As numerous studies on fasting show, a deficiency can sometimes prolong the life, at least of yeast, fruit flies, mice and rats. Meanwhile, there is growing evidence that a reduction diet is also beneficial for people. According to a study published last winter, the human aging process can be slowed down somewhat this way, provided the supply of nutrients is adequate.
Less is more
A study just published in the journal PLOS Biology suggests that less can be more when it comes to oxygen. This is surprising, as the element is necessary for most animals to survive. Chronic insufficiency can lead to organ damage, for example. However, a lower than normal oxygen content in ambient air also has positive physical effects. Athletes, for example, use it for altitude training. Due to the decrease in air pressure, the availability of this vital element decreases at higher altitudes. In a way, the body has to fight harder for it, that is, it has to work harder. Over time, this increases the number of red blood cells and improves performance.
Robert Rogers researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston write that a reduced oxygen supply may also prolong life or delay aging, which is known from studies in cell cultures, yeast, worms and fruit flies. . The effect has yet to be investigated in mammals, but observations in naked mole rats suggest that the animals owe their extreme longevity, among other things, to the chronic lack of oxygen in the densely filled burrows.
Long life
To study the life-extending potential of oxygen deprivation, Rogers and his team conducted experiments on lab mice that age faster than other mice because of a mutation. Some of the animals lived in typical ambient air with an oxygen content of about 21%. The other mice were transferred at four weeks of age to a room that had a saturation of just 11% – roughly equivalent to air at 5,000 meters.
According to the researchers, the second group lived half as long as the mice in “normal” air, their average lifespan was 23.6 weeks instead of just 15.7 weeks. Due to the lack of oxygen, the neurological deficits typical of age were also delayed.
Potential anti-aging agent
The authors rule out indirect effects: inadequate supply does not mean that the mice have less appetite or eat less. Overall, it’s unclear what molecular biological processes are behind the life-extending effect.
Whether oxygen starvation is suitable as an antiaging agent—for example, in the form of short therapies—remains to be investigated comprehensively, stress Rogers and company. age more slowly and have a lower risk of age-related diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.