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Elderly who exercise live longer, say scientists

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Pittsburg: The ability of elderly people over the age of 70 to walk at least a quarter of a mile is a key indicator of future illness and longevity, say scientists at the Universityof Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH).

The study which was part funded by the National Institute on Aging asked at 2,700 white and African-American men and women aged between 70 and 79 to walk as quickly as they could a quarter mile course. Participants were excluded from attempting the walk if they had an abnormal electrocardiogram, elevated blood pressure or resting heart rate or recently had a procedure for, or symptoms of, heart disease.

Of the 2,680 elderly people who participated, 2,324 (86 percent) completed the full 400-meters, while 356 (13 percent) did not complete the test. The investigators followed the medical histories of all participants for the next six years.

Among those excluded from or who stopped the walk, death rates were significantly higher six years later than those who completed the walk. In addition, of the more than 2,200 participants who did not have a clinical diagnosis of cardiovascular disease at the time of the test, those who did not complete the walk had significantly more heart-related incidents six years later compared to those who did. The former group also had a significantly higher risk of persistent limitations in their mobility and related disabilities than did those who completed the full 400-meters. The study is published in the Journal of the American Association.

The slowest 25 percent in the walk had a three- to four-fold higher risk of death than those in the fastest 25 percent for walk time. Those in the slowest 25 percent of walk time also had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease-related complications and limitation in their mobility and mobility-related disabilities than those in the fastest 25 percent.

The researchers also concluded that it was difficult for the elderly to take exercise because there were few safe places to walk and the expense of exercise equipment.

Anne B. Newman, MD.MPH, professor of epidemiology at GSPH and professor of medicine in the department of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said: “Individuals who remain physically active into their 70s have a big advantage in their 80s in terms of living longer and reducing their risk of cardiovascular disease and disability. So, we really need to focus on developing programs in the community that will help the elderly stay active and healthier longer,” she said.

US obesity far worse than estimates reveal

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Harvard: Obesity levels in the US may be 50% higher than previous official estimates. And the fatest people are those in the southern states of the US.

The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has analysed data from a range of surveys to conclude that estimates of obesity in individual states have been too low, by more than 50%, according to a report in the journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Obesity is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, causing some 2.6 million deaths worldwide each year. The US survey data on obesity on a national and state level is obtained using information gathered by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which uses telephone interviews and national data is also collected using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which does in-person interviews and follow-up height and weight measurements on people who agree to a clinical exam.

The research, which presents the first-ever corrected estimates of obesity for individual states, found that Southern states have the highest levels of obesity in the country. Using the report’s corrected data for 2000, the highest obesity levels for men were found in Texas (31%) and Mississippi (30%). For women, Texas (37%), Louisiana (37%), Mississippi (37%), District of Columbia (37%), Alabama (37%) and South Carolina (36%) led the pack. States with the lowest prevalence of corrected obesity for men in 2000 were Colorado (18%), District of Columbia (21%) and Montana (21%); for women Colorado (24%), Montana (25%) and Massachusetts (27%).

Lead author Majid Ezzati, Associate Professor of International Health at HSPH, and his colleagues analyzed and compared the data from the two surveys in order to quantify the level of bias when people self-report their height and weight, especially in a telephone interview.

Based on this new understanding of the survey data, the authors found that, on average, women tend to underestimate their weight while men do not. When it comes to height, young and middle-aged men tend to overestimate their height more than women in the same age group. In 2002, the corrected prevalence of obesity in the U.S. population was 28.7% for adult men and 34.5% for adult women, more than 50% higher than previously estimated.

Happiness poll reveals that Briton’s less happy than 50 years ago

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London: Briton’s may be better off financiall but they are less happy, according to poll carried out for the BBC.

It found that although Britain is three times richer than it was 50 years ago, the country is not as happy as it was then. In 1957, 52% of the people said they were ‘really happy’ but only 36% said they were, according to the BBC Two TV programme called The Happiness Formula.

In common with the US, the UK is reporting lower levels of personal happiness. A General Social Survey recently found that 34% of Americans were ‘very happy’ in the 1970s. By the end of the 1990s the figure dropped to 30%.

Polls over the last few decades seem to indicate that as soon as average incomes reach about £10,000 annually ($18,000), any further income increases do not bring about more happiness.

It seems there are many countries whose levels of happiness are higher than Britain’s.

When British people were recently asked whether governments should aim more for making a country happier or wealthier, 81% opted for happiness while only 13% opted for wealth. 52% of British people polled believe schools should focus more on teaching children how to achieve happiness in their personal lives.

43% of British people think that where they live is less friendly than it used to be, 22% think it is more friendly.Only 7.7% of 1000 people interviewed thought work fulfillment was the most important contributory factor towards happiness. Most people place relationships as the largest factor, followed by health.

