Category: Longevity & Health

A study of professional baseball players has shown that the benefits of building strong bone during youth, can last a lifetime. The research also confirmed that continued physical activity can help in maintaining bone strength as we age.

Researchers at Indiana University recruited more than a hundred baseball players at different stages of their careers. Baseball players have an internal control for such a study: their throwing arms are exposed to repeated loads, while their non-throwing arms are not. They also usually retire from throwing activities once they stop professional play. This allowed assessment of the effects of physical activity long after the players’ left and right arms had settled into becoming subject to similar daily loading. Almost a hundred age-matched controls were studied for comparison.

The researchers focused on the humerus, the bone of the upper arm, and used CT scans and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to measure bone size and density. They found that the loads on the throwing arms caused the bones there to nearly double in strength, extra bone having formed on the outer surface of the humerus. Compared to humeral bones in non-throwing arms, those in throwing arms had about 50% greater mass, size (total cross-sectional area), and thickness.

After retirement, these bone mass benefits from throwing were gradually lost. Bone loss during aging however, occurred mostly on the inside of bones rather than the outside. Because of this pattern of bone loss, about half the bone size benefits of physical activity during youth and one-third of the bone strength benefits were maintained lifelong. Players who continued throwing as they aged, experienced less bone loss on the inside of the bone and maintained even more of the strength benefits.

The researchers conclude that exercise during youth adds extra layers to the outer surface of a bone to essentially make the bone bigger, and since bone loss during aging predominantly occurs on the inside rather than outside of a bone, the bigger bone generated by physical activity when young is an enduring means of keeping the skeleton stronger.

(US National Institutes of Health, 31 March 2014.)

A study spanning 30 years has found that men with healthy lifestyles enjoy longer, healthier lives and reduced likelihood of cognitive impairment as they age. In the Caerphilly Prospective Study, 2235 men aged 45 to 59, were enrolled in 1979 to take part in a long-term evaluation. Over the following three decades, they were repeatedly questioned and examined, and it has been found that those following at least four out of five healthy behaviours (regular exercise, not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, healthy eating & moderate drinking), showed:

– a 50% reduction in diabetes and vascular disease;
– a 60% reduction in cognitive impairment and dementia;
– a 60% reduction in all-cause mortality.

Exercise conferred the strongest protective effect against cognitive impairment and dementia. Only 5% of men though, adhered to at least four healthy behaviours, with those adhering to all five, amounting to just 1%.

(Healthy lifestyles reduce the incidence of chronic disease and dementia: evidence from Caerphilly cohort study. PLoS One, December 2013.)

Researchers in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, have undertaken a study which may suggest that changes in the brain previously observed to correlate with significant spiritual or religious values, may also provide protection against depressive illness.

The authors of the study were building on prior work which revealed thinning of the brain cortex in adults whose parents had suffered depression. Here, they looked at 103 adults who were considered to be either at high or low risk of depression, based on family history. Subjects were asked about the importance they placed on spirituality or religion. Brain MRIs showed thicker cortices in people who placed a high importance on religion or spirituality compared with those who did not. The relatively thicker cortex was found in precisely the same regions of the brain that in the prior study had shown thinning in people whose parents had suffered depression.

The authors say that although more research is necessary, the results suggest that spirituality or religion may protect against major depression by thickening the brain cortex and counteracting the cortical thinning that would normally occur with major depression.

(Neuroanatomical Correlates of Religiosity and Spirituality: A Study in Adults at High and Low Familial Risk for Depression. JAMA Psychiatry, on-line 25 December 2013.)

In a large study undertaken on the Japanese population, higher levels of green tea consumption have been found to be associated with a lowered risk of both cardiovascular disease, and stroke of all types. A similar association was found for coffee.

Over 82 000 participants aged 45 to 74, were followed for a mean of 13 years. Compared to those who drank less than one cup of green tea per day, people drinking five or more cups per day had a 15% reduced risk of all-cause mortality, and a 26% reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease specifically. However, just two or more cups per day produced an observable benefit. There was also a reduced risk of all types of stroke.

When it came to coffee, at least one cup per day seemed to be associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and all strokes. However, the researchers point out that more work needs to be done on the coffee association because other research suggests different sub-groups of the population might experience different effects.

(The Impact of Green Tea and Coffee Consumption on the Reduced Risk of Stroke Incidence in Japanese Population. Stroke:Journal of the American Heart Association, 2013.)

If you have never tried green tea before, then do experiment with different brands: it is a subject as wide as wine, so do not conclude you don’t like it on the basis of just one box. Never let the kettle boil completely: water at about 80 degC is preferable as it will not scald the tea. Finally, do not leave the tea to stew for more than a minute or two. If you like it, you have found a drink very high in antioxidants and polyphenols, which are thought to lend the tea its anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. – Robin

Researchers at the University of Otago in Christchurch, New Zealand, have found that supplementing the diet with kiwi fruit can improve psychological wellbeing and lift fatigue. Raising fruit and vegetable intake has previously been associated with similar psychological benefits, so kiwi was chosen as a fruit rich in vitamin C and other important micronutrients.

A total of 36 healthy young men, average age 21, had their diets supplemented with either one half or two whole kiwi fruit per day, for a six week period. Although there were no observable effects in the half per day group, the two per day group experienced less mood disturbance and less depression. On further analysis, it was found that those participants who had a higher level of mood disturbance at the start of the study, gained the most benefit in these areas; they additionally experienced less fatigue and an increase in vigour.

Two kiwi fruit per day was equivalent in this study to about 212mg vitamin C per day, and the researchers suggest this may be the optimal intake rather than the 60-80mg which is the recommended daily amount in many countries. They point out that vitamin C helps activate several enzymes in the body which enhance levels of metabolic energy and neurochemicals in the brain.

(Mood Improvement in Young Adult Males following Supplementation with Gold Kiwifruit, a High-Vitamin C Food. Journal of Nutritional Science (2013), vol. 2, e24.)