We are living longer with an increase in human lifespan of 2.5 years per decade. Scientists are now focused on achieving healthspans, where we live disease free, which can match our longer lives.
This piece for Drivetime on RTE Radio 1, broadcast on 21st June, features interviews with three leading scientists working on different ways to solve the ageing ‘problem’; Luke O’Neill, TCD, Fergal O’Brien, RCSI, and Emma Teeling UCD.
Many of us have long suspected that good-looking people get away with more, now scientists in China have confirmed that in a study of several hundred men using brain scanning techniques.
Why is it that some people seem ‘old’ at 50, while others look relatively youthful into retirement? The answer might lie in how well our body protects our DNA, according to a New Zealand study.
Cystic Fibrosis is a deadly genetic disease which affects lung functioning, and is more common in Ireland per head of population than anywhere in the world. A new drug, called Orkambi, is showing ‘great improvements’ in lung function, and quality of life in recent trials according to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland.
Got an anxious parent, or two? Then you are more likely to be anxious or depressed yourself, compared to the rest of the population, according to new research which says 35% of anxiety is hereditary.
Click below to hear a discussion about the above topics on The Morning Show with Declan Meehan
This was first broadcast on East Coast FM on 9th July 2015
The news that excessive running, according to a large Danish study, is bad for people, and can even kill them will no doubt be greeted with gleeful delight by the couch potatoes of Ireland.
The study of more than 1,000 runners found that running too fast, defined as more than 5 miles per hour, for too long, and too regularly can cause premature death. It’s even worse for health that doing no exercise!
The Holy Grail of biological science is to enable people to live longer, healthier lives. The secret might be revealed in studies of the caps that protect the chromosome structures that protect our DNA, a study has found.
E-cigarettes contain far less concentrations of dangerous ‘free radicals’ that react in the body and cause damage, but in a mice study, it was found that they impair breathing, knock out the immune system and can cause death.
The science of I.V.F. and how assisted technology is producing babies is an ethical minefield. We talk about what’s happening and some of the ethical issues.
Click below to listen to science slot broadcast on The Morning Show with Declan Meehan, 5th February 2015
