A new British study found that the original SARS-CoV-2 virus (i.e. Wuhan strain) can impair cognitive ability in a way equivalent to making the brain age by two decades. Currently, 67 percent of the worlds population has been vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic. Is it possible that the vaccines themselves can also cause aging damage?
Nevertheless, theres no need to worry, aging is proven to be a process, and there is a way to help reverse the aging process.
The study was published in the journal EClinicalMedicine. Experts from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London Medical School evaluated the cognitive effects of the COVID-19 infection in humans.
The research subjects consisted of COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized for severe illness between March and July 2020.
After these patients recovery from acute infection, the researchers conducted follow-up visits for an average of six months to analyze and evaluate their anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. The researchers discovered a significant decline in the patients attention, complex problem solving skills, and memory, along with reduced accuracy, and prolonged reaction time.
These cognitive deficits are similar to the cognitive decline a person would experience between the ages of 50 to 70, which is equivalent to aging by two decades and losing 10 IQ points.
In addition, the recovery of cognitive ability is very slow in patients with COVID-19 infections.
Why does COVID-19 infection cause abnormal aging? Lets first take a look at one concept.
The relationship between genes and epigenetics are like seeds and soil. Genes are like seeds, while epigenetics is like soil. Genes in the human body do not usually change after birth. They are like seeds that lie dormant in the soil, and some will grow, and some will not. What determines whether these seeds will grow or not are the genetic switches, or epigenetics.
Epigenetics is the study of these factors that affect genes being turned on or off. Specifically, one common type of gene switchDNA methylationcan change the expression of genes, shutting them down and making them non-functional. Methylation is a somewhat complex biochemical process in the body, the important thing to remember is that it is one of the ways epigenetic takes place and a process by which genes get turned on and off.
As a result of DNA methylation, there are variations in whether the same genes can be expressed in different organs and at different ages, and the amount of expression.
Cells become senescent as we age. That means they stop dividing and enter a kind of stasis. Instead of dying off as they normally would, they persist, but change shape and size andsecrete inflammatory molecules that cause other nearby cells to become senescent.
In an article published in Nature Reviews Genetics, Steve Horvath, a professor of human genetics and biostatistician at the University of California Los Angeles, concluded that as people age and have more senescent cells, there are characteristic changes in the methylation status of human DNA.
Human beings experience birth, aging, illness, and death, which is now discovered by our scientists to be controlled by our internal epigenetic clock. This is similar to the observations that everything in our universe has its cycle of formation, stasis, degeneration, and destruction.
Professor Horvath summarized the DNA methylation profiles associated with aging in an epigenetic clock of aging. While our years on Earth are are chronological age, how we live and inherent factors affect how long we will actually live, which is our biological age, or the age of our body. Biological ages can be estimated by using the methylation profiles of aging-related genes. In other words, scientists can focus in on genes linked to aging and then look at how those genes are methylating and from this gauge how far along the person is in that process of degeneration and death. These genetic focal points were carefully selected by scientists, independent of gender, body part, comorbidities, and other factors. And the results have been highly accurate, with a precision of over 95 percent in gauging a persons biological age.
Humans have a normal aging methylation curve. If a persons DNA methylation is above the curve, he or she will age faster than his or her peers; if it is below the curve, he or she will appear younger than his or her peers.
So, what factors can accelerate aging, i.e. epigenetic clock of aging?
A study conducted in Belgium was published in 2018 in the journal Aging. It found that the following factors accelerate epigenetic aging in humans:
This makes us wonder if COVID-19 infection can accelerate the epigenetic aging clock.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications answers this question. The study collected blood samples from 232 healthy individuals, 194 non-severe COVID-19 patients and 213 severe COVID-19 patients for DNA methylation analysis and found that the epigenetic age of COVID-19 patients was significantly accelerated.
In addition, the epigenetic age acceleration in COVID-19 patients is related to the stage of the disease. The age acceleration is fastest during the acute inflammatory phase, when the body and the virus are in intense combat; and it is slightly reversed during the recovery phase.
Even after the infection is over, many people still have symptoms of long COVID. Is this related to the aging caused by COVID-19?
Epigenetic aging is seen in the graying of hair and loosening of teeth. However, on a cellular level, cells in the human body also gradually age.
