Tag: ageing
Frailty screening: Doing good and avoiding harm
Ageing populations bring both opportunities and challenges for the economy, services and society. Screening for frailty aims to match the healthcare offered with a person’s needs, circumstances and capacity to benefit. Professors Mary McNally, Lynette Reid and William Lahey from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada, explore the legal and ethical implications of frailty screening to ensure concerns with both doing […]
How does age change sport performance? Master athletes have the answer
We all grow older, but the ageing process affects us differently. Many master, or veteran, athletes are examples of “successful ageing”. Their physical fitness is often recorded in sport performance records over a long period of time, making them ideal for studying the effects of ageing. Professor Emeritus Michael Stones, of Lakehead University, Ontario, Canada, used a statistical method called […]
The untold stories of age-related macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of vision loss worldwide. It goes without saying there is a need for early diagnosis of this devastating disease and to provide patients with effective treatment. Professor Christine Curcio from the University of Alabama at Birmingham has been working on exactly that. Professor Curcio and her team aim to reveal […]
RNA sequencing reveals secrets of skin aging
As we age, so does our skin. One of the factors that affects how quickly skin appears to age is exposure to UV light. Dr Jeong-Sun Seo of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Republic of Korea, is investigating how UV light affects skin aging at the genetic level. Using RNA sequencing data, Dr Seo and his team demonstrate that some […]
The biology of ageing
What causes ageing? Is it inevitable? Could it be slowed or even reversed? Humans have wanted to know the answer to these questions ever since we became aware of our own mortality. Despite the tremendous advances that have been made in our scientific understanding over the past century, ageing remains one of the greatest mysteries in biological science. But scientists, […]
Swimming against the stream: modern-day challenges to male reproductive health
The effects of a mother’s age, health and habits upon her offspring are well documented. However, far less attention has been paid to fathers. Dr Bernard Robaire, Professor at McGill University, Montréal, Canada, believes male reproductive health may be just as important for future generations as that of females, with a father’s age, health and exposure to chemicals all having […]