The Longevity Project » TLP

Consumption of fried foods and risk of coronary heart disease

TLP — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:18:20 +0000

Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study

Objective
To assess the association between consumption of fried foods and risk of coronary heart disease.

Design
Prospective cohort study.

Setting
Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Participants
40?757 adults aged 29-69 and free of coronary heart disease at baseline (1992-6), followed up until 2004.

Main outcome measures
Coronary heart disease events and vital status identified by record linkage with hospital discharge registers, population based registers of myocardial infarction, and mortality registers.

Results
During a median follow-up of 11 years, 606 coronary heart disease events and 1135 deaths from all causes occurred. Compared with being in the first (lowest) quarter of fried food consumption, the multivariate hazard ratio of coronary heart disease in the second quarter was 1.15 (95% confidence interval 0.91 to 1.45), in the third quarter was 1.07 (0.83 to 1.38), and in the fourth quarter was 1.08 (0.82 to 1.43; P for trend 0.74). The results did not vary between those who used olive oil for frying and those who used sunflower oil. Likewise, no association was observed between fried food consumption and all cause mortality: multivariate hazard ratio for the highest versus the lowest quarter of fried food consumption was 0.93 (95% confidence interval 0.77 to 1.14; P for trend 0.98).

Conclusion
In Spain, a Mediterranean country where olive or sunflower oil is used for frying, the consumption of fried foods was not associated with coronary heart disease or with all cause mortality.

Full article here (British Medical Journal)

The beneficial effects of regular exercise on cognition in REM sleep deprivation: Behavioral, electrophysiological and molecular evidence

TLP — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:40:21 +0000

Inadequate sleep is prevalent in modern societies and is known to profoundly impair cognitive function. We examined the impact of 4weeks of regular treadmill exercise on sleep deprivation induced spatial learning and memory, synaptic plasticity and related signaling molecules in area CA1 of the rat hippocampus. Rats were exercised on a treadmill and subsequently sleep-deprived for 24h using the modified multiple platform technique. Testing of learning and short-term memory performance in the radial arm water maze showed that although sedentary sleep deprived rats were severely impaired, exercised sleep deprived rats’ performance was normal. Extracellular recording from area CA1 of anesthetized rats revealed that early phase LTP (E-LTP) was markedly impaired in the sedentary sleep deprived animals, but was normal in the exercised sleep deprived group. Additionally, immunoblot analysis of CA1 area before (basal) and after expression of E-LTP indicated that the significant down-regulation of the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and phosphorylated calcium-calmodulin dependent protein kinase II (P-CaMKII) levels in sleep deprived animals was prevented by the regular exercise regimen. The results suggest that the regular exercise protocol prevents the sleep deprivation induced impairments in short-term memory and E-LTP by preventing deleterious changes in the basal and post-stimulation levels of P-CaMKII and BDNF associated with sleep deprivation.

Zagaar M, Alhaider I, Dao A, Levine A, Alkarawi A, Alzubaidy M, Alkadhi K.

Neurobiol Dis. 2011 Dec 30.

Predictors of the Longevity Difference: A 25-Year Follow-Up

TLP — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:01:48 +0000

Twenty-two variables were found to be significant predictors of longevity among 252 panelists in a 25-year longitudinal study of aging. The strongest independent predictors for men were health self-rating, work satisfaction, and performance intelligence; for women they were health satisfaction, past enjoyment of intercourse, and physical function rating. These predictors could constitute a combined difference in longevity of 16 years for men and 23 years for women.

Erdman B. Palmore, PhD, Professor of Medical Sociology and Senior Fellow

Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Box 3003, Duke Medical Center Durham, NC 27710

Alcohol Has a Dose-Related Effect on Parasympathetic Nerve Activity During Sleep

TLP — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:24:17 +0000

Background:? The aim of this study was to identify the acute effects of ethanol on the relationship between sleep and heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep. Methods:? Ten healthy male university students were enrolled in this study. An alcoholic beverage was given to each subject at a dosage of 0 (control), 0.5 (low dose: LD), or 1.0?g (high dose: HD) of pure ethanol/kg of body weight. All experiments were performed at 3-week intervals. On the day of the experiment, a Holter electrocardiogram was attached to the subject for a 24-hour period, and the subject was instructed to drink the above-described dosage of alcoholic beverage 100?minutes before going to bed; polysomnography was then performed for 8?hours. Power spectral analysis of the HRV was performed using the maximum entropy method, and the low- (LF: 0.04 to 0.15?Hz) and high-frequency (HF: 0.15 to 0.4 Hz) components along with LF/HF ratio were calculated. Results:? As alcohol consumption increased, the heart rate increased and the spectral power of HRV measured at each frequency range decreased. Higher doses of ethanol also increased the LF/HF ratio compared with the measured ratio of the control group. Conclusions:? Acute ethanol intake inhibits parasympathetic nerve activity and results in predominance of sympathetic nerve activity during sleep, in a dosage-dependent manner. The results of this study suggest that ethanol interferes with the restorative functions of sleep.

Sagawa Y, Kondo H, Matsubuchi N, Takemura T, Kanayama H, Kaneko Y, Kanbayashi T, Hishikawa Y, Shimizu T.

From the Department of Neuropsychiatry (YS, NM, TT, HK, YK, TK, TS), Akita University, School of Medicine, Akita, Japan; Saiseikai Nagasaki Hospital (HK), Nagasaki, Japan; and Akita Kaiseikai Hospital (YH), Akita, Japan.

Neuronal Shc: A gene of longevity in the brain ?

