Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system

Ekadashi fasting has been an ancient practice. Of course, it is spiritually beneficial while there lies a hidden material benefit for the body too.

https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/

In the first evidence of a natural intervention triggering stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system, a study in the June 5 issue of the Cell Stem Cell shows that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protect against immune system damage — a major side effect of chemotherapy — but also induce immune system regeneration, shifting stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal.

In both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial involving patients receiving chemotherapy, long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles then “flipped a regenerative switch,” changing the signaling pathways for hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the generation of blood and immune systems, the research showed.

“We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic system,” said corresponding author Valter Longo, Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and the Biological Sciences at the USC Davis School of Gerontology and director of the USC Longevity Institute. Longo has a joint appointment at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.The study has major implications for healthier aging, in which immune system decline contributes to increased susceptibility to disease as people age. By outlining how prolonged fasting cycles — periods of no food for two to four days at a time over the course of six months — kill older and damaged immune cells and generate new ones, the research also has implications for chemotherapy tolerance and for those with a wide range of immune system deficiencies, including autoimmunity disorders.

“When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged,” Longo said. “What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back. So we started thinking, well, where does it come from?”

Fasting cycles

Prolonged fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose, fat and ketones, but it also breaks down a significant portion of white blood cells. Longo likens the effect to lightening a plane of excess cargo.

During each cycle of fasting, this depletion of white blood cells induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of new immune system cells. In particular, prolonged fasting reduced the enzyme PKA, an effect previously discovered by the Longo team to extend longevity in simple organisms and which has been linked in other research to the regulation of stem cell self-renewal and pluripotency — that is, the potential for one cell to develop into many different cell types. Prolonged fasting also lowered levels of IGF-1, a growth-factor hormone that Longo and others have linked to aging, tumor progression and cancer risk.

“PKA is the key gene that needs to shut down in order for these stem cells to switch into regenerative mode. It gives the OK for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system,” explained Longo, noting the potential of clinical applications that mimic the effects of prolonged fasting to rejuvenate the immune system. “And the good news is that the body got rid of the parts of the system that might be damaged or old, the inefficient parts, during the fasting. Now, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.”

Prolonged fasting also protected against toxicity in a pilot clinical trial in which a small group of patients fasted for a 72-hour period prior to chemotherapy, extending Longo’s influential pastresearch.

“While chemotherapy saves lives, it causes significant collateral damage to the immune system. The results of this study suggest that fasting may mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy,” said co-author Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital. “More clinical studies are needed, and any such dietary intervention should be undertaken only under the guidance of a physician.”

“We are investigating the possibility that these effects are applicable to many different systems and organs, not just the immune system,” said Longo, whose lab is in the process of conducting further research on controlled dietary interventions and stem cell regeneration in both animal and clinical studies.

The study was supported by the National Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers AG20642, AG025135, P01AG34906). The clinical trial was supported by the V Foundation and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (P30CA014089).

Chia Wei-Cheng of USC Davis was first author of the study. Gregor Adams, Xiaoying Zhou and Ben Lam of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC; Laura Perin and Stefano Da Sacco of the Saban Research Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Min Wei of USC Davis; Mario Mirisola of the University of Palermo; Dorff and David Quinn of the Keck School of Medicine of USC; and John Kopchick of Ohio University were co-authors of the study.

Vedic History

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indus-valley-script-vedic-history-naga-stone/1/331040.html

In a startling development Mahesh Keshavam, Gangadhar Yadav and Akbar Patel have announced that they've deciphered the Indus Valley script. Their task was made simple by the discovery of an Indian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone. For those who don't know, the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Pharaonic-Egypt decree discovered in the 18th century, helped decipher the ancient Egyptian script.

The Indian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone, called the Naga Stone by the trio who discovered it, has a message from a king who lived many millennia ago, inscribed in three different scripts. One of these is the ancient Brahmi script, which as we all know, has been deciphered already.

"We discovered the Naga Stone in Nagaland, and hence the name,� explained Mahesh. "It appears to be a message from a local ruler, prescribing that a certain festival celebration be followed strictly. It has the same message in three different scripts, one of which is Brahmi, which we can read. Since the message is the same across the other scripts, it was a simple job of matching words to decipher the other scripts.�

Interestingly, all three scripts including Brahmi can be identified as Indus Valley scripts since they contain symbols commonly found in Indus Valley seals. The Indus script (which is a hieroglyphic script, like that of Mandarin) has largely been found to be inscribed on small seals that were probably used for trade and, some say, for inspirational quotes as well.

Akbar said, "What we have discovered is that there was not one uniform Indus Valley script. There were many, each differing from the other quite a degree, even if some of the symbols were similar. In fact, one of the scripts is even written right to left!�

It is a common view among linguistic experts that there should be one standard Indus Valley script. It seemed logical as everything within the Indus Valley civilisation seemed to be rigidly standardised, from the dimensions of the bricks used in construction to the broad layouts for cities. It appears that the linguistic experts were wrong. Different regions did use different scripts. But was the language common?

