WORLD OF MEDICINE
News From the
LIFESPANISBARELY
AFFECTEDBYGENES
If youthinkyou’regoldenbecause
bothsetsofyourgrandparentslived
toa ripeoldage,thinkagain.
A newstudyhasfoundthatgenes
accountforlessthansevenpercent
ofa person’slifespan,muchlessthan
the20–30percentofmostprevious
estimates.Researchersanalysedthe
54 millionpublicfamilytreeson
ancestry.com,comparingthelife
spansof 406 millionpeopleborn
fromthe19thcenturytothemid-20th
century.Theyfoundthatspousesand
evenin-lawshadmoresimilarlife
spansthansiblings,indicatingthatlife
spanisinfluencedmostlybylifestyle
factors,suchasaccesstocleanwater,
notsmokingandeatinghealthily.NEWTESTFORALZHEIMER’S
Havingtroubleworkingoutwhich
waytogocanbeanearlysi
Alzheimer’s.That’sbecause
ofthefirstregionsofthebr
tobedamagedbythedisea
istheentorhinalcortex,
whichiskeytooursenseof
whereweare.Researchers
asked 45 patientswith
mildcognitiveimpairmentPHOTO: ADAM VOORHES(whichcanbea precursort
Alzheimer’s but is sometimes the
result of anxiety or other conditions)
to navigate virtual walking paths as
seen on a virtual reality headset.
Those who performed the worst
also tested positive for biomarkers
of Alzheimer’s in their cerebrospinal
fluid. The virtual reality test could
become a valuable diagnostic tool
because it identified patients with
early Alzheimer’s more accurately
than the cognitive tests now in use.AIR PURIFIERS HELP THE HEART
The air inside virtually every house
contains some fine particulate
matter, coming from sources such
as mould and cooking smoke. These
microscopic particles increase the
risk of respiratory and cardiovascular
problems, especially in older people.
Ina studyof 40 nonsmoking adults
withanaverageage of 67, using
fierathome not only
duced participants’
xposure to the noxious
particles by 30–50 per
cent (depending on the
filter) but also lowered
their systolic blood
pressure by a modest
utmeaningful average
2 mm Hg.gn of
eone
ain
aseftoanair purifie
red
exbu
of 3.23