Anti-aging Developments - June 2010

June 15 - June 30

Anti-aging Developments - June 2010

June 24, 2010, Anti-Cancer Potential of Peaches and Plums Revealed

Peaches and plums are high in antioxidants and phytonutrients, and contain phenolic compounds that yield the fruits’ distinctive aromas, tastes, and colors. In lab tests conducted by Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, from Texas AgriLife Research (Texas, USA), and colleagues, breast cancer cells – including the most aggressive type -- died after treatments with peach and plum extracts, while the normal cells were not harmed in the process. The team reports that two phenols present in the fruits exerted the protective effect, writing that: “We [confirm] that phenolic acids present … have potential as chemo--preventive dietary compounds because of the relatively high growth inhibition exerted on the estrogen-independent … breast cancer cell line and low toxicity.”

(Source WorldHealth.Net - Read the full story by copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://www.worldhealth.net/news/anti-cancer-potential-peaches-and-plums-revealed/)

June 24, 2010, B-Vitamins May Curb Depression

Within the next 20 years the number of people affected by depression is expected to increase to such an extent that it will become the leading health condition worldwide. Researchers from Rush University Medical Center (Illinois, USA have been trying to establish a connection between B-Vitamin deficiencies and depression. They collected data on 3,500 Chicago-area men and women, ages 65 years and older, surveying their dietary habits and assessing for symptoms of depression, following the subjects for an average of 7.2 years

They concluded that those men and women with increased intakes of vitamins B6 and B12 had a decreased likelihood of depression. Specifically, for every 10 milligram increase in the intake of vitamin B6, and for every 10 microgram increase in vitamin B12, the risk of developing symptoms of depression were decreased by 2% per year, respectively.

(Source WorldHealth.Net - Read the full story by copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://www.worldhealth.net/news/b-vitamins-may-curb-depression/)

June 18, 2010, Metabolic Benefits of Exercise Revealed

While it is commonly accepted that exercise provides numerous and wide-ranging beneficial effects, the underlying biochemical changes have remained elusive. Robert Gerszten, from Massachusetts General Hospital (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues developed a set of comprehensive plasma metabolite signatures characterizing the metabolic changes associated with exercise.

(Source WorldHealth.Net - Read the full story by copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/2/33/33ra37.abstract?sid=60a01e6b-4600-4947-b0e5-9e07b9e9a03e)

June 18, 2010, Happiness May Increase with Age

Here is an anti-aging development which is guaranteed to put a smile on your face;

Across all major objective markers, people seem to become happier as they get older, finds researchers from Princeton University (New Jersey, USA), who compiled data resulting from a 2008 Gallup Survey of 340,847 Americans, ages 18 to 85 years. The general pattern of emotional well-being appeared to feature stress and anger on steep decline beginning in the early 20s, worry elevating through middle age and then declining, and sadness remaining essentially flat throughout life.

(Source WorldHealth.Net - Read the full story by copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/2/33/33ra37.abstract?sid=60a01e6b-4600-4947-b0e5-9e07b9e9a03e)

June 17, 2010,Chili Pepper Compound Helps to Fight Fat

While capsaicin has been studied for potential benefits in fighting obesity, the underlying molecular mechanism by which the chili pepper compound has been observed to decrease calorie intake, shrink fat tissue, and lower fat levels in the blood has not been elucidated. Jong Won Yun, from Daegu University (Korea), and colleagues engaged an animal model of obesity, and fed high-fat diets with or without capsaicin to the study animals.

(Source WorldHealth.Net) - Read the full story by copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/pr901175w?prevSearch=%255Bauthor%253A%2Byun%255D&searchHistoryKey=)

June 16, 2010, Tidy Up for Fitness

Have you always wondered why women generally live longer than men? Well here is a study which merits inclusion in this page on anti-aging developments which my just anser this question as it suggests that housework can help you live longer.

An intriguing study has examined the relationship between physical activity and a range of variables involving urban residents' homes and neighborhoods, finding that the inside of study subjects' homes had more to do with higher physical activity levels than the sidewalks, lighting and other elements considered. Nicole Keith, from Indiana University-Purdue University (Indiana, USA), and colleagues assessed data collected on 998 African Americans, ages 49 to 65 years, enrolled in the African American Health longitudinal study.

(Source WorldHealth.Net - Read the full story by copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-06/iu-thf060110.php)

June 15, 2010, Nature Boosts Vitality

This is another anti-aging development which will increase quality of life - Nature can boost vitality and therefore helps keeps you young

Previously, researchers in the field of experimental psychology have associated spending time in a nature setting with increased energy and heightened sense of well-being, and have even reported that the activity of simply recalling outdoor experiences increases feelings of happiness and health. Richard M. Ryan, from the University of Rochester (New York, USA), and colleagues conducted a series of five studies, involving 537 college students, to assess the effects of being outdoors on subjective vitality. Across all study situations, subjects consistently felt more energetic when they spent time in natural settings or imagined themselves in such situations. The researchers found that exposure to the outside nature setting for as little as 20 minutes in a day was sufficient to significantly boost vitality levels..

(Source WorldHealth.Net & Journal of Environmental Psychology - Volume 30, Issue 2, June 2010, Pages 159-168)

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