Category Archives: Human Longevity

Yet, "Man draws imaginary lines on the planet and says, 'This is a Frenchman, a Musselman, an Italian!' Upon these differences wars are waged. Men are fighting for the possession of the earth. They fight for that which becomes their graves, their cemeteries, their tombs. In reality all are members of one human family--children of one Heavenly Father. Humanity may be likened unto the varicolored flowers of one garden. There is unity in diversity. Each sets off and enhances the other's beauty." 'Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 25

Later in the same treatise, the son of Bah'u'llh--Prophet Founder of the Bah' Faith--adds, "The world of existence is like unto an orchard and humanity is like unto the trees. All these trees are planted in the same orchard, reared through the heat of one sun, watered with one rain. We must be the cause of the adornment of this orchard. The world of humanity is like unto a rose garden and the various races, tongues and people are like unto contrasting flowers. The diversity of colors in a rose-garden adds to the charm and beauty of the scene as variety enhances unity. Why should we not look upon the human world with rose-colored vision? - p. 183

The sciences of agriculture and ecology have added a more material reason for this diversity in Nature: permaculture and adaptability. The wider the variety of flora and fauna, the greater the longevity of the ecosystem. The greater the variability of genotype within a species, the more likely it will survive changes in its habitat.

Natural ecosystems are immensely diverse, and changing all the time.

"Likewise, when you meet those whose opinions differ from your own, do not turn away your face from them. All are seeking truth, and there are many roads leading thereto. Truth has many aspects, but it remains always and forever one.

"Do not allow difference of opinion, or diversity of thought to separate you from your fellow-men, or to be the cause of dispute, hatred and strife in your hearts. Rather, search diligently for the truth and make all men your friends.

"Every edifice is made of many different stones, yet each depends on the other to such an extent that if one were displaced the whole building would suffer; if one is faulty the structure is imperfect....Bah'u'llh has drawn the circle of unity, He has made a design for the uniting of all the peoples, and for the gathering of them all under the shelter of the tent of universal unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, and we must all strive with heart and soul until we have the reality of unity in our midst, and as we work, so will strength be given unto us." - 'Abdu'l-Bah, Paris Talks, p. 53

The planet will be fine; always has been. Only past individual species have suffered and (mostly) died out. But if people continue to damage both their own genomic diversity and the ecosytem in which they survive...we will soon go the way of dinosaurs.

The Bah' Faith--like each religious dispensation before it--is about supplying the guidance and reassurance that mankind needs to deal with the exigencies of the day in which it was revealed. This is the day of one planet and one people, united in harmony, not conformity.

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Survival Requires Diversity, not Uniformity

Sense of smell is the canary in the coalmine of human health, say U.S. researchers, who have found that difficulty identifying particular scents is linked to an increased risk of death.

A new study of more than 3,000 people found that participants with the poorest sense of smell, also called olfactory dysfunction, had a risk of death three times greater than those with a normal sense of smell.

That was even after taking into account other factors, including age, gender, nutrition, mental health status, a history of smoking or alcohol abuse, and other health issues.

Olfactory dysfunction was an independent risk factor for death, stronger than several common causes of death, such as heart failure, lung disease and cancer, the researchers concluded, indicating that this evolutionarily ancient special sense may signal a key mechanism that affects human longevity.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.

For their research, scientists at the University of Chicago studied 3,005 adults between the ages of 57 and 85.

The participants were each asked to identify five scents that had been placed in felt-tip pens: rose, leather, orange, fish and peppermint.

The researchers followed up with the participants five years later.

They found that 39 per cent of older participants with olfactory dysfunction were dead, compared to just 10 per cent who had a normal sense of smell.

The researchers say that the sense of smell is unique compared to other senses in that it relies on stem cell turnover to function properly. A deteriorating sense of smell may indicate a break down in the cell regeneration process, either due to age or the effect of ongoing exposure to environmental toxins.

