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EU's ageing trend to rise sharply
The EU expects to see a big increase in pensioners in the coming decades, with only two people of working age for every person aged 65 or more by 2060.
Deaths will outnumber births in the European Union from 2015 onwards, the EU's statistical office Eurostat predicts in a new report. By 2060, the UK is likely to have the largest population in the EU - 77 million, ahead of France and Germany. Despite migration, the EU's population is set to fall from 2035 onwards.
An increase is expected in the next 27 years - from 495 million in January 2008 to 521 million in 2035 - but thereafter Eurostat predicts a gradual decline to 506 million in 2060. The ratio of pensioners to working-age people is projected to increase, from 25% today in 2008 to 53% in 2060. That translates into only two people of working age for every person aged 65 or more in 2060, compared with four to one today.
The ratio is projected to be more than 60% in the newer EU member states, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. It is likely to be less than 45% in Denmark, the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.
Eurostat expects big differences in population growth across the EU.
The biggest population growth is expected in Cyprus (+66%), Ireland (+53%), Luxembourg (+52%), the UK (+25%) and Sweden (+18%).
The sharpest declines are expected in Bulgaria (-28%), Latvia (-26%), Lithuania (-24%), Romania (-21%) and Poland (-18%). The EU expects to see a big increase in pensioners in the coming decades, with only two people of working age for every person aged 65... more -
Killer Carbs - Scientist Finds Key To Overeating As We Age
A Monash University scientist has discovered key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hunger and potentially weight-gain as we grow older. The research by Dr Zane Andrews, a neuroendocrinologist with Monash University's Department of Physiology, has been published in Nature. A Monash University scientist has discovered key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hun... more
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Evidence-Based Tai Chi Program Prevents Falls Among Older Adults
Research translates into successful community practice to improve elder health It is not easy to translate research into practice, and a therapy that works well in the sterile research lab is not always successful in the real world. Researchers across the country are driven not only to discover new treatments but also to make sure their treatments are designed to be used successfully in a variety of community settings.
In the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health, Oregon Research Institute (ORI) senior scientist Fuzhong Li, Ph.D., describes how senior community centers in Lane County, Oregon successfully adopted an evidence-based Tai Chi program to prevent falls among older adults. Based on this success, the Oregon Department of Human Services, in partnership with 4 counties in Oregon, has now adopted the Tai Chi program as part of its efforts to disseminate evidence-based interventions to promote physical activity and reduce falls among community-living older adults.
"Our results are very important from a public health perspective," says Li. "The U.S. population is aging rapidly and falls are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among adults age 65 and older. Falls are associated with an enormous burden to individuals, society, and to the health care system. Tai Chi, as a proven fall intervention, may have much to offer in terms of reducing the public health burden of falls and the benefits accrued for prevention."
The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to determine how well the exercise program translated into positive results when taught in community centers by lay people. There is wide recognition within public health that proven programs must be translated, implemented and adopted to have widespread effects. In previously-funded research, the Tai Chi program developed by Li and his team showed positive results in improving balance and reducing falls among the elderly.
Twice-weekly 1-hour classes were held in local senior centers in for 12 weeks. Trained tai chi instructors delivered the program. Li and his team assessed several factors including how many centers adopted the program, whether teachers and staff were successful in implementing key elements of the program, and whether participants in the tai chi sessions experienced healthy benefits. Also of critical importance is whether the community center was willing to consider tai chi as part of its regular programs, and the extent to which participants continued their tai chi practice once the 12 weeks were over.
Results indicated that the all centers invited agreed to participate and all participating centers successfully implemented the program. Program participants showed significant improvements in health-related outcome measures such as balance, reduction in falls, and increased functional independence. Tai chi has been considered a low-cost exercise activity because no equipment and few facilities are needed. These results indicate that an evidence-based tai chi program can be implemented in urban and rural community settings. Research translates into successful community practice to improve elder health It is not easy to translate research into practice, and... more -
Cell change 'keeps organs young'
Researchers may have found a way to halt the biological clock which slows down our bodies over the decades.
A US team thinks it may have found the genetic levers to help boost a system vital to cleaning up faulty proteins within our cells. The journal Nature Medicine reported that the livers of genetically-altered older mice worked as well as those in younger animals. They suggested it might one day help people with progressive brain diseases.
