This breakthrough technology has multiple potential medical applications including the treatment of patients with closed-head injury and stroke and extending the time for complex surgical procedures. The most remarkable achievement in this laboratory has been the ability to reverse clinical death in experimental dogs. Dogs have been restored to life and good health after as much as 17 minutes without oxygen at normal body temperature. The key to LEF's unique resuscitation technology has been the combination of post-injury cooling and the use of drugs to prevent and reverse ischemia and other mechanisms of damage in the brain. The ability to prevent and reverse ischemia will play a major role in the the future of medicine.
Ischemia plays a major role in generating damage from lethal diseases, injuries and aging.
The development of authentic anti-aging and rejuvenation therapies in the 21st century should enable those of us who are still around to live in good health and youthful vigor for centuries. The Foundation has taken the lead in funding research to achieve this revolutionary goal. The most promising approach to the control of aging is the gene chip research I discussed earlier. Scientists working with LEF are using gene chip technology to develop a database on the genetics of aging, as well as on the effects of drugs and nutrient supplements on aging in research animals. By comparing gene expression in normally aging animals with gene expression in caloric restricted animals, these scientists have discovered that many of the genetic changes associated with aging are prevented or reversed in calorie-restricted animals.