Just a brief note about an article (one of thousands) linking shorter telomeres to bad stuff.
This study showed that child and maternal telomeres were shorter in when the child exhibited ADHD but that there was no relation to paternal telomere length.
Perhaps studying telomeres will be the next big money maker for fundraisers, researchers and drug developers, like cancer has been. The D’or institute reminds us of the search for El Dorado, or the City of Gold, that propelled the conquistadors. It is an ironic truism that the greatest tragedy that could befall any professional seeker of gold, miracle cures, or truth, would be to find it!
(Saint Paul’s non-canonical encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus from Martin Scorcese’s The Last Temptation of Christ)
I suppose its a very good thing there isn’t any FDA-approved method to increase telomerase activity, otherwise the telomere business might cannibalize the cancer business.
Here is the PubMed citation from Dde et al in Fronteirs of Medical Science (2015, Jul 10th)
On an eqully cynical note, the greatest blessing of telomerase activators, if they were to increase longevity, would be to life insurance companies! Just send a bottle of telomerase activators to life insurance subscribers and never report it to the actuaries. Higher premiums – paid for longer. It’s a match made in insurance heaven as long as regulators don’t find out about it.