Topic 13: Healthy lifestyle and longevity

Did you know that on average we forget about 80% of the medical information a doctor might give us? This fascinating information (1) ________ to light as a result of a study carried out by Utrecht University. What is even more interesting is that almost half of what we think we remember is wrong.

Why do you think this is? Well, it’s not as complicated as you may think. You see, going to the doctor fills most people (2) _________ anxiety and when we are really nervous and stressed we are more likely to focus on the diagnosis rather than the treatment. Therefore, we know what is wrong with us but have no idea what to do about it.

Here are some good tips to (3)______ in mind when seeing a doctor. Always write down any important information. What would be even better is if your doctor agreed, to record your (4)___________. This way, you can replay the advice at home, where you are more likely to absorb it. If you believe the situation is serious or you’re really worried, seek the help of a family member. Just ask them to (5)_________ you to listen in. This way you can be absolutely sure about what the doctor has told you and avoid falling into the same trap that most people do.

You get off your plane and make your way to the Baggage Reclaim area. After quite some time spent waiting, their is no sign of your bags and you begin to consider the possibility that they may have gone (1) _________. What should you do?

Firstly, don’t panic. The most likely (2) _________ is that your bags simply didn’t make it onto the flight, perhaps because they were mislaid at the departure airport, or perhaps because the aircraft had already (3) _________ its weight allowance. If they fail to appear on the carousel, report the loss before you leave the baggage hall and go through customs. Recovering your luggage should be no problems, (4) ______ you’ve kept hold of your baggage checks – those little barcodes stuck to the back of your tickets at check-in.

Go to the handling agent’s desk and complete a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) form, (5) _________ describes the checked bag and its contents. Then, ask the baggage-services manager for a contact telephone number and confirm that your bags will be forwarded to your final destination.

Traditional Thai cuisine falls into different categories: boiled dishes, salads, pounds foods and curries. Whether at home or in a restaurant. Thai meals are always (1)________ ‘family style’ – that is, from common serving platters, with the plates appearing in whatever order the kitchen can prepare them. When serving yourself from a common platter, put no more than one spoonful (2) _______ your plate at a time. Heaping your pate with all ‘your’ portions at once will look greedy to Thais unfamiliar with Western conventions. Another important factor in a Thai meal is (3) _______ a balance of flavours and textures. Traditionally the party orders a curry, a steamed or fried fish, a stir-fried vegetable dish and a soup, taking great care to (4) _____ cool and hot, sour and sweet, salty and plain.

Thai food was originally eaten with the fingers, and it still is in certain regions. These days, though, fork-and-spoon dining is the norm. To use these tools the Thai way, use a serving spoon, or alternatively your own, to take a (5) ________ mouthful of food from a central dish and ladle it over a portion of your rice. The fork is then used to push the now-food-soaked portion of rice back onto the spoon before entering the mouth.

Nuts could be the key to keeping slim, according to new research. Scientists from Harvard University and Harvard Medical School say that replacing and unhealthy snack with half a daily _____ (1) of nuts could slow weight gain in people as they get older. Walnuts ____________ (2) particular appeared to offer good results and were linked to a 15% lower risk of obesity.

Researchers conducted a long-term study which followed 51,529 male health professionals aged 40 to 5, 121,700 nurses aged 35 to 55 and 16,686 nurses aged 24 to 44. Participants had their weight ____________ (3) every four years and were asked how often they had eaten nuts. They also had to report their exercise every two years. The findings, ___________________ (4) in the online journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, showed that increasing nut consumption was associated with less risk of putting on two or more kilos over a four-year period. However, the researchers say the study is ________ (5) and therefore cannot establish a definite cause.

Long life expectancy can be attributed to a person’s diet - a healthy, balanced diet has been proven to improve longevity. Experts recommend eating at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day, basing meals on higher starchy foods like potatoes, bread and rice, having some dairy or dairy alternatives, eating some protein, choosing unsaturated oils and spreads, and drinking plenty of fluids.

