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.

Cut Stroke Risk with Fruits & Veggies
Yan Qu, from Qingdao University (China), and colleagues completed a meta-analysis of 20 studies published over the last 19 years to assess the effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on risk of stroke globally. The combined studies involved 760,629 men and women who had 16,981 strokes.  The data revealed that stroke risk decreases by 32% with every 200 grams (7 ounces) of fruit consumed each day and 11% with every 200 grams (7 ounces) of vegetables consumed daily.  The study authors conclude that: “Fruits and vegetables consumption are inversely associated with the risk of stroke.”

Dr. Klatz observes: “Diet is the leading lifestyle factor in stroke risk.  In that fruits and vegetables are rich in key micro- and macro-nutrients that contribute to healthy blood vessels, these researchers observe that consuming  200 grams (7 ounces) of fruits and vegetables daily reduces stroke risk by 32% and 11%, respectively.”

Forty for Fitness
David Matelot, from Inserm (France), and colleagues assessed 40 healthy men (without cardiovascular risk factors), ages 55 to 70 years, who were divided for assessment according to the level of exercise they took and the ages at which they began. Thus, 10 of the men had never exercised for more than 2 hours a week throughout their lives, and 30 had exercised for at least 7 hours a week for over five years, either beginning their programs before the age of 30 (16 subjects) or after the age of 40 (14 subjects).  Engaging in either running or cycling, those beginning before the age of 30 had been training for an average of 39 years (since the age of 22) and those starting at 40 for 18 years (since the age of 48). Each of the men was assessed by maximal exercise testing, echocardiography at rest and during submaximal exercise, and heart rate analysis.  While resting heart rate was found to be similar between the two exercise groups (56.8 bpm among the age-30 exercisers, 58.1 bpm among the age-40 group), it was significantly faster in the non-exercising men (69.7 bpm).   Maximal oxygen uptake was also similar between the exercising groups (47.3 ml/min/kg among the age-30s and 44.6 ml/min/kg among the age-40s), it was significantly lower in the non-exercising men (33.0 ml/min/kg). Further, Echocardiography showed that the left ventricle and both atria were bigger in the both exercising groups men than in the non-trainers, who also exhibited significantly thicker vessel walls than trainers.  The study authors submit that: “Regardless of the age at which it has been started, relatively intensive endurance training presents the same benefits on heart and its regulation by autonomic nervous system in healthy senior men.”

Remarks Dr. Goldman: “Endurance exercise, of a relatively intensive level, among healthy men in their 50s and 60s, may confer beneficial effects on the heart, with benefits evident and comparable in those who had started training before the age of 30 or after the age of 40. As a result, Inserm (France) researchers submit that the age of 40 is not too old to start endurance training.”

Too Little, and Too Much, Sleep Ages the Brain
Elizabeth Devore, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues evaluated associations of sleep duration at midlife and later life, and change in sleep duration over time, with memory in 15,263 participants of the Nurses’ Health Study. Participants were female nurses, ages 70 or older and were free of stroke and depression at the initial cognitive assessment.  The team found that women who slept five or fewer hours, or nine or more hours per day, either in midlife or later life, can cause memory declines equivalent to nearly two additional years of age.  Further, the researchers noted that women whose sleep duration changed by greater than two hours per day over time had worse memory than women with no change in sleep duration.  The study authors submit that: “Extreme sleep durations at midlife and later life and extreme changes in sleep duration over time appear to be associated with poor cognition in older women.”

Comments Dr. Klatz:  “Achieving quality sleep is an anti-aging essential, yet many of us fail to feel rested upon waking.   This data suggests that sleep patterns associate with deteriorating memory.”

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.