Life Expectancy News and Research

RSS

Life expectancy is the expected (in the statistical sense) number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by e''x'', which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged ''x'', according to a particular mortality experience.

Study: Long-term endurance training alters epigenetic pattern in the human skeletal muscle

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that long-term endurance training in a stable way alters the epigenetic pattern in the human skeletal muscle. The research team behind the study, which is being published in the journal Epigenetics, also found strong links between these altered epigenetic patterns and the activity in genes controlling improved metabolism and inflammation.

10 Dec 2014

Excess mortality in schizophrenia ‘not attributable to antipsychotics’

The relationship between antipsychotic use and mortality in people with schizophrenia shows a clear U-shape curve, with the highest risk of death seen in those with no antipsychotic exposure, a Swedish cohort study has found.

9 Dec 2014

Experts launch new interdisciplinary scientific collaboration to improve health in urban areas

Aiming to empower planners and policy-makers to achieve better health for billions of people living in fast-growing urban areas, world health, environmental, behavioural and social science experts today launched a major new interdisciplinary scientific collaboration.

9 Dec 2014

Researchers develop new tool for global leaders to better control cancer

With the number of global cancer cases expected to increase by more than 50 percent by 2030, researchers around the globe have collaborated to create a new tool for global leaders to determine what actions they must take to better control cancer.

5 Dec 2014

Are you eating yourself to an early grave?

A new study, published today in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, has shown that obesity may shorten life expectancy by ≤8 years and reduce the duration of healthy life by ≤19 years as a consequence of developing diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease.

5 Dec 2014

Prostate cancer patients with life expectancies of less than 10 years receive aggressive treatment

National guidelines recommend that men with low- and intermediate -risk prostate cancer and life expectancies of less than 10 years should not be treated with radiation or surgery, since they are unlikely to live long enough to benefit from treatment. Yet it is unknown whether such men are unnecessarily receiving these aggressive local treatments, putting them at risk for potentially debilitating side effects.

2 Dec 2014

Prevalence of adult smoking is falling in US

The proportion of US adults who smoke has dropped by around 3% (from 2005 to 2013) according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

28 Nov 2014

Study highlights need for holistic approach to make foods and diets healthier

How can research in food and diets address how we will live and eat in 2050? By supporting the move towards individualised diets; by ensuring the sustainability of the future food system; by improving our understanding of links between food, nutrients and health; and by focusing on integrated policy-making.

28 Nov 2014

Plymouth professor awarded grant to find effective treatment for patients with mantle cell lymphoma

Professor Simon Rule, Professor in Haematology at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Consultant Haematologist at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, has been awarded a significant grant by Cancer Research UK to carry out a research study into the treatment of older patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

27 Nov 2014

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center releases November tip sheet of story ideas

Following is the November 2014 tip sheet of story ideas from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

27 Nov 2014

Researchers set up innovative project to monitor physical activity of patients with haemophilia

The research group Intelligent Data Analysis Laboratory from the School of Engineering Universitat de València (UV) and a team of scientists at the Faculty of Physiotherapy led by Professor Felipe Querol have set up an innovative project for monitoring the physical activity of people with haemophilia through individual devices with the purpose of developing patterns which help to improve their quality of life and treatments.

26 Nov 2014

Isis Pharmaceuticals announces initiation of ISIS-SMN Rx Phase 3 study in children with SMA

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the initiation of a pivotal Phase 3 study evaluating ISIS-SMNRx in approximately 120 non-ambulatory children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

25 Nov 2014

20th annual edition of NCCN Guidelines for Prostate Cancer published

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has published the 20th annual edition of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Prostate Cancer—one of the eight original NCCN Guidelines published in November 1996.

23 Nov 2014

TSRI study examines body’s own response against chronic protein misfolding

“Protein misfolding” diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer’s may be seriously exacerbated by the body’s own response against that misfolding, according to a new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute.

20 Nov 2014

Cardiac stem cell treatment restores heart function damaged by Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have found that injections of cardiac stem cells might help reverse heart damage caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, potentially resulting in a longer life expectancy for patients with the chronic muscle-wasting disease.

18 Nov 2014

Experts focus on key issues impeding delivery of cardiac care in resource-limited settings

Critical care is defined by life-threatening conditions, which require close evaluation, monitoring, and treatment by appropriately trained health professionals. Cardiovascular care bears these same requirements.

14 Nov 2014

Study examines overall survival of patients with chronic HCV infection, cirrhosis

Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis who attained sustained virological response (SVR) had survival comparable with that of the general population, whereas patients who did not attain SVR had reduced survival, according to a study in the November 12 issue of JAMA.

12 Nov 2014

Successful treatments help HIV-infected persons achieve similar longevity as those without HIV

New research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that HIV-infected adults are at a higher risk for developing heart attacks, kidney failure and cancer. But, contrary to what many had believed, the researchers say these illnesses are occurring at similar ages as adults who are not infected with HIV.

11 Nov 2014

Actimab-A extends overall survival, reduces bone marrow blasts in older AML patients

Interim data from an ongoing Phase I/II trial of Actimab-A, an innovative targeted payload immunotherapy, demonstrated a number of positive findings, including extension of overall survival and significant reductions in bone marrow blasts in older patients with newly diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

7 Nov 2014

Effective health interventions needed to increase life expectancy of older people

A major new Series on health and ageing, published in "The Lancet", warns that unless health systems find effective strategies to address the problems faced by an ageing world population, the growing burden of chronic disease will greatly affect the quality of life of older people. As people across the world live longer, soaring levels of chronic illness and diminished wellbeing are poised to become a major global public health challenge.