Continued here:
Nose knows when death is imminent, smell study suggests

The reasons to be cautious about taking longevity drugs probably wont hold us back. They will just be too tempting to turn down

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN once wrote that "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes". That has not deterred a good many people usually wealthy, ageing men from trying to dodge one, or the other, or both.

Tax avoidance is one thing, but as yet nobody has achieved immortality, or even modest life extension beyond the apparent upper limit of about 120 years. The well of human optimism runs deep, though, and on a fairly regular basis somebody with deep pockets unveils ambitious plans to tackle or end ageing. The latest is Google, which a year ago announced plans to get into the longevity business with a biotech start-up called Calico.

It is easy to be cynical about such ventures. Around a decade ago there was a similar flurry of interest from Silicon Valley as the backers of the Ansari X Prize fresh from awarding $10 million to aviation pioneer Burt Rutan for putting a private vehicle into space announced plans for an institute to solve the "problem" of death. The science of ageing was sufficiently advanced, it claimed, for us to be able to intervene to slow or even stop it.

Like so many quests for immortality, this one proved quixotic. But one of its main goals to extend human lifespan by reducing the rate of ageing appears to have unexpectedly been achieved (see "Everyday drugs could give extra years of life"). A number of drugs that were developed for other purposes seem to have the happy side effect of increasing lifespan in animals. Some researchers who work on them are now so convinced of their potential to add about 10 years to a human life that they have started self-medicating.

The appropriate warnings need to be wheeled out: the history of life-extension research is virtually defined by cycles of hype and disappointment. The evidence is little more than suggestive and the side effects unknown. But if the drugs work as the researchers believe by slowing the ageing process itself humanity is about to enter new territory.

There will be many scientific and regulatory hoops to jump through the inevitable rise of a black market notwithstanding. There are also important political and ethical issues to chew over.

A critical one concerns overpopulation: if everybody alive today added a decade to their life expectancy, the world's already bloated population would inevitably rise even further. Quality of life is another concern: life extension could lead to a nightmarish "nursing home world" full of decrepit people who need to be supported by an ever-dwindling supply of youngsters. Yet another is inequality: drugs cost money, so could exacerbate the divide between haves and have-nots.

These are important questions. But it is hard to see them standing in the way. The temptation of extending our lives is too great.

It need not lead to a dystopian future. There has long been a strand of thought within gerontology that rejects radical life extension or immortality in favour of more modest goals. If we could slow ageing by about seven years, the argument goes, people would live longer, healthier lives, and then decline and die quickly with minimal decrepitude. The effects on population would be negligible, and the drugs are as cheap as aspirin and statins.

See the original post here:
Life-extending drugs take humanity into new territory

Researchers in the US have found that olfactory dysfunction was better at predicting mortality than a diagnosis of heart failure, cancer or lung disease. Photo: Supplied

Smelly socks have never seemed so life-affirming. According to a study published in scientific journalPLOS One, olfactory dysfunction - a weakening sense of smell - is a strikingly good indicator of imminent death.

No, a bad sense of smell isn't fatal - and it probably isn't the symptom of some insidious illness. But based on this new study, it seems that our noses may act as canaries in the coal mines of our bodies.

When things are amiss, and systems are shutting down, the researchers suggest, our sense of smell might be one of the best outward indicators.

Aromatic? A vintage leather armchair.

Researchers in the US tested a nationally representative sample of 3005 men and women aged 57 to 85 on their ability to identify five smells: rose, leather, orange, fish and peppermint. The study appearsonline in PLOS One.

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They controlled for many factors age, sex, socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol intake, education, body mass index, race, hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, emphysema, stroke and diet.

Five years later, the researchers found that 430 of the original participants had died.

Thirty-nine per cent of study subjects who failed a simple smelling test died within five years, compared with 19 per cent of those with moderate smell loss and just 10 per cent of those with a healthy sense of smell, PLOS ONE reported.