The researchers, from Yeshiva University in New York, are focusing on a process which is central to the proper working of cells. The fundamental chemicals of cells - proteins - often have very short working lives, and need to be cleared away and recycled as soon as possible. The body has a system for doing just that, but it becomes progressively less efficient as we get older. This leads to progressive falls in the function of major organs - the heart, liver and brain, some of which contribute to the diseases of old age.
Dr Ana Maria Cuervo, from Yeshiva, created a mouse with two genetic alterations. The first, when activated, boosted the number of specific cell receptors linked to this protein recycling function, while the second allowed the first to be turned on whenever Dr Cuervo wished simply by modifying the animal's diet.
Read more... Researchers may have found a way to halt the biological clock which slows down our bodies over the decades. ... more -
Could worms hold the secret to eternal life?
With the world’s population getting older all the time, an increasing number of scientists are studying aging and its effects - sometimes with surprising conclusions.
While most agree that aging is caused by cellular-level wear and tear caused by friction with the environment (also known as living ), scientists at Stanford looking at a specific type of worm have discovered that may not just be about environmental damage
Scientists identified three genes that appear to control the majority of changes in gene expression that accompany aging. They then exposed the worms to a range of environmental stressors, including heat, DNA damage, and oxidative stress, and found that expression of the controller genes was largely unaffected. The results were reported today in the journal Cell.
A possible interpretation of the findings, says Kim, is that aging in worms may in part be due to developmental pathways gone awry. In the wild, worms die from predation rather than from old age. So there’s little evolutionary pressure to stop damaging genetic mutations from taking root, a concept known as developmental drift. "It’s not environmental accumulation; it’s a developmental clock," says Kim.
It’s not clear whether there are similar issues in mammals and humans, but the science of gerontology is opening up all kinds of interesting new avenues for exploration.
Mammals may be more susceptible to accumulated wear and tear, he says, because cells are continually damaged and replaced from a pool of stem cells present in most tissues. Too much stress destroys the ability of stem-cell pools to replace tissue. Worms, on the other hand, are generally stuck with the cells that they've got once they hit adulthood: most cells are no longer capable of proliferating.
Kim's team is now studying the human versions of these genes. While it's unlikely that the same genes are involved in human aging, he says, "I think that the conceptual idea that known human-developmental controls are not maintained as people grow older is attractive and theoretically possible." However, "there is no direct evidence for developmental drift in mammals yet," he says. With the world’s population getting older all the time, an increasing number of scientists are studying aging and its effects - someti... more -
Japanese men worry about 'ageing odour'
Japanese men are worrying about more than mere sweat as summer temperatures rise: talk of body odor caused by ageing is adding to anxiety in a land that prizes being squeaky clean, Reuters reports.
Shiseido Research Centre, a laboratory affiliated with Japanese cosmetics maker Shiseido Co Ltd, sparked the trend to anti-odor products for older men when it discovered eight years ago a substance that it named "kareishu", or ageing odor.
The lab identified nonenal, a type of fatty acid, as the cause, saying unsaturated fatty acids and oxidative decomposition increase from around 40 years of age.
Being Japan, it has also sparked a range of new products, from odor-eating suits to special chewing gum.
"My wife tells me that I stink," said company manager Atsushi Asami, 47, interviewed on a typically hot and humid Tokyo street. "I am concerned about ageing odor and know there are anti-ageing odor products, but have not bought them myself."
An on-line survey by CBIC Corp., a Tokyo-based company that sells deodorant products, found that 89 percent of 700 Japanese women in their 20s and 30s found men smelly in commuter trains.
A discount menswear chain last year started selling 'deodorant suits' as well as anti-odor shirts and socks.
"More Japanese men are becoming concerned about their smell and so the need for anti-body odor products is growing," said company spokesman Yuriko Moriya.
The 61,950 yen ($576) suits, are laced with disinfectants that absorb and break down substances that produce ageing odor and the smell of sweat. Sales this year have doubled from the same time last year.
Gomi says lifestyle changes are probably a better way to fight the smell, since avoiding stress and excessive eating and drinking help ease the problem.
