 A substance called Aminoguanidine is a "new" anti-aging therapy in use in Europe, and it may be able to prevent some of the signs of aging.
Proteins make up the human body, but if proteins become cross-linked, they accelerate the aging process. Cross-linking is a process whereby proteins become damaged by a reaction involving glucose and oxygen. Everyone is familiar with cross-linking, because it causes food to turn yellow and become tough, like when an apple is cut in half.
It is no coincidence that the skin of very elderly individuals is tough and discolored "yellow", or that the lenses of eyes appear the same when suffering from senile cataract.
Cross-Linking
Scientists believe that protein cross-linking may be responsible for many problems of old age, including cataracts, thickening of the arteries, skin problems, diabetic complications, some cancers and damage to the immune system. Cross-linked proteins are a problem because they create large molecules, and in-turn they inhibit the ability of the cell to function normally. Some cancers are even thought to be caused by cross-linking damaging the
structure of DNA itself.
The medical name for the cross-linking of proteins is "Advanced Glycation End products," and thus anything that helps to prevent or reverse this process is called Advanced Glycation End product Inhibitor, and that abbreviates rather nicely to AGE-inhibitor!
Studies
One recent animal study showed that aminoguanidine prevented age-related heart enlargement, and improved the collagen content of arterial walls.
Further Italian human studies, conducted over a period of 25 years, have shown aminoguanidine's ability to reduce LDL, (the bad form of cholesterol), and help to prevent blood platelets from coagulating and forming dangerous clots. Aminoguanidine has also been clinically shown to help patients, whose blood vessels are constricted by arteriosclerosis. Research into diabetes has provided support for the idea that cross-linking causes aging. Cross-linked proteins
in diabetics are two to three times those of equivalent "normal" non-diabetics. It is therefore believed that cross-linking plays an important role in the development of diabetes. But because aminoguanidine slows and prevents cross-links, it may be able to slow diabetic complications, or help prevent mild cases of diabetes from appearing altogether. Diabetes is not associated with longevity, so the fact that animal studies have indicated that aminoguanidine
improves their longevity, is very encouraging.
Clinical trials with diabetic patients have even highlighted aminoguanidine's ability to delay the onset of kidney disease, and improve their cholesterol profiles. All trials indicate that aminoguanidine has very low toxicity.
Conclusion
Aminoguanidine is a potent AGE-inhibitor. It may be able to help alleviate or prevent cataracts, diabetes, thickening of the arteries, kidney failure, thinning bones, osteo-arthritis, skin deterioration and many other signs of aging.
With such an array of benefits, and particularly because of its preventative possibilities, Aminoguanidine offers itself as a true anti-aging medicine.
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