The population of centenarians represents the maximum exponent of longevity. These people are characterised by the late emergence (more than ninety years) of age-related diseases in their lives, its associated disability and its irreversible process towards death. The study of the biomarkers which characterise this population is of high scientific value. The exceptional phenotype of centenarians is determined both by environmental factors and genetic ones. In this study, 62 genetic variants related to cardio-metabolic diseases, cancer and longevity have been compared in a group of Spanish people older than 100 and the healthy controls of the same ethnic origin. The Genetic Score (GC) of the people over 100 showed a lower predisposition to hypertension, ‘overall cancer risk and to ‘other types of cancer’, but did not show differences in the rest of the genetic variants among which were related to cardiovascular disease, thrombotic stroke, dyslipidemia, lung cancer, breast cancer or extreme longevity. In conclusion, environmental factors (nutrition, stress, exercise, control of biomarkers, etc.) powerfully determine longevity. The main objective of Neolife’s age management programmes is not to increase life expectancy but to prolong a good quality of life and delay the emergence of age-related diseases through the intervention of environmental factors. However, this intervention is precisely what characterises the population of people over 100.

The aim of this study is to study mortality predictors in 498,103 individuals whose data is collected in the UK Biobank (United Kingdom biomarkers database) during a period of five years. 655 parameters related to demography, health and lifestyles and their relation with all causes of mortality were studied, with six specific causes of mortality separately. Among these parameters, there are data such as the number of cars in the family, smoking habits, if they live alone, diabetes diagnosis, cancer or hypertension, pulse, etc. The average age of the sample was between 37 and 73, 54% were women. During the five years of the study, 8,532 people died (39% women). The self-perception of their own state of health, previous diagnosis of cancer, and smoking were the most important mortality predictors. From all the accumulated information, the authors provide a simple online questionnaire at http://www.ubble.co.uk/ (for people between 40 and 70 years old) made up of 13 questions for men and 11 questions for women, whose algorithm provides the risk of dying in the following five years and their biological age at that moment (UbbLE age; UK Biobank Longevity Explorer).

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It is known that excessive working hours can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but there is little and imprecise scientific evidence and nearly all of it is related to coronary diseases. This meta-analysis has the aim of strengthening the hypothesis of excessive working hours as a risk factor for coronary disease and stroke. To do so, the authors analysed 25 European, American and Australian studies, which gathered no less than 603,838 men and women without coronary disease and 528,838 men and women without a history of stroke (previous studies were of around 15,000 individuals, 40 times less than the current one). The first group was followed during an average of 8.5 years and the second one during 7.2 years. Once the impact of gender, age and socioeconomic status was eliminated, a clear increase of the relative risk (RR of 1.33) of suffering a stroke was observed in those people who worked more than 55 hours a week according to those with a standard working schedule of 35-40 hours per week. However, the increase in coronary disease risk was not so clear. Among the ones who worked between 49 to 55 hours, the relative risk increase was less than 1.27 and the relative risk was low (RR 1.1) for the ones who worked from 41 to 48 hours, and similar to previous studies. The authors hypothesise that working excessive hours is related with stressful situations, a sedentary lifestyle, alcohol, lack of sleep, overweight, etc., which would be the real reasons causing the increase in cardiovascular risk.

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People that train regularly have lower rates of disability and an average of seven years more of life expectancy than their sedentary peers. However, there is an upper safety limit with regard to the amount of endurance training, over which the harmful effects of it could outweigh the benefits. Strenuous endurance training during a long period of time can produce fibrosis of the myocardial tissue which could cause supra and infra ventricular arrhythmia, in addition to calcifications in the coronaries and stiffness of the walls of the large arteries. The authors of this article suggest the implementation of the ‘calcium score’ in persons over 50 who have already trained and participated in endurance sports such as marathons, triathlons, cycling, etc. as a screening measure. At Neolife, we are pioneers in the implementation of the ‘calcium score’ in the early diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

It is estimated that at least 20% of the adult population suffers a major depressive episode throughout their lives and its incidence is double in women than in men. It is necessary to distinguish between depressive mood state and clinical depression. The first one is characterised by a feeling of sadness, dullness and unhappiness, while clinical depression is a psychiatric disorder where besides showing a depressive mood at least four of the following symptoms are recognised; weight loss, sleep disorder, psychomotor agitation or, on the contrary, a state of lethargy, deep tiredness and energy loss, feelings of guilt, low self-confidence, difficulty thinking and/or concentrating and thoughts related with death and even with suicide. Classical treatment for depression is pharmacotherapy with tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines or combinations of both. However, many patients do not respond to these treatments or have undesired side effects. On the other hand, psychotherapy has been shown to be effective in the treatment of long-term depression. The authors of this document review all the scientific studies about the effect of physical exercise on the treatment of depression, this being as effective as pharmacological treatment or psychotherapy.

