How Physical Exercise Affects Your Brain

Have you ever wondered how exercise impacts your brain?

I have, and I’m here to tell you that there are more benefits to working out than just getting leaner. In fact, exercise can help build better brains!

Many studies have been conducted on the relationship between physical exercise and brain health. Healthy, rigorous exercise has been shown to help maintain, and even improve brain structure and functionality. Exercise impacts our health through multiple levels of mechanism, and different factors such as age, gender, and health situation may affect the effects of exercise in our bodies. Let’s dive in and take a look at how exercise impacts our brains at different periods of life!

We know that physical activity helps improve our cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular health, bring down our fat stores, and reduce inflammation in our tissues and organs. Exercise has also been shown to have beneficial effects on cognitive functions, as it improves blood circulation and thus brings down your risk of high blood pressure, which may interfere with cranial functions.(1) Exercise may also work as an antidepressant for some; but acute and heavy periods of exercise may do more harm than good.
Endurance and resistance exercises, such as running and weight lifting, may increase circulating growth factors and neurotrophins, both of which aid brain development and maintenance. These same factors can affect neuroplasticity in both children and adults.(1) Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of our brains to learn new things and adapt to new situations.(4)

The strongest and clearest evidence for the correlation between better brain health and exercise comes from studies on animals, young children, and older adults. One study done with school-aged children discovered that evidence points toward positive cognitive results in children when they take part in sports or other physical activities. Not only did time spent doing exercise not result in lowered academic performances, but some of the most active children have actually out-preferred other, less-active children (the control group).(2) After such a study, it was found that the white matter microstructure in children who had participated in rigorous exercise were increased, while white matter in the brain of the children in the control group did not show any growth. Findings following this study suggested that physical activity may lead to stronger, and more agile cognitive functions due to a healthier brain.(2)

In adolescents, studies have shown that the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) of young adults was significantly higher in active adolescents compared to sedentary young people. BDNF is an essential neurotrophin that is directly related to cognition and neuroplasticity, and works to strengthen neural connectivity. BDNF also helps regulate metabolic functions, and assists in cardiovascular processes.(5) More studies and research must be done to understand exactly what relationships BDNF has with the brain and physical movement; but we do know that it is part of how our bodies keep a healthy brain, and that it increases with physical activity. Since young people’s minds are especially plastic, physical exercise can go a long way to improving adolescents’ academic performance, brain health, and overall life.

The human brain tends to lose tissue from the third decade of life and onward.(3) With this tissue loss, cognitive performance also declines. Previous scientific reviews have shown that aerobic exercise can help reduce tissue loss in the brain in adults and older people. Evidence suggests that physical activity, especially aerobic exercises such as running and jumping, can help protect cognitive function and memory.(3) This can be particularly helpful for the elderly and Alzheimer’s patients. Strength training may provide positive benefits as well, and can reduce risks of Alzheimer’s diseases and other brain-related issues.

There has also been studies that show how physical activity can impact neuroplasticity. A particular study(4) suggests that physical activity can undo some of the neurodegenerative effects of Parkinson’s disease through the changes in the brain made possible by exercise-induced neuroplasticity. Basically, regular aerobic exercise increases the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps in the development and upkeep of the brain. Though more research is needed, there are promising studies that point toward the ability of physical exercise to improve and, in some situations, to heal the brain.

In summary, exercise can help keep your brain healthy, and even improve your ability to learn new things, remember them, and use what you know. It doesn’t matter whether you are a grandparent, a businessman, or a young teenager! Physical exercise can help you stay fit and strong, have a healthy brain, and ultimately, help you live a better, healthier, and more productive life.

Here are some action points for you to take away.

Make sure to do at least 15 minutes of exercise every day. If possible, focus on movements that would raise your heart beat and make you sweat. Doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) sessions of 20 minutes each, three times a week, may be a great way to get some aerobic exercises into your normal routine.

Keep hydrated, and relax as much as possible. Stress, dehydration, and worry tends to negatively affect your thinking processes, so focus on doing something healthy and productive, and think happy, thankful thoughts!

