By Dr. Ronald Klatz & Dr. Robert Goldman

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 26,000 physician and scientist members from 120 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.

For Longevity, Lessen Loneliness
Julianne Holt-Lunstad, from Brigham Young University (Utah, USA), and colleagues completed a meta-analysis involving published studies on loneliness, social isolation, and living alone, with a total enrollment of over 3 million subjects.  After adjusting for confounding factors, the researchers found that loneliness and social isolation may raise a person’s risks of premature death.  And the converse held true: that the existence of relationships provides a positive health effect. The study authors report that: “the influence of both objective and subjective social isolation on risk for mortality is comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality.”

Dr. Klatz observes: “With a number of previous studies correlating health promoting effects of social connectedness, this data suggests that being a “lone wolf” may threaten how long you might live.”

Weighty Concerns for Cancer
Julie Sharp, of Cancer Research UK, urges that: “Lifestyle changes – like not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and cutting back on alcohol – are the big opportunities for us all to personally reduce our cancer risk. Making these changes is not a guarantee against cancer, but it stacks the odds in our favour.”

Remarks Dr. Goldman:  “Cancer Research UK warns that obesity puts a woman at 40% increased risk of developing at least seven types of cancer – including bowel, post-menopausal breast, gallbladder, womb, kidney, pancreatic and esophageal cancer.   Obesity raises the risks of a weight-related cancer by 40%, among women.”

Beware the Air
Melinda C. Power, from Johns Hopkins University (Maryland, USA), and colleagues studied  data collected on 71, 271 women, ages 57 to 85 years, enrolled in the US Nurses’ Health Study. The team used national geographic and meteorological data to establish exposure to particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 2.5-10), estimating from five periods (one month, three months, six months, one year and 15 years) before assessment of anxiety. The team also calculated the distance from residence address to the nearest major road, a common indicator for traffic related air pollution exposure. Study participants completed an anxiety questionnaire that included eight self-rated questions on symptoms including fearfulness, desire for avoidance and tendency to worry was completed by each participant. After adjusting for confounding factors, data analysis revealed that approximately 15% of women experienced high anxiety symptoms. Exposure to particulate matter was linked to a higher risk of anxiety, with PM2.5 having the most significant association.  Further, women who resided 50 to 200m from a major road were more likely to have higher anxiety symptoms, as compared to those living more than 200m away.  As well, recent exposure was found to have a more significant association with anxiety, with effects the strongest following the first month of exposure.  The study authors warn that: “Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was associated with high symptoms of anxiety, with more recent exposures potentially more relevant than more distant exposures.”

Comments Dr. Klatz: “Emerging evidence suggests a potential role of particulate matter air pollution (most notably particulates measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in size [PM2.5]) to trigger or worsen certain health conditions, from cardiac to respiratory disorders. This study suggests that pollutants that we breathe may trigger anxiety.”

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.