Study into the benefits of red wine

Study into the benefits of red wine

Biotivia LLC edited by Catherine Walker

Exciting new study confirms red wine may help stave off ageing diseases such as Alzheimer's.

New studies published in the Journal Nature, show benefits of drinking red wine. Dr. David Gems authored one of these studies and a second one was authored by Drs. Auwerx and Canto, both of which examine previous studies of red wine's ability to promote human health and longevity.

Resveratrol is a compound found in red wine and it is this that has created much interest with over 5000 studies being undertaken on it's effects, most of which have shown potential health benefits of the red wine molecule. 

Resveratrol was first identified as an activator of enzymes known as sitruins by Dr David Sinclair of Harvard and his work was also published in the prestigious Journal Nature in 2006.

Resveratrol specialist James Betz of Biotivia, a biotech company involved in the study of this compound commented on the two studies.

In clinical trials since 2009 where human subjects were used, resveratrol was shown to improve blood glucose tolerance in pre diabetics, increase brain blood flow in university students, increase fitness in both training and sedentary subjects. Other health benefits were also shown.

The important things to consider about these two new pieces of research are that although they confirm reservatrol does activate the 'anti-aging' genes Sirt 1 and 2, the primary benefits of this effect is to promote resistance to the diseases of aging such as diabetes and other chronic conditions, not necessarily to directly increase lifespan.

Studies on human longevity are extremely difficult to conduct due to the inability of the researchers to control for the thousands of factors which influence lifespan. The medical community prefers to focus on Healthspan, which is the number of years a person lives free of the debilitating diseases which often accompany the later years of a person's life.

The idea is that if diseases including cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease can be prevented one's quality of life is dramatically improved and the cost of health care to the nation is greatly reduced.

Resveratrol is one of the compounds which could make a significant contribution to the shift to a prevention centric health care strategy in the US and Europe.  Dr. Auwerx stated “Similarly, indirect activation of SIRT1 by the compound resveratrol protects against metabolic and age-related diseases.” He goes on to state “SIRT1 activation remains a promising approach to delaying general age-related physiological decline and to treating numerous inherited and acquired diseases...

At this point the jury is still out on whether resveratrol will make one live longer however if it prevents an individual from contracting cancer or diabetes or one of the other diseases of aging, for that person it will certainly increase improve the person's health span and quality of life, if not his life span.

One thing is clear. As the Dr Auwerx points out, the astonishing ability of SIRT1 to enhance 'Healthspan' by promoting metabolic fitness will also guarantee it a long life as a subject for further exciting research. Biotivia will continue to support human clinical trials of resveratrol worldwide. 

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