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Bio-News: Health and Longevity
Seagrass 'tens of thousands of years old'
(Feb 8, 2012)
Meadows of seagrass found in the Mediterranean Sea are likely to be
thousands of years old, a study shows. Researchers found genetically
identical samples of Posidonia oceanica up to 15km apart,
which suggested that the species was extremely long-lived. The team
added that the organism, which provides food and shelter for many
species, is under threat from climate change.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
How exercise may keep Alzheimer's at bay
(Jan 18, 2012)
Alzheimer’s disease, with its inexorable loss of memory and self,
understandably alarms most of us. This is especially so since, at
the moment, there are no cures for the condition and few promising
drug treatments. But a cautiously encouraging new study from The
Archives of Neurology suggests that for some people, a daily
walk or jog could alter the risk of developing Alzheimer’s or change
the course of the disease if it begins.
Read
more. Source: New York Times |
Catching a yawn 'a family matter'
(Dec 8, 2011)
Contagious yawning may show the closeness of your relationships rather
than your tiredness, say scientists. The act of yawning gets more
blood flowing around the brain. The fact that it is contagious has
never been fully explained, but one theory suggests it is linked to
empathy between people.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Doctor trials laser treatment to change
eye color
(Nov 8, 2011)
A US doctor is trying to pioneer a laser treatment that changes patients'
eye color. Dr Gregg Homer claims 20 seconds of laser light can remove
pigment in brown eyes so they gradually turn blue. He is now seeking
up to $750,000 of investment to continue clinical trials.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Signs of ageing halted in the lab
(Nov 3, 2011)
The onset of wrinkles, muscle wasting and cataracts has been delayed
and even eliminated in mice, say researchers in the US. It was done
by "flushing out" retired cells that had stopped dividing. They accumulate
naturally with age. The scientists believe their findings could eventually
"really have an impact" in the care of the elderly.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Aspirin cuts cancer risk in people with
an inherited susceptibility
(Oct 29, 2011)
Some people with a family history of cancer could halve their risk
of developing the disease by taking daily doses of aspirin, according
to the results of a 10-year trial of the treatment. The study shows
that regularly taking the medicine cuts the risk of bowel cancer by
more than 60% in those with a particular genetic predisposition to
get the disease – as well as reducing the risk of other hereditary
cancers.
Read
more. Source: The Guardian |
Monkeys use mind control to move a virtual
arm and experience touch
(Oct 6, 2011)
A brain implant that allows monkeys to move an avatar's arm and feel
objects in a virtual world has been demonstrated for the first time.
The animals used the device to control the arm by thought alone, and
feel the texture of the objects it touched through electrical signals
sent directly to their brains.
Read
more. Source: The Guardian |
Coffee may prevent depression, scientists
say
(Oct 3, 2011)
Women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day are less likely to
get depressed, research suggests. It is not clear why it might have
this effect, but the authors believe caffeine in coffee may alter
the brain's chemistry. Decaffeinated coffee did not have the same
effect.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Chocolate may protect the brain and heart
(Aug 30, 2011)
Eating high levels of chocolate could reduce the risk of coronary
heart disease and stroke, according to a review of previous research.
Data from 114,009 patients suggested risk was cut by about a third,
according to a study published on the BMJ website. But the researchers
warned that excessive consumption would result in other illnesses.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
15-minute daily exercise is 'bare minimum
for health'
(Aug 16, 2011)
Just 15 minutes of exercise a day can boost life expectancy by three
years and cut death risk by 14%, research from Taiwan suggests. Experts
in The Lancet say this is the least amount of activity an
adult can do to gain any health benefit. Meanwhile, work in the British
Journal of Sports Medicine suggests a couch potato lifestyle
with six hours of TV a day cuts lifespan by five years.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Tanning: Let the sunshine in
(Jul 26, 2011)
While we love to get a tan, there's huge pressure to apply high factor
sunscreen – or to get the bronzing without the sun with a fake tan.
Beneath this apparent orthodoxy, there's an acrimonious debate between
the experts who insist that sunshine is a toxic force against which
we need constant protection and those who accuse big business of promoting
"sun phobia" for commercial reasons, thus putting us at risk of vitamin
D deficiency. Who should we believe?
Read
more. Source: The Independent |
Age-related brain shrinking is unique to
humans
(Jul 26, 2011)
The brains of our closest relatives, unlike our own, do not shrink
with age. The findings suggest that humans are more vulnerable than
chimpanzees to age-related diseases because we live relatively longer.
Our longer lifespan is probably an adaptation to having bigger brains,
the team suggests in their Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences paper.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Seven steps to avoid dementia
(Jul 21, 2011)
Playing chess in old age and going jogging or swimming could be the
best preventative measures against the development of the degenerative
Alzheimer's disease that affects one in 14 people aged 65 or over.
