Is there really a Fountain of Youth?

 Carol Forsloff - Many product manufacturers refer to the "Fountain of Youth" in their descriptions, however was there ever such a place and if so where might it be and what wonders might come from it.

Much of the interest in the Fountain of Youth is the accent on longevity has long been a direction for science, but now it is being refined into what is called "successful aging," but what does that actually mean for the upcoming generations. 

The definition of successful aging has been debated by scientists as either objective or subjective, that is how adults view themselves and what they do and the actual status of the human body. 

These issues have become particularly important given the large numbers of baby boomers who will be 65 this year. 

Researchers from the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging (NJISA) at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine have years ago released the results of their study that clarifies what it means to age successfully. 

In this new research, the accent is based on modifiable factors, i.e. those things people can do to impact their life span. 

What are these?  Researchers find those who are well educated tend to live longer.  Other things that promote aging successfully include never have been incarcerated, being married, consuming only moderate amounts of alcohol and either working for pay or doing volunteer work. 

These findings are based upon a study of 5,600 New Jersey residents between the ages of 50 and 74. and the results appear in an advance article in The Gerontologist. 

“What you do before age 50 really will generally have the bigger impact on how well you age,” said lead author Rachel Pruchno, PhD, who is also the director of research at NJISA. “Our research shows how aging is a lifelong process. The person you become at a very old age is really a function of how you lived your earlier years.” 

The researchers examined how factors early in life can impact what happens to individuals as they age.  

“Education and incarceration were particularly strong factors,” Pruchno said. “The fact that we currently have a large number of people in prison serving relatively short sentences could herald a significant public health problem in the future. Interestingly, although marriage also coincided with successful aging, being childless did not appear to have a negative impact.”

Now to that Fountain of Youth and could some of us just find that and reach our optimum health by visiting it?

The belief there is a Fountain of Youth, according to the National Explorer, comes from the stories related to the 16th century Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon.  He wasn't looking for it but people thought it would be found in Florida somewhere he came ashore.  But historians think instead his journey took him farther south near what is now Melbourne, 140 miles from St. Augustine where people thought he had landed.

A professor by the name of Ryan K. Smith from the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond tells us, "People are more intrigued by the story of looking and not finding than they are by the idea that the fountain might be out there somewhere."

And just like the Fountain of Youth itself perhaps it is the journey people enjoy, the quest of finding the truth in staying young by living a good, moral life.

Fountain of youth found for tomatoes and other fruit

[caption id="attachment_11069" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Fresh tomatoes"][/caption]

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Carol Forsloff - A Purdue professor has found a way to extend the shelf life of tomatoes and other fruits in a "fountain of youth" process that can prolong the edibility of these items.

Avtar Handa is a professor of horticulture at Purdue University and has discovered that by adding a yeast gene a compound is produced that actually slows aging and delays microbial decay in tomatoes, a process that could transfer to other fruits.

"We can inhibit the aging of plants and extend the shelf life of fruits by an additional week for tomatoes," Handa said. "This is basic fundamental knowledge that can be applied to other fruits."

The organic compound spermidine is what Handa refers to that is found in all living cells, a polyamine.   Scientists don't yet know all the functions of this compound but believe that they enhance nutritional value and shelf life.

"At least a few hundred genes are influenced by polyamines, maybe more," Mattoo said. "We see that spermidine is important in reducing aging. It will be interesting to discover what other roles it can have."

A graduate student in Handa's laboratory,Savithri Nambeesa,  introduced the yeast spermidine synthase gene, which led to increased production of spermidine in the tomatoes.   This allowed fully ripened tomatoes to last a full eight days longer before showing signs of shriveling.

"It increased the quality of the fruit," Handa said. "If a tomato goes to market, people won't buy it if it has started to shrivel. If we can stop that wrinkling, we can extend the market time of the fruit."

Mattoo said the finding could have implications for areas that don't often get fresh fruit.

"Shelf life is a major problem for any produce in the world, especially in countries such as in Southeast Asia and Africa that cannot afford controlled-environment storage," Mattoo said.

Handa said tomato growers and possibly other fruit growers could use the finding soon if they wanted through either transgenic plants or natural breeding methods.

"We can add this gene to the tomatoes or look at natural variation and select the cultivars that already have a high level of this gene's expression," Handa said.

This  discovery of maintaining the shelf life of fruits can be helpful to all the countries of the world, but especially the poorer ones as sustaining foods and finding new ways of breeding is important.