But he added: "Being called 'smelly' can be damaging to our personality. In that sense, deodorant products can be used as a confidence booster."
Do men really get smellier as they age? Or is this just a gimmick to prise money from the sweaty hands of wealthier, insecure older men? Would you wear a deo-suit? Japanese men are worrying about more than mere sweat as summer temperatures rise: talk of body odor caused by ageing is adding to anxi... more -
Beijing Non-Olympics Part 1: Winter swimmers
This is the first part in a series of films taking a quirky look at the wonderful sporting habits of real Beijingers. From hip hop dancing grandmas, to pigeon racers and winter lake swimmers, these local legends are carrying the torch for a different kind of sport... This is the first part in a series of films taking a quirky look at the wonderful sporting habits of real Beijingers. From hip hop dan... more
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Beijing Non-Olympics Part 2: Hip Hop Grannies
This is the second part in a series of films taking a quirky look at the wonderful sporting habits of real Beijingers. From hip hop dancing grandmas, to pigeon racers and winter lake swimmers, these local legends are carrying the torch for a different kind of sport... This is the second part in a series of films taking a quirky look at the wonderful sporting habits of real Beijingers. From hip hop da... more
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The Nutritional and Environmental Benefits of Hemp | Defy Age Naturally
It seems as though hemp is not only an answer to our global health problems, both for people who don’t have enough to eat and for people in the western world who are malnourished from eating the wrong foods, but also an answer to our environmental crisis.The healing properties of hemp:
Hemp seeds are perhaps the purest, most nutritionally dense food on our planet. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, and are also the only edible seeds with gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which is an essential fatty acid. In fact, its essential fatty acid ratio is absolutely perfect for our bodies.
Many people think that it is impossible to be a vegan because protein comes from animal products such as meat and cheese. In actual fact, hemp seeds are a highly nutritious source of protein that is easily digested by the body in its natural raw state.
Some of the benefits of regularly including this potent and delicious super food in your diet are:
* Heart Health and Lowered Blood Pressure - High blood pressure is a sign that the heart is being overworked from having to constantly force blood through sluggish blood vessels. Clinical studies indicate that hemp products reduce inflammation and improve circulation, which means that the blood can flow and take the pressure off the heart.
* Better Digestion – The fiber and fats work wonders for our bowels.
* Losing Weight Naturally Hemp - will fill you up so you don’t feel hungry and crave foods that put on the pounds. Getting enough essential fats and other nutrients that are provided by hemp is one of the best ways to stay slim and healthy.
* More Energy - In our world we need all we can get!
* Healthy Cholesterol Levels - The natural fats and nutrients in hemp help us to maintain balanced cholesterol levels.
* Harmonious Blood Sugars levels - One of the most important ways to defy age and prevent disease is to maintain even blood sugar.
Hemp’s Wide Range of Environmentally friendly Uses
Hemp offers a way to live in harmony with the environment and eco-systems we depend on.
Hemp is the world’s oldest and most versatile crop. In fact there are more than 25,000 known uses for it!
Hemp has the potential to replace all major non-renewable raw materials. Hemp fibre is stronger and more versatile than any other plant derived fibre, including cotton and wood. Hemp could also potential replace petroleum products including plastics.
Deforestation is occurring at around 3% per year, and hemp is a far superior resource since it can be grown to maturity in 100 days. Hemp paper is far stronger and durable paper made from trees.
Hemp is used in the world’s major currency banknotes because it is so strong and water resistant. It is also a sustainable replacement for concrete.
Hemp can grow anywhere and doesn’t require pesticides, herbicides or fungicides Evidence suggests that it can lift heavy metals from polluted soil. It also adds nutrients to soil by tapping into sub-soil nutrients other plants cannot access.
Hemp biomass fuel produces no sulphur and can be effectively used as a relatively clean power source due to its 95% fuel to feed ratio (and with rising fuel prices, we need an alternative fast!)
Basically, using hemp as a natural resource could help us feel healthier and enjoy a cleaner, less toxic environment. And let’s face it, a healthy environment and a healthy body go hand in hand. It seems as though hemp is not only an answer to our global health problems, both for people who don’t have enough to eat and for peop... more -
Pot "slows aging"
A Canadian court heard Thursday that cannabis is safer than aspirin and can restore the balance in people's bodies to help fight illness.