Cellular senescence refers to a state of cell cycle arrest when cells are stressed, as well as the secretion of various inflammatory cytokines at the same time. In a paper published in Nature Aging, a Japanese research team stated that senescent cells do not die immediately, but instead, they spread inflammatory cytokines to nearby uninfected cells, causing more cells to senesce as well.
So, what are the effects of cellular senescence on our health?
Cellular senescence plays an important role in many age-related diseases, such as degenerative diseases of the nerves, eyes, lungs, and heart.
The aforementioned study was conducted prior to the Omicron variant outbreak, and the Omicron variant is clearly less pathogenic than the old strain. In fact, some of the mutation sites of the Omicron variant counteracted the factors that caused cellular senescence. It is estimated that Omicron causes significantly less accelerated senescence or sequelae than the old strain.
However, the vaccines we are currently administering are still developed using the spike proteins of the old strain of early 2020, so is there a risk of accelerated aging?
The COVID-19 vaccines mainly express spike proteins in the human body. In a study published in the Journal of Virology in 2021, researchers from Saint Louis University in Missouri transfected spike proteins of the old strain into cells in vitro. It was later discovered that a large number of cellular senescence markers (including specific cytokines, interleukins, and specific enzymes, etc) were found in the spike-transfected cells, compared to the control group.
In addition, the spike proteins increase inflammatory factors, cause mitochondrial damage, produce misfolded proteins, and cause genomic instability, all of which accelerate cellular aging.
Reversing aging sounds like a dream come true for everyone. We have already understood so many mechanisms related to aging, so is it possible to find a way to slow down or even reverse aging?
In fact, our daily diet, work habits, and lifestyle all affect the epigenetic aging clock. For instance, during high-temperature cooking, red meat produces glycosylated end products, which are associated with cellular aging; poultry and fish are relatively healthy; and the vitamins in fruits and vegetables help keep cells young, which can help slow down or reverse the aging clock.
In addition, an article published in 2017 in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, American and French scholars investigated whether or not sitting in meditation affects the epigenetic aging clock.
The studys subjects were 18 individuals who had been meditating for at least 10 years and meditated for at least 30 minutes a day, and 20 non-meditators. They were divided into two groups: under and over 52 years of age, respectively. The researchers measured the DNA methylation in their blood cells for estimation of their epigenetic aging acceleration.
The results showed that the epigenetic aging acceleration increased in elderly non-meditators, while the acceleration in elderly meditators was more similar to that of younger people and was not affected by the epigenetic aging effect.
Gene expression is also associated with changes in our appearance, so meditators appear younger than their actual age. Furthermore, meditators also have younger brains.
The University of California Los Angeles and the Australian National University jointly published a study in 2016 in the journal NeuroImage. The studys subjects were 250 meditators and 50 non-meditators, both groups with an average age of 51.4 years.
The researchers analyzed and compared the brain ages of the two groups and found that the brain age of the meditators was younger than their actual age. For instance, 50-year-old meditators had the same brain age as a 42.5-year-old non-meditator, while 60-year-old meditators had the same brain age as the 51-year-old non-meditators in the control group.
Interestingly, for the meditators over 50, each additional year of their actual age would make their brain age one month and 22 days younger than their actual age.
In summary, damage caused by SARS-CoV-2 to the human body speeds up the human epigenetic clock of aging and dumbs down the brain. Vaccines based on the old strains in 2020 may also harm the human body in this regard.
At least 67 percent of the worlds people have now been vaccinated; will people in the future get older more quickly? No. It is too early to conclude anything based on cellular data alone rather than human studies. However, the cellular data is a clear reminder for us to take precautions to prevent this.
Meanwhile, it is quite worrisome that when we discussed this topic during a Health 1+1 live broadcast on July 12 2022, quite a few audience members had commented that they themselves or their friends or relatives had become obviously older after receiving the jabs.