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Sense of smell may predict longevity

Researchers in the US have found that olfactory dysfunction was better at predicting mortality than a diagnosis of heart failure, cancer or lung disease. Photo: Supplied

Smelly socks have never seemed so life-affirming. According to a study published in scientific journalPLOS One, olfactory dysfunction - a weakening sense of smell - is a strikingly good indicator of imminent death.

No, a bad sense of smell isn't fatal - and it probably isn't the symptom of some insidious illness. But based on this new study, it seems that our noses may act as canaries in the coal mines of our bodies.

When things are amiss, and systems are shutting down, the researchers suggest, our sense of smell might be one of the best outward indicators.

Aromatic? A vintage leather armchair.

Researchers in the US tested a nationally representative sample of 3005 men and women aged 57 to 85 on their ability to identify five smells: rose, leather, orange, fish and peppermint. The study appearsonline in PLOS One.

Advertisement

They controlled for many factors age, sex, socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol intake, education, body mass index, race, hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, emphysema, stroke and diet.

Five years later, the researchers found that 430 of the original participants had died.

Thirty-nine per cent of study subjects who failed a simple smelling test died within five years, compared with 19 per cent of those with moderate smell loss and just 10 per cent of those with a healthy sense of smell, PLOS ONE reported.

Read the original post:
Sense of smell may predict longevity, university study finds

Image Caption: The drought crippling California is by some measures the worst in the state's history. Credit: NOAA

National Science Foundation

The atmospheric conditions associated with the unprecedented drought currently afflicting California are very likely linked to human-caused climate change, Stanford scientists say.

In a new study, a team led by Stanford climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh used a novel combination of computer simulations and statistical techniques to show that a persistent region of high atmospheric pressure hovering over the Pacific Ocean that diverted storms away from California was much more likely to form in the presence of modern greenhouse gas concentrations.

The research, published on Sept. 29 as a supplement to this months issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, is one of the most comprehensive studies to investigate the link between climate change and Californias ongoing drought.

Our research finds that extreme atmospheric high pressure in this regionwhich is strongly linked to unusually low precipitation in Californiais much more likely to occur today than prior to the human emission of greenhouse gases that began during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, said Diffenbaugh, associate professor of Environmental Earth System Science at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

The exceptional drought currently crippling California is by some metrics the worst in state history. Combined with unusually warm temperatures and stagnant air conditions, the lack of precipitation has triggered a dangerous increase in wildfires and incidents of air pollution across the state. A recent report estimated that the water shortage would result in direct and indirect agricultural losses of at least $2.2 billion, and lead to the loss of more than 17,000 seasonal and part-time jobs in 2014 alone. Such impacts prompted California Governor Jerry Brown to declare a drought emergency, and the federal government to designate all 58 California counties as natural disaster areas.

Scientists agree that the immediate cause of the drought is a particularly stubborn blocking ridge over the northeastern Pacific popularly known as the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, or Triple Rthat prevented winter storms from reaching California during the 2013 and 2014 rainy seasons.

Blocking ridges are regions of high atmospheric pressure that disrupt typical wind patterns in the atmosphere. Winds respond to the spatial distribution of atmospheric pressure, said Daniel Swain, a graduate student in Diffenbaughs lab and lead author of the study. We have seen this amazingly persistent region of high pressure over the northeastern Pacific for many months now, which has substantially altered atmospheric flow and kept California largely dry.

Blocking ridges occur periodically at temperature latitudes, but the Triple R was exceptional for both its size and longevity. While it dissipated briefly during the summer months of 2013, it returned even stronger by fall 2013 and persisted through much of the winter, which is normally Californias wet season. At its peak in January 2014, the Triple R extended from the subtropical Pacific between California and Hawaii to the coast of the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska, said Swain, who coined the term ridiculously resilient ridge last fall to highlight the unusually persistent nature of the offshore blocking ridge.

