all life span stories

Research links panic and heart attack in older women

jake — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:46:39 -0400

New research has linked panic attacks in older women with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from all causes, adding panic attacks to the growing list of mental and emotional conditions with potentially deadly physical effects.

A study of more than 3,300 women ages 51 to 83 indicated that panic attacks were relatively common, suffered by about 10 percent of those in the study. While heart attacks and strokes were relatively rare, those suffering panic attacks had four times the risk of heart attack, three times the risk of heart attack or stroke, and twice the risk of dying from any cause as those who didn’t.

Research shows who dies when and where

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:07:39 -0400

In the United States, the best-off people, like Asian women in Bergen County, N.J., have a life expectancy 33 years longer than the worst-off, Native American males in some South Dakota counties - 91 versus 58 years. So concludes the most comprehensive study to date of who dies when and where in this country.

In order to determine how unequal life expectancy is in the United States, and why, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Initiative for Global Health analyzed census and health statistics data for the years 1982 to 2001. They found what they call "an enormous gap" in life expectancies based on race, counties of residence, income, and a few other social factors.

HSCI/MGH researchers identify gene product involved in stem cell aging and death

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:20:44 -0400

A multi-institutional team of Harvard researchers may have advanced our understanding of physiological aging with a new study in which they greatly reduced the impact of aging on blood stem cells. A report on their findings appears in the latest edition of the journal Nature along with similar but independent findings from research teams at the universities of North Carolina and Michigan.

The Harvard team, led by David T. Scadden, has demonstrated that reducing the accumulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16INK4a, a gene product previously noted to increase in aging cells, may reduce the physiological impact of aging on adult stem cells, and may improve the ability of aged tissues to repair themselves. Scadden is co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) and director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

The researchers found that reducing the accumulation of p16INK4a in haematopoietic stem cells (blood stem cells) reduces cell death as well as defects in the ability of the cells to repopulate.

"There are two things about this that are important," Scadden said. "It shows that specific properties of aging stem cells directly contribute to the reduced healing that occurs with aging; and it indicates that one might be able to modify a single gene product and improve the function of aging stem cells and repair of aging tissue - and that is very encouraging. This may mean that there are opportunities to target this gene product with medication and potentially decrease the impact of aging.

"However," Scadden noted, "p16INK4a is also known to suppress tumor formation, so a judicious balance must be struck between reduced p16INK4a when needed for repair and sufficient p16INK4a to prevent emergence of malignant stem cells."

The findings by the teams at Harvard, Michigan, and UNC indicate that they may have discovered a generalized mechanism by which various types of tissues have altered healing with age. Thus, discovering ways to suppress p16INK4a could potentially have an ameliorating effect on age-related cell death and repair of tissue damage throughout the body.

The Scadden team includes Viktor Janzen, Randolf Forkert, Heather E. Fleming, and Yoriko Saito, of HSCI and MGH; Michael T. Waring and David M. Dombkowski of MGH; Ronald A. DePinho of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School; and Norman E. Sharpless of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

The longer you live, the longer you can expect to live

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 09:43:09 -0400

f you were born in the United States and celebrate your 65th birthday this year, you can expect to be around for your 81st birthday if you are male, and for your 84th if you are female.

Life expectancy in this country has been rising steeply since 1990, and the National Center for Heath Statistics concludes that the older you are today, the greater the age you are likely to reach. Men and women who make it to age 75 in 2006 can expect to still be around in 2016 and 2017, respectively. At age 85, the odds are good that you'll reach 91.

Study says 'widower effect' is real

50443248 — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:31:56 -0400

A spouse's illness can not only be bad for your health, it can kill you, according to a new study of couples over age 65 that highlights the importance of social networks to a person's health.
The study, by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania, shows that the impact of a spouse's illness on his or her partner's health can be as bad as or worse than it would be if the spouse had died.

A man's hospitalization for a psychiatric disease had the worst impact on a wife's health, increasing her risk of dying during the study's nine-year course by 32 percent. His death, by contrast, only increased her risk of dying 17 percent.