Scientists work on cheaper Botox formula

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La Jolla: Scientists have discovered a way to increase the potency of botulinum neurotoxin – the “poison” originally used for medical conditions that has become the world’s most popular wrinkle buster.

Patented for cosmetic use as Botox, botulinum neurotoxin is one of nature’s most dangerous substances and works by paralysing a neurotransmitter in muscles. It was first developed for medical use to prevent uncontrollable muscle spasms, twitches and excessive sweating.

Scientists at the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, California have discovered that by adding a synthetic molecule they can increase its potency by up to 14 times. This means that cosmetic surgeons, for example, could given patients lower doses, thereby increasing its safety and also helping to prevent any complications in people with immune system reactions. It may also may treatments cheaper.

The study is published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society and says that a commercial product is still some years down the line as it has not yet been tested on animals or humans. The new treatment has not yet been tested in humans or animals.

Scientists discover hormone that reduces appetite and promotes activity

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London: New research shows how topping up the levels of a hormone found in the gut could help reduce the appetite and increase activity in overweight and obese people.

The study published online in the International Journal of Obesity shows how the team from Imperial College London gave injections of oxyntomodulin to fifteen overweight but healthy volunteers from Hammersmith Hospital, and monitored how this affected their food intake, and levels of activity.

Professor Steve Bloom, from Imperial College London, who led the research, said: “The discovery that this hormone has a double effect, increasing energy expenditure as well as reducing food intake, could be of huge importance. When most people diet, this produces a reduction in activity, which is probably an adaptive trait to conserve energy during times of famine. However this does make it especially difficult for obese individuals trying to loose weight. In contrast oxyntomodulin decreases calorific intake, but actually increases energy expenditure, making it an ideal intervention for the obese.”

The researchers used fifteen healthy overweight male and female volunteers, aged between 23 and 49 years. The volunteers completed three separate four-day study sessions, where they self administered either saline or oxyntomodulin according to a double blind randomised trial.

After the first injection, the volunteers were given a meal, and their calorific intake was monitored. They spent the next two days in their normal environment, self administering oxyntomodulin three times a day before meals. On the fourth day, the volunteers came back to the hospital to have their energy expenditure measured.

They found that after the first meal, the volunteers ate on average 128 kcal or 17.4 percent less, while activity related energy expenditure increased by an average of 143 kcal or 26.2 percent.

The researchers also found a reduction in body weight by an average of
0.5 percent.

Professor Bloom added: “This discovery could provide doctors with a whole new way to treat the current obesity epidemic. We need to get away from the focus on food and start to think about how to increase exercise. The question is how to make people enjoy taking exercise and how to encourage them to do it spontaneously.

“Oxyntomodulin could work by letting the brain know it has an adequate energy supply and that it can afford to do productive things rather than concentrate solely on food seeking or conserving energy. It signals to the brain that it can increase exercise by letting it know that the energy is available to do more things.

“If used as a therapy for obesity, oxyntomodulin provides a double whammy – reducing food intake and increasing spontaneous activity.”

Diet pill death in Paris

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Paris: French health officials said one person has died and five others are in intensive care after taking diet pills prepared by a Parisian pharmacist that contained the thyroid glands of pigs.

French authorities are still trying to contact more than 60 other people believed to have taken the capsules.

Animal thyroid extract, normally prescribed to help patients with over-active thyroid glands or diabetes, is supposed to boost metabolism and limit the body’s absorption of fats and sugars. It is banned in the French medical profession’s code of ethics for use in diet pills, but is not against the law.

The French health ministry said a person taking the pills died in a Paris hospital on April 18, and 16 people have since been admitted to hospitals experiencing palpitations, fever, vomiting and diarrohea.

The director-general of France’s health ministry, Didier Houssin, said the five patients in intensive care were in a coma or had “neurological difficulties”.

Eyesight deterioration in elderly may be linked to diet

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Boston: The leading cause of blindness in the elderly, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), may be accelerated by regular diet of “high glycemic index” foods.

People with AMD are also likely to suffer from other health problems such as cognitive impairment, or problems with thinking, learning and memory, according to a new study in the April issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

The study was led by Chung-Jung Chiu and Allen Taylor at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston, Mass., and is part of the Nutrition and Vision Project, a substudy of the federally funded Nurses’ Health Study.

A high glycemic-index diet is a diet high in the type of carbohydrates that are quickly digested and absorbed, resulting in a rapid rise in blood glucose levels. The macula is a yellow pigmented spot, one-eighth-inch wide, in the center of the retina toward the back of the eye. AMD is one of the leading causes of irreversible vision loss among those aged 40 or older in the United States.

