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‘The Village of
Long Life’ |
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Could
Hyaluronic Acid Be an Anti-Aging Remedy?
Like many of his peers who routinely live into their 90s and longer,
Tadanao Takahashi, 93, is in good health. Japanese researchers think
this phenomenon may be connected to the local diet. (ABCNEWS.com)
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Article Copyright ABCNEWS.COM |
Nov. 2 — Every morning, Hiroshi Sakamoto wakes up and farms
his field, usually for about four or five hours a day.
Sakamoto, who lives in the village of Yuzuri Hara, two hours
outside of Tokyo, is 86 years old. But his age by no means makes him
the elder statesman of his village, nor is a daily routine like his
uncommon among his peers.
More than 10 percent of the population of his village is 85 or older —
10 times the American norm. The residents of Yuzuri Hara are not only
living longer, but they are also quite healthy. Rarely do they have
any reason to see a doctor, and they are hardly affected by diseased
like cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Many have even managed to keep
their skin from showing signs of aging.
What makes the residents of Yuzuri Hara even more remarkable is that
they are living long, healthy lives — even those who engage in
unhealthy activities.
Sakamoto, for example, smokes a pack and a half of cigarettes daily
and is still in reasonably good health and physically fit. Tadanao
Takahashi, 93, has worked in the sun for 50 years, never once using
sun block or skin cream, and yet his skin is soft and smooth.
Some medical researchers believe that Yuzuri Hara, known as “The
Village of Long Life,” and its residents may hold the key to
anti-aging secrets: the local diet that is unique to the village.
Unlike other regions of Japan that grow rice, Yuzuri Hara’s hilly
terrain is better suited to harvesting different carbohydrates that
may prove healthier: things like satsumaimo, a type of sweet potato;
satoimo, a sticky white potato; konyaku, a gelatinous root vegetable
concoction; and imoji, a potato root.
The Secret Ingredient
Dr. Toyosuke Komori, the town doctor who has studied and written books
on longevity in Yuzuri Hara, believes these locally grown starches
help stimulate the body’s natural creation of a substance called
hyaluronic acid, or HA, which aging bodies typically lose. This may
ward off the aging process by helping the cells of the body thrive and
retain moisture, keeping joints lubricated, protecting the retina in
eyes and keeping skin smooth and elastic.
“I have never seen anyone suffer from skin cancer here,” he says. “I
have seen a woman in her 90s with spotless skin.”
One of Japan’s leading pharmaceutical companies began researching and
developing a pill supplement containing hyaluronic acid. The company
tested the pills on 1,000 people, and said roughly half reported
smoother skin, less fatigue and better eyesight.
In the United States, hyaluronic acid has been used for years in eye
surgery as a shock absorber to protect the retina, and has been proven
effective in lubricating arthritic joints.
Synvisc, for example, a Food and Drug Administration-approved product
used to treat osteoarthritis, works by injecting hyaluronic acid, or
Hyaluronan, which acts as a shock absorber and lubricant.
Dr. Irving Raphael, a Syracuse, N.Y., orthopedist who specializes in
sports medicine, explains that these injections coat the surface of
the joint to decrease friction, which allows the joint to move more
smoothly and cuts down pain.
“When I prescribe it,” he says, “I simply tell my patients I’m going
to give them a lube job.”
But, he warns, before prescribing it, he always asks if the patient is
allergic to chicken or eggs. That’s because HA is extracted from
chicken combs. The mohawk crown on a chicken’s head is washed, sliced
and purified.
Western Skeptics
While hyaluronic acid has proven useful in orthopedics and
opthalmology, many Western experts are skeptical that swallowing it in
a pill could actually help prolong one’s life.
“I cannot today imagine any possible benefit,” says Dr. Endre Balazs,
a leading expert on HA.
“The only way it acts, as far as I can see, as an anti-aging remedy,”
adds Raphael, “is because if you’re not limping, and your joints feel
better, you feel younger.”
But HA has been shown to have wound-healing and tissue-reconstruction
applications, and some cosmetic companies tout it as an effective
ingredient in moisturizers that can soften facial lines, leaving skin
elastic and firm. One company even claims it may be the latest
development in treating hair loss.
And Komori, 80, who has adopted the local diet of very little meat and
a lot of homegrown sticky starches, holds to his theory.
“I feel very strongly that if I had not come here to Yuzuri Hara, I
would not have lived this long and healthy a life,” he says. “I
probably would have died from some adult disease.”
Komori also points to statistics that since Western-style processed
food infiltrated the village a few years ago, heart disease has
doubled. With youngsters being seduced by these products, what the
Japanese call an upside-down death pyramid has emerged, in which
adults die before their elderly parents.
“Although my children ate what I had been eating while they were young
and lived here,” says a 91-year-old woman who has outlived two of her
six children, “when they moved away they chose to eat differently.”
Copyright
ABCNEWS.COM |
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