Life Expectancy News and Research

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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.

Addiction and mental health burden higher than all cancers in Ontario

Mental illnesses and addictions take more of a toll on the health of Ontarians than cancer or infectious diseases, according to a new report by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario - yet this burden could be reduced with treatment, say scientists from Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

11 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Key issues for Romney, Obama to address in the debate; Peter G. Peterson's mission to cut entitlements

With the U.S. population aging, Social Security and Medicare are projected to account for a growing share of the federal budget and the economy. To accommodate that change, should federal spending (and revenue) amount to a larger share of the economy than it has historically? If not, how does Washington make ends meet?

4 Oct 2012

FDA grants Fast Track designation to XBiotech’s Xilonix for treatment of cachexia

XBiotech, a privately held biotechnology company, announced today that the company has been granted Fast Track designation for its anti-cachexia drug Xilonix.

4 Oct 2012

Roche announces availability of new HIV-1 viral load test in the U.S.

Roche announced today the U.S. availability of a new HIV-1 viral load test based on the company's proprietary dual-target approach. The COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 Test v2.0 for use with the High Pure System enables labs to combine an FDA-approved process for manual specimen preparation with an automated real-time PCR analyzer for amplification and detection.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 4 Oct 2012

InterMune receives Health Canada approval for Esbriet to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

InterMune, Inc. today announced that Health Canada has approved Esbriet (pirfenidone) for the treatment of mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in adult patients.

3 Oct 2012

One rule for one and one for another with diabetes

A joint consensus statement from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes and the American Diabetes Association encourages a shift in attitude over glycemic management in Type 2 diabetes.

2 Oct 2012

Self-harming and premature death: an interview with Prof Keith Hawton, University of Oxford Centre for Suicide Research

“Self-harm” is the term used in the UK, much of Europe and elsewhere, to describe intentional self-poisoning or self-injury. Thus it includes overdoses, attempted hanging, self-cutting etc.

2 Oct 2012

September issue of JNCCN publishes two prostate cancer articles

Julio M. Pow-Sang, M.D., chair of Moffitt Cancer Center's Department of Genitourinary Oncology, and colleagues have published two prostate cancer articles in the September issue of JNCCN - The Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The articles review and clarify recent updates made to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's (NCCN) guidelines for the screening and treatment of prostate cancer.

29 Sep 2012

Increase in rates of short telomeres predicts longevity in mammals

A team of researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), headed by CNIO Director Mar-a Blasco, has demonstrated in a pioneering study on mammals that longevity is defined at a molecular level by the length of telomeres. The work-which is published today in the online edition of the journal Cell Reports-opens the door to further study of these cellular components in order to calculate the rate at which cells age and thus be able to determine life expectancy for a particular organism.

28 Sep 2012

New report: Population aging will have broad economic consequences for the U.S.

The aging of the U.S. population will have broad economic consequences for the country, particularly for federal programs that support the elderly, and its long-term effects on all generations will be mediated by how -- and how quickly -- the nation responds, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council.

26 Sep 2012

Risk for cardiovascular disease begins early in life

A new multi-national survey reveals the extent of misconceptions about when is the right time to start taking action to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). In a four-country survey sample of 4,000 adults, 49 per cent answered age 30 years or older when asked at what age they believe people should start to take action about their heart health to prevent conditions such as heart disease and stroke.

24 Sep 2012

Smoking, obesity and lack of insurance may be shortening life span for some Americans

The New York Times reports that the nation's life-expectancy trend has reversed by four years since 1990 for the country's least-educated whites.

21 Sep 2012

Worldwide improvements in survival rates after general anesthetic

Survival after a general anaesthetic and within 48 hours of surgery has greatly improved worldwide over the past 50 years, according to the second Article in The Lancet surgery-themed issue.

21 Sep 2012

Death rates after surgery found to be too optimistic

National estimates of death following general surgery have been too optimistic, suggests the first large-scale study to explore surgical outcomes across Europe published in the first Article in a special Lancet theme issue on surgery.

21 Sep 2012

Diet, lack of AgRP-neurons can lead to obesity and diabetes

The absence of a specific type of neuron in the brain can lead to obesity and diabetes in mice report researchers in The EMBO Journal. The outcome, however, depends on the type of diet that the animals are fed.

19 Sep 2012

Mushroom compound lengthens lives of dogs with cancer, has human potential

Dogs with splenic hemangiosarcoma had significantly delayed metastatic progression and lived longer than any previously recorded time after treatment with an extract of the mushroom Coriolus versicolor, report US investigators.

19 Sep 2012

Self-harmers are three times as likely to die prematurely

People who have a history of self-harm are more than three times as likely to die prematurely as the general population, and not just from the obvious causes, with deaths due to natural causes at least two times greater than anticipated and the risk also much higher for individuals living in socially deprived areas, according to a UK study published Online First in The Lancet.

18 Sep 2012

Thalidomide effective in treating disabling cough among people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

In the first clinical trial to demonstrate an effective treatment for constant, disabling cough among people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that taking thalidomide significantly reduced the cough and improved quality of life.

18 Sep 2012

Results from largest ever health and lifestyle survey of cities and conurbations across Europe

Researchers have announced the results of the largest ever health and lifestyle survey of cities and conurbations across Europe - including five British urban centres.

From The University of Manchester 17 Sep 2012

Progress on child survival rate since 2000

The pace of reducing child deaths has accelerated sharply since 2000, according to new data released by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the UN Population Division.

14 Sep 2012