Study participants were 526 women aged 53 to 73 years who did not have a history of age-related maculopathy, the early form of AMD. The scientists assessed the participants for macular disease and classified the results. They then compared the results with long-term dietary information that had been collected using questionnaires over a 10-year period prior to the macular disease assessment.

When ranked into three groups from highest to lowest in terms of dietary glycemic index, the participants who were ranked highest were well over two times more likely to have macular pigment abnormalities as those ranked lowest.

An abnormal level of macular pigment is an early indicator of macular degeneration. The macula is responsible for the maximum ability to receive light and distinguish images.

Although the data do not establish a causal relationship, they do indicate a new direction for further studies that may help prevent or delay the onset of macular disease.

Life expectancy grows in Norway

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Oslo:The average life expectancy of Norwegians grew by 0.2 of a year from 2004 to 2005, according to new figures from Statistics Norway.

Norwegian men can now expect to reach the age of 77.7 years, while women have nearly an extra five years to look forward to, with their average life span now 82.5 years.

Over the last 20 years the Norwegian life expectancy has increased by nearly five years for men and nearly three for women. The difference between men and women was only smaller than it is now during the 1950s.

Since the 1990s more women have died in Norway than men due to an increasing majority of women in the age group with the highest mortality rate.

The increased life span is due both to sinking infant mortality, now at its lowest level ever, and reduced mortality for the elderly.

Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world, with 85.6 years for women and 78.6 for men.

Lower cholesterol vital to coronary health, says new US study

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Boston: People born with lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol as a result of a genetic variation are less likely to suffer coronary heart disease later in life, a new US study has revealed.

In addition, another study has shown that beta glucan, a substance found in porridge oats does lower levels of LDL.

Researchers, in a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, analysed information from 12,000 subjects ages 45 to 64 who took part in an Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), which examined data from four communities in Mississippi, Minnesota, North Carolina and Maryland for 15 years.

They discovered that those with a genetic variation of a gene called PCSK9 had LDL levels to be about 40 mm/dL below average and were eight times less likely to develop coronary heart disease than those without the mutations. Subjects with genetic variations that produced a 20 mg/dL reduction in LDL compared to the average were two times less likely to develop heart disease.

The PCSK9 gene produces an enzyme that reduces the quantity of LDL receptors on the liver’s surface which are responsible for removing bad cholesterol from the blood. The genetic mutation reverses this increasing the number of LDL receptors, therefore removing more bad cholesterol from the blood. Ironically, statin drugs, although they can lower cholesterol, may increase the production of the PCSK9 enzyme.

The study says: “These data indicate that moderate lifelong reduction in the plasma level of LDL cholesterol is associated with a substantial reduction in the incidence of coronary events, even in populations with a high prevalence of non-lipid-related cardiovascular risk factors. “

In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition another study confirms the effect of beta-glucan on lowering cholesterol.

Researchers examined the effects of a beta-glucan–enriched fruit juice on serum lipids and lipoproteins and on markers of cholesterol absorption and synthesis. In addition, they measured effects on lipid-soluble antioxidants.

Healthy subjects were divided into two groups. The 22 subjects in the placebo group consumed a fruit drink providing 5 grams rice starch per day. The 25 subjects in the treatment group received a fruit drink with beta-glucan from oats for five weeks.

Americans living longer than ever

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Atlanta: Americans are living longer than every before, according to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Controla nd Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. The average US life expenctancy is now a record 77.9 years.

The total number of deaths declined by almost 50,000, or 2.4%, from 2003 to 2004, the largest one-year drop in several decades, according to a preliminary report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

The last time the number of deaths fell instead of rose was in 1997, when there were 445 fewer deaths than in 1996.

Arialdi Minino, one of the authors of the report said: “The risk for dying in general in the U.S. population is decreasing,” Minino said. “The decrease from 2003 to 2004 was particularly sharp, and we’re still scratching our heads a little bit” as to why.

The life expectancy of Americans born in 2004 rose to 77.9 years from 77.5 years in 2003, making it the highest on record.

The gender gap is narrowing as well. Life expectancy for women is 80.4 years on average, up from 80.1 years in 2003. Men born in 2004 can expect to live 75.2 years, up from 74.8 years. The 5.2-year difference between the sexes was the smallest since 1946, the report said.

Dr. Robert Butler, president of the International Longevity Center and professor of geriatrics at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said it’s too soon to get excited about the one-year snapshot.

“I hope it’s a trend because not only are people living longer but with fewer disabilities,” he said.

A greater emphasis on controlling high cholesterol and high blood pressure with drug therapy along with declining smoking rates may be contributing to rising life expectancy, Butler said. But he noted that Americans still live shorter lives than residents of Scandinavian countries, France, Japan, Greece and Spain, and that obesity and its related health problems remain a serious threat to life-expectancy gains.

