Premature Aging

Young women hold the key to success of 'sunless tanning' products, researcher finds

Sunless tanning—whether with lotions, bronzers or tanning pills—has been promoted as an effective substitute to dodge the health risks of ultraviolet rays, but if the products don't provide the perfect tan, young women ...

Health created May 10, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Sun starved Brits to risk health this summer

Following some of the coldest and wettest weather on record, around 4.9 million people in the UK (10 per cent) are more likely to risk scorching themselves in strong sun in an attempt to get a tan this summer, ...

Cancer created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Gene controls three different diseases

An international research consortium led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the CIBERER and the University of Wurzburg (Germany) has discovered a gene that can cause three totally different diseases, depending ...

Genetics created Apr 25, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study discovers that stem cell senescence drives aging

Declining levels of the protein BubR1 occur when both people and animals age, and contribute to cell senescence or deterioration, weight loss, muscle wasting and cataracts. Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that adult progenitor ...

Medical research created Apr 18, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Protecting against aging at the molecular level

Research from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute sheds new light on a gene called ATRX and its function in the brain and pituitary. Children born with ATRX syndrome have cognitive defects and developmental ...

Medical research created Apr 08, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Sunbed users are twice as likely to use anti-ageing products as non-sunbed users

Over two fifths (43 per cent) of people in the UK who have used sunbeds – which are proven to prematurely age the skin – are using anti-ageing products.  This compares with only a fifth (20 per cent) ...

Cancer created Feb 21, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers gain insight into abnormally shaped cell nuclei of people with cancer

Misshapen cell nuclei are frequently observed in the cells of people with cancer and other diseases, but what causes the abnormality—and why it is associated with certain disorders—has remained unclear.

Cancer created Feb 19, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Extra chromosome 21 removed from Down syndrome cell line

(Medical Xpress)—University of Washington scientists have succeeded in removing the extra copy of chromosome 21 in cell cultures derived from a person with Down syndrome, a condition in which the body's ...

Medical research created Nov 09, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

High blood pressure damages the brain in early middle age

Uncontrolled high blood pressure damages the brain's structure and function as early as young middle-age, and even the brains of middle-aged people who clinically would not be considered to have hypertension have evidence ...

Neuroscience created Oct 31, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study finds diabetes raises levels of proteins linked to Alzheimer's features

Growing evidence suggests that there may be a link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, but the physiological mechanisms by which diabetes impacts brain function and cognition are not fully understood. ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Oct 26, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Parkinson's breakthough could slow disease progression

In an early-stage breakthrough, a team of Northwestern University scientists has developed a new family of compounds that could slow the progression of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's & Movement disorders created Oct 24, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Link found between Alzheimer's disease and protein regulation in the brain—hope for new treatments

New study from the University of Haifa discovers: Link found between Alzheimer's disease and protein regulation in the brain brings hope for new treatments

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Oct 22, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Incorporating regular physical activity brings diabetic adults closer to aging rate of healthy adults, study finds

One of life's certainties is that everyone ages. However, it's also certain that not everyone ages at the same rate. According to recent research being presented this week, the cardiovascular system of people with type 2 ...

Diabetes created Oct 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists identify molecular process in fat cells that influences stress and longevity

As part of their ongoing research investigating the biology of aging, the greatest risk factor for type 2 diabetes and other serious diseases, scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified a new factor—microRNA ...

Medical research created Sep 26, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Genetic disease linked to protein build-up

Mutations of the gene Lmna previously thought to be directly responsible for a group of laminopathies—serious developmental conditions including premature aging and a form of muscular dystrophy—in fact ...

Medical research created Aug 29, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Senescence or biological aging is the change in the biology of an organism as it ages after its maturity. Such changes range from those affecting its cells and their function to those affecting the whole organism. There are a number of theories as to why senescence occurs; for example, some posit it is programmed by gene expression changes, others that it is the cumulative damage caused by biological processes. Senescence is not the inevitable fate of all organisms. A variety of organisms, including some cold-blooded animals, have negligible senescence. Whether senescence as a biological process can be slowed down, halted or even reversed, is a subject of current scientific speculation and research.

The word senescence is derived from the Latin word senex, meaning old man, old age, or advanced in age.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Latest Spotlight News

Consuming coffee linked to lower risk of detrimental liver disease, study finds

Regular consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease ...

Ketamine shows significant therapeutic benefit in people with treatment-resistant depression

Patients with treatment-resistant major depression saw dramatic improvement in their illness after treatment with ketamine, an anesthetic, according to the largest ketamine clinical trial to-date led by researchers from the ...

New research identifies risks, interventions for children's GI health

An increasing number of U.S. children are experiencing gastrointestinal issues that require interventions to resolve, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW).

Returning genetic incidental findings without patient consent violates basic rights, experts say

Informed consent is the backbone of patient care. Genetic testing has long required patient consent and patients have had a "right not to know" the results. However, as 21st century medicine now begins to use the tools of ...

Vicious cycle: Obesity sustained by changes in brain biochemistry

With obesity reaching epidemic levels in some parts of the world, scientists have only begun to understand why it is such a persistent condition. A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry adds substantially to the st ...

White matter imaging provides insight into human and chimpanzee aging

(Medical Xpress)—The instability of "white matter" in humans may contribute to greater cognitive decline during the aging of humans compared with chimpanzees, scientists from Yerkes National Primate Research ...

Melon focus headband turns to Kickstarter for rollout plans

(Medical Xpress)—What if the quality of your work depends more on your focus on the piano keys or canvas or laptop than your musical or painting or computing skills? If target users can be convinced, they ...

Temporal processing in the olfactory system

The neural machinery underlying our olfactory sense continues to be an enigma for neuroscience. A recent review in Neuron seeks to expand traditional ideas about how neurons in the olfactory bulb might encode information about ...

AIDS science at 30: 'Cure' now part of lexicon

Big names in medicine are set to give an upbeat assessment of the war on AIDS on Tuesday, 30 years after French researchers identified the virus that causes the disease.

For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never rests

Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or ...