Telomeres are DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes which help to maintain the genetic information.
Telomerase is the enzyme to preserve the length of telomeres, preventing the loss of genetic information. 

Why evaluating telomeres and telomerase is important?

With time the length of telomeres is reduced and the chromosomes become vulnerable to damages, which may result in premature aging.
Scientific data associate telomere characteristics and the function of telomerase with lifestyle, enviromental factors, chronic stress, obesity etc. 

Telomere length is a biomarker assessing:

• Cellular health
• Aging
• Infertility
• Neurogegenerative diseases
• Autoimmune diseases
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• Pulmonary fibrosis
• Colon cancer

What is the process for assesing telomeres and telomerase?

A small amount of blood is required to measure telomeric ends, the average telomeric length and the percentage of critically short and critically long telomeres.
Q-FISH (Quantitative Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization) is the most advanced technology to  measure each telomere end in each chromosome of your cells.

What information can we get?

• The impact of your lifestyle on your cellular health
• The rate you are ageing
• Your biological age

In “Opsisclinical”, we provide you strategies for optimising lifestyle behaviours to manage overall health and extending longevity.

Vasilopoulos E, et al. The association of female and male infertility with telomere length. Int J Mol Med. 2019 Aug;44(2):375-389.
Fragkiadaki P et al. Telomerase activity in pregnancy complications. Mol Med Rep. 2016 Jul;14(1):16-21.
Tsatsakis A et al. Developing BioTel: A semi-automated spreadsheet for estimating telomere length and biological age. Frontiers in Genetics 2019; 10(FEB), 1–8.
Tsoukalas D et al. Association of nutraceutical supplements with longer telomere length. Int J Mol Med. 2019 Jul;44(1):218-226.