As we age, it is important to stay active, which means staying fit through regular exercise.

There are a host of benefits associated with exercise. Apart from aiding in our physical well-being, regular activity also purports to keep us sharp and mentally focused.

Leigh Anne Hall, a Morris Hospital wellness specialist, told The Joliet Herald News:

Healthy aging means you can still feel good and get around and do the things you love as you age. […] To do that, it’s important to stay healthy and exercise. The more active you are, the better you will feel.

David Jennings, a senior who lives in Schaumburg, Illinois, told the Chicago Tribune he swims, cycles, and does other activity throughout the week. He said:

I vowed to keep myself in good shape and eat healthy after a heart attack three years ago. Working out is the healthiest thing I can do. I do it for my wife and family.

Despite our best effort to remain active, bodies do become less cooperative with time. Aging bodies lose muscle tone and flexibility, and seniors also start noticing slower reflexes and weaker bones, among other physical challenges. Still, it’s important to respect these changes by modifying a workout routine to accommodate them.

Mary Shirmang, who started taking fitness classes at the Schaumburg Park District in 1988, shifted her workouts from land-based fitness classes about four years ago. She makes it a priority to take low-impact water aerobics four times each week.

“I never miss my aqua fitness classes,” she says. “If I didn’t take them, I would probably stiffen up like a board. The water aerobics keep me flexible and able to garden.”

The Centers for Disease Control says adults need a minimum of:

• Two hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., brisk walking) every week and muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).
• Or, one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., jogging or running) every week and muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week that work all major muscle groups.
• Or, an equivalent mix of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week that work all major muscle groups.

Regular workouts as part of a gym or class have an added benefit for seniors, says Hall:

It gives them a place to go and a place to belong. Sometimes after our classes, they go as a group and have coffee. They become friends. When someone’s been gone a couple of days, they call each other to see if everything’s OK… The social aspect of it is really important.

Images, both top and bottom, by woodleywonderworks, used under their Creative Commons license.

A strain of prehistoric bacteria recently discovered in the Siberian permafrost may help retard aging, according to Russian researchers.

The hardy bacteria known as Bacillius F was examined by researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences, then tested on mice. They claim the ancient bacteria, when injected into the mice, was able to slow aging by boosting the animals’ natural immunity as they matured.

Bacillius F is a resilient bacteria that is estimated to be about three million years behind in its evolutionary development compared to similar bacteria, according to the researchers. The factors they evaluated to make this determination included the proteins it contains. Organisms found in this region, including bacteria, reproduce at just five degrees Celsius.

“We just thought: since the bacteria were found in the permafrost where they were successfully preserved they will possibly have mechanisms of retaining viability,” stated Nadezhda Mironova, a senior research scientist at the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “This is what happened.”

Metabolism in the tested mice reportedly increased by 20 to 30% after they were treated. The researchers concluded that this bacterium may also reduce instances of age-related blindness.

According to an AFP report, “The Russian Academy of Sciences did not say how many mice were tested, adding more animals were needed for the experiments to be more reliable. The mice from a test group lived longer than those in a control group however, it said, calling the results ‘impressive.’”

This isn’t the first report linking Siberian-discovered bacterium with longevity.

Similar research, reported by some of the same researchers, published in Advances in Gerontology, explains why there is so much interest:

Relict microorganisms preserved in the permafrost of geological periods possess a unique resistance to unfavorable factors of the internal and external environment. Their metabolic, DNA repair, and growth capacities are still under discussion, but the very fact of their existence in permafrost during many thousands of years is evidence of their phenomenal viability.

Additional research by scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences related to anti-aging bacterium in mice was published in Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology in 2011. The particular bacterium strain studied was known as 3M.

Testing a strain of the permafrost bacteria on fruit flies resulted in various positive results, according to the researchers. After finding that the bacterium enhanced the longevity and immunity of mice and fruit flies, they conducted additional studies. They found treating the fruit flies with the bacteria increased the body weight and resistance to heat shock and ultraviolet irradiation of mature, adult fruit flies.

In 2009, The Daily Mail reported on “pre-historic Viagra,” a bacterium which they claimed increased “mental alertness, physical prowess and sexual activity, with females reportedly having babies into old age.”

Also uncovered in the Yakutia region of Siberia, this bacterium was found in an area in which researchers also recovered the remains of extinct mammoths.

It’s immediately unclear whether these projects are specifically interrelated, although the latter discovery was also reported by scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Image by denn (Denise Chan), used under its Creative Commons license.

A group of Boston University researchers believe they’ve found a way to determine if you will pass the century mark. What makes the claim truly interesting is the astounding accuracy they claim to have achieved. RedOrbit shares a bit about the test:

Their research, published in PLoS ONE, focused on identifying common genetic variations thought to be associated with healthy aging in over 800 centenarians and 914 healthy subjects of varying ages. The results pointed to some 281 different genetic markers which could be grouped in 26 different combinations or ‘genetic signatures.’

The presence of these signatures, the researchers say, could then be used to predict with 60 – 85 percent accuracy who would live to see the ripe old age 100.

The accurate identification of genetic markers tied to extreme longevity would be an amazing feat. What makes it even more fascinating is that the older the subject the more accurate the test’s predictions are.

The Boston U. research team has identified and analyzed 281 genetic varieties within the centenarian group. This could have massive repercussions for those studying age-related conditions and their treatments. The more we understand about the genetic underpinnings of age-related diseases, the better chance we have of developing functional treatments.