Last but not least, spread the word! Tell your friend about how exercise can help our brains become more agile and strong, and invite them to exercise with you.

Here’s to building a wonderful, healthy brain!

References
(1) Di Liegro, C. M., Schiera, G., Proia, P., & Di Liegro, I. (2019). “Physical Activity and Brain Health.” Genes, 10(9), 720. dio: 10.3390/genes10090720
(2) Chaddock-Heyman, L., Erickson, K.I., Kienzler, C., Drollette, E.S., Raine, L.B., Kao, S-C., Bensken, J., Weisshappel, R., Castelli, D.M., Hillman, C.H. and Kramer, A.F. (2018). “Physical Activity Increases White Matter Microstructure in Children.” Frontiers in Neuroscience, 12, 950. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00950
(3) Ebrahimi, K., Jourkesh, M., Sadigh-Eteghad, S., Stannard, S. R., Earnest, C. P., Ramsbottom, R., Antonio, J., & Navin, K. H. (2020). “Effects of Physical Activity on Brain Energy Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Diseases.” Diseases, 8(2), 18. doi: 10.3390/diseases8020018
(4) Johansson, H., Hagströmer, M., Grooten, W.J.A., & Franzén, E. (2020). “Exercise-Induced Neuroplasticity in Parkinson’s Disease: A Metasynthesis of the Literature”, Neural Plasticity, 2020. doi: 10.1155/2020/8961493
(5) Azevedo, K. P. M. de, de Oliveira, V. H., Medeiros, G. C. B. S. de, Mata, Á. N. de S., García, D. Á., Martínez, D. G., Leitão, J. C., Knackfuss, M. I., & Piuvezam, G. (2020). “The Effects of Exercise on BDNF Levels in Adolescents: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(17), 6056. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17176056

New Shipping Method for Life Code Orders

For over 10 years Life Code used USPS Priority Mail for most of our shipping. It worked great with detailed tracking and most orders were delivered within 3 business days in the US. During the last few months USPS has become very slow with limited tracking. Some people who used to receive their order within 3 days had to wait 2-3 weeks. In addition the limited tracking made it difficult to estimate when it would be delivered.

As a result we have switched to FedEx which is much faster, more reliable and includes detailed tracking. For people that use a PO box for their shipping address FedEx has SmartPost where they ship to a regional location and then transfer it to the Post Office for final delivery. It is not as fast, but still better than USPS Priority Mail. The cost for FedEx or SmartPost is the same $6.95 as we previously charged for USPS Priority Mail.

Click below to Visit the Life Code store

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Consuming Unhealthy Foods can Diminish Positive Effects of Healthy Diet

It is well known that consuming a healthy diet such as the Mediterranean diet produces a positive impact on health. However, little is currently known about the possible effects of also consuming unhealthy foods along with an otherwise healthy diet. Researchers at the Rush University Medical Center have shown there are diminished benefits of consuming a healthy diet with those who also consume unhealthy foods fairly often.

When a healthy diet that includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fish, similar to the Mediterranean diet, is combined with sweets, fried foods, red meat from grain fed animals, and refined grains, benefits will diminish.

The team that conducted the observational study utilized 5,001 older adults who lived in Chicago and were also part of the Chicago Health and Aging Project (a cognitive health evaluation in adults over the age of 65 which was conducted from 1993 to 2012). The study participants were asked to complete a cognitive assessment questionnaire every three years. The questionnaire tested basic information for memory and processing skills. The participants were also asked to fill out a questionnaire in regards to the frequency with which they ate 144 food items.

The team then analyzed how close each of the participants followed a Mediterranean diet which included the daily consumption of vegetables, fruit, olive oil, legumes, potatoes, fish and unrefined cereals and also a moderate consumption of wine. The team additionally assessed how much the participants followed a Western type diet which included refined grains, fried foods, red and processed meats, sweets, pizza, and whole fat dairy products. Scores of zero to five were assigned for each food item in order to compile a total Mediterranean diet score for every participants along a range of zero to 55.

