By Dr. Robert Goldman & Dr. Ronald Klatz

Longevity News and Review provides readers with the latest information in breakthroughs pertaining to the extension of the healthy human lifespan.  These news summaries are compiled by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M; www.worldhealth.net), a non-profit medical society composed of 24,000 physician and scientist members from 110 nations, united in a mission to advance biomedical technologies to detect, prevent, and treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process.   Dr. Ronald Klatz, M.D., D.O., A4M President, and Dr. Robert Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., D.O., FAASP, A4M Chairman, physician co-founders of the anti-aging medical movement, distill these headlines and provide their insightful commentary.

Four Lifestyle Choices May Extend Lifespan
Among industrialized countries, incidences of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – namely, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disorders – are on the rise. Eva Martin-Diener, from the University of Zurich (Switzerland), and colleagues assessed data collected on 16,721 participants aged between 16 and 90 years, enrolled in the Swiss National Cohort (SNC). The team correlated data on tobacco consumption, fruit consumption, physical activity and alcohol consumption for the study subjects with the corresponding deaths up to 2008.  Identifying the four main risk factors for NCDs as: tobacco smoking, an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol consumption, the researchers translated the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle into numbers. An individual who smokes, drinks a lot, is physically inactive and has an unhealthy diet has 2.5 fold higher mortality risk in epidemiological terms than an individual who looks after his/her health.  The study authors conclude that: “The combined impact of four behavioural [non-communicable disease] risk factors on survival probability was comparable in size to a 10-year age difference.”

Dr. Klatz observes: “Identifying that tobacco smoking, an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol consumption are four key risk factors for aging-related diseases, Swiss researchers reaffirm the life-extending benefits of healthy anti-aging behaviors.”

Dual Exercise Approach for Diabetes
Markers of diabetes include glycated hemogrobin (HbA1C) – a measure of blood sugar control, fasting blood sugar and triglycerides triglycerides.  Lukas Schwingshackl, from the University of Vienna (Austria), and colleagues completed a meta-analysis of 14 studies with a total of 915 participants, that assessed diabetics on various exercise regimens lasting 8 weeks or longer.  Data analysis revealed that aerobic exercise appeared to be more effective than resistance training at reducing HbA1C, and fasting blood sugar. Combined training programs were even more effective than aerobic exercise alone for reducing HbA1C and more effective than resistance training alone for reducing HbA1C, fasting blood sugar and triglycerides.  The study authors write that: “the present data suggest that [combined training] might be the most efficacious exercise modality to improve glycaemic control and blood lipids.”

Remarks Dr. Goldman: “Focusing on the HbA1C marker, Austrian team reports that a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training may better assist in blood sugar control for diabetes, as compared to either approach alone.”

Tablet Computers Promote Cognitive Acuity    
Micaela Chan, from The University of Texas at Dallas (Texas, USA), and colleagues enrolled 54 men and women, ages 60 to 90 years, for a three-month long study in which one-third of the participants were placed in a group assigned to use a tablet-style computer (they were given extensive training), spending an average of more than 15 hours a week on the device for 10 weeks.  Concurrently, the team assigned a placebo group that completed activities of low-cognitive demand and no skill acquisition, such as watching movies and completing knowledge-based word puzzles; and a social group, which socialized for 15 or more hours a week, primarily around prescribed conversational topics such as travel, art and history.    All three groups were given the same cognitive tests before and after the 10 weeks of activities. When the scores on these assessment tests were compared, the researchers found that the group using tablet-style computers experienced significant improvements in episodic memory and processing speed.  Reporting that: “[table-style computer] training improved cognition relative to engaging in social or nonchallenging activities,” the study authors submit that: “Mastering relevant technological devices have the added advantage of providing older adults with technological skills useful in facilitating everyday activities (e.g., banking).”

Comments Dr. Klatz:  “Lightweight and portable, with a user-friendly interface and hundreds of available applications, tablet-style computers may help older adults to improve memory and thinking skills.  US team finds that seniors who spend 15 hours a week using a tablet-style computer demonstrate enhanced cognitive skills.”

Anti-aging medicine is the fastest-growing medical specialty throughout the world and is founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases.  It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy lifespan in humans.  As such, anti-aging medicine is based on solid scientific principles of responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties.  The goal of anti-aging medicine is not to merely prolong the total years of an individual’s life, but to ensure that those years are enjoyed in a productive and vital fashion.  Visit the A4M’s World Health Network website, at www.worldhealth.net, to learn more about the A4M and its educational endeavors and to sign-up for your free subscription o Longevity Magazine™ e-Journal.