Life Extension Society 990 N. Powhatan St. Arlington VA 22205 703-534-7277 =============================================================== 1995 No. 4 LIFE EXTENSION SOCIETY NEWS Oct. 1995 =============================================================== LES Develops Plan to Acquire Cryonic Stabilization Kit After extensive discussion, the Life Extension Society has developed a plan to acquire a cryonic stabilization kit for the benefit of cryonicists in the mid-Atlantic region. The kit will include equipment and supplies sufficient for at least the cardiopulmonary support phase of stabilization. As membership grows, the equipment will be upgraded and additional equipment and supplies will be acquired, including additional CPR-phase equipment and total body washout equipment and supplies. The LES initiative will result in quicker, higher-quality cryonic stabilizations, especially for those persons who deanimate unexpectedly. According to the plan, acquisition costs will be financed by a new class of LES membership, "stabilization members." Each stabilization member will pay both regular annual LES membership dues and stabilization membership dues that finance equipment, supplies, and certain training-related costs. Each stabilization member will pay the same amount in cumulative stabilization membership dues. If the stabilization member is signed up for cryogenic preservation with a cryonics organization that provides remote stabilization services, LES will arrange a "standby" for the stabilization member when his or her deanimation is imminent and will ensure that its kit or another kit is available on-site for the ensuing stabilization. LES also will make the kit available on request for the stabilization of non-stabilization members. In all cases LES will charge use fees, based on replacement costs and amortization, to cryonics organizations that use its kit. LES will charge a delivery charge and a surcharge if the person to be stabilized is not a stabilization member. In the event requests for the kit compete, stabilization members will receive priority. At the LES Board meeting in September, all eleven people in attendance -- some of whom are not even signed up for cryogenic preservation -- pledged to become stabilization members. At the October meeting, the LES Board will finalize the plan's details and set the fee schedule for 1996. Thereafter, LES President Mark Mugler and LES Vice President Guy G*pson will contact other mid-Atlantic cryonicists to solicit participation. LES will apply for "501(c)(3)" status as a charitable institution. LES also will seek donations of equipment, supplies, and funds. Donations made after approval of 501(c)(3) status will be tax deductible. Contact LES to inquire about stabilization membership and receive a detailed description of the plan. Upcoming Meetings and Events October 15, 1995: Cryonics Society of New York bi-monthly meeting. For information, contact Janet Pinkney, 201-444-7493. October 29, 1995, 2:00: Life Extension Society meeting at Exhibits, Inc, 4929 Wyaconda Rd., Rockville, MD. November 10-12, 1995: 1995 Venturist Festival, Phoenix, AZ. For information, contact The Venturists, 1547 W. Dunlap, Phoenix, AZ 85020, 602-943-0753. February 16-18, 1996: Alcor Cryonics Technology Festival, Scottsdale/Phoenix, AZ. For information, contact Alcor Foundation, 7895 East Acoma Drive #110, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, 602-922-9013, fax 602-922-9027, email info@alcor.org. Partnerships for Survival -- Guest Article The forms of association among cryonicists have proliferated as the industry has grown. Interests in non-profit organizations, profit-making organizations, unincorporated associations, and even trusts currently are available to provide a variety of life-extension and related services. More exotic organizations are being tried, including pure trust contracts, communal groups, and new country projects. One alternative, the partnership, offers a time-tested opportunity for an individual to supplement basic cryonics arrangements by diversifying his or her "portfolio" in order to reduce financial risk. Partnerships may invest freely to benefit the owners (who are the partners). They are relatively free of burdensome regulation, such as the double taxation of profits and dividends that for profit ventures face. Like corporations, partnerships may exist continually as young, new partners join to perpetuate operations. Whereas a partnership cannot maintain a contract with the legally deceased, it can protect the interests of the dearly departed through "mutual survivor" provisions of the