The team examined the association between the Mediterranean diet scores and changes that occurred in participants global cognitive function, perceptual speed, and episodic memory. Participants who showed slower cognitive decline through the years of follow-up were ones who had adhered closest to the Mediterranean diet and also limited foods that are typical with a Western diet. The participants who consumed more of the Western diet showed no beneficial effect of healthy food items in slowing down cognitive decline.

The team noted that there wasn’t any significant interaction between sex, age, education, or race and the association to cognitive decline in either low or high levels of the Western diet foods. Also included were models for body mass index, smoking status, and a variety of potential variables such as cardiovascular diseases, and findings remained the same.

Western diets can adversely affect cognitive health. Participants who showed a high Mediterranean diet score when compared to participants who had the lowest score, were equal to being 5.8 years younger in cognitive age.

The more often people can include berries, green leafy vegetables and other vegetables, fish and olive oil into their diets, the better it will be for aging bodies and brains. A variety of studies have shown that fried foods, red and processed meats, and lower whole grain consumption are linked to faster cognitive decline in aging adults and higher inflammation. In order to benefit from healthy diets such as the Mediterranean diet, people need to limit their consumption of other unhealthy and processed foods.

To view the original scientific study click below

Unhealthy foods may attenuate the beneficial relation of a Mediterranean diet to cognitive decline.

Interview with Bryant Villeponteau Ph.D. the Formulator of Stem Cell 100

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_D-Z_PyDb0&feature=youtu.be

Dr Bryant Villeponteau the formulator of Stem Cell 100 and other Life Code nutraceuticals was recently interviewed. Dr. Villeponteau is also the author of Decoding Longevity. He is a leading researcher in novel anti-aging therapies involving stem cells an area in which he has been a pioneer for over three decades.

Stem cell technology could have a dramatic influence on our ability to live longer and replace some of our failing parts, which is the inevitable result of the aging process. With an interest in aging and longevity, Dr. Villeponteau started out by studying developmental biology. If we could understand development, we could understand aging, he says. Later, his interest turned more toward the gene regulation aspects. While working as a professor at the University of Michigan at the Institute of Gerontology, he received, and accepted, a job offer from Geron Corporation a Bay Area startup, in the early 90s.

They were working on telomerase, which I was pretty excited about at the time. I joined them when they first started, he says. We had an all-out engagement there to clone human telomerase. It had been cloned in other animals but not in humans or mammals.

If you were to unravel the tip of the chromosome, a telomere is about 15,000 bases long at the moment of conception in the womb. Immediately after conception, your cells begin to divide, and your telomeres begin to shorten each time the cell divides. Once your telomeres have been reduced to about 5,000 bases, you essentially die of old age.

What you have to know about telomerase is that it’s only on in embryonic cells. In adult cells, it’s totally, for the most part, turned off, with the exception of adult stem cells, Dr. Villeponteau explains. Adult stem cells have some telomerase not full and not like the embryonic stem cells, but they do have some telomerase activity.

Most of the research currently being done, both in academia and industrial labs, revolves around either embryonic stem cells, or a second type called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). Dr. Villeponteau, on the other hand, believes adult stem cells are the easiest and most efficient way to achieve results.

That said, adult stem cells do have their drawbacks. While they’re your own cells, which eliminates the problem of immune-related issues, there’s just not enough of them. Especially as you get older, there are fewer and fewer adult stem cells, and they tend to become increasingly dysfunctional too. Yet another hurdle is that they don’t form the tissues that they need to form…

To solve such issues, Dr. Villeponteau has created a company with the technology and expertise to amplify your adult stem cells a million-fold or more, while still maintaining their ability to differentiate all the different cell types, and without causing the cells to age. Again, it is the adult stem cells ability to potentially cure, or at least ameliorate, many of our age-related diseases by regenerating tissue that makes this field so exciting.

Dr Villeponteau believes you can add many years, likely decades, to your life simply by eating right, exercising (which promotes the production of muscle stem cells, by the way) and living an otherwise clean and healthy lifestyle. Extreme life extension, on the other hand, is a different matter.