Study finds that both weight and exercise are key to longevity

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:38:51 -0400

Over 115,000 participants who were free of cardiovascular disease or cancer, who were between the ages of 30 and 55 and had filled out biennial health and lifestyle questionnaires between 1976 and 2000, were chosen for the study from the Brigham and Women's Hospital-based Nurses' Health Study. The women answered questionnaires that asked on average how much time was spent per week on moderate physical activities and vigorous physical activities. Women who spent 3.5 hours per week or more exercising were considered physically active. The researchers found that both obesity and physical activity significantly and independently affected mortality. A high level of physical activity did not eliminate the risk of premature death associated with obesity and leanness did not counteract the increased risk in mortality conferred by inactivity. Compared to physically active, lean women, there was nearly a two-and-a-half- fold increase in risk of death for inactive and obese women. The researchers estimated that excess weight (BMI over 25) and physical inactivity accounted for 31 percent of all premature deaths among the study participants with 59 percent of the deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease and 21 percent from cancer among the non-smoking women. "It is clear that both weight and exercise are important for health and longevity," said Frank Hu, lead author of the study and an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Wine molecule slows aging process

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:30:12 -0400

Called resveratrol, a wonder substance discovered by Harvard researchers seems to work in the same way as does drastic calorie cutting. Dramatic reduction of calories has been shown to increase the life span of mice, rats, and monkeys. Such diets are being tried in humans but results are not yet in. Severe dieting also cuts the risk of dying from cancer, heart problems, and other age-related diseases in monkeys. If resveratrol and related molecules are found to work as well in humans, we could gain extra years of healthy life without starving for them. We could have our cake and eat it, too. "The discovery brings closer a time when a drug that extends life and prevents many diseases of aging becomes a reality," says David Sinclair, who leads the research at Harvard Medical School. "I'm not a doctor so I can't speculate on how much wine to drink, but I've increased my consumption since we made the discovery." Physicians recommend a glass or two of red wine a day as part of a heart-healthy diet. No one would advise nondrinkers to starting gulping red wine until better information about its anti-aging effect becomes available.

Adding years to your life

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:30:36 -0400

A research team did the first global study of the potential increase in life expectancy if 20 well-known risk factors could be eliminated or reduced to safer levels. These factors include overnourishment and undernourishment, unsafe sex, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, polluted water, poor sanitation, and certain on-the-job risks. "We wanted to give a picture of what the whole world would look like without these major causes of death and disease," notes Majid Ezzati, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. "Approximately half of deaths and 40 percent of the total health loss worldwide resulted from the joint effects of these risk factors in the year 2000. It was surprising to find out how large the effects of eliminating them were. The increase in healthy life expectancy ranges from 4.4 years in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand to more than 16 years in Botswana, Congo, Kenya, and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Think of it, excluding these factors could result in an average gain of more than nine years of perfect health for every person in the world."

New molecular model increases longevity and could allow you to eat cake, too

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:21:25 -0400

Scientists have known about the longevity benefits of caloric restriction since experiments in the 1930s showed that rats lived much longer if their food intake was severely restricted. Broadly speaking, the reason is stress. Although usually viewed as the enemy of good health, stress can actually boost longevity, driving an organism to slow down metabolism and conserve scarce resources. Caloric restriction is one form of stress that does this very effectively. But to see the longevity benefits, animals must eat only about half the calories in a normal diet, resulting in constant hunger. Now, Harvard Medical School researchers have discovered a way to genetically mimic the life-extending effects of calorie restriction -- without the severe food deprivation that method entails. The findings might someday lead to drugs that give people longer, healthier lives. Previous studies have shown that a key component in the longevity pathway is the Sir2 protein, "one of the most exciting molecules in aging research," says David Sinclair, Harvard Medical School assistant professor of pathology, and senior author of the new research. The research appeared in the May 24, 2002, Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Tiny creatures offer clues to human aging

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:07:33 -0400

When its aging gene is not working right, a worm named C. elegans lives three times longer than normal, according to Harvard researcher Gary Ruvkun. The development gene keeps an animal forever youthful in the sense that it never develops into a reproducing adult. There is a corresponding human gene, opening up fascinating possibilities. Worms that have lost the function of their daf-2 gene live for the human equivalent of 240 years. "We didn't know how the worm gene actually regulates aging until we compared it with the human copy," Ruvkun says. The human gene is responsible for making a protein receptor in cells. This receptor is activated by insulin, and the activation converts blood sugar into energy. In C.

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