That was the testimony of Dr. Robert Melamede, an associate professor at the University of Colorado, who was brought in by the defense team for the four men accused in the Holy Smoke Culture Shop drug trafficking case taking place in Nelson this week.
Melamede's testimony comes on the second day of what is supposed to be a week-long trial. In a lengthy scientific explanation, the U.S. expert told the court that the human body produces marijuana-like compounds, or endocannabinoids, which act as a "lubricant" for food produced chemicals called "free radicals" that are very reactive and can cause an imbalance in the body.
"You can look at the harm caused by free radicals as biological friction or biological rust and the endocannabinoid system minimizes the impact of that and directly acts as an antioxidant as well as modifying the biochemistry in a way that minimizes the impacts," said Melamede outside court Thursday, likening endocannabinoids to humans like oil is to cars. He said if you don't have lubrication in your car, your car breaks. In the human body, the damage comes in the form of age-related diseases.
"I'm saying what science has now shown is that marijuana and cannabinoids are effective anti-aging agents which means that they are effective in minimizing the onset and the severity of age-related illnesses which include cognitive dysfunction things like Alzheimers, cardiovascular disease be it heart attacks, strokes, or clogged arteries," he said.
But while it does not work for every one, cannabis can also help those people with auto-immune diseases and cancer.
Melamede explained that you would have to take 40,000 times the therapeutic dose before causing harm to your body. But the therapeutic index for aspirin is 15 to one.
"It's extremely safe," said Melamede of marijuana, noting the overdose amount would equal 40,000 joints.
"And you die happy," added Judge Don Sperry during a rare moment of levity in Thursday's testimony. A Canadian court heard Thursday that cannabis is safer than aspirin and can restore the balance in people's bodies to help fight ... more -
MFoundation-What is the Methuselah Foundation?
"The Methuselah Foundation is a non-profit 501c(3) organization committed to the acceleration of progress toward a cure for age-related disease, disability, suffering, and death. " "The Methuselah Foundation is a non-profit 501c(3) organization committed to the acceleration of progress toward a cure for age-r... more
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Japan's sales tax may rise due to aging population
In short, the current 5% sales tax will not be enough to pay for the influx of people that will be eligible for aid next fiscal year. The Financial Minster pushes the idea to increase the national sales tax to combat the costs as soon as possible. Prime Minister Fukuda expresses similar concern. Tokyo is already the second most expensive city in the world to live in-- imagine after the tax!
Sooner more than ever, travelers should shop duty-free! In short, the current 5% sales tax will not be enough to pay for the influx of people that will be eligible for aid next fiscal year. ... more -
US life expectancy tops 78!
U.S. life expectancy has hit a new record: 78.1 years for babies born in 2006, says the CDC.
What's more, the death rate for 11 of the top 15 causes of death -- including heart disease, cancer, and stroke -- slowed in 2006.That's what the CDC's preliminary data show, based on some 2.4 million deaths in 2006. Here are the highlights from the CDC's report.
Life ExpectancyLife expectancy in 2006 is about four months longer than it was in 2005, according to the CDC.White women continue to have the longest life expectancy, followed by African-American women, white men, and African-American men. Those patterns have held since 1976, though all groups have seen their life expectancy improve during that time.
Here are the 2006 life expectancy figures for each of those groups:
* White women: 81 years
* African-American women: 76.9 years
* White men: 76 years
* African-American men: 70 years U.S. life expectancy has hit a new record: 78.1 years for babies born in 2006, says the CDC. ... more -
New hints that red wine may slow aging
Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending human lifespan, researchers say in a new report that is likely to give impetus to the rapidly growing search for longevity drugs.
The study is based on dosing mice with resveratrol, an ingredient of some red wines. Some scientists are already taking resveratrol in capsule form, but others believe it is far too early to take the drug, especially using wine as its source, until there is better data on its safety and effectiveness.
The report is part of a new wave of interest in drugs that may enhance longevity. On Monday, Sirtris, a startup founded in 2004 to develop drugs with the same effects as resveratrol, completed its sale to GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million.Sirtris is seeking to develop drugs that activate protein agents known in people as sirtuins.
