Volunteer if you want to live more
People who volunteer report having lower levels of depression and higher levels of well-being than average, while some research suggests it promotes a longer and healthier life. A review of 40 academic papers on the subject by University of Exeter researchers found that volunteers are a fifth less likely to die within the next four to seven years than average.
Across the studies volunteers had lower self-rated levels of depression and higher levels of well-being and life satisfaction, although this has not been confirmed in trials. It is thought that volunteering can be good for the physical health of older people in particular, by encouraging them to stay active and spend more time out of the house.
Gene cure for heart attack damage
Scarred heart tissue can be transformed into beating cells using a cocktail of five genes. Heart attacks cause cells in the affected area to stop beating and become encased in scar tissue, but researchers believe the damage may not be permanent. Using a combination of genes they were able to coax the scar-forming cells into a state which closely resembles healthy, beating heart cells, suggesting the condition is reversible. The scientists, from the Gladstone Institutes in America, had already demonstrated their technique on mice but have taken a step further by doing the same to human heart cells in a laboratory.
The study is a “proof of concept” that the scar-forming cells, known as fibroblasts, “can be reprogrammed successfully into beating heart cells,” and mend the heart from within, they said.
Red meat can raise Alzheimer’s threat
Eating too much red meat could raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by increasing levels of iron in the brain. A study of Alzheimer’s patients found that iron had begun to accumulate in part of the brain which is generally damaged in the early stages of the disease, but not in a region which tends to be affected much later. Comparing the results against a separate set of brain scans, they also found that iron levels were linked to tissue damage in Alzheimer’s patients but not in healthy older people.
Although the study did not prove that iron responsible for causing the disease, researchers said the results suggest it “may indeed contribute to the cause”. lowering the amount of red meat and iron dietary supplements we consume can reduce the amount of iron which builds up in the brain.