The good news is that aging is a long process. During this process, for example, we can develop the habits of healthy living, including eating well, exercising,and daily meditation, which can help slow down or even reverse the aging process, and furthermore bring us various positive health benefits, which will be detailed in future articles.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
View post:
COVID-19 Can Make the Brain Age by 2 Decades; Here's 1 Way to Reverse Aging - The Epoch Times
- 1st draft of a human 'pangenome' published, adding millions of ... - May 17th, 2023
- A Brief Guide to Genomics - National Human Genome Research Institute - May 17th, 2023
- Human genetics - Immunogenetics | Britannica - April 23rd, 2023
- A Troublesome Inheritance - Wikipedia - April 23rd, 2023
- Human - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - January 29th, 2023
- Human Genetics and Genomics Training Program - Hopkins Medicine - January 4th, 2023
- Genetics vs. Genomics Fact Sheet - Genome.gov - December 18th, 2022
- Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, PhD - Johns Hopkins University - December 18th, 2022
- Race (human categorization) - Wikipedia - December 2nd, 2022
- Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup - Wikipedia - November 24th, 2022
- Abstracts | International Congress of Human Genetics 2023 - November 24th, 2022
- Human genetic variation - Wikipedia - November 6th, 2022
- Genetics | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program - October 29th, 2022
- Fluent BioSciences showcasing breakthrough solutions to enable unprecedented scale, cost-efficiency and access for single-cell RNA sequencing at the... - October 29th, 2022
- Researchers seek to unravel the mystery of susceptibility to drug addiction - Newswise - October 4th, 2022
- NIH initiative to systematically investigate and establish function of every human gene - National Institutes of Health (.gov) - October 4th, 2022
- ANGPTL7, a therapeutic target for increased intraocular pressure and glaucoma | Communications Biology - Nature.com - October 4th, 2022
- Does obesity have more to do with the brain than we initially thought? - Medical News Today - October 4th, 2022
- Who will get the call from Stockholm? It's time for STAT's 2022 Nobel Prize predictions - STAT - October 4th, 2022
- Solving medical mysteries: Physicians and researchers collaborate to study the most challenging cases - AAMC - October 4th, 2022
- Mystery gene matures the skeleton of the cell - EurekAlert - October 4th, 2022
- What Is The Most Important factor Driving The Global Human Genetics Market? - PharmiWeb.com - September 25th, 2022
- How Africa's genetic diversity can be harnessed to close the continent's 'drug and treatment gap' - Genetic Literacy Project - September 25th, 2022
- Ability to move to the pulse of music has genetic link - DTNEXT - September 25th, 2022
- Is the Spike Protein Changing Our Gene Expression? - The Epoch Times - September 25th, 2022
- How prehistoric DNA is helping to unlock the secrets of human evolution - EL PAS USA - September 25th, 2022
- Personalised medicine and the advantages of big data and AI-based diagnostics - Medical Device Network - September 25th, 2022
- Viewpoint: In the post Roe v Wade world, what changes should a biology textbook writer make to address the medical repercussions of Dobbs? - Genetic... - September 25th, 2022
- Bears' ability to regulate insulin narrowed down to eight proteins WSU Insider - WSU News - September 25th, 2022
- Sex, Selection and Biodiversity - Syracuse.edu - Syracuse University - September 25th, 2022
- Was the Russian Flu the first coronavirus pandemic? Find out at next Science Caf - University of Nebraska at Kearney - September 25th, 2022
- University of Chicago South Side Science Fest created to show off the fun, myriad pathways into field. - Chicago Tribune - September 25th, 2022
- The genetics of human personality - PubMed - August 14th, 2022
- Genetics - The Harvey Institute for Human Genetics - GBMC HealthCare in ... - August 14th, 2022
- Degrees of the Future 2022: Genetics - Gizmodo - August 14th, 2022
- U of U Health-Led Research Awarded $28 Million to Explore HIV's Inner Workings and Vulnerabilities - University of Utah Health Care - August 14th, 2022
- Revisiting Companies That Had Their IPO in 2018 - Investment U - August 14th, 2022
- Monkeypox Myth Busting: Here's What You Need to Know - The Mighty - August 14th, 2022