But new research, published this week, has found the times of day a person eats holds the most benefits. Dr Mark Mattson, a professor of neuroscience at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, in the US, has said “intermittent fasting could be part of a healthy lifestyle.” Intermittent fasting diets usually involve daily time-restricted feeding, which narrows eating times to six to eight hours per day and so-called 5:2 intermittent fasting, in which people limit themselves to one moderate-sized meal two days each week.

A range of human and animal studies have shown that alternating between times of fasting and eating supports cellular health, probably by triggering an age-old adaptation to periods of food scarcity called metabolic switching. Such a switch occurs when cells use up their stores of rapidly accessible, sugar-based fuel, and begin converting fat into energy in a slower metabolic process. Dr Mattson says studies have shown that this switch improves blood sugar regulation, increases resistance to stress and suppresses inflammation. Because most Americans eat three meals plus snacks each day, they do not experience the switch, or the suggested benefits. In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr Mattson said four studies in both animals and people found intermittent fasting also decreased blood pressure, blood lipid levels and resting heart rates.

Are you preparing for a big test? If so, you may want to play some basketball in between hitting the books. Based on information they have collected over the years, researchers have seen an apparent connection between exercise and brain development. Judy Cameron, a researcher at Oregon Health and Science University, studies brain development. According to her research, it seems that exercise can make blood vessels, including those in the brain, stronger and more fully developed. Cameron claims this allows people who exercise to concentrate better. She says, “While we already know that exercise is good for the heart, exercise can literally cause physical changes in the brain.”

The effects of exercise on brain development can even be seen in babies. Babies who do things that require a lot of movement and physical activity show greater brain development than babies who are less physically active. With babies, even a little movement can show big results. Margaret Barnes, a pediatrician, believes in the importance of exercise. She thinks that many learning disabilities children have in elementary school or high school can be traced back to a lack of movement as babies. “Babies need movement that stimulates their five senses,” says Barnes. “They need to establish a connection between motion and memory. In this way, as they get older, children will begin to associate physical activity with higher learning.”

The benefits of exercise on the brain are not just for babies. Older people can beef up their brains by working out as well. Researchers at Cornell University studied a group of seniors ranging in age from seventy to seventy-nine. Their study showed a short-term memory increase of up to forty percent after exercising just three hours a week. The exercise does not have to be very difficult, but it does have to increase the heart rate. Also, just like the motion for infants, exercise for older people should involve some complexity. Learning some new skills or motions, such as with yoga or tai-chi, helps open up memory paths in the brain that may not have been used for a long time.

Architect Ricardo Rosa, who is working in the center of quite busy Batheaston, England, no longer has to deal with heavy traffic on his way to work. He has given up the road - now he canoes along the river between work and home.

Before setting off on the three-kilometer journey to work in the nearby town of Batheaston, Ricardo puts on a special jacket and trousers over his suit so he doesn’t get wet. When he gets there, he leaves the canoe locked up with the bicycles outside his office. He began canoeing to work after he was lent a canoe by a colleague and found instructions on how to use it on the internet. The experiment has been so successful that Ricardo now says he won’t go back to driving or cycling.

He says, “At first I was a bit nervous because I had never canoed before. But I’m getting much better. It’s been very windy and rainy recently and I’ve been alright. It makes the trip more exciting. I haven’t fallen into the water yet, but I’m sure I will one day and have to sit in my wet work clothes all day. Standing up to get in and out is the most dangerous point.” Some of the people he works with are now thinking of doing the same thing themselves. They already try to help the environment in other ways. The office has its own vegetable garden outside and one employee has left his home to live on a boat. Ricardo says, “I’m hoping they’ll join me. Canoeing takes longer than going by car, but it’s a lot more pleasant. It’s a great way of getting fit and breaking the routine. It feels like you’re on holiday.”