“The upside is so huge that if we are right, the company that dominates the sirtuin space could dominate the pharmaceutical industry and change medicine,” Dr. David Sinclair of the Harvard Medical School, a co-founder of the company, said Tuesday. Serious scientists have long derided the idea of life-extending elixirs, but the door has now been opened to drugs that exploit an ancient biological survival mechanism, that of switching the body’s resources from fertility to tissue maintenance. The improved tissue maintenance seems to extend life by cutting down on the degenerative diseases of aging.
The reflex can be prompted by a faminelike diet, known as caloric restriction, which extends the life of laboratory rodents by up to 30 percent but is far too hard for most people to keep to and in any case has not been proven to work in humans. Research started nearly 20 years ago by Dr. Leonard Guarente of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed recently that the famine-induced switch to tissue preservation might be triggered by activating the body’s sirtuins.
Dr. Sinclair, a former student of Dr. Guarente, then found in 2003 that sirtuins could be activated by some natural compounds, including resveratrol, previously known as just an ingredient of certain red wines.Dr. Sinclair’s finding led in several directions. He and others have tested resveratrol’s effects in mice, mostly at doses far higher than the minuscule amounts in red wine. One of the more spectacular results was obtained last year by Dr. John Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France. He showed that resveratrol could turn plain vanilla, couch-potato mice into champion athletes, making them run twice as far on a treadmill before collapsing.
The company Sirtris, meanwhile, has been testing resveratrol and other drugs that activate sirtuin. These drugs are small molecules, more stable than resveratrol, and can be given in smaller doses. In April, Sirtris reported that its formulation of resveratrol, called SRT501, reduced glucose levels in diabetic patients.The company plans to start clinical trials of its resveratrol mimic soon. Sirtris’s value to GlaxoSmithKline is presumably that its sirtuin-activating drugs could be used to treat a spectrum of degenerative diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer’s, if the underlying theory is correct. Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending human lifespan, researchers say in a new report that is likely to give ... more -
Sharon Cuneta with British actors in Caregiver
“I hope itong munting alay ko para sa napakalalaking okasyon na ito and over 30 years in music and 27 years in the movies, I have been yours, you have made me yours, I hope na kasama ko pa rin kayo hanggang dito, Diyos ko ‘di ko alam aabot tayo sa ganito. Maraming maraming salamat po! - Sharon Cuneta about her film, Caregiver. “I hope itong munting alay ko para sa napakalalaking okasyon na ito and over 30 years in music and 27 years in the movies, I have been... more
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The Health, Beauty And Weight Loss Secrets of Tea
Our favorite camellia sinensis-pusher Dr. Tea explains how the three magic compounds found in tea (caffeine, L-theanin and EGCG) work together to promote health, beauty and weight loss. Our favorite camellia sinensis-pusher Dr. Tea explains how the three magic compounds found in tea (caffeine, L-theanin and EGCG) work ... more
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How will the candidates look in four years?
The Presidency really takes its toll; just look at how George Bush has aged.
Mouse-over any of the images on the website to see how the candidates may look in 2012. The Presidency really takes its toll; just look at how George Bush has aged. ... more -
Architects design house to fight aging
The New York Times introduces us to the architects behind a house designed to combat aging. Its trick? Eschewing comfort for challenges. The New York Times introduces us to the architects behind a house designed to combat aging. Its trick? Eschewing comfort for challen... more
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Eight healthy reasons to drink beer
A decade's worth of health research shows that regular, moderate beer intake--one to two 12 ounce glasses per day for men and one for women--can be good for you, especially if you're facing some of the most common diseases related to aging A decade's worth of health research shows that regular, moderate beer intake--one to two 12 ounce glasses per day for men and one... more
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DNA breakthrough could give humans life spans lasting hundreds of years
A genetically engineered organism that lives 10 times longer than normal has been created by scientists in California. It is the greatest extension of longevity yet achieved by researchers investigating the scientific nature of ageing.
If this work could ever be translated into humans, it would mean that we might one day see people living for 800 years. But is this ever going to be a realistic possibility? A genetically engineered organism that lives 10 times longer than normal has been created by scientists in California. It is the great... more
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Aging
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Aging