- Relay Therapeutics Reports Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results and Corporate Highlights - Yahoo Finance - August 5th, 2022
- Baylor receives NCI grant to study liver cancer risk and prevention - Baylor College of Medicine News - August 5th, 2022
- Whole Exome Sequencing Market reach a valuation of US$ 4,256.30 Mn, at a CAGR of 19.24% in the Forecast 2030 - BioSpace - August 5th, 2022
- Mendels Genetic Revolution and the Legacy of Scientific Racism - NewsClick - August 5th, 2022
- AMGEN TO ACQUIRE CHEMOCENTRYX FOR $4 BILLION IN CASH - BioSpace - August 5th, 2022
- Cotton Buds Market Value Is Estimated to Reach USD 747.16 BN By 2028, With 3.2% CAGR Credence Research - Digital Journal - August 5th, 2022
- Verve Therapeutics Shares Up 84%; ARKG Offers Exposure - ETFdb.com - July 27th, 2022
- Double up on the guac? Those avocados are good for your heart health - American Heart Association - July 27th, 2022
- Extending the PAX1 spectrum: a dominantly inherited variant causes oculo-auriculo-vertebral syndrome | European Journal of Human Genetics - Nature.com - July 27th, 2022
- Scientists Unravel the Mystery of Junk Genes That Are Key to Brain Development - SciTechDaily - July 27th, 2022
- Mice Model Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Type, Service, Technology, Indication, End User, Application, and Mode -... - July 27th, 2022
- Master's Degree in Human Genetics | Human Genetics | Michigan Medicine ... - July 11th, 2022
- Here's how the $100 Human Genome will Change Medicine - BioSpace - July 11th, 2022
- Genomic medicine: the role of the nursing workforce - Nursing Times - July 11th, 2022
- AbbVie Half Breaks Up with Alector on Alzheimer's - BioSpace - July 11th, 2022
- The human identification market size is projected to reach - GlobeNewswire - July 11th, 2022
- Global wheat production can be doubled to feed millions and save land, say scientists - Sky News - July 11th, 2022
- Huntsville native among TIMEs 100 most influential people - WHNT News 19 - July 3rd, 2022
- New hope for IVF patients as global study published in Human Reproduction shows AI can effectively assess genetic integrity of embryos - Yahoo Finance - July 3rd, 2022
- A Week At The Most Secretive Conference On Aging - Forbes - July 3rd, 2022
- Human genetics shape the gut microbiome - PMC - June 13th, 2022
- expert reaction to a conference abstract on retinal screening predicting risk of myocardial infarction - Science Media Centre - June 13th, 2022
- New Comprehensive Map Ties Every Human Gene to Its Function - SciTechDaily - June 13th, 2022
- Buffalo shooters manifesto quoted a university researcher. Thats raising questions about racism in academia - Yahoo News - June 13th, 2022
- Thalidomide could be used as a therapeutic for AVMs - Cosmos - June 13th, 2022
- How Electric Fish Were Able to Evolve Electric Organs - UT News - University of Texas - June 4th, 2022
- Survival of the Best: The Past, Present and Future of Plants - CSRwire.com - June 4th, 2022
- AMGEN ANNOUNCES WEBCAST OF 2022 JEFFERIES HEALTHCARE CONFERENCE | News | wfmz.com - 69News WFMZ-TV - June 4th, 2022
- Experts Discover New Disease Caused by Faulty Genes Affecting the Kidney and Liver: Newcastle University Study - Nature World News - June 4th, 2022
- At-Home Colorectal Cancer Testing and Follow-Up Vary by Ethnicity - Medscape - June 4th, 2022
- Who is your real parent? Our Father on Netflix depicts the dark side of 'secret serial sperm donation'. My birth has a similar origin but with a more... - June 4th, 2022
- Autism and the complete human genome: Q&A with Evan Eichler | Spectrum - Spectrum - May 15th, 2022
- Increased Mutations in Children Can Be Traced Back to Mistakes in Father's Sperm - Neuroscience News - May 15th, 2022
- Not All Is Rosy For The Pink Pigeon - Eurasia Review - May 15th, 2022
- Why haven't we cloned a human yet? - Livescience.com - May 15th, 2022
- Study probes the relationship between genetics, proteins, and disease risk - The Hub at Johns Hopkins - May 15th, 2022
- Singular Genomics Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board - BioSpace - May 15th, 2022
- COVID Resistance Might Be Tied To Genetics: Experts - Medical Daily - May 15th, 2022
- Letter: Why no to Roe and abortion - INFORUM - May 15th, 2022
- Gut Microbiome Composition Predictive of Patient Response to Statins - Business Wire - May 15th, 2022
- Finding A Place In Science - Texas A&M Today - Texas A&M University Today - May 15th, 2022
- Parag Agrawals wife Vineeta linked with Musks Twitter takeover - The Siasat Daily - May 15th, 2022