People who are overweight and/or obese have high oxidised LDL cholesterol. However, if these persons are in good physical shape and have good cardiorespiratory capacity and muscular strength, their blood lipid profile improves and their risk of suffering cardiovascular diseases is not higher than people with a normal weight. As Professor Steve Blair says, ‘fat but fit’. At Neolife, we measure multiple health and longevity biomarkers including the cardiorespiratory condition and muscular strength. We are aware of the importance of physical condition biomarkers that come before others like cholesterol or blood pressure.

Eighty percent of people who have lost at least 10% of their weight with a slimming diet are not able to maintain this weight loss after one year. A weight loss program is considered successful when a person is able to lose at least 10% of his body weight within a maximum of 6 months and when in two years’ time, more than 3 kilos or 4cm of waistline have not been gained back. Weight loss programs should address three components: diet, physical activity/exercise and behavioural modification. Scientific recommendations about the type of exercise that has to be done to lose weight are focused on cardiovascular exercise (more than four hours a week of moderate intensity).However, in recent publications, the importance of strength exercise in weight loss programs to prevent the loss of fat- free mass (muscle) and to increase basal metabolism, which prevents the diet “rebound effect” is starting to be emphasised. The authors of this article suggest physical exercise as the best option for weight loss, the combination of cardiovascular exercise and strength. Neolife Age Management programmes systematically include strength training regardless of if the goal is to lose weight or not.

Lack of time, the difficulty of accessing sport facilities, frequent trips and busy paces of life in general, are an important obstacle of continuing to do in physical exercise. In this article, the authors present and scientifically argue the utility of a simple high-intensity exercise routine that can be done anywhere, without specific sport material and within a short time.

The longevity of top athletes compared to their peers in the general population is often speculated. In this study, this issue is analysed. Therefore, the authors gathered the available information about 15,174 Olympic medalists from nine countries who won their medals between 1896 and 2010 and were compared with the general population of their gender, age, year of birth and country of residence. In eight of the nine countries, the top athletes had a life expectancy higher than their control peers. In general, life expectancy was 2.8 years higher for the athletes. The fact that the medal was golden, silver or bronze did not make any difference in life expectancy. However, champions of endurance sports had higher longevity than those of strength sports. The possible explanations of this higher longevity can be genetic factors, more physical activity throughout all their lifetime, healthy lifestyle habits in terms of nutrition, tobacco and alcohol and better socioeconomic status.
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The current study aims to analyse the risk of suffering cancer depending on the alcohol consumption pattern in non-smoking men and women. The alcohol consumption pattern was therefore analysed in a prospective way in 88,084 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study since 1980 and in 47,881 men participating in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1986 until 2010 in both cases, and its correlation with the appearance of any type of cancer. Light to moderate alcohol consumption (less than 30 g/day for men and < than 15 g/day for women) is associated with a minimum increase in the risk of suffering cancer. In the case of the men who did not smoke, this increase is nearly zero. However, in the case of non-smoking women, the increase of the risk of suffering cancer, especially breast cancer, is more evident. However, in an editorial article from the same magazine where the results of this study were published, it is reminded that considering all the causes of mortality associated to alcohol and not only cancer, the consumption of more than 10 g/day in women and 20 g/day in men throughout life, is unacceptable as voluntary habit in modern societies. Note: a can of 33 cl of 5% beer has 13 g of alcohol; a 100 ml glass of 12% wine has 10 g of alcohol. You can see the original article by clicking on the following link