TLP — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:33:45 +0000

Aging is inevitable to all multi-cellular organisms, and each organism has its own lifespan. The species-specific lifespan seems determined genetically; however little is known about how the lifespan determined. During the last decades accumulative evidence indicates that there is certainly a set of genes that are involved in the lifespan determination. Among those dozens of genes, the Shc gene encoding a phosphotyrosine signal adaptor is of potential interests in mammalian aging and/or longevity determination. Shc is merely one form of a gene family, and accumulative evidence demonstrates the presence of additional Shc homologues that are strongly expressed in the nervous system. We hypothesize that lifespan is regulated primarily by the nervous system and/or brain, and neurally expressed Shc homologues play pivotal roles in relation to the evolution of longevity with quality of life. We discuss herein the recent progress of our understanding of the neuronally expressed Shc genes in comparision with p66-Shc as a candidate for the evolution of long life with higher quality of life in mammals.

Mori N, Mori M.

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan.

Cognitive reserve and its implications for rehabilitation and Alzheimer’s disease

TLP — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:46:57 +0000

According to the Cognitive reserve hypothesis, several factors related to mental engagement, such as level of education, type of occupation, leisure activities and social network, appear to affect the risk of developing clinical dementia. The present article provides an overview of the studies that have investigated the effects of mental engagement and cognitive stimulation specifically on dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (AD). Mental training and cognitive stimulation interventions in AD have been shown to be useful in increasing patients’ ability in performing activities of daily living (ADL), allowing them to maintain relative independence. Since cognitive engagement and stimulation are known to modify the brain processes to perform tasks, by recruiting alternative and more efficient networks, this review is especially focused on cognitive rehabilitation in AD patients, which has been shown to improve their global functioning and cognition. This perspective stresses the idea that cognitive reserve is not a fixed factor, but can be continuously modified by life experiences, even when the brain is already affected by neuropathology.

Liberati G, Raffone A, Olivetti Belardinelli M.
Interuniversity Centre for Research on Cognitive Processing in Natural and Artificial Systems (ECONA), IT, Rome, Italy.

Focusing Attention on the Health Aspects of Foods Changes Value Signals in vmPFC and Improves Dietary Choice

TLP — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 10:54:23 +0000

Attention is thought to play a key role in the computation of stimulus values at the time of choice, which suggests that attention manipulations could be used to improve decision-making in domains where self-control lapses are pervasive. We used an fMRI food choice task with non-dieting human subjects to investigate whether exogenous cues that direct attention to the healthiness of foods could improve dietary choices. Behaviorally, we found that subjects made healthier choices in the presence of health cues. In parallel, stimulus value signals in ventromedial prefrontal cortex were more responsive to the healthiness of foods in the presence of health cues, and this effect was modulated by activity in regions of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that the neural mechanisms used in successful self-control can be activated by exogenous attention cues, and provide insights into the processes through which behavioral therapies and public policies could facilitate self-control.

Hare TA, Malmaud J, Rangel A.
Computation and Neural Systems and Humanities and Social Science Divisions, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125.

J Neurosci. 2011 Jul 27;31(30):11077-87.

Successful aging and longevity in older old women: the role of depression and cognition

TLP — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:27:11 +0000

Based in successful aging theory and terminal cognitive drop research, this paper investigates cerebrovascular burden (CVB), depressive symptoms, and cognitive decline as threats to longevity. A subsample of stroke-free women over the age of 80 was identified in the Health and Retirement Survey (years 2000-2008). Mortality at 2, 6, and 8 year intervals was predicted using CVB (diabetes, heart disease, hypertension), depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale), and cognitive decline (decline of 1 standard deviation or more on the 35-point Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status over 2 years). At most waves (2002, 2004, and 2006) mortality was predicted by CVB, depressive symptoms, and cognitive drop measured 2 years prior. CVB and depressive symptoms at the 2000 wave predicted mortality at 6 and 8 years. Older women with the greatest longevity had low CVB, robust cognitive functioning, and few depression symptoms, supporting successful aging theory and terminal cognitive drop.

J Aging Res. 2011;2011:912680. Epub 2011 Jul 9.

Paulson D, Bowen ME, Lichtenberg PA.

Department of Psychology and Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202-3801, USA.

Free PMC Article

Effect of 1 Week of Sleep Restriction on Testosterone Levels in Young Healthy Men

TLP — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:06:10 +0000

Chronic sleep curtailment is endemic in modern societies. The majority of the daily testosterone release in men occurs during sleep.
1 Sleep fragmentation and obstructive sleep apnea are associated with reduced testosterone levels.
2 In older men, morning testosterone levels are partly predicted by total sleep time.
3 Testosterone is critical in male sexual behavior and reproduction, but also has important beneficial effects on muscle mass and strength, adiposity, bone density, and vigor and well-being.
4 We investigated the effect of 1 week of sleep restriction on testosterone levels in young healthy men.

Leproult R, Van Cauter E.
JAMA. 2011 Jun 1;305(21):2173-4.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/21/2173

Happy guys finish last: The impact of emotion expressions on sexual attraction

TLP — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:41:17 +0000

This research examined the relative sexual attractiveness of individuals showing emotion expressions of happiness, pride, and shame compared with a neutral control. Across two studies using different images and samples ranging broadly in age (total N = 1041), a large gender difference emerged in the sexual attractiveness of happy displays: happiness was the most attractive female emotion expression, and one of the least attractive in males. In contrast, pride showed the reverse pattern; it was the most attractive male expression, and one of the least attractive in women. Shame displays were relatively attractive in both genders, and, among younger adult women viewers, male shame was more attractive than male happiness, and not substantially less than male pride. Effects were largely consistent with evolutionary and socio-cultural-norm accounts. Overall, this research provides the first evidence that distinct emotion expressions have divergent effects on sexual attractiveness, which vary by gender but largely hold across age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

Tracy JL, Beall AT.

Emotion. 2011 May 23.

Elsevier Science