Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 10th 2020
This study aimed to characterize the role of BDNF in age-related microglial activation. Initially, we found that degrees of microglial activation were especially evident in the substantia nigra (SN) across different brain regions of aged mice. The levels of BDNF and TrkB in microglia decreased with age and negatively correlated with their activation statuses in mice during aging. Interestingly, aging-related microglial activation could be reversed by chronic, subcutaneous perfusion of BDNF. Peripheral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection-induced microglial activation could be reduced by local supplement of BDNF, while shTrkB...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 9, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

4 Examples Of Merging Gaming & Digital Health
Pausing to check his map, Sam confirms that he is on the right track for his next delivery, only 2 kilometres left. He takes the opportunity to quench his thirst and check if his delivery load is securely attached to his back; some contain fragile vials of medicines and digital pills susceptible to damage if handled inappropriately. After making sure of the integrity of those packages, Sam takes a final look at his surroundings. “It’s quite peaceful with nobody around,” he thinks to himself and resumes his path.  Upon arrival at his destination, his gear is disinfected before he has access to the inte...
Source: The Medical Futurist - August 4, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Prans Tags: Artificial Intelligence Augmented Reality Digital Health Research Healthcare Design Healthcare Policy Telemedicine & Smartphones Virtual Reality fda gamification Fitbit covid19 Apple Watch WHO gaming roche MySugr Foldit A Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, July 20th 2020
This study was the first to demonstrate a causal relationship between glial senescence and neurodegeneration. In this study, accumulations of senescent astrocytes and microglia were found in tau-associated neurodegenerative disease model mice. Elimination of these senescent cells via a genetic approach can reduce tau deposition and prevent the degeneration of cortical and hippocampal neurons. Most recently, it was shown that clearance of senescent oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in AD model mice with senolytic agents could lessen the Aβ plaque load, reduce neuroinflammation, and ameliorate cognitive deficits. This...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 19, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, June 29th 2020
In conclusion, metabolomics is a promising approach for the assessment of biological age and appears complementary to established epigenetic clocks. Sedentary Behavior Raises the Risk of Cancer Mortality https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2020/06/sedentary-behavior-raises-the-risk-of-cancer-mortality/ Living a sedentary lifestyle is known to be harmful to long term health, raising the risk of age-related disease and mortality. Researchers here show that a sedentary life specifically increases cancer mortality, and does so independently of other factors. This is one of many, many reasons to maintain a r...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 28, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

How risky is a hug right now?
“Can I get a hug?” It’s a simple question for a simple act that’s been especially missed because of COVID-19 distancing. “Human beings need social contact,” says Dr. Eugene Beresin, executive director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital, and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “We are not hermits. We are not solo pilots. We are pack animals.” Not that it needs more promotion, but along with feeling connected, a hug has been shown to help fight off a cold and help your mood when dealing with conflict. But even as restrictions have started to loosen, the...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - June 25, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Steve Calechman Tags: Cold and Flu Coronavirus and COVID-19 Health Risks and Prevention Safety Source Type: blogs

Blessings: How a Two-Time Cancer Survivor Copes During COVID-19
I, for one, am taking social distancing seriously. My husband and I haven’t had sex since the quarantine began. We’ve only hugged each other three times. A two-time cancer survivor, I’m afraid I’ll catch COVID-19. I’ve been working at home, but he’s been going in, and I think he’s afraid he’ll spread the disease. Not that he has it. We’re quite a pair. We always stand six feet apart. This pandemic is hard on me because I have no frame of reference for it. All I know is that danger is all around me. My mother taught me about danger when I was two and a half. We lived along the Cuyahoga River, and she’d w...
Source: World of Psychology - June 5, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Laura Yeager Tags: Personal Trauma Cancer Survivor coronavirus COVID-19 Rape Sexual Assault social distancing Source Type: blogs