Many older people take better care of their health than the younger generations, he said. “Maybe it’s proximity to the possibility of death that gets people to behave better.”

On the other end of the age spectrum, the overall infant mortality rate was 6.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, a small increase from 2003, though the change wasn’t statistically significant, Minino said.

The infant mortality rate for blacks dropped 2.6% to 13.65 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, down from 14.01 deaths per 1,000 births in 2003.

Life expectancy for blacks born in 2004 improved as well but still trails that for whites. African Americans can expect to live 73.3 years, up from 72.7 years in 2003. Whites are likely to make it to age 78.3, up from 78 the year before, according to the report.

Some of the most prodigious killers such as heart disease and stroke appeared less lethal in 2004.

The number of deaths from heart disease, the nation’s No. 1 killer, dropped 6.4% to about 654,000, and cancer fatalities were down 2.9% to about 550,000, the report said.

Flu and pneumonia caused 7.3% fewer deaths in 2004 compared with 2003, while the number of deaths from stroke saw a 6.5% decline. Even those caused by accidents, the fifth leading cause of death, edged down 1.9%.

Still, decreases weren’t across the board. Deaths from high blood pressure rose 2.7% and those from Alzheimer’s disease increased 1.4% from 2003 to 2004, according to the report.

Far from being a burden on public programs such as Medicare and Social Security, the ability to live longer has produced a powerful market of older workers and consumers that companies are just beginning to court, Butler said.

“There’s been a huge boost because of increased longevity with housing, assisted living, travel, health care, financial services,” he said. “The Japanese call them the silver industries. We call them the mature market. Corporations are starting to realize this is a real boost economically.”

Butler said he’s hopeful that awareness campaigns and lifestyle changes will help start to reverse the nation’s obesity problem. “If it continued as the present, we would lose two to five years of life expectancy and it would be first time parents would live longer than their kids.”

Surgeons to test fat busters

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Orlando:Studies to test whether fat dissolving body treatments work are to be carried out by the US cosmetic surgeons body, the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS).

The decision to hold a double-blind placebo study follows the increasing popularity of treatments such as mesotherapy in which vitamins and other substances are given in multi-injections and more recently another treatment, which gained popularity in Brazil, known as Lipodissolve, in which a substance only medically approved for reducing blood cholesterol was injected into fatty areas. The latter has been banned for use in beauty treatments in most parts of Europe and the US.

ASAPS wants to determine if these practices are safe and work, it said at the annual meeting of the Aesthetic Society in Orlando, Fla.

Mesotherapy was developed as a separate medical specialty in France in the early 1950s, and many mesotherapy centers are opening in the United States.

The treatment involves the injection of various compounds into the skin in order to break down fat cells, but the absence of proper protocols and regulation of this therapy may put patients at risk. The goal of the study is to provide doctors and patients with more specific and standardized protocols, as well as more information about the possible risks and benefits of this therapy.

Dr Mark Jewell, President of ASAP said: “Our goal is to provide physicians and their patients with the information they need to make good decisions. Currently, we cannot endorse the injection of phosphatidylcholine, sodium deoxycholate, or any drugs, vitamins, plant extracts or hormones into subcutaneous fat as practiced in mesotherapy/Lipodissolve treatments, because we don’t have enough clinical data or FDA approval to support their use.”

The study is designed by the Aesthetic Society and funded by the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation. The findings are expected to be published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, the peer-reviewed journal of the ASAPS.

Are you ageing from the inside out?

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London: The UK think-tank, the Office of Health Economics recently reported that the life expectancy gap between men and women is shrinking. Women can now expect to live just four-and-a-half years longer than men – the smallest difference for almost thirty years. So a female born in 2002 has an expected life expectancy of 80.7 years, while a boy born the same year has a life expectancy of 76.2 years.

The report concludes that the reason for the slowing in life expectancy is that women are adopting the same lifestyles as men – smoking, binge-drinking and suffering the stresses of full-time jobs.

The fact is that very few people die a natural death. Most of the illnesses from which we suffer and die are far from natural – obesity, diseases of the heart and cardiovascular system, cancer, Alzheimer’s, stroke, diabetes. More often than not, they are the result of our lifestyles, and caused by smoking, drinking alcohol to excess, taking too little exercise, over-eating, poor nutrition and stress. These degenerative diseases, it is estimated, account for 90% of all medical treatment needed in old age.

Nevertheless, as a result of medical intervention and improved nutrition, there has been a huge spurt in longevity in the 20th century. An extra 20 years has been added to the average lifespan, bringing the average global life expectancy to 66 years. Life expectancy in Ancient Rome was 22 and in the Middle Ages 35. Today many people live to more than 115 years.