The current meta-analysis of five studies of different types of diets confirms that protein-rich food increases the feeling of fullness, which could produce a beneficial effect to maintain or lose weight. Proteins increase the release of the satiety hormone, either coming from milk products, eggs or soya. A greater feeling of fullness can contribute to improved quality of life, decreasing the unpleasant feeling of appetite and boosting the consumption of fewer caloric intakes. These effects are relevant in terms of losing weight and/or when maintaining the lost weight. This effect of the feeling of fullness induced by proteins had not been systematically assessed until now. The authors selected from the scientific databases those investigations which analysed the intake of oral protein in the human diet and which quantified the feeling of fullness. Twenty-eight studies met these criteria but only five of them, the ones which gave the area under the satiety curve between the two and four hours after the intake, were analysed for the meta-analysis.
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In this publication, the added sugar content of 203 canned drinks, among them fruit juices (21), flavoured drinks (158) and shakes (24) offered to children in the United Kingdom is analysed. The authors from the University of Liverpool quantified the amount of sugars added by the manufacturer (those which are not natural from the fruit) for every 100 ml and for each standard portion of 200 ml of this type of drinks that are available at the seven biggest British market chains. Sports drinks, soda drinks, tea drinks and other energetic refreshing drinks which are not specially offered to children were excluded from the study. The quantity of added sugar ranged between 0 and 16 g/100 mL, with an average of 7 g/100 mL. Fruit juices had 10.7 g/100mL, shakes 13 g/100 mL and flavoured drinks 5.6 g/100 mL. From the 203 products, only 63 were ‘suitable’ in sugar content by the responsible food agency and 85 of them reached in a single package the total daily sugar needs of a child (19 g or 5 coffee spoons). The authors conclude that the added sugar quantities in the packaged drinks offered to the children in the United Kingdom are unacceptable and recommend eating the entire fruit or diluted natural juice without exceeding 150 ml per day.
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From the age of 30, muscular mass loss in men and women is 3-8% per decade and increases up to 5-10% from the age of 50; this circumstance is part of the ageing process and is associated to a decrease of basal metabolism, an increase of fat tissue, a loss of the functional capacity and a higher incidence of age-related diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, depression, etc.). Only 3.5% of the North American adult population meets the minimum requirements of physical activity recommended by scientific associations. Strength training at any age is essential to preserve muscule mass and prevent the previously mentioned alterations. However, the authors recommend the intake of protein with or without carbohydrates just before and/or after this training to guarantee the synthesis of muscular mass in doses of 0.5 g of protein and 1 g of carbohydrates per kilo of body weight.

In this study, the authors analyse the effects of the drastic fall in the use of replacement hormone therapy in hysterectomised (without a uterus) women from 50 to 59 years old as a consequence of the alarm raised in 2002 when the first results of the WHI (Women’s Health Initiative) study were published. The conclusions are alarming because at least 18,601 and a maximum of 91,610 hysterectomised women between 50 and 59 years old who participated in the WHI study and stopped using or did not start using replacement hormone therapy died prematurely due to this circumstance. In conclusion, replacement hormone therapy in young post-menopausal women is associated with a decrease in all causes of death and advice from doctors regarding these treatments in this group of women should urgently be reviewed.
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Scientific proof of the anticancer effects of EPA and DHA Omega-3 fatty acids. The authors of this study, published in the prestigious magazine Gut, used the databases from the Nurses’ Health Study and from the Professionals Follow-up Study to evaluate the all-cause mortality and as a consequence of the colon cancer in a sample of 1,659 patients diagnosed with colon cancer, according to their intake of Omega-3 before and after the cancer diagnosis.
It was observed that those patients with a higher intake of Omega-3 had lower mortality produced by the colon cancer itself. Patients with daily intakes lower than 100 mg of Omega 3 had a mortality rate due to cancer itself 41% higher to those who took more than 300 mg daily. Moreover, it was seen that patients who after cancer diagnosis increased their Omega-3 intake by at least 150 mg presented a reduction in mortality rate of 70% with respect to those who maintained their intake at the same levels as before the diagnosis.

In the year 2002, there was a before and an after in replacement hormone therapy in post-menopausal women. At that time, the alarm produced by the publication of the initial results of the famous WHI (Women’s Health Initiative) study both in the scientific environment and in the media, in general, resulted in the massive halt of hormone replacement therapy in all post-menopausal women around the world. For many years now, the scientific community has questioned the interpretation of those results and the state of science regarding this issue in 2013 and showed that replacement hormone therapy properly prescribed in post-menopausal younger women contributes with a very positive risk/benefit, exactly the same as it was thought before 2002. Moreover, they argue that the bad results of the WHI in 2002 has caused over 10 years that millions of postmenopausal women not only had not benefited from replacement hormone therapy but have worsened their health and quality of life (higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, thrombosis, dementia, breast cancer, bone fractures due to osteoporosis, divorces, death, etc.). Hormonal replacement therapy is one of the main pillars of Neolife’s age management programmes.