See the article here:
Causes Of California Drought Linked To Human-caused Climate Change

The future is grey. The world's population is ageing, and we aren't prepared for it.

That is the upshot of the Global AgeWatch Index, an assessment of quality of life for people of 60 and over, based on income security, health and living environment from the HelpAge International network.

Ageing is widely seen as a rich-world phenomenon, but it is a global issue. It is a concern because old people tend to have a worse quality of life in poor countries. The index predicts that as the poor world ages, millions face a bleak old age. Afghanistan is the worst place among those surveyed to be old, followed by Mozambique and the Palestinian territories. Norway is the most age-friendly, then Sweden and Switzerland.

Worldwide, life expectancy has doubled in the past half century to 66years. A century ago, Britons could only expect to live to 47; now fewer than a dozen nations do worse than that. Costa Ricans, Taiwanese and Cubans can expect to live as long as Americans.

Some countries with increasing wealth ignore their older citizens. Being old in booming Turkey is as bad as it is in Cambodia. Whereas Mexico, a poorer nation than Turkey but with superior pension provision, is now a better place to be old than Italy or Portugal.

Much of the global longevity revolution is down to falling infant death rates. But the future lifespan of those who make it to 60 is also rising fast in poor nations as much as rich ones. "On average a woman aged 60 today can expect to live until she is 82," says the report. Men can expect to reach 79 years.

China already has more old people than any other country, and will probably have 150 million people over 75 by mid-century.

As the poor world ages, hundreds of millions face a bleak old age, and will be dependent on their children, says Asghar Zaidi of the Centre for Research on Ageing at the University of Southampton, UK, who compiled the index. In low- and middle-income countries, only one in four people over 65 receives a pension. And despite living longer, women are less likely to get a pension than men.

This neglect leaves ageing populations vulnerable, dependent and far less able to contribute to society than they might otherwise be. A recent German study found that, properly looked after, the old could be a boon to societies a source of wisdom and experience in the workplace, and even reduce carbon emissions.

Read more:
The best and worst countries in the world to be old in

Washington DC - infoZine - Climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh of Stanford University and colleagues used a novel combination of computer simulations and statistical techniques to show that a persistent region of high atmospheric pressure over the Pacific Ocean--one that diverted storms away from California--was much more likely to form in the presence of modern greenhouse gas concentrations.

The result, published today in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, is one of the most comprehensive studies to investigate the link between climate change and California's ongoing drought.

"Our research finds that extreme atmospheric high pressure in this region--which is strongly linked to unusually low precipitation in California--is much more likely to occur today than prior to the emission of greenhouse gases that began during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s," says Diffenbaugh.

The exceptional drought crippling California is by some measures the worst in state history.

The water shortage could result in direct and indirect agricultural losses of at least $2.2 billion and lead to the loss of more than 17,000 seasonal and part-time jobs in 2014 alone.

Such effects have prompted a drought emergency in the state; the federal government has designated all 58 California counties as natural disaster areas.

"In the face of severe drought, decision-makers are facing tough choices about the allocation of water resources for urban, agricultural and other crucial needs," says Anjuli Bamzai, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research.

"This study places the current drought in historical perspective and provides valuable scientific information for dealing with this grave situation. "

Scientists agree that the immediate cause of the drought is a particularly tenacious "blocking ridge" over the northeastern Pacific--popularly known as the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, or "Triple R"--that prevented winter storms from reaching California during the 2013 and 2014 rainy seasons.

Blocking ridges are regions of high atmospheric pressure that disrupt typical wind patterns in the atmosphere.

Original post:
California Drought Linked to Climate Change

By Ker Than

Associate Professor Noah Diffenbaugh and graduate student Daniel Swain explain the 'ridiculously resilient ridge' and its role in the California drought.

The atmospheric conditions associated with the unprecedented drought currently afflicting California are "very likely" linked to human-caused climate change, Stanford scientists write in a new research paper.