"Yes, the language was common even though the scripts were different,� said Mahesh. "And the language was Sanskrit.� At the look of surprise on my face, Gangadhar stepped in. "You know,� explained Gangadhar, "the practice of using the Devanagiri script for the Sanskrit language is a relatively recent phenomenon. In ancient times, many other scripts were used, including the Brahmi script. In fact, ancient manuscripts have been found in Kerala wherein Sanskrit had been written in the Malayalam script. So the idea of using different scripts for the same language is not new in India. Of course, originally, Sanskrit had no native script and was primarily an oral language.�

But this obviously raises questions about the version of history taught to us. We are taught that the Indus Valley people were Dravidians who were indigenous Indians. They were, apparently, overrun by Sanskrit-speaking Aryan invaders and pushed to the south. So how can the script of a defeated people be used for the language of the victors?

"If you read the message on the Naga Stone itself,� said Akbar, "your doubts will be cleared. There was no so-called Aryan invasion. Unbiased historians have always marvelled at this strange dichotomy in ancient Indian history-the Indus Valley civilisation, the largest, most urban and richest civilisation of its time, purportedly left behind no literature or markers of high culture; whereas the so-called Aryan invaders from Central Asia, who didn't build any great cities and were apparently barbaric warriors, left behind the largest body of literature when compared to any other people of the ancient world. The only logical explanation is that the Indus Valley civilisation and the Vedic-erroneously called Aryan-civilisation were one and the same.�

"In India, the study of history is unfortunately heavily politicised, with left- and right-wing ideologues making arguments based on their ideological positions rather than facts,� said Gangadhar. "They both, sadly, allow their ideological leanings to cloud their thinking. Therefore, today, we have to turn to Westerners or non-professional Indian historians who are still untouched by the politics that plagues our history departments, to find unbiased interpretations of our history which are based on facts. Most Western historians have already junked the Aryan Invasion Theory as colonial-era, European myth-making.�

But the convincing proof is the Naga Stone itself. The message written on it is unambiguous. The local ruler of that time, Vasuki, said that the ancient Naga celebration of Panchami must be followed since it had come down to his people (whom he called Vedic people) from an ancient 10,000-year-old tradition from Sangam and Dwarka. Since the stone itself is at least 3,000 years old, it makes the 'mother cultures' of Sangam and Dwarka more than 13,000 years old, that is, before the end of the last great ice age.

But where were Sangam and Dwarka? "We believe that Sangam refers to an ancient Tamil civilisation and Dwarka to an ancient Gujarati one,� said Akbar. "It would seem that the British writer, Graham Hancock, was right. He had postulated that there were many ancient civilisations spread across the world before the end of the last great ice age, when the sea levels were a lot lower. Two of those civilisations were based in India -one off the coast of modern Tamil Nadu and another off the coast of modern Gujarat. These civilisations were destroyed when the ice age ended and the sea levels rose. The survivors escaped to the north and established what we call the Vedic civilisation. So, according to Graham Hancock, the ancient Vedic civilisation descended from an even more ancient Tamil and Gujarati civilisation. The Naga Stone has just confirmed this theory.� Clearly, our history books need some rewriting!

- Amish Tripathi is the author of The Shiva Trilogy

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indus-valley-script-vedic-history-naga-stone/1/331040.html

Tipu Sultan's ring has Lord Ram's name on it!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/tipus-ring-to-be-auctioned/article6002224.ece?homepage=true

It is through the private commerce of the auction house that many a precious relic of India’s history has come to light.

On May 22, a remarkable artifact that illuminates a watershed moment in India’s history will be auctioned by the leading London auction house Christie’s — and presumably thereafter vanish forever from the public eye.

A heavy gold ring worn by 18th century ruler Tipu Sultan during his last campaign against the British in 1799 will be sold as part of the ‘Raglan Collection: Wellington, Waterloo & The Crimea.’

Unusually, the 41.2 gm oval ring has the name of the Hindu God Rama in raised Devanagari inscribed on it.

It was taken off the finger of the dead ruler by the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, as his personal spoil of war after the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799.

The ring then found its way into the hands of another military family, that of FitzRoy Somerset, the 1st Baron Raglan. A famous soldier of the early 19th century, he joined Duke Wellington’s service in 1808 and rose to become his right-hand man for the next 40 years. He fought in major campaigns under Duke Wellington, including Waterloo and in the Crimea.

FitzRoy Somerset married the Duke’s favourite niece Emily Wellesley-Pole who was in possession of the ring, a gift from her uncle.