His book, Decoding Longevity, covers preventive strategies to prolong your life, mainly diet, exercise, and supplements. A portion of the book also covers future developments in the area of more radical life extension, such as stem cell technology.

If you would like to read the entire interview here is a link to the text version:

Click here for more information about Stem Cell 100

Transcript of Interview With Dr. Bryant Villeponteau

Three Pillars of Mental Health

A University of Otago, New Zealand, study has found that three pillars of health which are exercising, quality of sleep and eating raw vegetables and fruit, promotes better health mentally and overall well-being feeling in younger adults. And the research found that the strongest predictor was better quality of sleep than sleep quantity.

The study was a survey of more than 1,100 young adults that were from the United States and New Zealand about their physical activity, diet, sleep and mental health. The research found that the quality of sleep rather than the quantity of sleep was the largest predictor of well-being and mental health.

This was surprising to the team because the recommendations of sleep usually pertain to quantity instead of quality. And while the team found that both not enough sleep (8 hours or less) and sleeping too much (12 hours or more) were linked to symptoms of higher depression and less well-being, the quality of sleep significantly outranked quantity in predicting well-being and mental health.

The findings suggest that sleep quality should be promoted along with sleep quantity of tools for helping young adults improve their mental health and well-being. Young adults that slept over nine hours every night were the least affected with depressive symptoms and feelings of well-being were increased for those who slept at least 8 hours each night.

In addition to quality of sleep, exercising and consuming raw vegetables and fruits (in that order), were three modifiable behaviors which correlated to increased mental health and well-being in young people. A well-being feeling was the highest for young adults who consumed 4.8 servings of raw vegetables and fruit per day. Those who consumed less than two servings per day and more than 8 servings per day, reported lesser feelings of well-being.

All three pillars, sleep, physical activity and a good diet, could contribute to promoting optimal well-being among young adults. This is a population where the prevalence of mental disorders is high and well-being is unfortunately suboptimal.

The team did not manipulate sleep, activity or diet in the testing of their changes on mental health and well-being. Other research has already done that and has found good results. The current research suggests that a allover health intervention which prioritizes quality sleep, exercise and a diet including raw fruits and vegetables together, could be the next logical step in this research. The team’s study showed that they are all important for predicting which young adults are flourishing versus suffering.

To view the original scientific study click below

The Big Three Health Behaviors and Mental Health and Well-Being Among Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Investigation of Sleep, Exercise, and Diet.

Plastics Threaten Human Health

Plastics can have and impart to a human a variety of dangerous chemicals including endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that pose a threat to human health. A new report has reported the dangerous health effects of contamination that is widespread from the EDCs in plastics.

The report from the Endocrine Society and the Int’l Pollutants Elimination Network has shown that EDCs such as chemicals that will disturb the body’s hormonal systems and may lead to diabetes, cancer, reproduction problems and also neurological problems of fetuses and also children. This report entails a preponderance of evidence that supports links between chemical toxic additives in plastics and certain negative impacts of health to the endocrine system.

Estimates that are conservative at this time point to more than 1,000 chemicals that are manufactured are being used today which are EDCs. Known EDCs that come from plastics and that are dangerous to a humans health such as bisphenol A and other chemicals, phthalates, flame retardants, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, UV stabilizers, dioxins, and metals that are toxic such as cadmium and lead.

Plastics which contain EDCs are used extensively in construction, packaging and production of food, flooring, children’s toys, cookware, furniture, health care, home electronics, cosmetics, automobiles and textiles.

Some findings in the report are:
144 chemicals or groups that can be detrimental to health which are actively put in plastics use enablers that vary from flame retardants, UV-stabilizers, antimicrobial activity to colorants, plasticizers and solvents.

The exposure of EDC is a problem all over the world. Testing of samples from humans show consistency of problems in nearly almost all people who may have EDCs in their body

Bioplastics/biodegradable plastics which are promoted as more ecological than plastics, contain similar chemical additives as do conventional plastics and also have endocrine disrupting effects.

