AGEING

Health Tips-14: Key to Brain Aging

Onset of the dreaded Alzheimer's disease which becomes apparent in a patient's 60's or 70's is due to midlife breakdown of myelin, a fatty insulation coating of the brain's internal wiring say UCLA neuroscientists.

A model identifying this process has been reported in Neurobiology of Aging. As the brain develops, cholesterol levels increase. This promotes production of a toxic protein that attacks myelin. This eventually leads to the brain-destroying tangles visible years later in Alzheimer's patients. Increasing iron levels in the middle age also degrade myelin. Intake of cholesterol and iron-lowering and anti-inflammatory medications may prevent the disease.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, January 1, 2004.

Grateful thanks to The Hindu.

Health Tips-7: "New Ways to Fight Ageing"

Washington, Sep.21, 2007: Researchers said they had found more ways to activate the body's own anti-ageing defences - perhaps with a pill that could fight multiple diseases at once.

Their study, published in the journal, Cell, helps explain why animals fed very low calorie diets live longer, but it also offers new ways to try to replicate the effects of these diets using a pill instead of hunger, the researchers said.

"What we are talking about is potentially having one pill that prevents and even cures many diseases at once," said David Sinclair, a pathologist at Harvard Medical School, who helped lead the research.

The key is a family of enzymes called sirtuins. They are controlled by genes called SIRT1, SIRT2 and so on. They found the enzymes controlled by these genes help preserve the mitochondria - little organs inside of cells that provide their energy.

"These two genes, SIRT3 and SIRT4, they make proteins that go into mitochondria... These are little energy packs inside our cells that are very important for staying healthy and youthful and, as we age, we lose them and they get less efficient," Sinclair said in a videotaped statement.

"They are also very important for keeping the cells healthy and alive when they undergo stress and DNA damage, as we undergo every day during the aging process."

Sinclair and colleagues have found in other studies that even if the rest of a cell is destroyed - the nucleus and other parts - it can still function if the mitochondria are alive. His team found that fasting raises levels of another protein called NAD. This, in turn, activates SIRT3 and SIRT4 directly, in the mitochondria. Such a molecule could be used for many age-related diseases ," he added. "Diseases like heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis - even things like cataracts," he said.

Courtesy: Reuters/The New Indian Express, Chennai, Sep.22, 2007

Health Tips-1: "Ten Mantras for the Aged"

Beauty is only skin deep. Yet fortunes are made through anti-ageing drugs, cosmetic surgeries, beauty creams, vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

As life-spans are increasing courtesy medical science, there is a need for healthcare and services for the elderly. Since you can’t defy ageing, nor are happy joining the “Aged Club”, the next best thing is to age gracefully.

· Reduce stress to lessen the strain on your nervous system
· Adopt a pet. You will be saving a life. Pet therapy produces good emotions which increase the endorphins in the body. Your immune system gets a boost.
· Meditate or pray for inner peace and serenity. The healing power is both psychological and physiological.
· Forgive and forget to reduce stress. Practise positive anger management.
· Think positive. If you go around with a frown, it may become a permanent feature on your face. Be thankful for what you have and don’t envy what you don’t.
· Don’t try to dictate terms to the young. Let them lead their lives independently or you will cause unnecessary friction. Just advise and then back off.
· Eat fresh. Greens and fruits provide vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to boost your body’s immune system.
· Develop a hobby. Do all those things you had always planned to do but never had the time. Remember old age is not about giving up but living up! For instance, gardening is good for your health. You get exercise, fresh air and sunshine.
· Go for the great outdoors. Nature rambles are good for fresh, oxygenated air. Make a self-commitment to exercise daily. This improves blood circulation.
· Bottoms up for water and non-alcoholic fluids. It is good for your liver and kidney.
-- Courtesy: Health Supplement, The New Indian Express