Bobbicus

C. elegans is the worm I think! I did a presentation on that article in undergrad (years ago). About a week or so ago I read that calorie restriction had a similar effect for the worms. The article I read about the calorie restriction in was just some MSN/Google or something article, it wasn't a peer reviewed journal, so I wouldn't put much stock in it. That research might come into play later but at the moment I think the most immediate benefit to extending life is going to come from organ transplanting. If we could figure out how to synthesize arteries/veins and then also how to transplant them we'd be able to extend life for a very long time.

While alcohol and acetaminophen aren't metabolized by the same enzyme alcohol does increase the risk of liver damage from tylenol. Just as an honest FYI, watch out when taking medications containing it if you plan on drinking, it can kill you. Drinking water does help a hangover; drinking it after you've finished drinking alcohol is no less helpful than drinking it before and probably even more helpful. Aclohol works as a diuretic, it forces you to urinate much more than you normally would which results in the dehydration. Also build up of lactic acids contributes to the hangover. That's where most of the symptoms come from, dry mouth, head ache, nausea and what not. The only benefit marijuana would provide would be from the immediate effects of the "high". If you'd smoked a bowl yesterday it's not going to help your hangover today.

It should definitely help prevent them, I'd just be a little nervous in taking the compensatory mechanism of the arteries dilating away. Who knows when the patients going to decide to consume a lot of sodium or if an artery in their brain is 95% occluded by plaque. I think that'd be a drawback that you could get around just by informing them about certain dietary restrictions they might want to follow after taking the drug and maybe checking for plaque buildup in the arteries first.

I think having the heart rate so slow and the contractility so diminished might lead to a problem with oxygen delivery, especially during exercise since the hearts ability to respond is blocked. It also seems placing a limit on how much the arteries/arterioles in the brain can dilate in soeone that's already hypertensive could lead to a hemorrhagic stroke. And while it seems like it being permanent and unaffected by other drugs would be a good idea, I think it would eventually become a problem. There are ACS/cardiovascular disorders that are treated with drugs that alter the inotropic/chronotropic properties of the heart and these wouldn't work anymore. I think it's always good to have the option to stop treatment with a certain drug when something changes in a particular patient.