In the early 1960s, the Russians experienced serious problems during the expansion of their military nuclear program. The most significant issue was the leakage of radiation from the nuclear reactors used to power their submarines and military ships. This was particularly relevant for submariners, living in their vessels for weeks and months at a time.
While in this highly confined space, these men were exposed continuously to radiation, causing severe damage. Radiation exposure of this nature almost always guarantees a “global” destruction of all cells in the human body. Untold numbers of men were harmed and died from this exposure.
Officials at the Kremlin demanded a solution. They knew they had to find an answer to this problem or risk damaging their status as a world military superpower. It was vital to ensure the safety of their highly trained personnel by restoring the health of these soldiers. If left untreated, these men would struggle with the effects of radiation poisoning, many of them doomed to an inevitable decline in health, increased risk of cancer, and almost certain, premature death.
A young Russian lieutenant would be selected to lead the research team tasked with discovering a solution. Vladimir Khavinson, MD, PhD, was charged with the nearly impossible mission of bringing many of his fellow soldiers back from a certain and horrible death. Dr. Khavinson’s research, which began in 1973, was kept classified for decades.
When finally released, his discoveries forever changed the world of anti-aging and functional medicine. He and fellow Russian scientists pioneered advances in medicine that were twenty to thirty years ahead of their American counterparts.
Dr. Khavinson’s research focused on the methods used to extract short-chain proteins, known as peptides. These protein fragments could be isolated, purified, and stabilized and then be either injected or taken orally. These highly-specific peptides would lock into targeted receptor sites on chromosomes, triggering a sequence of reactions that led to cellular replication, repair, regeneration, and telomere lengthening.
In 2009 the world of anti-aging medicine finally felt the aftershocks of the scientific earthquake created decades earlier by Dr. Khavinson. That year, three candidates (Drs. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak) were chosen as co-winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres (the caps on the end of chromosomes) and the enzyme telomerase. But it was the discoveries of Dr. Khavinson and his team that had real-world application in this field.
Studies conducted by Dr. Khavinson and his team have shown that the use of two peptides, in particular—Endoluten (Pineal) and Vladonix (Thymus)—prove to be highly effective in lengthening telomeres. By doing so, human cells were given the ability to increase the number of times they could replicate, therefore increasing life expectancy. The Russian scientists did not win a Nobel Prize for their discoveries, but they did bring information to the world that revolutionized health, science, and medicine.
One patient did a telomere test before using Russian peptides and found to her dissatisfaction that she fell in the 44th percentile for a female in her age category. Motivated by wanting to live a longer and better life, she began using Endoluten and Vladonix peptides. Eight and a half months later she repeated the test. This time her telomere length put her in the 89 percentile for her sex and age. The results were presented at the International Anti-Aging Summit in Geneva Switzerland earlier this year. Many scientists at the event spoke about the repercussions of these findings and how it would change functional medicine and aging.
Increasing telomere length was only one of many great discoveries made by the Russian scientists. They also developed ways to repair and regenerate tissues damaged by radiation exposure, trauma, disease, and even recovery from the stress of intense workouts.
In the U.S., an American doctor specializing in ophthalmology was forced to retire from his medical practice due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. Six months after beginning an advanced Russian peptide program, he came out of retirement and is again practicing full time.
Peptide technology is still not widely known in the United States. Russia kept its secret for more than fifty years and today is still far ahead. But the birth of this technology will open gateways in the future that will further revolutionize health care, functional medicine, and the anti-aging movement.