NMN, an essential compound for life:
As we age, the tiniest blood vessels in our bodies wither and die, reducing the blood flow to organs and tissues.
Vascular aging causes many diseases: Cardiovascular, neurological, muscle wasting, frailty, and aging.
NMN is an essential compound that helps maintain healthy blood vessels for life. Lower NMN levels that occur as we get older, appear to be the root cause of vascular aging.
Of Mice and Men:
Scientists at Harvard Medical School, have reversed the process of aging with NMN supplements, setting the stage for radical new therapies to help people.
A new study has unraveled the cascade of interactions between blood vessels and muscles. Endotheilal cells, which line the walls of blood vessels, are essential for the vessels’ health and growth. And as endothelial cells age, blood vessels begin to atrophy and die. Blood flow to many parts of the body diminishes, organs and tissues function less well.
Blood vessel demise hits muscles incredibly hard because muscles rely on a robust blood supply for their function. This process can be slowed down with regular exercise but up to a point.
Over time, even training fails to stave off blood vessel demise and muscle loss. The new findings have cracked open the mystery behind this process. As our blood vessels age, they become deaf to signals from exercising muscles. This actually leads to muscles shrinking as we get older. Therefore we are less able to exercise and grow new blood vessels. A vicious cycle indeed.
NMN and SIRT1 Molecules to the rescue:
The two key players in the crosstalk between blood vessels and muscles are a molecule called NAD (NMN is the precursor of NAD) and a protein called SIRT1. NAD (NMN is the precursor of NAD) boosts SIRT1, which in turn enables the conversation between muscles and blood vessels.
In a new study, mice were given NMN, previously shown to boost SIRT1. These mice had improved endothelial function, blood vessel growth, and improved blood supply to their muscles. And what was most striking, these animals’ capacity for exercise increased dramatically.
The old mice treated with NMN had up to 80 percent greater exercise capacity compared to the untreated old mice.
These results can help millions of people who have lost their mobility or can no longer exercise through frailty, disability, or old age. This sets the stage for new medicines that will restore blood flow in organs that have lost it, either through a heart attack, a stroke, or even in patients with dementia.