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Live longer, who doesn't want that? And if you could extend your life in a very natural way, that would be awesome. We were wondering if cold could help to achieve this goal? Using scientific studies, we show that cold actually has a very positive effect on a longer lifespan.
Table of contents
How high is the average service life currently?
The average service life varies depending on the region, lifestyle, medical care and other factors. In general, life expectancy has increased in many parts of the world in recent decades, mainly due to progress in medicine, improved nutrition and living conditions.
The average life expectancy worldwide is around 72 to 73 years. In Germany, life expectancy is somewhat higher, but it has dropped again in recent years. We had only known one direction in the past few decades, at a longer lifespan. However, after the Corona pandemic, life expectancy fell again and sank in Germany in Germany from 78.7 to 78.1 years, in women from 83.5 to 82.8 years . These statistics are calculated in Germany by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BIB) annually. And similar to this German trend, life expectancy is developing all over Europe.
What factors influence the lifespan?
- Health care: Access to a high -quality health system plays an important role in life expectancy. Countries with well -developed health systems and nationwide medical care tend to shine with a higher life expectancy of their citizens.
- Lifestyle and behavior: a healthy lifestyle, regular physical activity, a balanced diet, avoidance of tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption or drugs influences life expectancy positively.
- Socio -economic status: Education, income and social status also have an impact on life expectancy. People with a higher socio -economic status often have longer life expectancy.
- Environmental factors: the environment, including air and water quality as well as access to clean drinking water and sanitary facilities, influences health and thus also life expectancy.
- Genetics: Our genetic predisposition plays a role in susceptibility to certain diseases.
- Infectious diseases: The degree of spreading infectious diseases in a region can also affect life expectancy.
- Living conditions in old age: The quality of life in old age, including social support, access to care facilities and living conditions, also have an impact on our life expectancy.
- Nutrition: Nutrition plays a crucial role in health. A balanced diet with sufficient nutrient intake influences life expectancy positively.
How are cold and lifespan related?
There are increasingly indications that cold exposure could also have a positive impact on the lifespan. Scientists at the University of Cologne examined threadworms as part of their research at the Cedad Excellence Cluster Cedad, who wore genes for two neurodegenerative diseases. Although threadworms usually thrive at room temperature, they were specifically cooled for this experiment. The amazing result of the study shows that the threadworms, which were kept under cool conditions, were not only more active, but also had a longer lifespan compared to their conspecifics, which were held at room temperature.
Earlier studies had already shown that cold also increases the fertility of the threadworms. The researchers interpret these findings as an indication that the cold may activate cellular cleaning processes, which in turn leads to an accelerated breakdown of harmful protein cladding. As is known, these protein deposits are associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington and Parkinson's.
The head of the study, David Vilchez, hopes that research on the threadworms will provide important insights into the health -promoting effects of cold, and that these findings may be transferable to humans. The activation of cleaning processes in the cells could be a promising approach to the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases (i.e. diseases of the nervous system) in humans. Dr. Vilchez therefore emphasizes the importance of this research for a better understanding of the biological mechanisms on which the aging is based.
There are other positive studies on the extended lifespan of cold
Positive knowledge was also shown in experiments with mice where the lifespan was extended by a fifth by lowering their body temperature. Dr. David Vilchez is enthusiastic about the results that have similarities to the experiments with threadworms. In the mice, an increased activity of the cellular cleaning process was observed at colder temperatures.
In an interview with SWR2 Wissen, Vilchez explains: "We were thrilled, it was exactly like the worms. The cellular cleaning process was more active at a colder temperature." This led to the consideration of whether the reduction in body temperature can also prevent protein drops in human cells.
In further studies, the researchers took human cells and concentrated on the main protein that causes Huntington's disease. The astonishing results showed that cooling was only sufficient to prevent the formation of protein drops, since the toxic protein was broken down more efficiently in this cooler environment. Vilchez emphasizes that this approach also worked successfully with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease in old age.
Conclusion
Although not every study should be transferred to humans in animals 1: 1, there are very clear indications of the life -prolonging effect of cold exposure in animals in the first attempts on this topic. Current research indicates that cold could have extremely positive effects on the lifespan of living beings, i.e. also in humans. The cause of this is often mechanisms based on calorie restriction, activation of metabolic processes and hormonal changes that are triggered by extreme cold stimuli. So it is more of a bundle of measures that through cold exposure such as B. Cold Plunge is triggered and should lead to longer life expectancy. These findings throw a fascinating light on the possibility of developing therapeutic approaches to prevent or slowing neurodegenerative diseases in humans through the targeted manipulation of the body temperature.
