Radio frequency expertise that reveals promise in Alzheimer’s therapy is now being explored for its potential in longevity.
Again in 2010, researchers on the College of South Florida’s Alzheimer’s Institute performed a research exploring the potential unfavorable affect of radio frequency waves on the mind. On the time, the usage of cell telephones was changing into ubiquitous, and there have been considerations that the affect of RF waves may very well be detrimental to human well being.
The scientists uncovered transgenic mice with Alzheimer’s to RF waves, anticipating to search out that cognitive decline was accelerated, however have been shocked to search out that the alternative occurred – the mice have been shielded from additional deterioration and even had their cognitive impairment reversed in the event that they have been in older age. The subsequent paper in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease created headlines around the globe.
The researchers behind that research went on to develop an strategy dubbed Transcranial Radiofrequency Wave Remedy (TRFT) and created a head-worn product referred to as the MemorEM, which received Breakthrough Device designation from the US FDA as a possible therapy for Alzheimer’s in people. At this time, the lead scientist behind the expertise, former College of South Florida Analysis professor Gary Arendash, has launched into a brand new enterprise that goals to exhibit TRFT can even prolong human healthspan and longevity.
Longevity.Expertise: Having demonstrated the flexibility of TRFT to cease and reverse cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s sufferers in several studies, Dr Arendash lately based a brand new enterprise referred to as RF Longevity to increase medical research into rising wholesome longevity in people. The brand new enterprise’s give attention to longevity is pushed by latest research information, which indicated that the therapy has a “rebalancing” effect on the immune system, probably serving to scale back the continual irritation that’s related to many age-related illnesses. To study extra, we caught up with Arendash, founding father of RF Longevity.
Arendash begins by revealing his private “litmus take a look at” for figuring out if a therapeutic is a critical candidate for extending human longevity.
“First, I believe it ought to have accomplished at the least one medical trial involving a serious illness of growing older,” he says. “Second, it ought to present clear proof of medical profit and, lastly, it should not have any important unintended effects. I imagine TRFT meets all these standards and thus must be thought-about a gerotherapeutic front-runner for extending human longevity.”
Leads to people all that issues
Regardless of the small measurement of the Alzheimer’s pilot research in people, Arendash says that displaying any profit in any respect in people is important – given the historical past.
“Over the many years, there have been many interventions that offered cognitive profit in animal fashions of Alzheimer’s, however none of them ended up being profitable at stopping or reversing cognitive decline in human medical trials,” he says. “The massive Alzheimer’s analysis engine has been very profitable in stopping and treating the illness in mice, however not in people. That is why I imagine an illustration of medical advantages in people, regardless of how small the group of topics, is way more significant than many research involving cell cultures or animal fashions.”
Within the years following the preliminary breakthrough mouse research, Arendash and his colleagues continued to check the results of the expertise, publishing six papers in 5 years as they sought to uncover the illness modifying mechanisms at play.
“The primary of which, and we verified this in our human research, is that TRFT induces disaggregation of poisonous proteins within the mind which can be related to most neurodegenerative illnesses,” he says, referring to beta amyloid and tau. “However we additionally then noticed mitochondrial enhancement within the brains of those Alzheimer’s mice, and we later noticed it in PET scans in our Alzheimer’s sufferers as nicely. That is attention-grabbing from a long life perspective, as a result of a serious challenge in growing older on the whole is a lower in power manufacturing, particularly within the mind.”
Rebalancing the immune system
However probably the most compelling longevity commentary from Arendash’s perspective was primarily based on information from the pilot research in people, which confirmed that treatment with TRFT has a rebalancing effect on the immune systems of Alzheimer’s sufferers.
“That is actually essential, as a result of most age-related illnesses, be they within the mind or elsewhere within the physique contain irritation,” he says. “Once we are younger, our pro-inflammatory cytokines and anti inflammatory cytokines are in stability, however, as we age, that stability is misplaced, and there turns into a predominance of the pro-inflammatory cytokines leading to elevated irritation. We confirmed that two months of each day TRFT therapy rebalanced ranges for 11 of 12 cytokines within the blood of Alzheimer’s sufferers, which was additionally related to a dramatic lower in each mind and physique irritation and reversal of their cognitive impairment.”
Arendash believes that though TRFT is at present administered solely to the top, it influences the entire physique as a result of 20% of our blood passes by the mind each minute.
“TRFT seems to alter the dynamics in pink blood cell membranes to rejuvenate the immune system in human blood plasma, so it beneficially impacts each the mind and the physique,” he says.
“We confirmed we are able to cease and reverse Alzheimer’s illness in quite a lot of cognitive measures and markers in each the mind and blood. That’s main, as a result of there’s no therapeutic on the market that I’m conscious of that may cease this illness or reverse it. And I believe that’s a giant motive why we obtained the FDA’s first breakthrough system designation for Alzheimer’s illness.”
Sights set on longevity research
Armed with this information, Arendash based RF Longevity to capitalize on TRFT’s potential to contribute to a rise in wholesome human longevity. He suggests the expertise has the potential to scale back threat and severity of age-related illnesses along with Alzheimer’s, in addition to concentrating on a number of damaging processes in mind and physique that come up throughout growing older itself. The corporate is now on a mission to establish funds to conduct research designed to measure the affect of TRFT therapy on human longevity.
“The plan is to conduct longitudinal five-month and five-year Section IIb/III managed medical trials of TRFT in regular aged people,” he says. “These medical trials would goal to find out if TRFT therapy can scale back the incidence and severity of age-related illnesses, reverse biologic age, enhance cognition, lower irritation, and prolong healthspan. I imagine TRFT might show to be an inherently secure, non-invasive technique to prolong wholesome human life span and to keep up the mind’s immense skills into previous age.”
Whereas Arendash has beforehand secured NIH grant funding for his work in Alzheimer’s, he explains that RF Longevity might want to safe funding from completely different sources.
“NIH doesn’t present funding for longevity research, which is why the corporate I based [NeuroEM Therapeutics] is transferring ahead with the first indication of Alzheimer’s, to get FDA accepted,” he says. “However I need to begin the longevity research with TRFT instantly, which I actually imagine stand the perfect probability of success nowadays.”
“Though we solely have information from eight sufferers, they’re sufferers who’ve proven constant and enormous modifications in so many key areas, and in a complete of 5 medical research. To me, eight sufferers simply trump 10,000 mice. After all, I want we had extra, and that’s what I need to do –establish the modest funds wanted to get these longevity research going at this time!”
In regards to the MemorEM system
The top-worn MemorEM system is bioengineered to manage radio waves all through the mind. The research performed thus far have required sufferers to put on the system for one hour per day, though Arendash says that the useful results on cognition have been maintained for weeks, and even months, post-treatment, so continuous each day therapies seem to not be vital.
Whereas bathing your head in RF waves could sound unsettling to some, Arendash says that security has all the time been his precedence.
“We’re utilizing a really particular, very slender frequency vary, about one gigahertz, which is taken into account very secure,” he says. “It additionally seems to be the perfect frequency for treating the mind – should you go larger than that frequency sensible, you get much less penetration into the mind, should you go decrease, the waves simply go proper by the mind with out affecting very a lot. One gigahertz is mainly the candy spot – the Goldilocks zone, if you’ll.”
The MemorEM system is at present just for use in medical trials and isn’t but accessible commercially.
