Aging
Older people have noticed their thinner arms and legs and perhaps you have as well. It's no secret muscle is harder to maintain, much less build, as we age but science was unclear exactly why.
A team of researchers the University of Nottingham Schools of Graduate Entry Medicine and Biomedical Sciences say that the suppression of muscle breakdown, which also happens during feeding, is blunted with age.
Muscle mass is important because a loss of muscle which decreases strength and increases the likelihood of falls and fractures - and a 'double whammy' affects…
Scientists in Germany say they may have an alternative to Botox and cosmetic surgery; high-intensity light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a lotion made of green tea extract.
Like all miracle products must, they say in Crystal Growth&Design that it works ten times faster than anti-wrinkle treatment that uses LEDs alone.
Researchers have used light-therapy, or phototherapy, for more than 40 years to help heal wounds. Andrei P. Sommer and Dan Zhu showed that use of high-intensity LEDs, similar to those used in automotive tail lights and computers, could help reduce skin…
Identifying a face can be difficult when it is shown for only a fraction of a second but young adults have a distinct advantage over elderly people in those conditions, say researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience, who found indications that elderly people have reduced perception speed.
Guillaume Rousselet, from the University of Glasgow, UK, worked with a team of researchers to study electric activity from the brains of young and old people as they watched pictures of faces with cloud-like noise. He said, “Very few studies have attempted to measure the effect of ageing…
If you studied the basics of human anatomy, you probably know that females are born with their entire lifetime's supply of eggs and once they're gone, they're gone. New findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center say that is not always true.
The good news; during starvation, ovulation stops and when normal food conditions resume, so do the eggs, basically turning back the reproductive clock.
The bad news; it only works in in nematode worms.
Molecular physiologist Marc Van Gilst, Ph.D., assistant member of the Hutchinson Center's Basic Sciences Division, says…
Proteins are essential for healthy cells and all biological activities - misfolded and/or damaged proteins are common to human neurodegenerative diseases and age-associated diseases.
A big question is, when during a lifespan do proteins start to misbehave?
A new Northwestern University study says that protein damage can be detected much earlier than previously believed, long before individuals exhibit symptoms. Importantly, the results also suggest that if we intervene early enough, the damage could be delayed.
In studying seven different proteins of the worm C. elegans, the…
I laughed when I saw an upcoming conference on aging was to be held in Miami - really, can you think of a better place?
Anyway, I was following a related link and discovered the story of wrinkled bats - not the leathery-skinned, bingo-playing ones living in Florida, but actual bats with the cutest little smooshed faces. I think these deserve a spot on Josh's second cutest babies ever series.
A BBC article says researchers "report in the Journal of Zoology that this bizarre-looking bat has evolved a powerful bite that may give it an advantage over other bats."
The bite allows the pug version…
People who engage in 'brain exercise' activities, like reading, writing, and playing card games, may delay the rapid memory decline that occurs if they later develop dementia, according to a study published in Neurology.
So is Texas Hold 'Em the key to a healthy brain in old age? Yes, though crossword puzzles and playing music worked as well. But you can't gloat over a crossword puzzle.
The study involved 488 people aged 75 to 85 who did not have dementia at the start of the study. They were followed for an average of five years and during that time 101 of the subjects…
Researchers writing in BMC Infectious Diseases say their numerical model of influenza transmission and treatment suggests that if a H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic behaves like the 1918 flu, antiviral treatments should be reserved for the young.
They argue that providing the elderly with antiviral drugs would not significantly reduce mortality, and may lead to an increase in resistance. This is not a case of young researchers doing social engineering. H1N1 swine flu has also impacted the young much more than the old, the reverse of traditional flu.
Stefano Merler of the Bruno Kessler…
Striking differences in the risk factors for developing heart failure (HF) and patient prognosis exist between men and women, according to a review article published in the August 4, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Men and women may also respond differently to treatment, raising concerns about whether current practices provide the best care and reinforcing the urgency for sex-specific clinical trials for heart failure.
The data show that HF, a life-threatening condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood throughout the body, affects…
Last week, scientists announced the interim results of one of modern physiology’s most closely watched experiments: the effects of caloric restriction on the lifespan of non-human primates.
The report was maddeningly mixed.
Caloric restriction seemed to reduce the incidence of several diseases, but when it came to mortality—a somewhat important factor when it comes to longevity— the data were statistically not significant. We still do not know if caloric restriction works in primates, which, of course, we are.
Is the culprit bad science? Cryptic binging at McBanana’s by the…