The aim of this study is to determine if a correlation exists between the normalisation of testosterone levels through hormone replacement therapy in men without a history of myocardial infarction and stroke and the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and other causes of mortality. It is a meta-analysis that analyses 83,100 adult men retrospectively with known values of their plasmatic levels of total testosterone. They were subdivided into three groups. The first group was of 43,931 men who were 66 years old on average and being treated with testosterone for an average of 6.2 years and who achieved normalising their plasmatic levels. The second group corresponded to 25,701 men who were 66 years old who were being treated with testosterone for approximately 4.6 years on average but who did not achieve normalising their values. The third group was of 13,378 men who were an average of 66 years old without testosterone treatment and who were followed up on during 4.7 years. Group 1 had a significantly lower incidence than group 3 both of myocardial infarction and stroke and of any other cause of mortality. Similarly, group 1 had a significantly lower incidence compared to group 2 of myocardial infarction and stroke. Between group 2 and group 3, there were no significant differences in the incidence of heart attack or stroke. The authors conclude that the normalisation of the values of testosterone in men without a history of cardiovascular disease with previously low levels has a preventive effect.
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FDA representatives (Food and Drug Administration), the authors of this article, encourage pharmaceutical companies that produce testosterone to work together in a same clinical trial to clarify the effect of testosterone at a cardiovascular level. The exponential increase of patients using testosterone for hypogonadism related to ageing, many of them without a previous evaluation of their plasmatic levels, and the conflicting results in some meta-analyses are the main reasons for this statement.
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The relationship between depression and the risk of developing dementia is known, but not the mechanisms that are involved in this connection. On the other hand, it is known that people with depression present high morning cortisol levels (stress hormone). The objective of this study is to evaluate the association between morning and evening cortisol levels in saliva (and its effect) with brain volume and the neurocognitive function in elderly people without dementia. To this end, 4,244 people with an average age of 76 were studied and underwent a brain magnetic resonance, a battery of neurocognitive tests and a determination of morning and evening salivary cortisol. The highest morning cortisol levels are related to a lower brain volume and a worse cognitive function. What is not known is if high cortisol levels produce brain mass loss or if brain mass loss due to ageing is the reason for the high cortisol levels in the morning. In any case, the authors express that although this study does not have a direct clinical application, stress should be treated when possible to decrease cortisol levels and to therefore probably achieve a certain degree of neuroprotection.
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This is a randomised, controlled and double-blind clinical trial, whose objective is to determine the effect of testosterone administration in elderly men with low testosterone levels on the progression of their subclinical atherosclerosis. Three hundred and eight men over 60 with low plasmatic levels of total testosterone were studied.

It is known that vasomotor symptoms of menopause such as hot flushes and night sweats are associated to body mass index, ethnicity/race, anxiety, depression, smoking and low educational level, but so far nobody had found a genetic basis for this symptomatology. In the present study, the authors have discovered a strong correlation between the chances of suffering the vasomotor symptoms of menopause and a gene variation (SNPs) in the locus of receptor three of the tachykinin (TACR3), in chromosome four.

This study has been performed in samples taken from 17,695 women between 50 and 79 years old, in 40 health clinics in the US, who would not have been treated with hormone therapy to avoid the masking of the symptoms due to the treatment. On the one hand, through a questionnaire, it was determined that 63% of the studied women presented vasomotor symptoms. On the other hand, more than 11 million SNPs were analysed and the conclusion was that 14 of them were significantly associated to the vasomotor symptoms of menopause. All these polymorphisms were located in the TACR3 gene of chromosome four. This genetic basis to suffer vasomotor symptoms of menopause is unrelated to race (it occurs in all of them), which also suggests that the mutation is very old.

The biological bases responsible for the hot flushes and night sweats of menopausal women are not fully known and the progress in knowledge about it will contribute new therapies for its treatment (maybe a genetic type) in the future.

Increased levels of homocysteine are associated with cardiovascular and brain damage and osteoporosis. The main cause of a homocysteine increase is a nutritional deficit of B vitamins and folates. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between biomarkers with regard to the metabolism of B vitamins, bone mineral density and the risk of bone fracture. For that purpose, the authors collected homocysteine and bone mineral density values of 2,806 women participating in the NHANES study between 1999 and 2004 throughout the US, among other biomarkers. As a conclusion of the study, it is confirmed that high levels of homocysteine are associated with age, to low vitamin B levels and lower bone mineral density.

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The objective of the present study is to evaluate the prognostic value in the long term of a Coronary Calcium Score result (CS) of ‘0’ (zero) in asymptomatic individuals. Previous studies show that a zero CS is a favourable prognosis factor in the short and medium term, but there is no data in the long term. For that purpose, the authors analysed the CS and categorised the cardiovascular risk according to the Framingham score of 9,715 individuals during 14.6 years on average. From them, 4,864 had a CS of zero at the start of the study and from these, 229 died along the 14.6 years. The analysis of the results showed that when the ‘Framingham Risk Scale’ is low or intermediate, a CS of ‘0’ deducts a year in the cardiovascular age of persons between 50 and 59 years old, for people between 60 and 69 years old it deducts 10 years in cardiovascular age, for people 70 to 79 years old it deducts 20 years and for people over 80 with a CS of ‘0’ it deducts 30 years. In other words, they have a similar cardiovascular age of a person who is 50 years old. All of this is regardless of gender. The authors conclude that the CS of zero in individuals with low or intermediate cardiovascular risk have a powerful prognosis value (bigger than Framingham´s scale) of cardiovascular risk in 15 years time, regardless of age and gender. Moreover, a SC of “0” in individuals with high cardiovascular risk factor gives a higher survival than having a positive SC (higher than zero) although coronary risk factors are low or intermediate.

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