Understand your DNA. Optimize health, diet, & longevity with Genetic Lifehacks. #Biohacking
Small town, MT
Joined February 2015
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This is one of my favorite aging studies - from a couple of years ago, I think.
IL-11 is an inflammatory signal that climbs with age, and blocking it in older mice extended median lifespan by about 25% in both males and females.
The treated mice also had less frailty, better metabolism, and fewer cancers. IL-11 seems to drive aging partly by keeping mTOR switched on, the same growth pathway rapamycin targets.
Mouse study, and the antibody isn't available for people... But there are some ways to impact IL-11 that I wrote about here: longevitylifehacks.substack.…
These two mice are the exact same age, the human equivalent of 85.
The mouse on the right was given an antibody blocking a single inflammatory protein (IL-11) starting in late middle age.
Starting treatment at human-equivalent age 55:
- Extended median lifespan by 25% in both males and females
- Prevented grey hair, frailty, and muscle wasting
- Cut late-life cancer deaths in half
Three anti IL-11 antibodies (that might extend human lifespan) are already in human clinical trials right now.
Interesting study. Creatine plus lifting twice a week, and perimenopausal women had more regular sleep and fewer days of feeling overheated or hot flashes.
There's actually a neat hormone link here. The brain uses creatine to recycle ATP through an enzyme made by the CKB gene, and CKB was originally discovered as a protein that estrogen switches on. So when estrogen drops, brain energy can be affected.
Creatine may help women in perimenopause maintain more consistent sleep when combined with strength training.
Women taking creatine for 6 weeks had sleep regularity scores 7.4 percentage points higher than the placebo group, reported fewer days of temperature sensitivity, and had greater brain oxygenation during a cognitive task.
The protocol was 20 grams of creatine monohydrate daily for 5 days, followed by about 4.5 grams daily, with resistance training twice a week.
These are encouraging early findings, particularly for sleep regularity in a population known to suffer from poor sleep quality!
I love seeing more creatine research in women.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4292…
A new study in Cell found that taurine levels don’t drop with age (the way they measured them). Yet supplementing with taurine was still beneficial in aging mice. The mechanism is interesting. Taurine helped to prevent excess NLRP3 activation - preventing inflammaging, of this sort.
Here’s my latest Longevity Lifehacks article on it. longevitylifehacks.substack.…
T cells can get worn out. Researchers call it T cell exhaustion, and most of the early work came from HIV and hepatitis C patients in the 90s.
When a T cell keeps seeing the same antigen for too long, it turns up brakes like PD-1, TIM3, CTLA-4 and LAG-3 and stops responding well. In mice, 1 to 2 weeks of antigen made healthy memory T cells, while 2 to 4 weeks pushed them toward exhaustion. It works more like a dimmer switch than an off switch.
A portion of long Covid patients show this pattern, and a 2024 study found it was common in ME/CFS. In one study, when treatment improved CD8+ T cell function, symptom severity dropped by more than half. By 24 months, many long Covid patients had T cells that looked more normal again, along with better quality of life.
Exhausted T cells also tend to have struggling mitochondria. Genetic variants shift how easily you hit that threshold. 👇
geneticlifehacks.com/t-cell-…
Histamine dark circles is one of the real ones on this list.
Allergic shiners come from congestion and dilated blood vessels under the eyes, and they show up a lot in people with allergies and mast cell issues. However, this doesn't mean it's always histamine... Thin under-eye skin (often in aging) and plain old genetics can do it too.
Good video for POTS Awareness Day.
Something I wish more people knew is how often POTS coexists with other things, like hEDS, mast cell issues, ME/CFS, and long Covid.
A big share of long Covid patients end up with some form of dysautonomia.
More on the background science and genes that increase susceptibility here: geneticlifehacks.com/genetic…
Exercise helped people with depression who had not responded to SSRIs, but only in a study where they stuck with it for 12 weeks.
The participants had high TNF alpha or IL-1 beta at baseline and did aerobic exercise like treadmill or cycling. Their depression scores kept improving through the full three months, so this was not an instant mood lift.
The biology lines up. TNF alpha and IL-1 can increase serotonin reuptake and IL-1 beta can lower neurogenesis through the kynurenine pathway.
If you carry TNF or IL1B variants, steady aerobic exercise may be a stronger lever than it looks on paper.
geneticlifehacks.com/is-infl…
Debbie @ Genetic Lifehacks retweeted
Time‐Restricted Feeding Delays Cardiovascular Aging by Increasing Acetic Acid Through Remodeling Gut Microbiota - Liu - 2026 - Aging Cell - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…
Doctors learned inflammation could change mood by accident in the 1980s.
Interferon alpha was used for chronic hepatitis, and some people on the highest doses quickly developed depression, agitation, emotional swings and even paranoia. Lowering the dose made the psychiatric side effects go away.
That history still explains sickness behavior today. When you fight a virus you get tired, irritable and want to be left alone, which is a useful short term response.
The problem is when those same signals stay on for months. TNF and IL6 variants are part of why some people seem more sensitive to that shift. 👇
geneticlifehacks.com/is-infl…
Fibromyalgia pain is not just tender points, and doctors do not even count those 18 spots the old way anymore.