Despite the fast-pace of medical discoveries, such as cure-alls like stem cells there is nothing we can do to change our chronological age and death is evitable at some stage. What we can do, though, is take measures to change our biological age, to give ourselves a better quality of life so that we can be more active and healthier for longer. A fit body and an agile mind make it easier to cope in today’s demanding workplace.

The first step in preventing degenerative disease is to obtain a comprehensive snapshot of your current state of health. This can be done with an annual blood screening test. Regular blood testing is the single most important tool available to prevent degenerative disease through early detection.

Blood screening assesses the status of numerous systems in the body, monitoring for cardiovascular risk factors, blood sugar levels, liver and kidney function, immune system wellness, and optimal hormone balance. Regular testing also monitors mineral balance and red blood cells size and number.

Unfortunately this kind of preventative blood testing is not routinely offered by the NHS, but it is the key to any serious anti-ageing or preventative programme. It can determine your risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, liver conditions, anaemia and diabetes and prevent other conditions associated with hormone imbalances, such as fatigue, obesity, osteoporosis and depression.

Dr John Moran who runs a medical practice in London’s Wimpole Street says: “Most of my patients come to me because they are not satisfied with their GP. I undertake a detailed investigation of the patient’s current health which begins with a series of blood tests, which are different for men and woman and also age. The next level is to replace what is missing and to retest to ensure that everything is happening as it should.”

People who eat antioxidant fruit and veg have less wrinkles

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Berlin: People who eat lots of fruit and vegetables, especially tomatoes and red peppers, are likely to have fewer wrinkles, according to a new study.

And event those who don’t can get younger skin if they change their diet to include more vegetables and fruit containing antioxidants.

The study in the latest issue of the German magazine, The Dermatologist, conducted at the Berline Charite Hospital found that people with higher amounts of antioxidants in the skin had fewer wrinkles and therefore looked younger.

Antioxidants are the substances that scientists believe fight free radicals, unstable molecules that are a factor in ageing, skin damage and cancer.

Antioxidants contained in the body are credited with preventing the majority of free-radical damage. Unfortunately the body is not capable of producing enough antioxidants on its own.

Antioxidants include vitamins and minerals such as A, C, D and E as well as beta carotene. They are contained in various vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, red peppers, kale green tea.

The German study showed that vegetarians had more antioxidants in their bodies than non-vegetarians. The article also warned that it was better to get them naturally rather than overdosing on dietary supplements.

Laser experiment paves way for cellulite treatment

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New York: Scientists have successfully used lasers to “melt” fat from skin without harming it. Although this experiment has only been used on pig fat they say lasers could be used to treat cellulite, acne and heart disease in humans.

Doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital, USA, used the Free-Electron Laser at specific wavelengths (selective photothermolysis) to heat up fat, which is then excreted by the body – without harming the skin.

Prof. Rox Anderson, told the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery annual meeting said that the main cause of acne is the lipid rich sebaceous gland and lasers could be used to target these. This technique could also be used to eliminate cellulite and body fat, say the researchers. Fat build up in the arteries (plaques), which causes heart attacks, could also be treated.

Prof. Anderson said his team were still a few years away from testing this technique on human beings.

Freeze those wrinkles – new creams to keep skin cool

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London: A host of new products that effectively freeze wrinkles using the latest scientific advances to revitalise the skin. These are some of the latest wrinkle-freezers available on the UK market:

Freeze 24-7 products (available at Space NK, 020 8740 2085) is a US product that has an effect comparable with Botox. The range includes a moisturiser, an eye serum and a range of lip glosses, contain gamma amino butyric acid, a naturally occurring muscle relaxant that feels cold on application and gives an ‘instant freezing effect’ by relaxing the muscles that can cause lines and wrinkles.

Another new product that uses the chill factor is the Diamond Ice-Lift (£90, Harrods, 020 7730 1234) face mask, from Spanish skincare brand Natura Biss. This product forms a mask that cools the skin as water evaporates, a bit like a fridge and the gel then solidifies.

Ice-Source (£125, www.hqhair.com ) from France that was developed with the European Space Agency. It is contained in a self-cooling pot — pushing a button on the base of the pot causes the product to be chilled 75 times quicker than in a fridge, dropping its temperature from 22C to 2C in two minutes. The cooling effect shrinks the size of molecules in the cream making them more effective at penetrating the skin.

Chilled for Skin (£80, LK Distribution, 01737 700020), is from Japan and is a pure organic marine collagen treatment that you apply twice a day before your moisturiser. It is delivered to your home in a coolbagand needs to be stored in the fridge to ensure that it remains effective.

Kenzo Vital-Ice Cream (£37, Urban Retreat at Harrods, 020 7893 8333) has to be kept in the fridge to optimise its toning and regenerating properties.

