young one,

but no one yet knows how   to explain

this even in mice,

though the experiments which are fun

 are continuing to be done

 right now in Palo Alto, CA.

If mice could have their say,
these experiments might them unnerve,
since with a brain only the size of  peanut
 they  might always like to preserve
 whatever they've got.

And now they're  trying  it on us humans:

 In October 2014, Wyss-Coray launched the first human trial of young blood. At Stanford School of Medicine, infusions of blood plasma from young people are being given to older people with Alzheimer’s disease. The results are expected at the end of the year. It is the greatest test yet for the medical potential of young blood.

 Does that mean some day 
if not one  terribly near,
but then perhaps   repeatedly
we may be going to hear :
"Where, oh where did I put that I.V.?

HZL
8/4/15



... Old mice that received young blood experienced a burst of brain cell growth in the hippocampus. They had three to four times as many newborn neurons as their counterparts. But that was not all: old blood had the opposite effect on the brains of young mice, stalling the birth of new neurons and leaving them looking old before their time.
The other scientists in the room were stunned. Some were sceptical. Could it be real? “This could be big,” said Wyss-Coray. “If an old mouse starts to make more neurons when you give it young blood? That is amazing.”
Since that meeting seven years ago, research on this topic has moved on dramatically. It has led some to speculate that in young blood might lie an antidote to the ravages of old age. But the apparent rejuvenating properties of young blood must be treated with healthy scepticism. The hopes they raise rest solely on mouse studies. No beneficial effects have ever been proven in humans. Then again, no one has ever looked.

also from

The long read: A series of experiments has produced incredible results by giving young blood to old mice. Now the findings are being tested on ..




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