Ways to Beat Natural Decline, Benefits of Coffee and More
The latest in medical research and health news you need to know
Power Trio
Falling is now the leading cause of injury-related deaths among adults aged 65 and older, a result of muscle loss that begins around age 50. But a study by sports science researchers in China has shown a promising way to counteract natural declines. After analyzing studies involving over 7,500 participants, the team found that resistance and balance training effectively preserved muscle for everyday functional movement, like rising swiftly from a chair. Resistance training plus protein supplementation led to the largest increases in strength and muscle mass. Combining all three led to the largest improvements in other measures of functional health, such as grip strength, gait speed and skeletal muscle index.
Eye Got Rhythm
Dancing, swaying or finger-tapping to music is a common voluntary response that speaks to the power of sound to move us. But a recent study in PLOS Biology showed that our brains may be involuntarily syncing to the beat as well. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences played classical music to 123 non-musicians and measured their spontaneous blinks—the ones our eyes perform without our awareness. The team found that the participants’ blinking involuntarily fell in line with the beat. The effect may highlight how the brain processes, predicts and adapts to sonic patterns, even when unaware.
A New Plan to Fight Diabetes
The rise of diabetes in India is a worrying trend: a 2023 Lancet study estimated that 101 million people i.e. 11.4 per cent of the country's population, suffer from the ailment. It is also estimated that 12.3 per cent of Indian adolescents are prediabetic.
Power Trio
Falling is now the leading cause of injury-related deaths among adults aged 65 and older, a result of muscle loss that begins around age 50. But a study by sports science researchers in China has shown a promising way to counteract natural declines. After analyzing studies involving over 7,500 participants, the team found that resistance and balance training effectively preserved muscle for everyday functional movement, like rising swiftly from a chair. Resistance training plus protein supplementation led to the largest increases in strength and muscle mass. Combining all three led to the largest improvements in other measures of functional health, such as grip strength, gait speed and skeletal muscle index.
Eye Got Rhythm
Dancing, swaying or finger-tapping to music is a common voluntary response that speaks to the power of sound to move us. But a recent study in PLOS Biology showed that our brains may be involuntarily syncing to the beat as well. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences played classical music to 123 non-musicians and measured their spontaneous blinks—the ones our eyes perform without our awareness. The team found that the participants’ blinking involuntarily fell in line with the beat. The effect may highlight how the brain processes, predicts and adapts to sonic patterns, even when unaware.
A New Plan to Fight Diabetes
The rise of diabetes in India is a worrying trend: a 2023 Lancet study estimated that 101 million people i.e. 11.4 per cent of the country's population, suffer from the ailment. It is also estimated that 12.3 per cent of Indian adolescents are prediabetic.
To combat this, the central government’s Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram 2.0 has included type 1 diabetes in its list of diseases to be screened among children in schools and anganwadis across the country, ensuring universal outreach and timely intervention—a small yet crucial move to prevent a major medical emergency. —By Avanish Chandrasekran
Burning the Midnight Oil
Night owls are 79 per cent more likely to score poorly overall on ‘Life’s Essential 8,’ the American Heart Association heart health measure, versus people who feel most alert around midday. As per a study that analyzed more than 3,20,000 people in the United Kingdom, having circadian misalignment (a difference between your internal clock and your external schedule) can cause problems and make certain habits more likely, such as not sleeping or eating well, or overindulging in alcohol or tobacco products.
Coffee Club
Plenty of studies tout the benefits of coffee—but one published this February in the Journal of the American Medical Association stands out because it followed more than 1,30,000 healthcare workers’ hot beverage drinking habits over an average of 37 years. The Harvard-based researchers reported that habitual coffee drinkers have significantly less cognitive decline later in life than those who don’t opt for a morning cup of joe.
Those who drank two or three cups a day (or one to two cups of tea) were found to have the least amount of decline. The catch? Decaf won’t cut it. Only the caffeinated versions were associated with healthier brains.
What’s the Frequency?
Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that monkeys with markers of Alzheimer’s disease showed health improvements lasting weeks as a result of sound therapy. After the monkeys listened to 40-hertz sounds over the course of a week, the fluid around their brains and spines had 200 per cent more amyloid beta—a protein closely linked to Alzheimer’s. It may sound counterintuitive, but the higher levels meant the protein was being cleared from the monkeys’ brain tissue. Humans and monkeys share a similar brain structure, and the research strengthens the rationale for future human trials.
Research by Lauren Grey
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