The ring has been valued at £10,000 to £15,000 and is part of the private collection of Fitzroy John Somerset, the great great grandson of the 1st Baron Raglan. The collection contains items that have been the possession of the family from 1858, including historical medals, arms and armour, militaria, pictures, furniture, silver, books, Indian weapons and works of art, as well as a selection of art.

Though a small object of personal use, the ring with its inscription awakens the spirit of the unusual 18th ruler who was its owner.

He sought out what was modern and transformatory for the time, putting it to use in his paramount objective of defeating the British.

5000 years old remains of ancient civilization found!!

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/rakhigarhi-the-biggest-harappan-site/article5840414.ece?homepage=true

Bigger than Mohenjo-daro, claims expert

The discovery of two more mounds in January at the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi in Hisar district, Haryana, has led to archaeologists establishing it as the biggest Harappan civilisation site. Until now, specialists in the Harappan civilisation had argued that Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan was the largest among the 2,000 Harappan sites known to exist in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The archaeological remains at Mohenjo-daro extend around 300 hectares. Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Ganweriwala (all in Pakistan) and Rakhigarhi and Dholavira (both in India) are ranked as the first to the fifth biggest Harappan sites.

“With the discovery of two additional mounds, the total area of the Rakhigarhi site will be 350 hectares,” asserted Professor Vasant Shinde, Vice-Chancellor/Director, Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute, a deemed-to-be university in Pune. The two mounds are in addition to the seven mounds already discovered at Rakhigarhi, about 160 km from New Delhi. The eighth and ninth mounds, spread over 25 hectares each, are situated to the east and west of the main site. Villagers have destroyed much of these two mounds for cultivation. A team of archaeology teachers and students of the Deccan College discovered them when they surveyed the site in January.

Dr. Shinde, a specialist in Harappan civilisation and Director of the current excavation at Rakhigarhi, called it “an important discovery.” He said: “Our discovery makes Rakhigarhi the biggest Harappan site, bigger than Mohenjo-daro. The two new mounds show that the Rakhigarhi site was quite extensive. They have the same material as the main site. So they are part of the main site. On the surface of mound nine, we noticed some burnt clay clots and circular furnaces, indicating this was the industrial area of the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi.”

Dr. Shinde had earlier led the excavations done by the Deccan College at the Harappan sites of Farmana, Girawad and Mitathal, all in Haryana.

On the surface of mound eight were found terracotta bangles, cakes, and pottery pieces, typical of the Harappan civilisation, said Nilesh P. Jadhav, Research Assistant, Department of Archaeology, Deccan College.

Artefacts found

From January 10, the Deccan College team has excavated five trenches on the slope of the mound four and another trench in the burial mound numbered seven. The excavation in mound four has yielded a cornucopia of artefacts, including a seal and a potsherd, both inscribed with the Harappan script; potsherds painted with concentric circles, fish-net designs, wavy patterns, floral designs and geometric designs; terracotta animal figurines, cakes, hopscotches and shell bangles, all belonging to the Mature Harappan phase of the civilisation. The five trenches have revealed residential rooms, a bathroom with a soak jar, drainages, a hearth, a platform etc … The residential rooms were built with mud bricks. The complex revealed different structural phases, said Kanti Pawar, assistant professor, Department of Archaeology, Deccan College.

Much of the Harappan site at Rakhigarhi lies buried under the present-day village, with several hundreds of houses built on the archaeological remains. The villagers’ main occupation is cultivation of wheat and mustard, and rearing of buffaloes.

Making cow dung cakes is a flourishing industry. There is rampant encroachment on all the mounds despite the Archaeological Survey of India fencing them. Amarendra Nath of the ASI had excavated the Rakhigarhi site from 1997 to 2000.

An important problem about the Harappan civilisation is the origin of its culture, Dr. Shinde said. The Harappan civilisation had three phases: the early Harappan from circa 3,500 BCE to circa 2,600 BCE, the mature Harappan which lasted from circa 2,600 BCE to circa 2000 BCE, and the late Harappan from circa 2000 BCE to 1,600 BCE.

Dr. Shinde said: “It was earlier thought that the origin of the early Harappan phase took place in Sind, in present-day Pakistan, because many sites had not been discovered then. In the last ten years, we have discovered many sites in this part [Haryana] and there are at least five Harappan sites such as Kunal, Bhirrana, Farmana, Girawad and Mitathal, which are producing early dates and where the early Harappan phase could go back to 5000 BCE. We want to confirm it. Rakhigarhi is an ideal candidate to believe that the beginning of the Harappan civilisation took place in the Ghaggar basin in Haryana and it gradually grew from here. If we get the confirmation, it will be interesting because the origin would have taken place in the Ghaggar basin in India and slowly moved to the Indus valley. That is one of the important aims of our current excavation at Rakhigarhi.”