Anti-aging hormone boosts cognitive abilities in mice – could humans be next?

[Klotho is] a naturally occurring hormone in the body. More than two decades ago, Japanese researchers discovered that this hormone plays a role in aging. People with more klotho in their body, tend to live longer and to retain more of their faculties—that is to stay sharp—well into old age.

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[Dena Dubal, a neurobiologist at the University of California, San Francisco’s Memory and Aging Center] is the author on a study released today in the journal Cell Reports that looks at what happens to brain function when you inject klotho protein into mice.

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Dubal and her colleagues injected three types of mice with a portion of the protein. They injected young mice, aged mice, and mice genetically altered to have brains similar to that which we would see in Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s patients in humans.

“Within hours they showed better cognitive function,” says Dubal.

…While it’s incredibly promising, the study results are short term and they weren’t looking for side effects. The pace at which a promising scientific study is turned into a supplement of dubious efficacy is stunning these days, so please don’t subject yourself to some back-alley klotho injection.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: An extra dose of this longevity hormone helped make mice smarter