Men with high cholesterol levels increase risk of prostate cancer

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Milan: Italian researchers have discovered that men with high levels of cholesterial have a 50 per cent higher risk of developing prostate cancer.

High levels of bad cholesterial (LDL) are already linked to other diseases particularly cardiovascular disease.

The new study is published in the Annals of Oncology on-line and says the present study found a direct association between high cholesterol levels and prostate cancer.

Each year more than half a million men develop prostate cancer with nearly half dying of the disease. Over half a million men worldwide are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, with over 200,000 deaths from the disease. The lowest incidence of the cancer is in Asia and the Far East, in particular India, Japan and China.

Led by Francesca Bravi from the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, the study investigated cholesterol levels of 1294 men with clinically diagnosed prostate cancer, and 1451 controls with no prostate cancer.

After taking into account lifestyle, the researchers found that high cholesterol was associated with a 50 per cent increase in the risk of prostate cancer.

The risk is even higher for men over 65, with high cholesterol levels, who increase their risk of the cancer by 80 per cent, whereas younger men had a 32 per cent increased risk.

The increase risk is thought to be linked to higher levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), a protein that is used as a marker for the disease, in men with high cholesterol levels. Raised levels of PSA are indicative of prostate cancer risk, although two-thirds of men with high PSA levels will not have prostate cancer.

Some experts argue against the cholesterol-PSA link, saying that the metabolic products of cholesterol are carcinogenic and that this may be the mechanism responsible.

Hoodia diet food trials

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London: A UK company is testing the use of hoodia, a cactus extract that stems hunger pangs, in diet foods.

The trial is being carried out by Phytopharm who will market the products, such as margarine and drinks, with Unilever.

Extracts made from the Hoodia gordonii plant are already a popular dietary supplement and was originally used by Kalahari bushmen of Africa to stave off hunger while on hunting trips.

Cambridge-based Phytopharm plans year-long clinical trials to see if volunteers given the extract in foods find their hunger pangs disappear.

Tests on rats have already found that they loose their appetite when given the active ingredient. ‘We are very excited so far at the success of the project and will take it from here,’ he said.

Sleep helps lower blood pressure

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New York: Older people who have less than five hours sleep increase their risk of high blood pressure, according too new research from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

The new study, published in the journal of Hypertension, began by investigating 5,000 people with normal blood pressure. Over the next decade researchers noted their sleeping patterns and blood pressure. They fuond that 24 per cent of those aged between 32 and 59 who had five hours or less sleep each night developed high blood pressure. It was concluded that they faced double the risk of getting the condition compared to those who have the recommended eight hours because the heart has to work harder.

Only 12 per cent of those who had seven or eight hours of sleep each night had the condition.

Lead researcher James E Gangwisch said that sleep allowed the heart to slow down and therefore blood pressure to drop and that there was a clear messsage about getting a good night’s sleep.

Fat middle may raise risk of Alzheimer’s

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San Diego: A fat middle may raise the risk of Alzheimer’s, say doctors.

A new study looked at 9,000 men and women whose fat levels were monitored in early middle-age. During the next 23 years, 221 cases of Alzheimer’s were diagnosed mostly in those who were overweight with higher levels of at around the trunk.

The research took into account other Alzheimer’s factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and high cholsterol but concluded that fat around the middle was the most likely predictor of dementia.

Dr Rachel Whitmer from the Kaiser Permanent Foundation Research Institute in California told the American Academy of Neurology in San Diego that even a person of normal weight who was carrying more fat around the trunk was at risk.

The team now plan to test whether weight loss can reduce the risk of demantia and Alzheimer’s.

New research shows second-hand smoke raises diabetes risk

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Birmingham: Breathing other people’s cigarette smoke raises the risk of developing glucose intolerance, the precursor to diabetes, a new study published on the British Medical Journal online www.bmj.com reveals.

The US research also shows that overall, white Americans are more susceptible to this effect than African-Americans.

Researchers examined 4572 men and women in four US cities, dividing them into four categories of smoking status: ranging from those who smoked, to those who had neither smoked nor breathed in other people’s smoke. The study focussed only on those who were white or African-American.

The authors then tracked how many participants developed glucose intolerance – where the body can no longer produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar – over 15 years of follow-up.

The study found that smokers had the highest risk, with 22% of them getting the disease over the study period. Non-smokers who had no exposure to second-hand smoke had the lowest risk, with less than 12% developing the condition.

But 17% of those who had never smoked themselves but were subject to second-hand smoke also developed glucose intolerance – higher than the 14% risk rate in the group who had previously smoked and given up.

Those breathing second-hand smoke are exposed to many toxins, say the authors. And the chemical reactions which produce second-hand smoke mean that some of those toxins may be at even higher concentrations than the levels breathed in directly by smokers. If one of these toxins particularly affects the pancreas – the organ which produces insulin – this may explain the findings, they suggest.