Microplastics have chemical additions which have ability to come from the microplastic and everyone is exposed. They also can accumulate and bind chemicals that are toxic from the environment such as sediment and seawater, which function as carriers for compounds that are toxic.

Exposure can happen during the entire life span of plastic products – from the manufacturing process to consumer contact, water management and disposal, and recycling.

A large amount of plastics that are used every day inside our homes/work expose us to harmful contaniments of EDC’s. Actions are needed globally to keep human health protected and the threat to the environment.

The need for effective public policy to protect human health from EDCs in plastics is even more urgent given the current amounts of plastic production which are projected to increase roughly by 30-36% within the next 6 years. This projection will greatly promote EDC exposure and increase worldwide rates of endocrine diseases. EDCs in plastics are a health issue internationally that is acutely felt in the south worldwide where plastic waste that is toxic ships from more wealthy countries comprise communities. Furthermore, endocrine disrupting chemical exposure is not only a global problem, but it poses a serious threat to future generations. Animal research as shown that DNA modifications from EDCs can have repercussions across generations.

To view the original scientific study click below

Plastics, EDCs & Health: Authoritative Guide.

Heart Health and How Fast a Person Climbs Stairs

According to new research at University Hospital A Coruna Spain, the time required to climb four flights of stairs provides an excellent indicator of heart health. Cardiologists use climbing stairs in a physical exam for that purpose.

The study team set out to examine the relationship between a daily activity, in this case climbing stairs, and the results obtained from exercise tests in a lab. Their idea was to find an inexpensive and simple way to assess heart health which can help physicians triage patients for additional, more extensive exams.

The study had 165 symptomatic patients referred to it for exercise tests due to suspected or unknown coronary artery disease. Some of the symptoms were shortness of breath during exercise or chest pain.

Participants were asked to run or walk on a treadmill, gradually increasing the intensity and continuing until they were exhausted. Exercise capacity was measured as METs (metabolic equivalents). Following a resting period of 15 to 20 minutes, the participants were asked to climb four flight of stairs (60 stairs) at a fast pace and without stopping or running, and their time was recorded.

The team analyzed the relationship between METs achieved during exercise tests and the time it took to climb four flights of stairs. The people who went up a set of stairs in less than 45 seconds achieved more than 9-10 METs. Earlier studies have shown that 10 METs during an exercise tests correlates to a low mortality rate (1% or less per year or 10% in 10 years). In contrast, people who took over 1.5 minutes to climb the stairs had less than 8 METs which correlates to a mortality rate of 2-4% per year or 30% in 10 years.

During the treadmill tests, the team also generated images of the heart to assess its function during exercise. If the heart is working normally during exercise this would indicate a low likelihood of coronary artery disease.

The team then compared these findings to the results of the stair climbing. 58% of participants who completed the stair climb in more than 1.5 minutes displayed abnormally functioning of the heart during the treadmill exam. In contrast, just 32% of the participants who climbed the stairs in less than one minute had abnormal heart function during the treadmill exam.

Almost 1 in 3 of the study participants who climbed the stairs quickly still showed abnormal heart function which is a possible marker for coronary heart disease. This fact shows why the stair climbing test shouldn’t be used for more comprehensive evaluations. Based on this study, the ability to climb stairs can be used as a crude method to assess one’s physical function that could be predictive of overall heart health.

Stair climbing is often used to assess heart health because it is an exercise that gets a person’s heart rate up relatively quickly. Typically, if a person has an issue with a blocked heart artery, they tend to get symptoms like shortness of breath and chest pain at higher heart rates. Physicians will often use a person’s ability to climb a flight or two of stairs without an issue as a sign that they should probably do okay during surgery.

Stair climbing does have its limitations however. The biggest advantage to this method is its ease. It can be done almost anywhere with very little requirements of personnel or equipment. It is faster and cheaper to do than traditional stress tests and it can be repeated multiple times to track any changes or progress in functional ability.

