Research

A new study could spur the development of new and improved treatments for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), a rare genetic disorder with no known cure that causes accelerated ageing in children. The study identified a protein linked to the cardiovascular health of animal models with progeria that could translate to human treatments. Heart failure and [...]

Inflammation of the arteries is a primary precursor and driver of cardiovascular disease — the number one killer of people in the United States. This inflammation is associated with the build up of dangerous plaque inside the arteries. Advanced treatments are needed to target this inflammation in patients. Now, Michigan State University researchers have tested [...]

Common breast cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, may accelerate the biological ageing process in breast cancer survivors, a study suggests. The findings show that markers of cellular aging—such as DNA damage response, cellular senescence, and inflammatory pathways—significantly increased in all breast cancer survivors, regardless of the type of treatment received. This suggests that the [...]

Researchers have identified a new potential risk marker for cardiovascular disease in older women. A new study shows an association between low levels of an anti-inflammatory antibody and the risk of heart attack and coronary heart disease. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men in Sweden. However, research on [...]

Researchers have calculated the huge cost of fatal falls among older people in the US, with stark findings. Falls account for around one in five of all injury-related hospital admissions, and the World Health Organisation reports that falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide, with the over 65s especially vulnerable, highlight [...]

A new study has revealed that multiple surgeries have a small effect on memory, reaction time, task-switching and problem solving for older patients with each additional surgery. The study also found brain MRIs of people who had surgeries also showed physical differences in areas of the brain responsible for memory. It is the first study [...]

We don’t all age at the same rate. But while some supercentenarians may age exceptionally slowly due to winning the genetics jackpot, a plethora of behavioural and lifestyle factors are known to speed up ageing, including stress, poor sleep, poor nutrition, smoking, and alcohol. Since such environmental effects get imprinted on our genome in the [...]

Researchers have shown that the carotenoid phytoene increases the lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and can slow the onset of paralysis associated with the formation of amyloid plaques in a model of Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, increases in longevity of between 10 and 18.6 per cent and decreases in the proteotoxic effect of plaques of between [...]

Scientists have identified a gene responsible for some inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), which are a group of disorders that damage the eye’s light-sensing retina and threatens vision. Though IRDs affect more than two million people worldwide, each individual disease is rare, complicating efforts to identify enough people to study and conduct clinical trials to develop [...]

Scientists identified a protein that regulates cellular clean-up, could also hold the key to new treatments for age-related muscle loss and muscle wasting in cancer patients, enhancing quality of life. With the global population ageing rapidly, sarcopenia, a condition that affects millions of older adults and severely diminishes their quality of life, is emerging as [...]