Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Science & Technology > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Science & Technology

Young blood can help to rejuvenate the brain

By T.K. Randall
June 5, 2019 · Comment icon 9 comments

Can a transfusion of young blood reduce the effects of ageing ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Musicalvienna
New research has added further credence to the idea that young blood can make older people healthier.
It's an idea that has been at the center of some heated debate in recent years with scientists working to determine just how much merit there actually is to the concept that giving older people transfusions of young blood can stave off age-related diseases and improve overall health.

Now in a new study designed to better understand this effect, researchers at Stanford University have conducted an experiment involving applying blood from both young and old mice to human neurons.

Intriguingly, the blood from the young mice seemed to have a significant effect - causing the growth of several key structures and generating more synapses. The old blood, by contrast, did nothing.
Two proteins in the young blood - THBS4 and SPARCL1 - are thought to be responsible.

While the findings don't necessarily mean that a transfusion of young blood in a person would boost the regenerative capabilities of the brain, the research certainly doesn't rule out the possibility.

Perhaps there really is something to this idea after all.

Source: New Scientist | Comments (9)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by Dark_Grey 5 years ago
Where do they typically source this young blood? There is an aging population of millionaires and billionaires around the world and they seem to be keen on rejuvenating themselves with new blood. You know, like literal vampires? 
Comment icon #2 Posted by Impedancer 5 years ago
test shown that walking 30 min per day rejuvinates your brain this is why exercise is so good for you in many ways.
Comment icon #3 Posted by RabidMongoose 5 years ago
Have they identified the proteins yet? The fact is if you take a young mouse (say 10 months old) and an old mouse (say 30 months old) and stitch their blood systems together then after a couple of weeks the end result is two mice that biologically speaking are 20 months old. Starvation alters hormone profiles producing some of the same results but not complete de-aging. The missing components in blood haven't been identified yet as far as I know. I have noticed before in scientific literature that people who eat young animals live longer. Maybe the vampire myths of eternal life from drinking t... [More]
Comment icon #4 Posted by cyclopes500 5 years ago
Next they'll be milking young death row convicts and using their blood to rehabilitate Alzheimer's disease in the elderly.
Comment icon #5 Posted by equshemonius 5 years ago
scary thought scifi horror becoming reality.
Comment icon #6 Posted by darkmoonlady 5 years ago
Guess she was sort of right.. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Báthory
Comment icon #7 Posted by kapow53 5 years ago
Nonsense.  Lots of money in transfusions rarely work.
Comment icon #8 Posted by joshy 5 years ago
The lizard people have known about this for years.   Not that I'd know anything about it.
Comment icon #9 Posted by Dark_Grey 5 years ago
Nothing? This was a serious question: is there a clinic where college freshmen can donate blood for money? Do they siphon blood from recently deceased kids? Illegal organ harvesting is at an all time high, almost rivaling the drug trade in some areas. It makes you wonder.  The very wealthy have been obsessed with the idea of young blood for a long time. For example, the story of Elizabeth Bathory who would allegedly bathe in young girls blood to "retain her beauty".  


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Recent news and articles