PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  LIGHT-INTENSITY EXERCISE EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING HEALTH A prospective study finds light activity, such as gardening or walking, preserves women's mobility during aging. One in four women over age 65 cannot walk two blocks or climb a flight of stairs. Known as mobility disability, it is the leading type of incapacity in the United States and a key contributor to a person's loss of independence. New research from Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Sciences at UC San Diego suggests that light-intensity physical activity, including shopping or a casual walk, may protect older women's mobility . Published in the February 23, 2021, online issue of  JAMA Network Open , researchers found that women who did not have a mobility disability at the start of the study and who spent the most amount of time doing light-intensity activities were 40 percent less likely to experience loss of mobility over a six-year period. "Older adults who want to maintain th...

  FRUCTOSE IMPAIRS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM New research by Swansea scientists in collaboration with scientists at the University of Bristol and the Francis Crick Institute in London has indicated that consuming a diet high in sugar fructose might prevent people's immune systems from functioning properly in ways that have, until now, primarily been unknown. Fructose is commonly found in sugary drinks, sweets, and processed foods, and is widely used in food production. It is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and its intake has increased substantially throughout the developed world in recent years. However, understanding the impact of fructose on the immune system of people who consume it at high levels has been limited until now. The new study published in the journal  Nature Communications  shows that fructose causes the immune system to become inflamed. That process produces more reactive molecules, which are associated with inflam...

  The body produces new satiety factors during prolonged exercise. A drug that helps us eat less could help the more than 650 million people worldwide who live with obesity. One of the emerging drug candidates that interest researchers are the hormone GDF15 that, when given to rodents, lowers their appetite and body weight. New research from the University of Copenhagen finds that the body produces large amounts of GDF15 during extended bouts of vigorous exercise, presumably a physiological stress signal. This finding highlights central differences between GDF15 given as a drug (pharmacology) and GDF15 released naturally in response to vigorous exercise (physiology). This is an important distinction in understanding GDF15's role in appetite regulation and energy balance, with implications for its role as a possible anti-obesity drug. "Whether there are any physiological conditions that implicate GDF15 as a regulator of energy metabolism remains an unsolved mystery," says ...

  Long-term stress linked to increased risk of heart attack Can long-term stress lead to heart attacks? Most people would probably answer in the affirmative, but the scientific evidence of this is scarce. A new study by researchers from Linköping University in Sweden reveals that the levels of the stress hormone cortisol were increased in the months preceding a heart attack. The results, published in  Scientific Reports , suggest that long-term stress is a risk factor for heart attacks. "The levels of the stress hormone cortisol differed between people who have had a heart attack and those not affected. This suggests that cortisol in hair may be a new risk marker for heart attacks. We must take stress seriously," says Professor Tomas Faresjö from the Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences at Linköping University, principal investigator of the study. Stress is a natural part of life today, but there is still a lot we don't know about the effects of long-term st...

  Commuters are inhaling unacceptably high levels of carcinogens Twenty minutes or longer in the car also raises the risk of birth defects A new study finds that California's commuters are likely inhaling chemicals at levels that increase the risk for cancer and birth defects. As with most chemicals, the poison is in the amount. Under a certain threshold of exposure, even known carcinogens are not likely to cause cancer. Once you cross that threshold, the risk for disease increases. Governmental agencies tend to regulate that threshold in workplaces. However, private spaces such as the interior of our cars and living rooms are less studied and less regulated. Benzene and formaldehyde -- both used in automobile manufacturing -- are known to cause cancer at or above certain levels of exposure and are Prop. 65-listed chemicals. New UC Riverside research shows that the average commuter in California exceeds the threshold for exposure, breathing in unsustainably high levels of both chem...

  A recipe for regenerating bioengineered hair Next stop: Clinical hair regeneration Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Japan have discovered a recipe for continuous cyclical regeneration of cultured hair follicles from hair follicle stem cells. Scientists have been making waves in recent years by developing ways to grow various useful items in laboratories, from meat and diamonds to retinas and other organoids. At the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Japan, a team led by Takashi Tsuji has been working on ways to regenerate lost hair from stem cells. In an important step, a new study identifies a population of hair follicle stem cells in the skin and a recipe for normal cyclical regeneration in the lab. The researchers took fur and whisker cells from mice and cultured them in the laboratory with other biological "ingredients." They used 220 combinations of ingredients and found that combining a type of collagen with five factor...

