ALA, ALCAR, Juvenon: New life for aging cells?

[Guest guest]

New life for aging cells?

By Woolston, Special to The Times

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-skeptic25-

2008aug25,0,1710935.story

The products: Age-defying products that target wrinkles or gray hairs

are missing one of the real driving forces behind aging. Over the

years, cells throughout the body lose mitochondria, tiny powerhouses

that provide energy for all sorts of vital functions. This cellular

power-outage is one reason older people limp along with a fraction of

the zip and pep that they enjoyed in earlier days.

Aging mitochondria may do more than sap energy. In recent years, some

scientists have speculated that worn-out power factories in the cells

may contribute to a host of age-related problems including memory

loss, Parkinson's disease and Type 2 diabetes.

If it were somehow possible to restore mitochondria, they reason, it

might also be possible to reclaim some youthful health and vigor.

That's the premise behind Juvenon, a widely advertised " anti-aging "

supplement that contains alpha lipoic acid (ALA) and acetyl-L-

carnitine (ALCAR), two natural compounds that could -- in theory, at

least -- give mitochondria a boost. ALA is a strong antioxidant that

may help protect mitochondria from age-related damage, and ALCAR is a

molecule that helps deliver fuel into the mitochondrial furnaces.

Animal studies from a few years back provided the first evidence that

ALA and ALCAR could bring new life to aging mitochondria. As a

researcher noted in a 2002 press release from UC Berkeley, old rats

fed the compounds " got up and did the Macarena. " (No word on how rats

discovered this dance fad or what they'd do now. Maybe crunking.)

Juvenon, sold over the Internet and through phone orders, is not

available in stores. Each tablet contains 500 milligrams of ALCAR and

200 milligrams of ALA. Users are instructed to take two tablets each

day with food. A bottle of 60 tablets -- a month's supply if you

follow the directions -- costs about $34.

Other companies have entered Juvenon's territory. A month's supply of

an ALCAR and ALA supplement from GNC costs about $20 per month.

The claims: A magazine ad for Juvenon says the supplement

can " recharge the energy in your body's aging cells. " The company

website says users often enjoy " more energy, sharper and better

memory, more restful sleep, healthier blood pressure, shinier hair

and younger looking skin. "

" People feel better mentally and physically, " says Ben Treadwell,

Juvenon's director of research and a former associate professor at

Harvard Medical School. Users tend to report a surge of energy within

about three weeks, he says, along with better sleep and vivid dreams.

But according to Treadwell, the supplement can't stop the aging clock

completely and probably won't increase a person's life span.

The bottom line: ALCAR and ALA have been much more thoroughly tested

in animals than in humans, and lots of products that seemed promising

in the rodent world never really panned out for people. Still,

there's some reason to believe that the compounds really can give

aging people a boost physically and mentally, says Jiankang Liu, a

professor of nutritional science at the University of Kentucky

College of Medicine. (Liu is a former consultant for Juvenon but has

no current ties to the company.)

" It might not be appropriate to say that you can reverse normal

aging, but at least you can slow it down, " Liu says. " [Juvenon]

should definitely give a person more energy. If you have more

mitochondria, you'll have more energy. "

Liu says the supplement is most likely to benefit people over

50. " It's not for young, healthy people. " He also says that any

product containing similar amounts of ALA and ALCAR would likely be

as effective.

Liu has authored and co-authored several studies on ALA and ALCAR

that found, among other things, that the compounds replenished

mitochondria, improved blood sugar control and strengthened the

immune systems in diabetic rats. In a review article published this

year, Liu concluded that ALA and ALCAR reliably improve the memory

and thinking skills of aging mice and rats. These benefits probably

cross species lines, he says. In his review, Liu states that ALA and

ALCAR should be able to help treat dementia and age-related memory

loss in humans.

A four-year study of 43 Alzheimer's patients published in 2007 offers

some reason for hope. After taking 600 milligrams of ALA every day,

patients held on to their thinking skills much longer than expected.

But the study wasn't placebo-controlled, and researchers cautioned

that the benefits have yet to be confirmed in bigger, better studies.

Claims that ALA and ALCAR offer youth in a bottle are far-fetched,

but the nutrients can help brain cells do their jobs, says Dr.

McIntyre, an associate professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at

the University of Toronto. In a 2008 report in the journal Expert

Opinion on Investigational Drugs, McIntyre and colleagues suggest

that the compounds might help people with major depression regain

some of the mental sharpness so often lost to the disease. " If

someone has tried proven therapies such as cognitive behavioral

therapy and antidepressants but still suffers from cognitive trouble,

[supplements] might be worth a try. "

Because most of the evidence still comes from labs equipped with rat

mazes -- and because nobody knows if long-term use might cause side

effects in humans -- McIntyre says it's too soon to recommend ALA and

ALCAR as go-to treatments.

The final verdict on ALA and ALCAR has yet to come down, agrees Dr.

Gjumrakch Aliev, a research associate professor of cardiovascular and

neuropathology at the University of Texas at San . His

studies -- including an upcoming paper showing that ALA and ALCAR

improved the learning ability of mice with a condition akin to

Alzheimer's disease -- have convinced him that the compounds can help

stave off age-related memory loss. But, he says, researchers have yet

to determine the full effects of the compounds -- positive and

negative -- and which doses will work best.

" I don't want to say that everybody should go to the store and get

it, " he says, " but I'm optimistic. "

Liu adds that Juvenon -- or any other ALA and ALCAR supplement --

could never replace the age-fighting benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

" I recommend exercise and balanced nutrition for older people, " he

says. " There are more important things than taking pills. "