Healthy Aging - News

People suffering from creaky knees may want to give Tai Chi a try. In a study, researchers found that practicing the Chinese mind-body exercise led to improvements in pain, function and even mental health for people with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Men who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats may have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than those who limit such foods, a large study of U.S. men suggests. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that among more than 175,000 men they followed for nine years, those who ate the most red and processed meats had heightened risks of developing any stage of prostate cancer, or advanced cancer in particular.

Anabolic steroids - the kind used by some athletes to build muscle mass - can cause lasting kidney damage, according to research presented today at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting in San Diego. Presenter Dr.

Women who regularly use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have better survival after a colorectal cancer diagnosis, research indicates. During 2007, an estimated 112,340 cases of colon cancer and 41,420 cases of rectal cancer were diagnosed in the US, making colorectal cancer the third most common cancer among US men and women.

People who have both Alzheimer's disease and diabetes have slower rates of memory loss than people who just have Alzheimer's disease, French researchers said on Tuesday.

Although the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac is commonly used to treat acute pain in children, it is not licensed for this purpose in all age groups. A new review, however, suggests that perhaps it should be.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent a warning letter to Sanofi-Aventis accusing the French drugmaker of distributing misleading promotional material on its Uroxatral treatment for urinary problems caused by an enlarged prostate.

An alarming number of Canadian teenagers has high blood pressure, high cholesterol or other major risk factors for heart disease and stroke, a researcher warned Tuesday at a conference in Edmonton, Alberta. "This study is further evidence of an accelerating decline in the heart health of Canada's teens," Dr.

Israeli Jews who survived World War Two in Europe have a significantly higher risk for cancer than other Jews, possibly as a result of hardships endured in the Holocaust, researchers said on Monday. They said their study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests that stress or other factors such as extreme deprivation may play a role in triggering cancer.

Amputees can "learn" to move their missing arm in an anatomically impossible way, in some cases making normal movement of that "phantom limb" more difficult, new research shows. The findings show that the brain can alter how we perceive our bodies all by itself, without input from our senses, the researchers say, and raise the possibility of using similar strategies to treat certain movement problems and pain syndromes.

Many middle-aged adults may be walking around with a dangerous health problem and not even know it. The condition called peripheral artery disease, or PAD, occurs when arteries in the legs become narrowed or clogged with fatty deposits, reducing blood flow to the legs.

Nine-year-old Corey Haas can ride his bike alone now, thanks to an experimental gene therapy that has boosted his fading vision with a single treatment. The gene therapy helped improve worsening eyesight caused by a rare inherited disease called Leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA, which makes most patients blind by age 40.

Cyclists and people who spend long periods of time in a squatting position may be at greater risk of developing arthritis in their knees, new research shows. Osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, occurs when the cartilage of the joints breaks down, and usually begins after a person reaches middle age.

People who keep doing some work in their field after they retire may enjoy better physical and mental health than those who stop working completely, a new study suggests. The findings, say researchers, suggest that prospective retirees should consider moving into so-called "bridge employment" as a transition to full retirement.

Nerve stem cell transplants may help slow the progression of macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in the developed world, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They said putting nerve stem cells from StemCells Inc near the retinas of rats with a form of macular degeneration helped keep the disease from advancing to blindness for several months.

Parents and caregivers who place car seats on beds, kitchen counters and other places outside the car injured 43,000 U.S. children over five years, researchers reported on Monday. More than 3,400 of the children were injured badly enough to require hospitalization, the researchers told a meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

A common antidepressant combined with an intensive treadmill training program helped people with partial spinal cord injuries walk better and faster, U.S. researchers said on Sunday. They said Forest Laboratories' antidepressant Lexapro or escitalopram, which affects a message-carrying brain chemical called serotonin, helps strengthen remaining nerve connections along the spine, giving patients with spinal cord injuries more ability to control their muscles during training.

Postmenopausal women may lessen their chances of fracturing a hip by adding soy-based foods to their diet, a study from Singapore hints. Women in the study were 21 to 36 percent less likely to fracture a hip when they reported eating a moderate amount of soy, Dr.

Older people who have been infected with or vaccinated against seasonal flu may have a type of immunity produced by cells that protects them from the swine flu virus, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. They said the pandemic H1N1 virus has parts found in earlier flu strains, and some people past age 60, who may have been exposed to similar viruses in their youth, may have some latent immune cells that protect them.

Advanced dementia is a terminal illness and should be viewed as such, researchers conclude in a report released Wednesday. Infections and eating problems are common and often herald the final states of life for these patients.

ime jobs * Those in original fields had better mental health * Many now forced to keep working due to downturn By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters) - Older people who hold temporary or part-time jobs after retirement enjoy better physical and mental health than those who stop working entirely, according to a U.

More and more men with prostate cancer who opt to have the organ surgically removed are choosing less invasive keyhole "prostatectomy" over the more traditional open or "radical" prostatectomy. But a study released today shows that men who have the keyhole surgery run a higher risk of certain complications, including erectile dysfunction and incontinence.

Scientists in Japan said they have uncovered evidence, based on mouse studies, that shows it may be possible to delay or prevent heart failure in humans. In a paper published in the journal Circulation, Tetsuo Shioi, lead researcher and assistant professor of medicine at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Kyoto, and his team described how they managed to suppress a variety of the P13K gene in a group of elderly mice.

Shingles are more than just painful. A new study suggests that they may increase the risk of stroke. Shingles is caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus, also called varicella zoster virus, which lays dormant in nerve fibers.

People who suffer a stroke can substantially improve their ability to get around independently if they take walks a few times a week, according to an updated review of the medical literature. Strokes often occur in older people who have already lost some fitness and muscle strength.

The popular erectile dysfunction drug Viagra is associated with a number of side effects, but data on long-term harms are still lacking, according to a review of 49 published studies. In the medical journal Urology, Dr. Alexander Tsertsvadze, from Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues report that men who took Viagra, also known as sildenafil, were 56 percent more likely than those given a placebo to experience any side effect.

Older folks looking to find relief from painful arthritis should steer clear of codeine, OxyContin and other powerful prescription "opioid" painkillers, even if their pain is severe, doctors advise in a report published this week.

Sorry coffee lovers -- downing a few cups of coffee throughout the day may spark alertness, but it's unlikely to protect the aging brain from mental decline or dementia, according to researchers from Finland. Some studies have suggested that coffee has a protective effect on brain function in old age, while others have not shown this association.

Three Americans won the Nobel prize for medicine on Monday for discovering and identifying telomerase, the enzyme that renews the little caps on the end of chromosomes whose natural fraying underlies aging and cancer. Australian-born Elizabeth Blackburn, British-born Jack Szostak and Carol Greider won the prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.

Important news for seniors: A daily dose of vitamin D cuts your risk of falling substantially, researchers reported today. But not just any dose will do. "It takes 700 to 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day and nothing less will work," Dr.