Though many people have relied for years on expensive anti-wrinkle creams that are packed full of antioxidants to keep skin looking much younger, a recently published study suggests it might be more effective using sunscreen. The study, the first large scale one to demonstrate sunscreens ability to not just slow the skin from aging but might also be able to reverse it. Researchers used photoaging over 900 males and females living in Australia during a period of four years from 1992 to 1996. Photoaging,... 

A new study finds that the aging of the brains of older honeybees is effectively reversed when they take on tasks typically handled by younger bees.  The aging of the brains of the honeybees seems to resemble that in humans.  The discovery suggests that social intervention should be considered, in addition to medications, as a way to treat age-related dementia in humans.  The findings are detailed in the journal Experimental Gerontology. Gro Amdam, who led the research at Arizona State University,... 

Dr. Melinda Manore, professor of nutrition at Oregon State University, said that her 25 years of research in active and sedentary individuals showed that no single product marketed as a weight loss supplement results in significant weight loss. The study was posted in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. She said that consumers don’t realize that weight loss supplements were tested according to a hypocaloric diet, which means that people decrease the number of calories... 

Women, who experience intense hot flashes and night sweats during the onset of menopause, can take heart and look upon these as protection against cardiovascular diseases, according to the findings of new research. Vasomotor symptoms or hot flashes as the layperson knows it are caused by changing hormonal levels and dilation of blood, can lead to physical and emotional upheavals in a woman’s life, and has no effective remedies. Some studies had earlier identified hot flashes, night sweats... 

Following the largest ever genetic analysis of Parkinson’s disease by researchers,  five new genes responsible for the disease have been identified, which will have significant impact on early diagnosis and possible therapies for Parkinson’s disease. Earlier six genomic variants linked to the disease were identified, bringing the total number of genomic variants associated with Parkinson’s, to 11. This study by a 130-member International Parkinson Disease Genomics Consortium had... 

Exercises and reduced medications will help the elderly improve their strength and maintain balance and goes a long way way in preventing falls, according to newly updated geriatric guidelines that have been reviewed after almost a decade. A panel of experts from  the British and American Geriatrics Societies putting forth new recommendations, emphasized that exercises which help strengthen muscles,  improve gait and balance, physical therapy and Chinese martial arts Tai Chi that involve gentle... 

The US  regulatory body FDA, has given the go ahead to the Massachusetts-based company, Advanced Cell Technology Inc., to conduct tests using embryonic stem cells to treat age-related macular degeneration. Macular degeneration, occurring in wet and dry forms, is a leading cause of vision loss that affects 10 to 15 million Americans. Age-related macular degeneration or AMD is a condition affecting old people, resulting in vision loss in the center of the visual field, due to build up of cellular... 

A team of scientists  led by Dr. Stephanie Studenski at the University of Pittsburg, have been able to quantify the benefits of  increased walking speeds in the elderly. By measuring the gait of men aged 75 to 84, the researchers found that those with fast walking speeds of  over 1.4 meters/second, increased their chances of survival for 10 more years by 92% and those with slow gaits of 0.4 meters/second increased their chances by 15%. The benefits for fast walkers among women were similar to... 

Accumulation of  protein clumps, beta-amyloid, is a feature seen in the brains of persons affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Earlier researchers believed that the buildup of beta-amyloid in Alzheimer patients was due to an abnormally high production of the protein. New findings by a research team from Washington University, St. Louis reveal, rather than increased production, it is the slow clearance of the beta-amyloid that leads to accumulation of the protein. Amyloids are protein fragments... 

As the search continues for the elixir of youth, we now hear that Harvard scientists have been able to  reverse successfully, aging in mice. Efforts to work similar results on humans is nowhere on the horizon though. Scientists are aware that aging in humans is connected with telomeres,  repetitive DNA at the ends of the chromosomes that protects the ends from deterioration. Continuous cell division and replication wears off  the ends of the chromosomes and the telomeres shorten, as age related...