Depressed Metabolism

In the 2009-4 issue of Alcor’s Cryonics magazine I review the technical and practical feasibility of chemical preservation. One of the most interesting aspects of chemopreservation is that it could play a useful role in the cryopreservation of ischemic patients. There is accumulating evidence that vitrification agents cannot prevent ice formation in ischemic patients. This [...]

On the forum of the Immortality Institute there is an interesting exchange about the feasibility and time line for reversible cryopreservation. Cryobiologist Brian Wowk weighs in with some interesting observations: I think in the next 20 years more small animal organs, and perhaps some human organs, may be reversibly cryopreserved. The best scenario for cryonics [...]

Life Extension Foundation (LEF) unveiled a new blood test in an article in this month’s Life Extension Magazine (November 2008). Unlike cholesterol testing, which simply gives a measurement of high-density (HDL) and low-density (LDL) lipoprotein levels and provides little information about acute risk of stroke or heart attack, the PLAC® blood test “can accurately identify [...]

A recent study in Rejuvenation Research reports that a combination of dietary supplements confer neuroprotection in stroke. Over a 2 week period rats received either a proprietary formulation of blueberry, green tea, Vitamin D3, and carnosine  called NT-020 or vehicle (i.e., the same solution minus the compounds of interest) before stroke was induced through middle [...]

As discussed in a previous post, perfusion of the brain following long-term (>5 min) ischemia has been shown to be significantly compromised, particularly in subcortical regions. An interesting recent article by Ristagno, et. al in Resuscitation (May 2008) has added new data to the equation, using some of the most advanced technologies available for measuring [...]

Experiments investigating the effects of medication administration via the nose are becoming increasingly common in scientific literature. Direct olfactory transport to the brain and the consequent lack of systemic side effects make nasal administration of neuroactive drugs a very attractive option for doctors and patients alike. Neuropeptides such as insulin and melanocortins are known to [...]

The journal Neuropharmacology recently published a new review of the current state of the art in neuroprotection for ischemic stroke. A strict definition of a neuroprotectant excludes agents that have as their goal circulatory patency or the reversal of vascular occlusion, such as thrombolytics and anticoagulants. As a consequence, the only medication that is approved [...]

One scientific question that weighs heavily on the feasibility of contemporary cryonics is what happens to the brain after cardiac arrest. Common wisdom has it that the brain “dies” within 5-7 minutes after circulatory arrest. This is true in the sense that patients resuscitated from such insults die of brain death (or develop higher brain [...]

L-Kynurenine (L-KYN) is one of the neuroprotective agents used in cryonics stabilization protocol to limit injury to the brain after cardiac arrest. Administration of L-KYN was perceived to be essential to resuscitate dogs from extended periods (up to 17 minutes) of normothermic ischemia during the Critical Care Research (CCR) cerebral resuscitation experiments in the late [...]

A comprehensive review of cryonics stabilization medications is now published on the Alcor website. Table of contents: * Introduction * General Anesthesia * Blood Coagulation * Vasoactive Medications * Excitotoxity * Free Radicals * Nitric Oxide and PARP * Inflammation * Antibiotics * Acidosis * Hemodilution and Osmotic Therapy * Coenzyme Q10 * Magnesium * [...]

Elevation of body temperature occurring as a result of hypothalamic coordination of autonomic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral responses in reaction to physiological injury or invasion is generally known as fever. Traditional thought is that the “febrile response” is beneficial in preventing the proliferation of invading microorganisms, but some caregivers consider fever to be harmful and prescribe [...]