However, the test is not standardized. The kind of stairs how fast the climbing of stairs is, and the time of effort can differ. And this method significantly limits evaluations of patients with limited mobility and elderly patients who can have more mechanical difficulty with climbing stairs.

The team also note that the correlation between the stair climbing time and exercise capacity (METs) would be similar in the general population. The corresponding mortality rates and heart function through imaging would be more favorable than for patients with symptoms and confirmed or suspected coronary heart disease.

To view the original scientific study click below

Test your heart health by climbing stairs.

Gut Microbes and Good Sleep

It is well known that intestinal health has a close link with healthy functioning of the brain. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba in Japan are now suggesting that normal sleep patterns may be influenced by gut bacteria through the ability to help create important chemical messengers in the brain such as dopamine and serotonin.

The team’s findings could offer new hope for those who have difficulty sleeping or experience a variety of sleep related health problems such as chronic fatigue, insomnia, and mental fog. They found that depletion of microbes eliminates serotonin in the gut and brain levels of serotonin can affect a person’s sleep/wake cycle. Therefore, changing which microbes in the gut from altering a persons diet can help those who have sleep problems

For the experiment, the team divided 25 genetically identical 8 week old male mice into 2 groups. The mice in the experimental group were given access to water along with 4 commonly used broad spectrum antibiotics. The other group was given water without antibiotics.

After the 4 week trial period, they compared the contents of the intestine between the two groups of mice. Digestion of food breaks it down into pieces and bits called metabolites.

They found a high amount of differences between metabolites in the mice that were microbiota depleted and the group that had been controlled. They found a difference of 200 or more in the metabolyte between the 2 groups. Almost 60 of metabolites that are normal were gone in the mice that had depleted microbiota with the others differing in the amount, with some that had more and some that had less in the group that was controlled.

They then went on to see how these metabolites would normally act. Using enrichment analysis of the metabolome they discovered that the pathways that were biological affected by the treatment of the antibiotics were those involved in neurotransmitter which are the molecules that brain cells use in communicating.

The results of the experiment indicated that the antibiotic treatment group totally closed down the pathway of tryptophan andserotonin. The mice that were microbiota depleted had higher levels of tryptophan than the control mice but almost no serotonin. It therefore, seemed that the gut microbes are a critical factor to the process that produces serotonin from tryptophan in foods. They had found that the mice were deficient in Vit. B6 metabolites accelerating production of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.

They analyzed the mice when sleeping by looking at the activity of the brain EEGs. They found that compared to the control mice, the mice that were microbiota depleted had more REM and non-REM sleep in the night when mice would be active. The mice that were depleted microbiota also had lesser amounts of non-REM sleep during the day, most of which mice will normally spend sleeping. In other words, this group of mice switched between sleep/wake cycles more frequently than the control group.

The team speculated that the sleep abnormalities were from the lack of serotonin. However, the mechanism that does this still needs to be discovered. They found that the microbe depletion eliminated serotonin in the gut and it is known that that brain serotonin levels can affect sleep/wake cycles.

Future studies using controlled feeding and the administration of certain microbes to determine the gut microbiota would allow researchers to assess each microorganisms individual impact on the sleep/wake cycle. Some research has shown that prebiotics which are nutrients that help support healthy intestinal microbiota, help improve the quality of sleep in humans.

To view the original scientific study click below

Gut microbiota depletion by chronic antibiotic treatment alters the sleep/wake architecture and sleep EEG power spectra in mice.

Is Weight Loss Harder as People Age?

A new study from the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, has shown that your age is not a barrier to successful weight loss. People who are obese aged 60 and over can lose an the dame amount of weight as someone younger using only changes in their lifestyle.

The research team hopes that what they have found will help dispel societal misconceptions that prevail in regards of effectiveness of programs for weight loss in people that are older. They also hope to dispel myths in regards to older people potential benefits from working at reducing their weight.

The team’s findings are based on their findings after analyses of records from patients at a hospital based obesity service. The team randomly chose 242 patients that were present at the obesity service from 2005-2016 and two groups were compared. One group was under 60 years of age and the other was people from 60 years of age and 78 years of age. They compared the weight they lost of both groups achieved during the time in the service.