Along with five other factors – controlling weight, blood pressure
and diabetes, avoiding depression and quitting smoking – keeping
mentally and physically fit could dramatically cut the incidence of
dementia.
Read
more. Source: The Independent |
Transcendental Meditation: Not so crazy
after all these years
(Jul 12, 2011)
TM, as its followers call it, is rapidly becoming respectable and
mainstream thanks to a growing body of scientific evidence which indicates
that regular meditators can expect to enjoy reductions in heart attack,
stroke and early mortality. And the apparent benefits don't stop there:
according to a pilot study just published in the US journal Military
Medicine, veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars showed a
50% reduction in their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
after eight weeks of TM.
Read
more. Source: The Independent |
First synthetic windpipe transplant carried
out
(Jul 8, 2011)
The world's first synthetic organ transplant has been conducted at
the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden. The organ was manufactured
by scientists in London from an artificial trachea (windpipe) coated
with stem cells from the patient. Significantly, the technique does
not need a donor and carries zero risk of the organ being rejected,
and the artificial trachea can be made within days.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
More sleep, better atheltic performance,
research shows
(Jul 7, 2011)
When Stanford University's male basketball team was asked to sleep
for 10 hours a night for around six weeks, their shooting accuracy
improved by 9%. The study, carried out at Stanford Sleep Disorders
Clinic and Research Laboratory, found that getting enough sleep and
rest was as important as training and diet for elite athletes. The
research reinforces the notion that getting enough sleep is a positive
thing which helps performance in all aspects of life.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Researcher forecasts an end to aging
(Jul 5, 2011)
Gerontologist Aubrey de Grey believes that the first person who will
live to be 150 has already been born. And the first person to live
for 1,000 years could be less than 20 years younger. De Grey sees
a time when people will go to their doctors for regular "maintenance,"
which will include gene therapies, stem cell therapies, immune stimulation,
and a range of other advanced medical techniques to keep them in good
shape.
Read
more. Source: Reuters |
Extreme diet said to cure type 2 diabetes
(Jun 24, 2011)
People who have suffered from obesity-related type 2 diabetes for
years have been cured, at least temporarily, by keeping to an extreme,
low-calorie, diet for two months, scientists report today. The discovery,
announced by researchers at Newcastle University, England, overturns
previous assumptions about type 2 diabetes, which was thought to be
a lifelong illness.
Read
more. Source: The Guardian |
Outbreak of E. coli involves new strain
(Jun 3, 2011)
The outbreak of deadly E. coli infection centered in Germany is due
to a totally new strain of the bacterium, scientists say. More tna
1,500 people have come down with the illness and 18 have died from
it so far. The source of infection remains unclear, despite popular
rumors that Spanish cucumbers were to blame. Young females have been
hit particularly hard by the infection.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Walnuts are the healthiest nut, say scientists
(Mar 29, 2011)
Walnuts are the healthiest of all the nuts and should be eaten more
as part of a healthy diet, US scientists say. Scientists from Pennsylvania
told the American Chemical Society that walnuts contain the highest
level of antioxidants compared to other nuts. Antioxidants are known
to help protect the body against disease.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Exercise cuts risk of developing bowel cancer
polyps
(Mar 3, 2011)
People who lead an active lifestyle are up to a third less likely
to develop polyps which can develop into bowel cancer, according to
a study. The report pulls together 20 previous studies looking at
the link between exercise and the development of large polyps. Bowel
cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Zinc can be an 'effective treatment' for
common colds
(Feb 16, 2011)
Taking zinc syrup, tablets or lozenges can lessen the severity and
duration of the common cold, experts believe. A review of the available
scientific evidence suggests taking zinc within a day of the onset
of cold symptoms speeds recovery. It may also help ward off colds,
say the authors of the Cochrane Systematic Review that included data
from 15 trials involving 1,360 people.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Moderate exercise such as walking 'boosts
memory power'
(Feb 1, 2011)
Walking for 40 minutes a few times a week is enough to preserve memory
and keep ageing brains on top form, research shows. Moderate exercise
increased the size of the hippocampus, an area of the brain that makes
memories, in 120 volunteers. The year-long trial, published in Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, showed performance on memory
tests also improved.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Blocking a gene stops cancer cells spreading
(Jan 24, 2011)
A gene which encourages cancer to move around the body has been discovered
by the University of East Anglia. Experiments on tissue cultures,
published in Oncogene, suggest that blocking it would prevent
cancers spreading. The researchers hope their work will lead to a
new generation of cancer drugs within the decade.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
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