partnership agreement, through surviving partners serving as appointed estate officials, and through trust mechanisms as successors in interest. The surviving partners are bound by mutual interests under a contract that directs their support of and maintenance of their deceased comrade's cryonics interests. Biostasis Associates, Ltd. (BAL) is a new partnership that currently is finalizing its prospectus and official documents. BAL intends to provide a source of auxiliary suspension funds (much like the Reanimation Foundation). BAL may act as a trusteeship for funding, will provide record keeping for deceased partners, and plans to provide low-cost internment methods in the future as emergency backup in the event of fiscal, social, or legal crises. Finally, BAL will act as a patient advocate and supplement to primary cryonics providers' transport teams with information and personnel support. For more information, contact BAL c/o Shane Allen Mohler, P.O. Box 6459, San Mateo, California 94403. Equipment and Training Update On August 31, 1995, two Pittsburgh residents, Merrill Westfall and Timothy Cornmesser, completed the BioPreservation, Inc. training course in cryonic stabilization, including hypothermic cardiopulmonary support and total body washout. For information, contact Biopreservation, Inc., 10743 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamanga, CA 91730, 909-987-3883, email 75120.575@compuserve.com, fax 909-987-7253. BioPreservation, Inc. will deploy a complete cryonic stabilization kit in the New York area on a temporary basis. The Cryonics Society of New York, for its part, will provide a state-of the-art portable ice bath. Alcor Foundation has announced tentative plans to hold its next training session in cryonic stabilization in January, 1996. Contact Alcor for more information. New Cryobiology Research Company Formed The August, 1995 issue of the Alcor Phoenix announces the creation of a new, for-profit cryobiology research company, CryoSearch. The company will perform research into organ preservation techniques, including vitrification. The company also may undertake joint research with nearby Alcor to seek solutions to problems, such as cracking, that cause currently irreversible damage to a cryopreserved brain. Contact CryoSearch, 7895 East Acoma Drive #111, Scottsdale, AZ 85260. LES Member Updates, Maintains CryoNet Archives Life Extension Society board member Keith Lynch has put the complete archives of the Cryonet on-line discussion list (maintained by Kevin Q. Brown), and related files (mostly maintained by Tim Freeman) on the World-Wide Web. The Cryonet mailing list has over 5900 messages on numerous topics relating to cryonics -- everything from technical briefs to cryonics-related humor. The principals of all the major cryonics organizations and hundreds of other people from all over the world who are interested in cryonics have posted to the list over the seven years it's been operating. Keith has indexed the archives by date, by key word, and by author, and is working on giving each message hypertext links to every earlier message that it refers to and to every later message which refers to it. The archives can be reached on the Web at http://www.access.digex.net/~kfl/les/cryonet/, or via anonymous ftp as /pub/access/kfl/public_html/les/cryonet/README.txt on host ftp.digex.net. Keith can be reached on-line at kfl@access.digex.net. A Life Extensionist's Cornucopia: Life Extension Magazine, September 1995 The September, 1995 issue of the Life Extension Foundation's Life Extension magazine is chock full of valuable information for life extensionists. The issue includes a description of LEF's picks for the top ten life extending drugs; a very informative article on protecting against brain aging; the latest FDA Raid Report, which focuses on the FDA's atrocious persecution of cancer pioneer Stanislaw Burzynski; a thought-provoking seven part plan for achieving physical immortality; an exclusive report on DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone -- a natural human hormone) and aging; the September, 1995 issue of the Newsletter of the American Aging Association in its entirety; and abstracts of recent research on the key life-extending nutrients phosphatidylserine, acetyl-l-carnitine, deprenyl, melatonin, DHEA, hydergine, and piracetam. For subscription information, contact the Life Extension Foundation, P.O. Box 229120, Hollywood, FL 33022, phone (800) 841-LIFE. Evidence Mounts for Benefits of DHEA, Melatonin Numerous human hormones decline with age. These include Human Growth Hormone (HGH), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and melatonin. While the mechanisms of decline and cause-and-effect are not clear, it is clear that hormones play key roles in cell repair, protein synthesis, energy metabolism, and immune response, and that reduced levels of these hormones in the blood are associated with increased symptoms of aging. Since human hormones are not food but affect the body, the FDA has attempted to classify them as "drugs." Since it costs over $300 million to obtain FDA approval of these hormones as safe and effective in the treatment of specific diseases, they have not been approved for any use in the United States except in the case of HGH for children deficient in the hormone. The FDA's classification efforts have been held in abeyance thus far by the Congress (most recently in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994) and by its habit of losing cases against nutrient suppliers on Constitutional grounds. Experiments performed in Mexico have demonstrated that HGH reverses many effects of aging. For years, Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, who are the authors of Life Extension and The Life Extension Companion, have advocated the benefits of HGH supplementation. Since HGH is expensive and difficult to obtain without a prescription, Durk and Sandy formulated Power Maker, one of the first supplements designed to boost natural release of HGH. Many of their products are available from Life Services Supplements, of Neptune, New Jersey. Compared to HGH, DHEA and melatonin are the new kids on the research block. The Life Extension Foundation, of Hollywood, Florida, has been one of the strongest voices in the wilderness for supplementation with DHEA and melatonin. Their Life Extension Report and, more recently, Life Extension Magazine have reported research findings that otherwise were ignored. However, reports on melatonin and DHEA increasingly are appearing in the mainstream media. DHEA is a steroid produced by the adrenal glands. Unfortunately, because it is mildly anabolic, DHEA is classified as a "controlled substance," along with other anabolic steroids and notorious baddies such as amphetamines and heroin. The FDA banned DHEA from health food stores in 1985. Now it is available only by prescription, direct from abroad, or through a buyer's club. (You may find it strange to be prohibited from supplementing something your body produces naturally. However, just think of it as your contribution to the government's War on Drugs Not Used by the Majority of Voters, Inexpensive Therapies, and Cheating in Sports. This state of affairs will be discussed in the forthcoming issue of the News.) In June, 1995, the New York Academy of Sciences held a major meeting on "DHEA and Aging." Although the functions of DHEA were unknown for a long time, it now appears that DHEA may serve as a brain-boosting "smart drug," enhance immune function, protect the circulatory system, and have other life-extending properties. Research results presented at this meeting were reported in the major media. Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the pineal gland and is best-known as a regulator of sleep. Now, new evidence is emerging that melatonin may be a powerful anti-oxidant (free radical scavenger), immune system booster, and cancer-fighting agent. Most tantalizingly, melatonin appears not only to regulate the body's daily rhythms, but perhaps also to govern an "aging clock." News on melatonin has appeared in the newspapers such as the Washington Post, on "Good Morning America," and on National Public Radio. Newsweek carried articles on both melatonin and DHEA in a recent issue. See the News, 1994 no. 3, for a list of nutrient suppliers, including sources for DHEA and melatonin. References Bock, Steven, Stay Young the Melatonin Way, Dutton. Cowley, Geoffrey, Melatonin, in Newsweek, August 7, 1995. Cowley, Geoffrey, Nature's Other Time-Stopper?, in Newsweek, August 7, 1995. F*hy, Gregory M., DHEA and Aging, Exclusive Meeting Report, Part 1, in Life Extension Foundation, Life Extension Magazine, September, 1995. Jacobs, Sandra, Controversial Claims for Melatonin, in Washington Post, August 22, 1995. Pierpaoli, Walter and Regelson, William, The Melatonin Miracle, Simon & Shuster. Pierpaoli, Walter, Regelson, William, and Fabris, Nicola, The Aging Clock, the Pineal Gland and Other Pacemakers in the Progression of Aging and Carcinogenesis, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 719. Sahelian, Ray, Melatonin, Nature's Sleeping Pill, Be Happier Press. Life Extension Society 990 N. Powhatan St. Arlington VA 22205 703-534-7277