Smoking risks

Most people have far more control over their health than they think they do or take advantage of. Take metabolic syndrome, for example, a precursor to diabetes and all sorts of other common age-related degenerations linked to excess visceral fat. The evidence suggests that metabolic syndrome is just another name for "not exercising and getting fat" - a state of affairs that can be remedied. For example: researchers examined "the effects of a 24-week lifestyle intervention prescribed by family doctors on carotid artery stiffness in metabolic syndrome (MS) subjects with pre-hypertension and/or pre-diabetes. ... Sixty-three middle-aged and older subjects with pre-hypertension and/or pre-diabetes were divided into subjects without MS (MS-) and with MS (MS+). ... Family doctors prescribed an individually customized lifestyle prescription for aerobic exercise and Mediterranean-style diet. ... Carotid artery distensibility significantly increased in MS+ following the 24 weeks of intervention compared with baseline. Similarly, beta stiffness index decreased in MS+ following the 24 weeks of intervention. Following the intervention, waist circumference, BP and fasting glucose levels reduced in MS+, and 13 MS+ subjects were free from MS." Why let yourself become run down and damaged when you can prevent that from happening?

View the Article Under Discussion: http://pmid.us/19097666
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

From ScienceDaily: "This is the first successful artificial bone marrow. It has two of the essential functions of bone marrow. It can replicate blood stem cells and produce B cells. The latter are the key immune cells producing antibodies that are important to fighting many diseases ... Bone marrow is a complicated organ to replicate ... Vital to the success of this new development is the three-dimensional scaffold on which the artificial marrow grows. This lattice had to have a high number of precisely-sized pores to stimulate cellular interaction. The scaffolds are made out of a transparent polymer that nutrients can easily pass through. To create the scaffolds, scientists molded the polymer with tiny spheres ordered like billiard balls. Then, they dissolved the spheres to leave the perfect geometry of pores in the scaffold. The scaffolds were then seeded with bone marrow stromal cells and osteoblasts, another type of bone marrow cell."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081222221558.htm
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Geneva - The death toll in Zimbabwe from cholera has continued to rise and at least 1,174 people have died in the latest epidemic, an official with the UN's Children Fund said Tuesday. In all, some 23,712 cases of the disease have been reported, leav...

Hanover, Germany - The world's population on New Year's Day is set to reach 6.75 billion, a German group that encourages birth control said Tuesday. The World Population Foundation of Germany said the planet's human population rose by 82 million this...

Hanoi - Spoiled cakes are the suspected cause of a food poisoning outbreak that put hundreds of students at a Ho Chi Minh City secondary school in hospital this week, health officials said Tuesday. Four hundred seventy children were hospitalized due...