Aging
Women would benefit from being prescribed exercise as medicine, according to a study finding that moderate to high intensity activity is essential to reducing the risk of death in older women.
Professor Debra Anderson, from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, said that in addition to conventional treatments for physical and mental health, health professionals should be prescribing tailored exercise programs for older women.
The paper by Anderson and Queensland University of Technology's Dr Charlotte Seib pulls together five years of research…
A new paper based on an analysis of sleep and cognitive (brain function) data from 3,968 men and 4,821 women who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) indicates that sleep problems are associated with worse memory and executive function in older people.
Respondents reported on the quality and quantity of sleep over the period of a month and the results showed that there is an association between both quality and duration of sleep and brain function which changes with age.
In adults aged between 50 and 64 years of age, short sleep (6 hours per night) and long…
As hormone levels change during the transition to menopause, the quality of a woman's cholesterol carriers degrades, leaving her at greater risk for heart disease, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
Their evaluation was done using an advanced method to characterize cholesterol carriers in the blood and was published in the Journal of Lipid Research. They believe the results call for further research to evaluate the menopause-related dynamic changes in sex hormones on the quality of cholesterol carriers over time, as well as…
A study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that metformin, the world's most widely used anti-diabetic drug, slows aging and increases lifespan.
In their experiments, the researchers tease out the mechanism behind metformin's age-slowing effects: the drug causes an increase in the number of toxic oxygen molecules released in the cell and this, surprisingly, increases cell robustness and longevity in the long term.
Mitochondria – the energy factories in cells – generate tiny electric currents to provide the body's cells with energy. Highly reactive oxygen molecules…
Black trauma patients over the age of 65 are 20 percent less likely to die than white seniors, according to a report in JAMA Surgery.
The authors contend that perhaps it is because there is a health care disparity in young minority patients but seniors have more government health care and the health care disparity disappears. Study leader Adil Haider, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, doesn't know what to make of it. Arguments for why younger minorities die are claimed to be bias so is it bias against old white people also?
It'…
Why are some 75-year-olds downright spry while others can barely get around? Some people who smoke look old from a young age while others don't.
Part of the explanation, say researchers writing in Trends in Molecular Medicine is differences from one person to the next in exposure to harmful substances in the environment.
A birth date is a chronological age but it might mean little in terms of the biological age of our body and cells. The researchers say that what we need now is a better understanding of the chemicals involved in aging and biomarkers to measure their effects.
"The…
Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese pastime that had its origins in self-defense. Like with many sports and hobbies, its benefits in relaxation and fitness are well-documented.
A new paper in Cell Transplantation adds to its benefits, finding in a small study that it increased a cluster of differentiation 34 expressing (CD34+) cells, a stem cell important to a number of the body's functions and structures.
Three groups of young people were tested to discover the benefits of Tai Chi, brisk walking or no exercise.
"To evaluate the potential life-lengthening effect of Tai Chi, we…
In Japanese men, shorter height and longer life seem to be linked, according to an analysis of data in the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program (HHP) and the Kuakini Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS).
Shorter men were more likely to have a protective form of the longevity gene, FOXO3, leading to smaller body size during early development and a longer lifespan. Shorter men were also more likely to have lower blood insulin levels and less cancer.
The Kuakini HHP started in 1965 with 8,006 American men of Japanese ancestry born between the years 1900 and 1919. The lifestyles and health conditions…
What can a handshake tell about you? Culturally, different things. In some places, it indicates confidence, in others, aggression or weakness.
Demographers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis say it can show the rates of aging among different population groups.
In a PLOS ONE paper, IIASA researcher Serguei Scherbov and Warren Sanderson of Stony Brook University did a review of over 50 published studies that focus on people of all ages around the world. Since the measure is already commonly used, data are readily available. They also claim that hand grip…
Researchers have taken an atomic level look at the enzyme telomerase - and what they have found may unlock the secrets to the fountain of youth.
Telomeres and the enzyme telomerase have been in the medical news a lot recently due to their connection with aging and cancer. Telomeres are found at the ends of our chromosomes and are stretches of DNA which protect our genetic data, make it possible for cells to divide, and hold some secrets as to how we age –and also how we get cancer.
Telomeres on a chromosome and shows the different components required for telomerase activity. Credit: Joshua…