PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  New research may explain why some people derive more benefits from exercise than others. Although everyone can benefit from exercise, the mechanistic links between physical fitness and overall health are not fully understood, nor are the reasons why the same exercise can affect different people. Now a study published in  Nature Metabolism  led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) provides insights related to these unanswered questions. The results could help determine the specific types of exercise most likely to benefit a particular individual and identify new therapeutic targets for diseases related to metabolism. " While groups as a whole benefit from exercise, the variability in responses between any two individuals undergoing the very same exercise regimen is actually quite striking. For example, some may experience improved endurance while others will see improved blood sugar levels," said senior corresponding author Robert E. Gerszten,...

  Amazon indigenous group's lifestyle may hold the key to slowing down aging Tsimane people are unique for their healthy brains that age more slowly A team of international researchers has found that the Tsimane indigenous people of the Bolivian Amazon experience less brain atrophy than their American and European peers. The decrease in their brain volumes with age is 70% lower than in Western populations. Accelerated brain volume loss can be a sign of dementia. The study was published May 26, 2021, in  Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences . Although people in industrialized nations have access to modern medical care, they are more sedentary and eat a diet high in saturated fats. In contrast, the Tsimane have little or no access to health care but are extremely physically active and consume a high-fiber diet that includes vegetables, fish, and lean meat. "The Tsimane have provided us with an amazing natural experiment on the potentially detrimental e...

  The causal mechanism of link between cancer and obesity A review study led by Maria D. Sanchez-Pino, Ph.D., an assistant research professor in Interdisciplinary Oncology and Genetics at LSU Health New Orleans' School of Medicine and Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, advances knowledge about the connection between obesity-associated inflammation and cancer. The researchers suggest that inflammatory cells with immunosuppressive properties may be critical biological links between obesity and cancer risk, progression, and metastasis. The paper is published in the June 2021 issue of  Obesity , available here. Despite evidence showing that obesity increases the risk of cancer progression, efforts are needed to identify the causal relationship between immunosuppressive cells and the response of immunotherapy in patients with obesity. The function of myeloid cells is shaped by the metabolic microenvironment. Along with macrophages, myeloid cells with immunosuppressive properties calle...

  Waking just one hour earlier cuts depression risk by double digits, study finds Waking up just one hour earlier could reduce a person's risk of major depression by 23%, suggests a sweeping new genetic study published May 26 in the journal  JAMA Psychiatry . The study of 840,000 people by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard represents some of the strongest evidence yet that chronotype -- a person's propensity to sleep at a certain time -- influences depression risk. It's also among the first studies to quantify just how much, or little, change is required to influence mental health. As people emerge, post-pandemic, from working and attending school remotely -- a trend that has led many to shift to a later sleep schedule -- the findings could have important implications. "We have known for some time that there is a relationship between sleep timing and mood, but a question we often hear from clinicians is: How mu...

  Western diet may increase the risk of gut inflammation, infection Diet rich in sugar, fat damages immune cells in the digestive tracts of mice According to a study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Cleveland Clinic, eating a Western diet impairs the immune system in the gut in ways that could increase the risk of infection and inflammatory bowel disease. In mice and people, the study showed that a diet high in sugar and fat causes damage to Paneth cells, immune cells in the gut that help keep inflammation in check. When Paneth cells aren't functioning properly, the gut immune system is excessively prone to inflammation, putting people at risk of inflammatory bowel disease and undermining effective control of disease-causing microbes. The findings, published May 18 in  Cell Host & Microbe , open up new approaches to regulating gut immunity by restoring normal Paneth cell function. "Inflammatory bowel disease has historically bee...

  The secret behind maintaining a healthy weight loss Half of the Danish population have overweight, while 17 percent live with obesity. Worldwide, almost 40 percent are overweight, and 13 percent live with obesity. The condition is associated with an increased risk for early death and sequelae such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and infertility. Weight regain after an initially successful weight loss in people with obesity constitutes an important and unsolved problem. Until now, no well-documented study on which treatment method is best for maintaining a healthy weight loss has been available. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Hvidovre Hospital have completed a new, sensational study, which is being published in the world's most quoted medical journal, The  New England Journal of Medicine . By testing four different types of treatment following a diet-induced weight loss, the researchers demonstrate for the first time how people with obesi...

  Colorectal cancer screening to begin at age 45, lowered from 50 Prompted by a recent alarming rise in cases of colorectal cancer in people younger than 50, an independent expert panel has recommended that individuals of average risk for the disease begin screening exams at 45 years of age instead of the traditional 50. The guideline changes by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), published in the current issue of  JAMA , updates its 2016 recommendations and aligns them with those of the American Cancer Society, which lowered the age for initiation of screening to 45 years in 2018. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most preventable malignancies, owing to its long natural history of progression and the availability of screening tests that can intercept and detect the disease early. The overall incidence of CRC in individuals 50 years of age and older has declined steadily since the mid-1980s, largely because of increased screening and changing patterns of modi...