The Lack of Persuasion as a Failure Against COVID-19
By RAFAEL FONSECA, MD Reopening safely out of the current pandemic ought to be done via persuasion, not coercion. It has been more than five months since the world first learned about COVID-19. Models predicted a sharp increase in the number of cases, and a seemingly high likelihood the pandemic would overwhelm our hospitals. These models were often inaccurate, and we have all come to learn about the imprecision of epidemiological prediction.  Nevertheless, the infection is far worse than anyone initially accepted – becoming a staple of our generation. Fearing uncountable deaths and the possible need ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 2, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy Rafael Fonseca Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, June 1st 2020
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter, please visit: https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/ Longevity Industry Consulting Services Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 31, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Can celiac disease affect life expectancy?
Celiac disease (CD), triggered by the ingestion of gluten, occurs in people genetically predisposed to develop the chronic autoimmune condition. During the past few decades, doctors have learned much about how the disease develops, including genetic and other risk factors. However, results from studies on whether people with CD have an increased risk of premature death linked to the condition have been mixed. A recent study shows a small but statistically significant increased mortality rate. Celiac disease can affect the entire body Until recently, CD was considered a mainly pediatric gastrointestinal disorder, associated...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 28, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Maureen Leonard, MD, MMSc Tags: Allergies Autoimmune diseases Source Type: blogs

Planning for Future Pandemics Including Smallpox Outbreaks: Interview with Dr. Phil Gomez, CEO, SIGA Technologies
The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant global consequences, with healthcare systems stretched to their limits, a growing death toll, and economic devastation as economies came grinding to a halt. The pandemic and its aftereffects will be with us for some time to come, but this isn’t the first pandemic humanity has weathered, and it won’t be the last. Given accelerating advances in medical technology, there is plenty to discuss in terms of how we can be better prepared for the next infectious disease event. While COVID-19 is widely thought to have arisen naturally through transmission between an animal and a hu...
Source: Medgadget - May 27, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs

Vaccination as a Limited Option for Removal of Senescent Cells
In today's open access paper, the authors demonstrate a form of vaccination against a surface marker that appears on a subset of senescent T cells that reside in fat tissue, thus directing the rest of the immune system to attack and destroy these cells. There is good evidence for excess fat tissue to result in an increased burden of senescent cells, which disrupt metabolism via the generation of inflammatory signals. A novel branch of medicine is under construction, based on senolytic therapies capable of selectively destroying senescent cells in aged tissues. The growing numbers of senescent cells in older people (and eve...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 26, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, May 25th 2020
In conclusion, our results suggest a previously unknown mechanism whereby the canonical NF-κB cascade and a mitochondrial fission pathway interdependently regulate endothelial inflammation. Lin28 as a Target for Nerve Regeneration https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2020/05/lin28-as-a-target-for-nerve-regeneration/ Researchers here show that the gene Lin28 regulates axon regrowth. In mice, raised levels of Lin28 produce greater regeneration of nerve injuries. Past research has investigated Lin28 from the standpoint of producing a more general improvement in regenerative capacity. It improves mitochondr...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 24, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

The New Normal is Still Unknown, on Earth as it is in Healthcare
By HANS DUVEFELT, MD From the vantage point of our self-quarantined shrunken universes, we cannot see even the immediate future, let alone what our personal and professional lives will look like some years from now. Factories are closed, luxury department stores are in bankruptcy, hospitals have stopped performing elective procedures and patients are having their heart attacks at home, unattended by medical professionals. New York office workers may continue to work from home while skyscrapers stand empty and city tax revenues evaporate. Quarantined and furloughed families are planting gardens and cooking at h...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 22, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Medical Practice Hans Duvefelt Source Type: blogs

Covid-19 Reuters Newsmaker Broadcast with William Haseltine
I live-tweeted a fascinating and perhaps rather depressing meeting with William Haseltine via a Reuters Newsmaker Broadcast. His talk was upbeat but the message does not offer a positive outlook unless we can collaborate internationally to identify, trace, and isolate and go back to early antivirals to treat people urgently. A vaccine will probably never be found, we must stay on top of this virus when we get communities under control. Moreover, we must recognise that another emergent pathogen could appear any time. These are essentially my notes from Haseltines’s talk. Might we ever achieve herd immunity? There is n...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - May 20, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs

Covid-19 Reuters Q & A with William Haseltine
I live-tweeted a fascinating and perhaps rather depressing meeting with William Haseltine via a Reuters Newsmaker Broadcast. His talk was upbeat but the message does not offer a positive outlook unless we can collaborate internationally to identify, trace, and isolate and go back to early antivirals to treat people urgently. A vaccine will probably never be found, we must stay on top of this virus when we get communities under control. Moreover, we must recognise that another emergent pathogen could appear any time. These are essentially my notes from Haseltines’s talk. Might we ever achieve herd immunity? There is n...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - May 20, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs