Aging News and Research

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The relationships between body image and sexual response changes in midlife women

Penn State researchers, who analyzed the responses of midlife women, ages 35 to 55, to a survey on body image, have concluded that the emphasis in U.S. culture on being young and thin has a more important influence than menopause on sexual functioning and satisfaction.

14 Nov 2005

Australian society's obsession with looking younger is set to collide with the reality of an ageing population

According to researcher Mair Underwood, who will present her work at the Emerging Researchers in Ageing (ERA) 2005 conference in Brisbane this week, the current fixation with trying to postpone ageing is increasing and the current older generation may be the last to age gracefully.

14 Nov 2005

Loneliness may be heredity

Heredity helps determine why some adults are persistently lonely, research co-authored by psychologists at the University of Chicago shows.

13 Nov 2005

Lifelong exercise decreases cellular aging in the brain

In the first study to show that lifelong exercise decreases cellular aging in the brain, scientists from the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida say that moderately active rats have healthier DNA and more robust brain cells than their less active counterparts. The research was presented at the Society for Neuroscience's 35th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

13 Nov 2005

Physical activity enhances long-term quality of life in older adults

Exercise is a lot like spinach … everybody knows it's good for you; yet many people still avoid it, forgoing its potential health benefits.

13 Nov 2005

Human umbilical cord blood cells may widen treatment window for stroke

An experimental treatment that spares disability from acute stroke may be delivered much later than the current three-hour treatment standard – a potential advance needed to benefit more stroke victims.

13 Nov 2005

Cancer survivors require tailored follow-up plans

Citing shortfalls in the care currently provided to the country's 10 million cancer survivors, a new report recommends that each cancer patient receive a "survivorship care plan."

13 Nov 2005

Anti-aging hormone called Klotho actions explained

Scientists recently discovered an anti-aging hormone called Klotho. Now, a new study shows that this protein acts by increasing the cell's ability to detoxify harmful reactive oxygen species.

7 Nov 2005

Expert highlights public health problem posed by colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is a significant public health problem for which differing treatment regimes hold different benefits in associated efficacy, safety and tolerability, according to study findings showcased at the 13th European Cancer Conference (ECCO).

3 Nov 2005

Colon cancer and fruit and vegetable products

The amounts of health promoting compounds in fruit and vegetable products vary so much that the possible beneficial health effects from these products is far from optimal.

3 Nov 2005

Scientists say there is less white matter in the frontal lobes of those who struggle with focusing

When it comes to focusing on a task amid distractions, some folks more than 60 years old are as mentally sharp as 22-year-olds. Others struggle. Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have shed some light on why that is.

27 Oct 2005

Type 2 diabetes and depression can be a fatal mix

Patients whose type 2 diabetes was accompanied by minor or major depression had higher mortality rates, compared to patients with type 2 diabetes alone, over the three-year period of a recent study in Washington state.

27 Oct 2005

Bouncing helicases possibly play a preventative role in keeping the genome intact

Researchers studying how proteins called helicases travel along strands of DNA have found that when the proteins hit an obstacle they snap back to where they began, repeating the process over and over, possibly playing a preventative role in keeping the genome intact.

27 Oct 2005

Australia furthers fight against Avian Influenza in Vietnam

Australia will provide $3 million to Vietnam to help the country combat Avian Influenza and other infectious diseases, the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson, announced in Hanoi.

26 Oct 2005

Unique report on global long-term care worker migration

Who will provide long-term care to you or your loved ones? If you live in developed countries like the US or the UK, the answer may surprise you according to a new report issued by the AARP Public Policy Institute.

26 Oct 2005

Middle-age people more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine

"Midlife adults entered adulthood at a time of more widespread use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the population and when public health policy was shifting attention toward individual responsibility for health and health promotion," said Joseph G. Grzywacz, Ph.D., and his colleagues, writing in the October issue of the Journal of Aging and Health.

25 Oct 2005

Growth hormone illegal for off-label anti-aging use

Because of 1988 and 1990 amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, off-label distribution or provision of human growth hormone to treat aging or age-associated illnesses is illegal in the United States, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

25 Oct 2005

As men grow older, bladder function can worsen and the prostate gland may be responsible

Their findings remind patients and their physicians that urination difficulties in men can be better cared for at early onset. Additionally, the study notes that as men age, the possibility increases that they will experience problems with urination.

25 Oct 2005

Hope for better return for health spending in Australia

Health leaders have called for action in reforming primary health care to tackle the 'juggernaut' of chronic disease issues about to hit the health system at a meeting in Melbourne.

25 Oct 2005

Quality of care determines heart attack outcomes

Ninety days after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) - or heart attack - death rates for African Americans and white patients were found to be significantly higher in hospitals that disproportionately serve African-American patients than in hospitals that serve mainly white patients, according to a major new study led by researchers at Dartmouth Medical School.

24 Oct 2005