Current thinking points to a mix of low grade neuroinflammation, central pain amplification and mitochondrial energy problems. Biopsies have found more mast cells right in painful areas, and studies link pain intensity to TNF alpha and IL-8 even when average levels look normal.
That overlap helps explain why fibromyalgia often travels with IBS, migraines, POTS and ME/CFS.
Sorting out which driver fits you matters more than collecting another generic pain tip. Has one angle explained your pattern better than the others? 👇
geneticlifehacks.com/fibromy…
This is interesting and will be watching for the results on it in 2027.
Wilson disease comes from mutations in ATP7B,which moves extra copper out of the liver and into bile. This trial targets the most common mutation in people of European ancestry, with about 1 in 90 people carrying one copy. Carriers don't get Wilson disease, but some studies show slightly lower ceruloplasmin indicating that copper may be higher than normal.
geneticlifehacks.com/wilsons…
Agree that every woman is different, and genetics is a big part of that when it comes to risks and effects of HRT.
COMT and CYP1B1 variants change how estrogen gets broken down, and Factor V Leiden matters a lot for clot risk on oral estrogen.
Here's where to check your factor V gene if you're a Genetic Lifehacks member: geneticlifehacks.com/factor-…
Two big blood clot stories this week, w/ Jalen Hurts at age 28 and Ric Flair.
Long flights and leg injuries are classic triggers, but genetics matters too when it comes to susceptibility.
Factor V Leiden (F5 rs6025) is carried by about 3-8% of people of European ancestry and raises DVT risk roughly 4-fold. Most carriers never end up with a serious DVT, but it's worth knowing before surgery, long-haul plane rides, or estrogen hrt.
Prothrombin variants can also increase the clotting risk.
I Want To Sincerely Apologize To My Agent, Steve Solomon, Washington State Horror Con @wahorrorcon, @bigeventny, And Especially All My Fans In Seattle For Having To Cancel My Scheduled Appearance.
Unfortunately, I Am Dealing With A Blood Clot In My Leg, And My Doctors Have Limited My Travel To 3–4 Hours. Seattle Falls Outside That Range, And As Disappointed As I Am, I Have To Put My Health And Recovery First.
Blood Clots Are Extremely Serious And Can Be Life-Threatening. We Have Seen This Recently With Jalen Hurts And The Complications Involving Blood Clots In His Lungs. It Is A Reminder That This Is Not Something To Take Lightly, And I Must Follow Medical Advice.
I’m Scheduled To Have A Procedure To Strip The Affected Vein, Which My Doctors Expect Will Allow Me To Be Cleared For More Travel Afterward.
Please Know This Decision Was Not Made Lightly. I Am Truly Sorry For The Inconvenience And Disappointment, And I Am Incredibly Grateful For Your Patience, Understanding, And Continued Support.
I Look Forward To Getting Healthy And Seeing You All Down The Road. Thank You For The Love And Support.
Much Love,
Ric Flair
This is cool, although it's important to note that it is in mice...
The glymphatic system runs mostly during deep slow-wave sleep, and it depends on a water channel called aquaporin-4 (AQP4) on astrocytes. In older adults, AQP4 gene variants changed how strongly poor sleep tracked with amyloid buildup.
But until this is tested in people, protecting and promoting deep sleep is still the best glymphatic clearance promoting option
Scientists found a way to flush Alzheimer’s plaque out of the brain in minutes.
Without any surgery and drugs.
Your brain has a waste-clearance network called the glymphatic system. It flushes out toxic proteins and dead cells.
But it only really activates during deep, slow-wave sleep.
If you don't sleep, the trash piles up. Over time, that buildup leads to cognitive decline and Alzheimer's.
Until today.
Researchers just published a paper proving they can manually trigger this cleaning cycle.
Without you ever going to sleep.
They used 40.68 MHz ultrashort waves (USW) beamed non-invasively into the brain.
Within 10 minutes, the brain's fluid flow rapidly accelerated.
The waves artificially synchronized the neurons into a Delta state, the exact frequency of deep sleep. This forced the brain's water channels to open and start flushing out the system.
They tested it on mice with traumatic brain injuries and Alzheimer's pathology.
The brain swelling dropped. The toxic proteins were cleared out. Cognitive deficits actually improved.
No surgery. No massive chemical interventions. Just a frequency.
It can increase HDL. But it also likely depends on the source of the DHA and EPA (e.g. oxidized fish oil pills) and on what you define as 'high intake'.
The genetic studies on small fiber neuropathy focus primarily on NaV1.7 and NaV1.8 sodium channels. But there are studies showing low B12 in biopsies with small fiber loss. geneticlifehacks.com/small-f…
Here's the link in case anyone else is looking to read the study: nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
Good point on cycling it. NAC works on glutamate through the cystine-glutamate antiporter, which can calm an overactive signal but may blunt normal reward signaling with long use.
Interesting connection with acetaldehyde - I wonder if there is a connection with ALDH2 variants.
The GIMAP6 part is really interesting in this new discovery on atherosclerosis. It's an immune gene that helps macrophages in the artery wall clear out fat before they turn into foam cells.
So the immune side mattering alongside lipids, which has been known for a while. This just shows more details on why. Even with normal blood fats, the mice without GIMAP6 developed plaque.
