Lifespan

Provocative study suggests blood tests can predict a person's risk of dying within the next 10 years.

Researchers at the University of Michigan may have found a way to slow aging – in worms at least. The team has identified a molecule in neurons that, when blocked, improves motor function in older worms and increases their lifespan and general health. Similar pathways might be at work in humans too.

Scientists have discovered that a common antibiotic seems to help prevent the protein build-up associated with neurodegenerative diseases. The researchers found that roundworms treated with the drug minocycline had less protein aggregation in their cells and subsequently lived longer.

Research has found that a novel drug cocktail almost doubled the lifespan of a microscopic worm, the largest drug-induced lifespan extension in an animal ever reported. The study suggests that pharmacological intervention to help us live longer could be a realistic proposition.

Research is suggesting diets both low and high in carbohydrates can be associated with a higher risk of early mortality. It's suggested moderate consumption of carbs is the ideal long-term proposition but low-carb diets can be improved if proteins & fats are coming from plant and not animal sources.

A team has successfully developed a combination of herbal supplements and probiotics that can prolong the longevity of fruit flies by 60 percent. The technique is one of the first to successfully show a treatment that modulates the gut microbiome can result in potent lifespan-extending effects.

Studies have shown that caloric restriction can drastically increase the lifespan of a range of animals. On the path to determining whether humans could benefit from the same lifestyle, a 10-year study on lemurs has now found that animals on the diet lived almost 50 percent longer than usual.

C. elegans is a pretty unassuming worm, but its simplicity makes it a great model to study biological processes. Researchers at the University of Michigan have now uncovered how the worm’s brain and gut communicate with each other to coordinate aging throughout the body.

Rather than focusing on a longer lifespan, it’s a better to improve our “healthspan,” the time we can enjoy good health. A new study from Brown University has linked the protein Sirt4 with an extended healthy lifespan in fruit flies, and the find may carry across to humans.

The human body obviously has biological limits, with a review of 120 years of historical records now suggesting they may have already been reached in terms of life expectancy, height and sporting performance – and if we aren't careful they could start going backwards.

A study looking at genetic correlations among people with long-living parents has more than tripled the number of genetic variants associated with a longer lifespan and unexpectedly revealed potential gender-specific genetic pathways to a longer life.

A new study has found that many genes identified as potentially responsible for intelligence, could overlap with a range of conditions from increased lifespan to some autoimmune disorders.