Vision Health Plugging Blood Vessels to Save Vision By article The growth of malformed blood vessels that can burst is a leading cause of vision loss in North America. Retinopathy and retina degeneration are associated with premature birth, with diabetes, and with increasing age. Now a new drug approach has been developed by a research team led by Dr. Andras Nagy at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto for safer clean-up of deformed blood vessels in the eye. The study was published in May 2014 in EMBO Molecular Medicine.
Aging Well Well-being A Sense of Purpose May Add Years to Your Life By article Feeling that you have a sense of purpose in life may help you live longer, no matter what your age, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research has clear implications for promoting positive aging and adult development, according to lead researcher Patrick Hill of Carleton University in Canada:
Grounding (Earthing): The Easiest Way to Fight Stress By blog We all know that the world is becoming more stressful every day. We worry about the economy, another war in a place we’ve never heard of, our parents getting old and dying, the well-being of our children, our own health. Sometimes it seems like our lives are one endless series of stresses. The bad news is that stress is on the rise and it’s causing major problems for many of us. The good news is that there are simple ways to combat stress and get back in control of our lives.
_ A Molecule That Could Battle Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell article Researchers have developed a new technique that uses a so-called “energy molecule” to trigger the release of anti-cancer drugs directly into cancer cells. It may be especially effective in breast cancer treatment. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications. Once inside the cancer cells, the molecule, adenosine-5’-triphosphate (ATP), releases its “payload”: a collection of molecules embed with an anti-cancer drug called doxorubicin, which targets the nucleus of the cancer cell.
_ A Lab in Your DocΓÇÖs Pocket By Jane Farrell article When you have blood work done during a physical exam, you have to wait several weeks for the results because your doctor sends the sample to a lab for analysis. That’s not a problem if you’re healthy and simply getting a routine checkup but if you have worrisome symptoms, both you and your physician would benefit from knowing very quickly whether something is amiss.
Longevity Gene May Be a Brain Booster By article If you’re lucky, you inherited a longevity gene that will up your chances of living to a ripe old age. Better yet, scientists at the University of California San Francisco have shown that people who have a variant of a longevity gene called KLOTHO are blessed with superior brain skills such as thinking, learning, and memory regardless of their age, sex, or even whether they have a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.
_ Vision Health AMD Patients May Not Need Monthly Injections By article Here’s good news if you suffer from age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of severe vision loss among people 50 years of age or older in industrialized countries. A team of researchers at Miguel Servet University Hospital in Zaragoza, Spain and the University of Toronto in Canada have found that, contrary to previous clinical trial findings, monthly injections to counteract AMD may not be necessary. The study was in May 2014 presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Orlando, Florida..
_ Free Radicals May Be Good Guys After All By article Free radicals, the sometimes-toxic molecules produced by our bodies as we process oxygen, have received a lot of bad press claiming that they are they are the culprits behind aging. Yet a number of studies have found evidence that the opposite may be true. Most recently, researchers at McGill University in Montreal have shown that free radicals promote longevity in the roundworm C. elegans. Surprisingly, the team discovered that free radicals – also known as oxidants – act on a molecular mechanism that, in other circumstances, tells a cell to kill itself.
_ A Smartphone App to Detect Bipolar Disorder By Jane Farrell article There’s an app for everything – and now, there’s even one that can detect early signs of mood changes in people with bipolar disorder and other conditions. The app, developed by researchers from the University of Michigan, still needs much more testing before it can be widely used. But, the researchers said, a study of a small group of patients indicated its potential. The six participants all had Type 1 bipolar disorder and a history of manic and depressive episode. It could also help people with other conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
_ Breast Cancer Misguided Fear of Radiation from Mammograms By article Misinformation and misunderstanding about the risks associated with ionizing radiation have created heightened public concern and fear that may result in women avoiding mammograms that can detect early cancers, according to the American Roentgen Ray Society(ARRS), a radiology society was founded in 1900 in Leesburg, VA.
_ Mental & Emotional Health A Healthcare Team Helps Women Beat Depression By article A collaborative approach to depression counseling for women at obstetrics and gynecology clinics involving psychiatrists, clinicians, specialists, and depression care managers is an improvement over typical of mental health care at specialty clinics. That is the finding of a study done at the University of Washington and published May 7th 2014 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. A release from the university notes that approximately one-third of American women list an obstetrician/gynecologist as their primary physician.
_ Parenting Virtual Reality Helps Autistic Adults Get Jobs By article If you’re the parent of a grown or teenage child on the autism spectrum, you may have concerns about your offspring’s possibilities for employment and independent living. (See our ThirdAge article entitled “My Adult Son Has Asperger’s Syndrome.”) Now researchers at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago have created a new interactive computer program using human-based simulation that gives autistic adults repeated practice and feedback on their interviewing skills.
"Energy Source" Implicated in Dementia By Jane Farrell article Researchers now know that a specific energy source is crucial to cells that maintain cognitive function. That discovery could lead to a better understanding of the cognitive decline in illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. The source, NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), is a molecule that harvests energy from nutrients in food and converts into a usable form for cells.
_ Vision Health A Dry-Eye Discovery By Jane Farrell article Researchers are working toward an understanding of the distribution of tears in the eye, and the discoveries they’re making could lead to better treatment or even a cure for dry eye disease. The newest study was published in the journal Physics of Fluids. Dry eye disease afflicts millions of people worldwide, with symptoms such as pain, dryness, redness, reduced visual sharpness, and feelings of grittiness. Eye drops can help, but over time, dry can damage the cornea and lead to permanent reduced vision.
_ Aging Well Hand Grip Reveals the Speed of Aging By article A hand grip test shows wide differences between the rates of aging among different population groups, according to new research by demographers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria. The study was published on May 7th 2014 in the journal PLOS ONE
_ For Older Adults, Complex Frailty Score Predicts Post-Op Outcomes By article More than half of all operations are performed on patients 65 years and older in the United States. Frail elderly patients who undergo surgery are more likely to have postoperative complications. But tools to estimate operative risk have their limitations because they often focus on a single organ system or solitary event. In geriatric medicine, the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is widely used to detect disabilities and conditions associated with frailty.
_ Age Discrimination Worse Than Sexism or Racism By Jane Farrell article People who believe they are a victim of age or weight discrimination are linked to worse health than those older adults who are the targets of racism and sexism, according to a new study. The findings, by researchers from the Florida State University College of Medicine, were published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.