Not only that, but the insights gained by this research have the potential to contribute to other efforts. The approach of looking for groupings of genetic markers is one that, if proved accurate, is applicable to a wide variety of health care research.

In the meantime, healthy living is the key. Chances are that the test won’t be widely available until it has undergone a lot more industry scrutiny, so play it safe.

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Several newly released medical studies focused on macular degeneration may help aid in preventing the disease.

Macular degeneration is an eye condition that primarily affects the elderly that leads to severe vision impairment over time.

Because there is no specific treatment or therapeutic regimens for many cases of macular degeneration, these new research findings may be of interest to physicians and those suffering from the disease.

“Macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people over age 60,” notes WebMD. “It occurs when the small central portion of the retina, known as the macula, deteriorates. The retina is the light-sensing nerve tissue at the back of the eye. Because the disease develops as a person ages, it is often referred to as age-related macular degeneration.”

According to Monroe Benaim, a physician with Florida Eye Group, writing in The Palm Beach Post:

Many people over the age of 70 have some macular degeneration, and a family history of the condition increases your risk. People with certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, may also be more likely to develop macular degeneration. Smoking is also a risk factor.

Macular degeneration does not result in complete visual loss, note physicians, but it does contribute to severe vision loss.

Good nutrition is thought to provide protection from age-related macular degeneration by supporting eye health. Supplements including vitamins C, E, beta-carotene, zinc, and copper are thought to help “decrease the risk of vision loss in patients with intermediate to advanced dry age-related macular degeneration,” according to the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health’s Age-Related Eye Disease Study.

A diet that includes dark-green, leafy vegetables is also thought to help maintain macular health.

One study, conducted by Fordham University researchers recently published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine, finds that the antioxidants in grapes may help prevent age-related eye disease. Researchers compared mice on a grape-enriched diet with those that had a diet with added lutein —  a substance related to beta-carotene and vitamin A found in foods such as broccoli, kale, orange pepper, orange juice, and squash and linked to eye health — and those fed a normal diet, and found that “the grape-enriched diet protected against oxidative damage of the retina and prevented blindness in those mice consuming grapes. While lutein was also effective, grapes were found to offer significantly more protection.” What is absent from many of the media reports: The study was partially funded by the California Table Grape Commission.

Vitamin D has been added to the list by other researchers, who discovered supplementation might ensure that the eyes are getting a sufficient blood supply. This particular mice-based study, reported in The Telegraph, showed improved eye health within six weeks after adding vitamin D, but researchers note that more studies are needed before they can endorse this as a therapy for macular degeneration. They did state that their work “suggests that vitamin D could be useful in helping to prevent a range of age-related health problems, from deteriorating vision to heart health.”

New studies involving the use of stem cells to treat macular degeneration will soon be underway in the United States. The Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia is approved for a clinical trial involving transplanting cells into patients with the dry form of age-related macular degeneration.

Obviously, one factor spurring research into the disease is money. Advanced Cell Technology, which is participating in the stem cell trials, estimates:

As many as 30 million people in the United States and Europe suffer from macular degeneration, which represents a $25-30 billion worldwide market that has yet to be effectively addressed.

If you have any of the varied risk factors for macular degeneration, discuss these with your eye doctor or physician during regular checkups. You should also discuss with your health care provider(s) any changes in diet or supplementation you might be considering to determine whether these might be effective for you. Many multivitamin formulations, for example, contain Vitamin D and/or lutein. Adding vitamins or supplements may interfere with existing medications or supplements you are currently taking.

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In the United States, the number of knee replacement surgeries is skyrocketing while the average age of those receiving them is plummeting. In particular, more and more baby boomers in their early 50s are getting them.

These two factors — a growing number of surgeries and the lowering of the age of the recipients — are problematic because, until now, prior testing of knee replacements was only done on those in their 60s, 70s, or 80s. In most of these cases, the “shelf life” of the replacements was not as important a concern (it averages out to roughly 15 years, by the way).

If a patient is younger — say, in his or her 50s — or has a more physically active lifestyle, that decade-and-a-half span can prove too short. Caitlin Bronson, a writer for Boomer Health and Lifestyle, brings us an expert opinion on the subject:

‘Patients with osteoarthritis knees now demand more in terms of what they can do, and in order to achieve that — to keep on playing sport, for example — they not unreasonably demand earlier surgical intervention,’ said Alan Silman of Arthritis Research UK. ‘However, in patients who continue to expose their new joints to demanding activities, we need to investigate if the new joint is more likely to fail early.’

According to data Bronson presents in her article, knee replacement surgery has now pulled ahead of hip replacements, formerly the most common type of procedure.

Travis Hill, who writes for Daily RX, notes the increase in these procedures, and provides a wealth of pertinent data on the subject:

For some patients, joint replacement surgery may be the only way to improve their quality of life. In 2009, more than 600,000 total knee replacements were performed in the United States. By 2030, that number is expected to grow to 3.48 million.

Knee replacements may be more likely to fail in younger patients, meaning these patients may have to undergo a second replacement surgery.

For this reason, it is important to understand the effects of knee replacement on people under the age of 60.

Hill’s post is a long one, but highly informative. He addresses the findings of the recent Finnish study, published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism, and summarizes them in an easily accessible fashion. To give you an idea of why you should give it a read, consider that the study’s findings show a 130-fold increase in the rates of total knee replacement surgery among Finnish arthritis patients under age 60.

Image by scheermed, used under its Creative Commons license.