Neuroendocrine Features In Extreme Longevity

[Hans]

An interesting study on some hormones in the people who get very old. They basically found low TSH, normal DHEA:cortisol ratio and normal melatonin, which is important because the DHEA:cortisol ratio along with melatonin decrease with age whereas TSH increases.

Neuroendocrine features in extreme longevity. - PubMed - NCBI
"Centenarians exhibited significantly lower TSH levels together with slightly higher rT3 levels than old controls."

"The cortisol/DHEAS molar ratio, which usually increases with age and is considered to be an expression of a neurotoxic pattern of the steroidal milieu, in the central nervous system, did not show any further increase in centenarians. The urinary free cortisol and aMT6s (melatonin metabolite) excretion declined with age; however only in centenarians and in young controls aMT6s excretion was significantly higher at night than during the day."

 

[LeeLemonoil]

I‘ve seen other studies where longevity was associated with higher TSH. Will put it here soon for comparison.

The cortisol/DHEA-s thing though is a sure bionarker of excitatory and pathological situations in young and old.

 

[Waremu]

I‘ve seen other studies where longevity was associated with higher TSH. Will put it here soon for comparison.

The cortisol/DHEA-s thing though is a sure bionarker of excitatory and pathological situations in young and old.

I would be careful to always look at what the researchers definition of “high TSH” actually is.

There was one piece recently where it was claimed that people who live longer had higher TSH, but the TSH they mentioned was actually low by Ray Peat and even conventional standards, so it actually confirms their ideas more. So it often depends on what their definition of high or low TSH is. Often it can be the opposite. They reported that centenarians on report had an average TSH of 1.97. That is overall a low TSH, not a high TSH, even by today’s Western medical standards. Yet they go on to talk about it as if the higher the TSH the better:

"Our data demonstrate that centenarians have significantly higher median serum TSH concentrations compared with younger Ashkenazi controls. Furthermore, TSH distribution in centenarians was shifted toward higher TSH levels, underscoring the fact that the majority of the centenarian population had higher serum TSH values compared with the Ashkenazi control group."

"However, the fact that centenarians have higher serum TSH concentration suggests that the increase in serum TSH is related to a favorable role in their healthy aging regardless of the underlying mechanism. In this regard, it is notable that animal studies (5,16,17) suggest an association of hypothyroidism with improved longevity."

"However, two recent meta-analyses suggest that increased risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes occurs in patients younger than 65 yr of age, but not in those more than 65 yr old (19,20). Until these issues are settled by further research, it seems prudent not to treat routinely elderly patients with levothyroxine because they are found to have a minimal increase in serum TSH."

Now, the centenarians did statistically have a ‘higher’ TSH, but only relatively speaking. We are talking about small differences in overall in numbers in comparison to the others. While they had higher TSH, their overall TSH was still low. And in fact, you can see that it drops off the higher the TSH once you start going past the low TSH number of 1.97. So while centenarians had higher TSH, it was only a relativity higher TSH and it was in the context of an overall low TSH. And the graph/study confirms that the higher the TSH you go after that lower number, the less centenarians you have. If two groups of people have healthy blood markers which are negatively associated with a disease, with both groups being what is considered in the low range, but because one is only slightly higher by a few points, we cannot then claim that the slightly higher numbers in the second group shows that being in the upper range would still show a negative correlation to that disease. We couldn’t then claim that “the higher the marker, the lower the association with disease X or disease Y.” But that is essentially what they did here. It’s quite ironic.

Extreme Longevity Is Associated with Increased Serum Thyrotropin

 

[MatheusPN]

La Ferrari et al. Also measured free T4, free t3 and rt3. Young people had slightly higher free t3, slightly lower t4, and almost twice lower rt3
If they had measured prolactin or ADG... Very curious study Hans!

 

[LeeLemonoil]

Thank @Waremu

Here’s the one I mentioned:

Human longevity is characterised by high thyroid stimulating hormone secretion without altered energy metabolism