Until now, it had not been known that those breathing second-hand smoke faced an increased risk of diabetes, say the researchers. More studies are now needed, they conclude.

Click here to view full paper:http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/april/hout264671.pdf

Women now live longer than men, even in the poorest countries

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Sheffield: 2006 is likely to be the first year in human history when – across almost all the world – women can expect to outlive men, say researchers in the current issue of the British Medical Journal.

The trend towards this remarkable achievement will probably be confirmed this week in the 2006 world health report.

“We tend to forget that in many countries of the world women could expect, until recently, to live fewer years than men and that maternal death in particular remains a big killer,” write Danny Dorling and colleagues. In Europe, men last outlived women in the Netherlands in 1860 and in Italy in 1889. Elsewhere females’ life expectancy has long exceeded males’: in Sweden since 1751, Denmark since 1835, England and Wales since 1841.

But in all western European countries the life expectancy gap between women and men is now narrowing.

Greater emancipation has freed women to demand better health care and to behave more like men, and most importantly to smoke, say the authors. As this transition is so recent, the processes driving it cannot be purely biological: they relate primarily to social change.

“We must remember, though, that life expectancy data apply from birth onwards, so the picture would be different in some countries if life expectancy from conception was considered,” they add. “But even the life expectancy from birth may not be a permanent achievement, given that the largest remaining untapped market for cigarettes in the world is made up of women living in poorer countries,” they conclude.

Click here to view full editorial: http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/april/edit808.pdf

Grandmother 51 with body of model

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London: Grandmother Donna McClure, pictured right, has a better figure than most women half her age. Her secret is a new exercise product from the US, the Nautilus Bowflex Homegym which the manufacturers claim is guaranteed to change your body in six weeks.

Donna is featured in the company’s promotional material after she wrote to them about how well the exercise regime worked for her. She now has her own web site www.fitgrandmother.com

Whether you want to lose weight, get in shape or just look better, the Bowflex home gym guarantees to change your body in just six weeks – or your money back.

Bowflex gets results because it not only provides an aerobic workout by circuit training, but also helps to build muscle. Regardless of age, muscle is important to everyone – especially people who want to lose weight – because body muscle helps to burn most of the calories we eat.

In a recent US studymen who exercised with the Bowflex home gym by following a ‘Fast Fat Loss’ programme lost an average of 28lbs of fat in just six weeks, while women lost almost 17lbs of fat in the same time-span.

Designed to provide a gym quality workout in the comfort of the home, Bowflex Sport offers over 60 different exercises – the equivalent of almost an entire range of gym equipment in a single, compact unit.

Bowflex’s unique Power RodÒ resistance provides you with a secret fitness weapon. This special Power Rod technology gives you resistance, or weight, that feels as good as, or better than free weights – but without the inertia, danger or joint pain usually associated with free weights.

And, because Power Rods are so strong, they can be flexed repeatedly without wearing out, and even come with a 30 year guarantee.

Two Bowflex home gym models are now available to UK consumers – the Bowflex SportÔ and the Bowflex XtremeÔ.

Both models come with a lat tower with angled lat bar to help build back and shoulder muscles quickly, a lower squat station for squats and to build glutes, hamstrings and quads, multiple cable positions to provide custom workouts. Both models also come with a complete step-by-step fitness guide, Dr Ellington Darden’s Fast Fat loss programme and a comprehensive owner’s manual.

And, for users who want the flexibility to move or store their home gym, the Bowflex Sport is fully portable, so it can be easily folded up and rolled out of the way.

Now the best-selling home gym in the US with over 1.5 million sales, Bowflex provides a better, quicker and more convenient workout system that’s ideal for anyone with a busy lifestyle and offers real results for real people. Instead of spending up to two hours driving to the gym, waiting for equipment, then exercising and driving home, Bowflex will always be available and ready for use – whatever the time of day or night.

Bowflex is also a great solution for anyone who is ‘turned off’ or intimidated by health and fitness clubs, as it offers a gym standard workout in the comfort of your home.

Alternatively, for real ‘fitness junkies’ the gym-quality workout and constant availability provides great results, and users can upgrade to 310lbs or 410lbs of Power Rod resistance as required.

Available immediately, the Bowflex Sport and Xtreme models retail at £799 and £999 respectively, or can be financed with affordable low monthly payments. The Bowflex home gym will be sold exclusively through television teleshopping via TV Warehouse, and can be ordered directly from its website, www.bowflex.co.uk”, or by calling Freephon from the UK: 0800 013 1606.

Calorie restriction does extend life, US scientists confirm

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Louisiana: The first calorie-controlled diet to extend life in humans has confirmed that it reduces signs of ageing.

