Welcome to the Island Where People Forget to Die And Diseases Like Lung Cancer Mysteriously Disappear
One day in 1976, Stamatis Moraitis of Boynton Beach, Florida, felt short of breath. Climbing stairs was a chore; he had to quit working midday. After reviewing his X-rays, his doctor concluded that Moraitis had lung cancer. At first, Moraitis spent his days in bed. In the ensuing months, Moraitis started to feel stronger. Six months came and went. For more than a decade, I’ve been organizing a study of places where people live longest. Life on Ikaria Seeking to learn more about the island’s reputation for long-lived residents, I called on Ilias Leriadis, one of Ikaria’s few physicians. “People stay up late here,” Dr. Dr. When Ioanna Chinou, a professor at the University of Athens School of Pharmacy and one of Europe’s top experts on the bioactive properties of herbs, tested Ikaria’s most commonly used herbs, she found that they showed strong antioxidant properties. On a trip the year before, I visited a slate-roofed house built into the slope at the top of a hill. Source: rd.com
Early Results of Human Trials For Anti-Aging Drug Are Promising
David Sinclair of Harvard University has been working toward a molecular fountain of youth. Finding previous success in mice, early human trials have begun in small studies around the globe. Preliminary results of these studies indicate that the treatments are safe and do not induce major adverse side effects, but it is still far too early to tell if the treatments will actually be effective at reversing aging in humans. A normal part of human aging involves senescence, which is a general wearing out of the body over time. Last December, Sinclair’s group published a paper in Cell revealing that they had been able to drastically reduce the functional “age” of muscle tissue. Over time, NAD+ levels decrease, which limits the cells’ ability to produce ATP in the mitochondria for energy. If the relative effects that were seen in the mice could be replicated in humans, it would result in a 60-year-old with the physique of a 20-year-old.
Fitspo: how strong became the new skinny
Last week, after a cancer benefit honouring her doctor friend, the singer Pink shut down critics who said she had gained weight with a tweet declaring that she felt beautiful and secure. It was a rare moment: a celebrity openly acknowledging the trolls, straight from her phone, then choosing to ignore them and look after her “healthy, voluptuous and crazy strong body” instead. Pink’s mainstream use of the word “strong” is worth noting; the mantra “strong is the new skinny” has been gaining currency online among female gym devotees for some time now. Its everyday popularity – popping up on Facebook, slogan shirts and fitness books – signals a move away from “thinness” in favour of a more achievable, “real” body, led not by magazines but by social media. But social media doesn’t always present reality unfiltered, and to grasp at reason in a sea of Photoshop takes conviction. Fitspo ranges from scaremongering to orthorexic to twee. It is a full-time job, this new tyranny of visual health.
Scientists reverse ageing process in mice; early human trials showing 'promising results'
Updated Scientists from Harvard and the University of New South Wales say they have discovered how to reverse the ageing process. The research has focused on mice, but early clinical trials have also been conducted on humans. The scientists said they switched youthful genes on and older genes off, using naturally occurring proteins and molecules. Professor of genetics at Harvard and UNSW, David Sinclair, led the research team. Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek. Audio: Listen to Sue Lannin's report (The World Today) "We've discovered genes that control how the body fights against ageing and these genes, if you turn them on just the right way, they can have very powerful effects, even reversing ageing - at least in mice so far," he said. "We fed them a molecule that's called NMN and this reversed ageing completely within just a week of treatment in the muscle, and now we're looking to reverse all aspects of ageing if possible."
Aging Brains Aren’t Necessarily Declining Brains
For years, conventional wisdom held that growing older tends to be bad news for brains. Past behavioral data largely pointed to loss in cognitive – that is, thinking – abilities with age, including poorer memory and greater distractibility. Physical measures of brain structure also showed atrophy, or loss of volume, in many regions with age. Watching older brains at work Enter cognitive neuroscience, a subfield of psychology that incorporates methods from neuroscience. Using cognitive neuroscience methods to study aging has unexpectedly revealed that, contrary to previous thought, aging brains remain somewhat malleable and plastic. fMRI scan shows areas of brain more active than others. Researchers investigate which parts of the brain are engaged during different tasks using methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures blood flow to various areas of the brain while active. External stimulation Shocking results! It’s not all downhill Brain workouts
