Fwd: LIFE EXTENSION WEEKLY UPDATE JUNE 14 2002

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/9/02 11:43:19 AM, EMillerReid writes:

 

<< LIFE EXTENSION WEEKLY UPDATE EXCLUSIVE

Successful aging greater in children of long-lived parents

 

If long life is primarily genetically determined, it would follow that the

offspring of long-lived individuals would show the signs of " successful

aging " , defined as the absence of disability and disease and the maintenance

of a high level of cognitive and physical functioning. To add evidence to

this hypothesis, researchers at the University of Southern Denmark, the

University of Minnesota and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

in Germany used three Danish population-based surveys to determine whether

parental age was associated with successful aging in their children. The

study, published in the May 13 2002 issue of the journal Epidemiology

(http://www.epidem.com/), collected data on parental age at death, physical

functioning as measured by hand-grip strength, cognitive functioning as

determined by several test scores, and the presence of various diseases in

9,285 participants.

 

The age of death of the father and mother of each participant was averaged

into a mean parental age at death. Grip strength was mildly positively

associated with every additional ten years of life lived by the parents of

the participants. Each ten year increment of parental life was correlated

with a 20% reduction in the child's odds of experiencing heart failure,

stroke, high blood pressure, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, or health

rated as fair to very poor. These associations were observed mainly in

individuals 70 to 90 years of age. Age-related differences in health in

younger individuals may not have been large enough to detect effects of

parental longevity. Cancer, osteoarthritic, osteoporosis and pulmonary

disease were not associated with the life span of the subjects' parents in

any age groups.

 

This study lends further support to the influence of heredity on successful

aging. Although genetic manipulation as a means to control the aging process

in humans is not yet available, there exist interventions such as nutritional

supplementation, dietary considerations and exercise which help promote

successful aging for everyone, regardless of their genetic heritage.

 

WHAT'S HOT

Centenarian siblings also long-lived

 

In the latest of a series of National Institute on Aging-supported studies,

research published in the June 11 2002 issue of the journal Proceedings of

the National Academy of Sciences (http://www.pnas.org/) found that sisters of

individuals who survived 100 years or more were eight times more likely and

brothers were seventeen times more likely to also live to the age of one

hundred in comparison with U.S. citizens born in 1900. Data was gathered from

444 families of centenarians, which included 2,092 siblings. The information

was analyzed by researchers participating in the New England Centenarian

Study in Boston, led by Thomas Perls MD. Earlier research led by Dr Perls

located a region on chromosome 4 that is likely to predispose its inheritors

to long lives.

 

The study also found that sisters of centenarians had half the risk of dying

at any age compared to the national average and that brothers had similar

rates except during the teen and young adult years.

 

Although survival to advanced ages may be partly the result of socioeconomic

or environmental factors, the differences in mortality between social groups

tend to disappear in old age, lending support to genetic factors involved in

exceptional longevity.

http://ezines.lef.org?p=151069092

or

http://www.lef.org/whatshot/#csal >>

 

 

 

Namaste, Liz

<A HREF= " http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html " >

http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html</A>