Researchers at Louisiana State University found that six months on a low calorie diet was enough to significantly cut the chances of developing diseases of ageing such as cancer. The findings are published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A group of 48 overweight men and women aged between 25 and 50 were monitored in the experiement over a six month period.

A quarter of them were put on a diet of 25 per cent fewer calories than they would be expected to eat for their age and weight.

Another quarter had their calorie intake reduced by 12.5 per cent and were also put on a strict exercise regime.

A third group stuck to a very strict diet of 890 calories a day – which compares with guidelines for people with low activity levels of 1,640 calories for women and 2,550 for men. The remainder were placed on a regime designed to maintain their weight.

The volunteers on the fewest calories lost 14 per cent of their body weight on average over the six months, while the other calorie-restricted dieters both lost 10 per cent.

All of those who cut down on their calories showed a fall in average core body temperature and reduced fasting insulin levels, both linked to living longer.

The rate at which their DNA decayed – a natural process – also slowed, reducing their chances of developing mutations and degenerative diseases related to ageing such as cancer.

Earlier this year scientists at Washington University also discovered that people on calorie-controlled diets had more elastic than others of the same age and gender.

After an average of six years on the regime, the experiment established that their hearts were able to relax between beats in a manner associated with much younger people.

Dr Luigi Fontana, who led the Washington study, said the latest research was the first to show a significant decline in DNA damage from calorie restriction.

He said: ‘The value of these studies is that they suggest possible mechanisms of ageing in humans and points of intervention to modify the effects of ageing.’

Dr Fontana’s colleague, John Holloszy, who originally found caloric restriction increased lifespan in mice and rats by 30 per cent, said the research was a turning point.

He said: ‘It’s becoming clear from studies that calorie restriction does change some of the markers we associate with ageing.’

Doctors Fontana and Holloszy will soon begin a study into the effects of a calorie-restricted diet over two years.

‘We know people on calorie restriction will lose weight,’ Dr Fontana said. ‘But this study isn’t a weightloss study. We’re hoping to learn more about whether calorie restriction can alter the ageing process.’

In long-term studies on monkeys carried out by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, those on calorie- controlled diets suffered fewer ailments such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

One of the underfed monkeys reached 38 years, the human equivalent of 114 years.

Experts believe cutting calories works by causing biochemical changes in the body, reducing free radicals, the toxic particles created by the breakdown of food which are more difficult to eradicate in an ageing body.

Skin cancer set to soar because of global warming, world expert warns

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London: The number of people who will get skin cancer in the UK is set to treble within the next thirty years, a top scientist has warned.

Already over the last five years more people have died of skin cancer in the UK than in Australia,says Professor Mark Birch-Machin, professor of Molecular Dermatology at the University of Newcastle.

“This is not going to go away. The rate of increase is greatest in Britain.” he said.

In the UK there are 100,000 new cases of skin cancer each year and in the US 1.3 million cases.

Speaking at the spring conference of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors in London, he said that the predicted rise in temperatures as a result of global warning,some 3 degrees, would push the average summer temperatures in Britain to between 19 and 22 degrees Farenheit, when most people would get sunburn. Temperatures during the summer currently average 19 degrees or less.

Professor Birch-Machin said that messages about safe-sunbathing were currently confusing and misleading. High factor creams allow people to stay in the sun for longer but whilst they prevented sunburn they did not prevent damage to the skin cell DNA which it is now believed plays a role in skin cancers. He pointed to the recent publicity over the potential lack of Vitamin D which is made by the skin as a result of sunlight and that some sunbed outlets were promoting their businesses by highlighting this issue.

“You can get enough vitamin D by walking from your car to your office,” he said.

A test to determine sunburnt DNA has been developed by Professor Birch-Machin. Burnt DNA is thought to lead to cell mutations that cause skin cancer. See www.skinphysical.co.uk

He predicted that new “smart” sunscreens which protected against the burning of cell DNA would soon be on the market.

Wine is good for the heart, says new study

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Boston: Drinking 14 glasses of wine or more a week gives you a healthier heart, according to researchers from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

A ten-year study of 4,400 men and women aged 65 and over discovered that the amount of alcohol consumed was linked to heart health.

Those who had between one and six drinks a week were 7 per cent less likely to have a problem that those who didn’t drink at all. For those who consumed seven to thirteen drink a week, the risk dropped by 20 per cent, and for those having 14 or more drinks the risk dropped by about 40 per cent.

The researchers said the results indicated that those who drank more had the lowest risk of coronary heart disease but warned that more research was needed.

The health benefits of wine have not been fully explored and it is not known whether it is the anti-oxidants or the blood-thinning effects of alcohol which are beneficial.