All participants measured their body weight before and again after a variety of lifestyle interventions were coordinated and administered in the obesity serve. The reduction by percentage in body weight across both groups was also calculated.

When the two groups were compared, the team found they were statistically equivalent with the age group under 60 showing an average weight loss by 7.3% compared with a reduction in weight loss of 69% in the group 60 and over. These groups also spent similar amounts of time with the service – averaging 33.6 months in the group over 60 and 41.5 months for those under 60 years of age.

The hospital based service employed only lifestyle based changes which were tailored to each individual. These changes focused on psychological support, dietary changes, and encouragement to engage in physical activity. Most of the people had been referred to the service were obese with BMIs usually over 40Kgm-2.

Over 50 co-morbidities of obesity can be reduced when someone loses weight and includes osteoarthritis, anxiety anddepression and diabetes. Obesity is also linked to poor well being and increased mortality.

Losing weight is important at every age, however as we age we are likely developing some of the co-morbidity weight related to obesity. A lot of these conditions mirror the effects of aging so it does seem relevant that losing weight becomes much more important as we age.

There is a variety of reasons why weight loss in older people is discounted. One of these is what is known as an “ageist” perspective which says that losing weight is not as important or as relevant to older people and the ability of older people to lose weight through increased exercise and dietary modifications.

Older people often feel that hospital-based obesity services are not for them. Policymakers and service providers should appreciate how important weight loss in older people with obesity is. Weight loss in this age group can help with maintenance of well being and health and also with the facilitation of healthy aging. Age should not contribute to clinical decisions in regards to the implementation of lifestyle management with the older population.

The team through their study, has shown that age should not be a barrier to lifestyle changes and management of obesity. Rather than putting up barriers to older people who want to access weight loss programs, clinicians should be proactively facilitating the process. To not do so certainly risks further and unnecessary neglect of older people through societal ageist misconceptions.

To view the original scientific study click below

Older age does not influence the success of weight loss through the implementation of lifestyle modification.

Drinking Linked to Decline in Health of Brain

Evidence for the harmful effects of alcohol on brain health has been compelling. And now researchers in the UK and Australia have shown evidence suggesting three periods of dynamic changes in the brain that could be particularly sensitive to the harmful effects of alcohol – gestation (conception to birth), later adolescence (15 to 19 years of age) and older adulthood (over 65 years).

The team warns that these three key periods could increase sensitivity to the effects of environmental exposures such as alcohol and harm prevention policies should take the long view.

Worldwide, around 10% of pregnant women drink alcohol with the rates considerably higher in European countries. Heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, cognitive impairment, and is associated with widespread reductions in brain volume. Data also suggests that even low to moderate consumption during pregnancy is significantly linked to poorer psychological and behavioral outcomes in offspring.

In regards to the adolescent years, more than 20% of 15 to 19 year olds in European and other high income countries report at least occasional binge drinking which is defined as 60g of ethanol on a single occasion.

Studies have shown that the transition to binge drinking in adolescence is linked to reduce brain volume, small to moderate deficits in a range of cognitive functions, and poorer white matter development which is critical to efficient brain functioning.

In older people, alcohol disorders are relatively rare in older adults, however even moderate drinking has been shown to be associated to a small but significant loss of brain volume in midlife. Further studies are needed however, to test whether these structural changes translate into functional impairment.

Additionally, demographic trends could compound the effect of alcohol consumption on brain health. As an example, women are now just as likely as men to consume alcohol and experience alcohol related harms.

It is forecast that global consumption of alcohol will rise further in the next decade. The effects of alcohol use and related harms during the COVID-19 pandemic are unclear, however alcohol use increased in the long term after other major public health crises.

The team suggests that population based interventions such as guidelines on low risk drinking, lower drink driving limits, and alcohol pricing policies need to be accompanied by the development of care and training pathways that take into account the human brain at risk throughout life.

To view the original scientific study click below

Lifetime perspective on alcohol and brain health.

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