ageing | Silver Magazine

Health

New Advances in Anti Aging Research

For a very, very long time, anti-aging drugs have been the bane of scammers, scoundrels and charlatans. Snake oil, if you will. Turns out, there are some anti-aging drugs and you may well be taking one of them? Have type 2 diabetes and on metformin? That’s one of them and FDA approval is being sought for its use as an anti-aging medication. The world’s population is aging, especially in parts of Asia, Europe and North America. Over the next 30 years it is projected that the number of over 65 year olds will double to 1.5 Billion. Only the continent of Africa is seeing significant growth in a younger population. Today, over 80% of adults aged 65 or over have at least one chronic illness with 68% having two or more. That’s a lot of illness and a lot of medications. From heart disease to diabetes, hypertension, dementia, arthritis and

Alex Hurst August 4, 2022

Longevity

Love is blind: the story of Ruth Vallis

This excerpt is from a memoir which commences with my birth and concludes with the death of my mother whom I called Peach. Blind since before the age of three, I will take you on a journey through two years in a residential school for the blind, becoming a pioneer of integration of blind children into the public school system in Canada, to studying physiotherapy in England, back home to try and land a job before employment equity, taking a Master of Science degree online before accessible technology is legislated, training with my first guide dog, and more. You may laugh and cry. In the end, I hope you are glad you read it. Residential School for the Blind When I was growing up in Toronto in the 1950s, we always had some sort of dessert with dinner, although there was little in the way of treats. When my father

Ruth Vallis January 13, 2022

Health

The controversy over the new Alzheimer’s drug

Just last week, the FDA approved a new drug for treating Alzheimer’s in the United States, Aduhelm. It is not approved in Canada yet, but there’s a storm of controversy over whether it is even effective at all, or at least in the ways intended. This week three scientists on the FDA’s independent neurological drug advisory panel resigned however, stating that the clinical trial data was flimsy at best with one scientist telling the New York Times, “This might be the worst approval decision that the FDA has made that I can remember,” Dr. Aaron Kesselheim. The independent panel had voted to reject the drug with ten “no” votes and one “uncertain” vote. The FDA doesn’t have to listen to the panel, they’re there for a secondary opinion only. Actual regulation of drugs and medical devices is made in-house by FDA scientists. The claim by the manufacturer is that the

Simone Waters June 16, 2021

Longevity

Sex and ageing: What you need to know

As women age, sexual desire may diminish—or not. It’s a different game, but you can still win. Do you feel sexy? Do you want to have sex? These are not the same question. This is, of course, true for people at any age. The way we act on how we feel is only one part of our sexuality. Sexuality incorporates our attitude towards our bodies, beliefs, values, gender, orientation, relationships and desires. For instance, the desire for intimate physical contact waxes and wanes over time, dependent as much on hormones as our life situations. Sex drive may walk out the door when we are depressed, angry, having financial difficulty or trouble with a partner. Some people were never very interested in the first place; others are sorry to see desire diminish with age. However, the death of desire as we age is not at all the rule. According to a

Simone Waters May 7, 2021

Health

Arthritis and natural health

If you’re suffering from joint pain or osteoarthritis, don’t despair. These natural supplements, home remedies and healthy foods can help you control the pain so that you can live life to the fullest. The process of inflammation is actually a good thing. In theory. It is your body’s way to protect itself from unwanted invaders, like bacteria and viruses. But here’s where it gets tricky. In some diseases – like arthritis – this natural defence system (your immune system) triggers inflammation when there are no unwelcomed visitors to fend off. These types of autoimmune diseases trick your body into thinking that your tissues are somehow under attack, causing damage and a lot of pain. Inflammation can be either short-term (acute) or can last a long time (chronic). Chronic inflammation can last for months or even years, long after that initial trigger is gone. That means chronic pain with very little

Alex Hurst April 6, 2021

Resonance

Walking backwards

The more we do something, the easier it becomes. In fact, with repetition the brain grows neural pathways. It’s called learning. It also keeps us stuck in our ways. Consider one of our most basic skills — walking. It was hard to learn as a child. But kids don’t give up. Wobbly at first, after many lunges and falls children learn to walk. It becomes automatic. Eventually they run. They climb. By the way, I have observed how my two grandchildren Oscar (heading for 4) and Gwen (9 months) perform yoga asanas (poses) to sit and stand up. Now consider this: We almost always move forward, not backward or sideways. Like most predators, our eyes are in the front of our heads; we have the binocular vision needed to stalk prey. Not only that, but we tend to look at the front of other people, their faces, their eyes. We

David Holt April 5, 2021

Health

Can some drugs delay ageing?

Research into pharmaceuticals that can extend life is ramping up. Some existing drugs are proving interesting. In late 2014, a group of world renowned scientists in the study of ageing gathered in Toledo, Spain to discuss this very topic and they’re out to prove it can work. We’re not talking about those fictional stories of dialing back the clock to your twenties, coupled with all that learned wisdom that we’d like to do. This is research into putting on the brakes or at least slowing down the effects of ageing. The focus is mostly around age-related diseases and conditions. Drugs that can delay ageing or stop some diseases from progressing or even starting, could add many healthy years to a person’s life. That has social and economic benefits, including reducing the burden on health care and enabling people to live more productive lives longer. One such hot drug is the

Alex Hurst March 26, 2021

Mind

Dementia in Canada and Prevention Tips

Dementia has many dimensions and impacts everyone in different ways. Here are some tips to help keep your brain healthy. When our brain can no longer fight off the various risks to its health, dementia settles in. Alzheimers is a form of dementia and probably the one Canadians are most familiar with. The pandemic hasn’t helped much either with limited access to Long-Term Care facilities and so much time in lockdowns. So what exactly is dementia? It’s not just one disease, it is a series of symptoms that affect our brain function over time. Usually it is characterized by declines in cognitive abilities such as planning; judgement; basic math skills; awareness of our person, place and time. Over time dementia can affect our language functions, mood and behaviour. Causes are thought to be caused by neurodegenerative diseases which affect nerve cells in our brain, vascular diseases that affect our blood

Alex Hurst March 15, 2021

Health

The power of your immune system

The immune system strives to protect us from infections and to stop tumours in their tracks. Its job, simply put, is to keep us alive. You can look at the immune system as a gift from nature. It works hard to fend off all types of insults to our system. But it’s a two-way deal. If we want all the benefits of a high-functioning immune system, we need to look after it so it can look after us. To help our immune system, we need to eat right and exercise smart. We also need to identify and ignore some myths. Our bodies need fuel and our immune system is no different. IRON deficiency is the most common deficiency in the world. More than 20% of the world’s population has an iron deficiency—and women are more likely to be affected than men, according to Statistics Canada. Iron deficiency leads to less cell-mediated immunity,

David Whittaker January 27, 2021