Many scientists believe our love of sugar may actually be an addiction. When we eat or drink sugary foods, the sugar enters our blood and affects parts of our brain that make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away, leaving us wanting more. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has a particularly strong effect. In this way, it is in fact an addictive drug, one that doctors recommend we all cut down on.

“It seems like every time I study an illness and trace a path to the first cause, I find my way back to sugar,” says scientist Richard Johnson. One- third of adults worldwide have high blood pressure, and up to 347 million have diabetes. Why? "Sugar, we believe, is one of the culprits, if not the major culprit," says Johnson.

Our bodies are designed to survive on very little sugar. Early humans often had very little food, so our bodies learned to be very efficient in storing sugar as fat. In this way, we had energy stored for when there was no food. But today, most people have more than enough. So the very thing that once saved us may now be killing us.

So what is the solution? It’s obvious that we need to eat less sugar. The trouble is, in today’s world, it’s extremely difficult to avoid. From breakfast cereals to after-dinner desserts, our foods are increasingly filled with it. Some manufacturers even use sugar to replace taste in foods that are advertised as low in fat.

But there are those who are fighting back against sugar. Many schools are replacing sugary desserts with healthier options like fruit. Other schools are growing their own food in gardens, or building facilities like walking tracks so students and others in the community can exercise. The battle has not yet been lost.

Going to a restaurant shouldn’t be your excuse to eat unhealthy foods. Follow these tips and not only will you enjoy your meal more, you’ll feel satisfied and happy when you’re done.

First, ask for it your way. Dining out is no time to be a meek consumer, notes Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and coauthor of the book Restaurant Confidential. “You need to be an assertive consumer by asking for changes on the menu,” he says. For instance, if an item is fried, ask for it grilled. If it comes with French fries, ask for a side of veggies instead. Ask for a smaller portion of the meat and a larger portion of the salad; for salad instead of coleslaw; baked potato instead of fried. “Just assume you can have the food prepared the way you want it,” says Dr. Jacobson. “Very often, the restaurant will cooperate.”

Second, order A Salad before ordering anything else on the menu. Scientists at Pennsylvania State University found that volunteers who ate a big veggie salad before the main course ate fewer calories overall than those who didn’t have a first-course salad, notes Novick.

However, remember: Salads Shouldn’t Be Fatty. This is a vegetable course-keep it tasty but healthy. That means avoiding anything in a creamy sauce (coleslaw, pasta salads, and potato salads), and skipping the bacon bits and fried noodles. Instead, load up on the raw vegetables, treat yourself to a few well-drained marinated vegetables (artichoke hearts, red peppers, or mushrooms), and for a change, add in some fruit or nuts. Indeed, fruits such as mango, kiwi, cantaloupe, and pear are often the secret ingredient in four-star salads.

Nowadays, dozens of interventions are known that extend the lifespan of various living organisms ranging from yeast to mammals. They include chemical compounds, genetic interventions, and diets. Some targets of these interventions have been discovered. However, there is still no clear understanding of the systemic molecular mechanisms leading to lifespan extension.

A group of scientists from Skoltech, Moscow State University and Harvard University decided to fill this gap and identify crucial molecular processes associated with longevity. To do so, they looked at the effects of various lifespan-extending interventions on the activity of genes in a mouse, a commonly used model organism closely related to humans.

“In our lab, we subjected mice of different sexes and ages to 8 longevity interventions and analyzed gene expression changes induced by these treatments. After aggregating our data with the datasets published by other groups, we obtained gene activity profiles of 17 interventions. Although in general the effects produced by individual treatments turned out to be rather specific, a certain group of genes changed its expression in a similar way in response to different lifespan-extending interventions,” says the first author of the study, Alexander Tyshkovskiy.

The scientists then applied the discovered biomarkers to search for other interventions with the same effect on their activity and, therefore, high potential for lifespan extension "Currently, we are validating these hits by testing their effect on the mouse lifespan. We hope that our biomarkers will significantly facilitate the search for new longevity interventions and help improve the healthspan and lifespan in rodents and, in the long term, in humans," says Alexander.