  The drug ProAgio is effective against pancreatic and breast cancers. ProAgio, a drug developed by Georgia State University biology professor Zhi-Ren Liu and his team, is effective at treating pancreatic cancer and prolonging survival in mice, according to a study published in the journal Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology. A second study, published in the  Journal of Experimental Medicine,  shows the drug is also effective against triple-negative breast cancer, a fast-growing and hard-to-treat type of breast cancer that carries a poor prognosis. ProAgio, created from a human protein, targets the cell surface receptor integrin? V??, expressed on cancer-associated fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are cells that generate collagen and other fibrous molecules and can be mobilized into service by a tumor, creating a thick, physical barrier known as the stroma, which protects cancer and helps it grow. The drug works by inducing apoptosis, or programmed cell death, ...

  Lipid epoxides target pain, inflammatory pathways in neurons. When modified using a process known as epoxidation, two naturally occurring lipids are converted into potent agents that target multiple cannabinoid receptors in neurons, interrupting pathways that promote pain and inflammation, researchers report. These modified compounds, called EPO-NA5HT and EPO-NADA, have much more powerful effects than the molecules from which they are derived, regulating pain and inflammation. As reported in the journal  Nature Communications,  the study opens a new avenue of research in the effort to find alternatives to potentially addictive opioid pain killers, researchers say. The work is part of a long-term effort to understand the potential therapeutic byproducts of lipid metabolism, a largely neglected area of research, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign comparative biosciences professor Aditi Das, who led the study. While many people appreciate the role of dietary lipi...

  Vitamin D supplementation: Possible gain in life years combined with cost savings In recent years, three meta-analyses of clinical studies have concluded that vitamin D supplementation was associated with a reduction in the mortality rate from cancer of around 13 percent. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now transferred these results to the situation in Germany and calculated: If all Germans over the age of 50 were to take vitamin D supplements, up to 30,000 cancer deaths per year could possibly be avoided and more than 300,000 years of life could be gained -- also, health care costs could be saved. For several years now, scientists have been investigating the influence of an adequate supply of vitamin D on numerous diseases' prognosis. The focus is mainly on inflammatory diseases, diabetes, respiratory diseases, and cancer. Three meta-analyses of extensive clinical studies have been published in recent years on how vitamin D supply affects cancer morta...

  Male sex, BMI, smoking, and depression all increase biological age. A combined score of biological aging shows stronger links with physical and mental health than individual indicators. A 'biological age' score predicts that being male, overweight, a smoker, and having depression all contribute to biological aging, a study published today in  eLife  reports. Aging can be measured in different ways. While chronological age is estimated by date of birth, scientists have developed a range of measurements to determine our biological age. These include measuring the length of telomeres (little caps on the end of our chromosomes that shorten as we grow older), chemical changes to our DNA (epigenetics), and changes to the proteins and metabolites in our bodies (proteomic and metabolomic measures). Although studies have linked these individual measurements to physical and mental health, it is unknown whether they influence each other -- or whether they have a cumulative effect ...

  Mediterranean-style diet associated with better-thinking skills in later life. People who eat a Mediterranean-style diet -- particularly one rich in green leafy vegetables and low in meat -- are more likely to stay mentally sharp in later life, a study shows. Closely adhering to a Mediterranean diet was associated with higher scores on a range of memory and thinking tests among adults in their late 70s, the research found. The study found no link, however, between the Mediterranean-style diet and better brain health. Markers of healthy brain aging -- such as more splendid grey or white matter volume or fewer white matter lesions -- did not differ between those regularly eating a Mediterranean diet and those who did not. These latest findings suggest that this primarily plant-based diet may benefit from cognitive functioning as we get older, researchers say. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh tested the thinking skills of more than 500 people aged 79 and without dementia. ...

  COFFEE ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED HEART FAILURE Circulation: Heart Failure Journal Report Dietary information from three extensive, well-known heart disease studies suggests drinking one or more cups of caffeinated coffee may reduce heart failure risk, according to research published today in  Circulation: Heart Failure , an American Heart Association journal. Coronary artery disease, heart failure, and stroke are among the top causes of death from heart disease in the U.S. "While smoking, age, and high blood pressure are among the most well-known heart disease risk factors, unidentified risk factors for heart disease remain," according to David P. Kao, M.D., senior author of the study, assistant professor of cardiology and medical director at the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado. "The risks and benefits of drinking coffee have been topics of ongoing scientific interest due to the popularity a...