By JANE E. BRODY
Fact: Every hour of every day, 330 Americans turn 60.
Fact: By 2030, one in five Americans will be older than 65.
Fact: The number of people over 100 doubles every decade.
Fact: As they age, people lose muscle mass and strength, flexibility and bone.
Fact: The resulting frailty leads to a loss of mobility and independence.
The last two facts may sound discouraging. But they can be countered by another. Regular participation in aerobics, strength training and balance ...
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:53 AM
As Americans' collective waistline has continued to expand, so has the prevalence of obesity-related cancer.
According to the June issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, an estimated 14 percent of cancer deaths in older men and 20 percent in older women can be attributed to excess body fat. It's not fully understood why excess body fat increases the risk of cancer.
Theories include:
Insulin -- Obesity and inactivity generally lead to higher levels of insulin circulating in the blood. ...
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:51 AM
By Karla Gale
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Comprehensive diet and lifestyle modifications alter gene expression in prostate tissue of men with low-risk prostate cancer, investigators report in a prospective pilot study. The results showed that expression of genes involved in tumorigenesis were down-regulated.
"Simple changes in diet and lifestyle have a powerful impact on gene expression," Dr. Dean Ornish, from the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, told ...
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:50 AM
7-year study found staying in good shape more important than weight
SUNDAY, June 15 (HealthDay News) -- If you're a man with type 2 diabetes, how long you live may be determined more by how physically fit you are than by how much you weigh.
A new study expected to be presented in San Francisco this weekend at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society found that physical ...
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:50 AM
BY PEGGY O'FARRELL
New approaches for treating and preventing drug addiction range from low-tech - regular exercise - to high-tech such as experimental vaccines aimed at helping to prevent former drug users from relapsing.
Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is just as excited about both options.
Of the two, though, exercise will probably yield the quickest payoff.
"It's something we could apply right away," she said. "Vaccines, we're not going to get those ...
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:49 AM
By JASON G. HOWE
DOVER - Ask world renowned public Health Professor Mariano Giacchi about the gravest problem facing societies worldwide and his answer may come as a surprise.
It's obesity.
Not AIDS, malaria or avian bird flu - obesity.
"We are not talking about just the personal, physical level, but about the socio-economic and societal level all around the world, not just the west," Giacchi said during an interview in Dover Monday morning. "Obesity is the main epidemiological ...
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 9:48 AM