PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  LIGHT THERAPY IMPROVES SKIN A KAIST research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee has developed a deep skin-stimulating LED mask, which, as verified in clinical trials, improves dermal elasticity by 340%. Conventional LED masks, with their rigid design, fail to conform closely to the skin's contours. This limitation causes substantial light reflection, with up to 90% of the light being reflected over a distance of 2 cm, reducing light penetration and limiting stimulation of the deep skin layers that are essential for effective skin rejuvenation. To address these challenges, Professor Lee's team developed a face-conforming surface lighting micro-LED (FSLED) mask, which can provide uniform photostimulation to the dermis. The critical technology lies in the mask's ability to deliver uniform light to deep skin tissues while maintaining a conformal attachment to the skin. This is achieved through a 3D origami...

  POSSIBLE LIFE EXTENSION WITH WELL-KNOWN DRUGS         New research from biologists at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences reveals that mifepristone, a drug best known for ending early pregnancies, might also extend lifespan. The findings could pave the way for anti-aging treatments. Mifepristone, which is also used to treat Cushing's disease and certain cancers, has caught the attention of scientists exploring ways to promote longer, healthier lives. In a study involving fruit flies, John Tower, professor of biological sciences at USC Dornsife, compared the effects of mifepristone to rapamycin. This drug has demonstrated the ability to increase the lifespan of various animals. The study, published in the journal  Fly , showed that both drugs independently extended the lifespan of fruit flies. Interestingly, combining the two drugs does not offer additional benefits and a slightly reduced lifespan, suggesting they act through the s...

  OBESITY: EARLY INTERVENTION IS KEY Obesity is a chronic, complex, relapsing disease defined by abnormal and/or excessive fat accumulation that presents a health risk. According to the WHO, at least 2.8 million people are estimated to die from obesity complications each year. Obesity in adults has more than doubled since 1990, and in 2022, the WHO estimates that 890 million adults had obesity. "That's 1 in 8 people on the planet," says Dr Abd Tahrani, IMI SOPHIA patient advisory board member. "We as doctors face a major challenge when determining who with obesity is most likely to develop obesity complications and who to prioritize for treatment. Precision medicine, driving breakthroughs in predicting, preventing, diagnosing, and treating many diseases, can help address these challenges," explains Dr. Carel le Roux, Professor of Metabolic Medicine from University College Dublin. In a paper from the IMI SOPHIA consortium published in the journal  Nature Medicine...

  Tech can't replace human coaches in obesity treatment. Technology alone resulted in worse weight loss compared to tech and a telehealth coach.       A new Northwestern Medicine study shows that technology alone cannot replace the human touch in producing meaningful weight loss in obesity treatment. "Giving people technology alone for the initial phase of obesity treatment produces unacceptably worse weight loss than giving them treatment that combines technology with a human coach," said corresponding study author Bonnie Spring, director of the Center for Behavior and Health and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The need for low-cost but effective obesity treatments delivered by technology has become urgent as the ongoing obesity epidemic exacerbates burgeoning healthcare costs. But current technology needs to be more advanced to replace human coaches, Spring said. In the new SMART study, people who initially o...

  WORK-RELATED STRESS MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF IRREGULAR HEART RHYTHM         Work-related stress caused by job strain and an imbalance between efforts applied vs. rewards received may increase the risk of developing atrial fibrillation, according to new research published today in the  Journal of the American Heart Association , an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association. Also known as AFib or AF, atrial fibrillation is the most common form of arrhythmia -- an abnormal heart rhythm. It can lead to stroke, heart failure, and other cardiovascular complications. More than 12 million people are projected to have AFib in the United States by 2030, according to the American Heart Association's 2024 heart disease and stroke statistics. Previous research linked high job strain and effort-reward imbalance at work with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. This research is the first to examine the adverse effect of both psychosoci...

  BREAKS FROM RESISTANCE TRAINING DOES NOT DIMINISH LONGTERM RESULTS Maximum strength and muscle size are quickly regained. :         A study at the University of Jyväskylä's Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences investigated how a 10-week break from resistance training affected maximum strength and muscle size. The study found that a 10-week break halfway through 20 total weeks of strength training had little effect on development. During the break, maximal strength was better preserved than muscle size. The study compared the results of 20 weeks of resistance training in two groups, one with continuous training and one with a 10-week break midway. The study found that both groups had similar maximum strength and muscle size development results. According to the researchers, the equal progress in both groups was due to maximum strength, especially muscle size, quickly returning to pre-break levels when training was resumed. "During the first few weeks after the ...

  PHYSICAL HEALTH ASSOCIATED WITH BRAIN HEALTH         In middle-aged people, having risk factors like blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol that are not well-controlled, combined with not following certain healthy habits, including exercise, diet, and sleep, are linked to a higher risk of stroke, dementia, or depression later in life, according to a study published in the October 23, 2024, online issue of  Neurology ® , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. These results do not prove that not having healthy habits increases the risk of these conditions; they only show an association. The eight cardiovascular and brain health factors, known as the American Heart Association's Life's Essentials 8, are being active, eating a healthier diet, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, managing healthy blood pressure, getting sufficient sleep, and controlling cholesterol and blood sugar levels. "Brain health is paramount for the optima...

  WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS AND MUSCLE LOSS .         A recent commentary published in  The Lancet  journal highlights the critical importance of skeletal muscle mass in medically induced weight loss, particularly with the widespread use of GLP-1 receptor agonists. These medications, celebrated for their effectiveness in treating obesity, have raised concerns regarding the potential for substantial muscle loss as part of the weight loss process. Dr. Steven Heymsfield, professor of metabolism and body composition, and Dr. M. Cristina Gonzalez, adjunct and visiting professor of metabolism-body composition, both of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, joined colleagues Dr. Carla Prado of the University of Alberta and Dr. Stuart Phillips of McMaster University in authoring The Lancet commentary, "Muscle Matters: The Effects of Medically Induced Weight Loss on Skeletal Muscle." The authors emphasize that muscle loss, as measured by decreases in fat-free mass, can...