From: David A Gabel, ENN
Published May 14, 2010 10:52 AM
Hard Exercise Can Prevent Cell Death
Every day our bodies are dying, or rather, our millions of cells are
dying. Fortunately they do not all die at once, and there is always
another cell to take its place. What if people could stop their cells
from dying? Wouldn't that be the same as eternal life? Well that is not
possible, so the best people can do is delay the cellular inevitable. To
do so merely entails exercise, an activity that people should be doing
anyway. An Italian team of scientists at the University of Rome put
their collective skills together to prove this hypothesis.
Apoptosis, the natural 'programmed' death of cells, is arrested in
the aftermath of strenuous exercise. Researchers writing in the open
access journal BMC Physiology studied peripheral blood mononuclear cells
(PBMCs), isolated from whole blood samples taken from people after
finishing a marathon, finding that the balance between expression of
pro- and anti-apoptotic genes is shifted after the race.
Gabriella Marfe from the University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' led a team of
researchers who studied ten amateur athletes after a 42km run. Marfe
said, "Apoptosis is a normal physiological function dependent on a
variety of signals, many of which can be modulated by strenuous
exercise. Here, we've shown for the first time that exercise modulates
expression of the sirtuin family of proteins, which may be key
regulators of training".
The researchers believe that the sirtuin family of proteins,
particularly SIRT1, may be involved in the protective effects of
exercise against cell death. Speaking about these results, Marfe added,
"Sirtuins may play a crucial role of mediators/effectors in the
maintenance of skeletal and cardiac muscle tissues as well as neurons,
thus explaining the synergic protective effects of physical exercise and
calorie restriction for survival and ageing".
The authors also caution that any exercise people carry out should be
done properly. Marfe said, "Untrained amateur athletes often do hard
training without professional advice. Such intense and exhaustive
exercise can be harmful to health. In order to achieve beneficial
effects, we recommend that exercise training should form part of a
lifelong regime with expert medical advice and supervision".
So everybody with a good set of knees should go out running today. It
can help lose weight, stay in shape, and lose stress. Your cells will
thank you.
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