In a new study, a team led by Stanford climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh used a novel combination of computer simulations and statistical techniques to show that a persistent region of high atmospheric pressure hovering over the Pacific Ocean that diverted storms away from California was much more likely to form in the presence of modern greenhouse gas concentrations.

The research, published on Sept. 29 as a supplement to this month's issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, is one of the most comprehensive studies to investigate the link between climate change and California's ongoing drought.

"Our research finds that extreme atmospheric high pressure in this region which is strongly linked to unusually low precipitation in California is much more likely to occur today than prior to the human emission of greenhouse gases that began during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s," said Diffenbaugh, an associate professor of environmental Earth system science at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

The exceptional drought currently crippling California is by some metrics the worst in state history. Combined with unusually warm temperatures and stagnant air conditions, the lack of precipitation has triggered a dangerous increase in wildfires and incidents of air pollution across the state. A recent report estimated that the water shortage would result in direct and indirect agricultural losses of at least $2.2 billion and lead to the loss of more than 17,000 seasonal and part-time jobs in 2014 alone. Such impacts prompted California Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a drought emergency and the federal government to designate all 58 California counties as "natural disaster areas."

Scientists agree that the immediate cause of the drought is a particularly stubborn "blocking ridge" over the northeastern Pacific popularly known as the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, or "Triple R" that prevented winter storms from reaching California during the 2013 and 2014 rainy seasons.

Blocking ridges are regions of high atmospheric pressure that disrupt typical wind patterns in the atmosphere. "Winds respond to the spatial distribution of atmospheric pressure," said Daniel Swain, a graduate student in Diffenbaugh's lab and lead author of the study. "We have seen this amazingly persistent region of high pressure over the northeastern Pacific for many months now, which has substantially altered atmospheric flow and kept California largely dry."

Blocking ridges occur periodically at temperate latitudes, but the Triple R was exceptional for both its size and longevity. While it dissipated briefly during the summer months of 2013, it returned even stronger by fall 2013 and persisted through much of the winter, which is normally California's wet season.

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Stanford scientists say drought linked to climate change

The southern tourist resort of Hainan now has another attraction to woo global tourists - the chance to live longer.

The island province has been declared as a World Longevity Island by the International Expert Committee on Population Aging and Longevity (ISCPAL), according to a press conference held by the provincial government on Thursday.

Alongside South Korea's Jeju Island, Hainan was named one of the world's two longevity islands thanks to its outstanding natural environment and social welfare system. The committee decided to honor the province after conducting field research in 17 towns and counties in 2013.

Hainan trumpets a record of more than 1,900 centenarians, and about 1.2 million residents above the age of 60 by the end of 2013, amounting for about 13.36 percent of its total population, according to the the provincial committee on aging. By 2015, the number of octogenarians is expected to reach 170,000.

The tropical island is bestowed with high-quality air and water. A study by the ISCPAL showed that the hair of Hainan's centenarians has ample trace elements, which are beneficial to human health. For instance, the soil and produce in Chengmai county in western Hainan are rich in selenium.

A couple of localities in Hainan had already been branded as "Longevity Cities" before the island was honored, including Chengmai and the forest-rich Wanning. Wenchang City is also famed as one of the country's top longevity spots.

The latest certification is likely to give Hainan extra firepower in the tourism market and stir a new round of health tourists, as has been the case for other places known for longevity in the country.

Last year, media in China reported a huge number of tourists traveling to the famous Bama County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to seek the recipe for a long life. The county's "longevity pilgrims" can be seen crawling around on four-legs and are even known to drink urine, believing the practices help keep illness at bay.

The reputation of the remote county is so widespread that it has even attracted a number of people who travel from far away to live in Bama.

This group is nicknamed "houniaoren," or "migratory people," with lives like those of migratory birds -- flying south in winter and staying in Bama for several months.

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Hainan declared as "World Longevity Island"