HEALTH NOTES
SEAFOOD FIGHTS BRAIN SHRINKAGE
EATING plenty of fish or shellfish can help older women fight off the effects of air pollution on the brain.
A new study found those who eat more than one to two servings a week may consume enough omega-3 fatty acids to counteract brain shrinkage – a risk for people living in areas of high air pollution.
According to the study in medical journal Neurology, older women who had the lowest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood suffered more brain shrinkage than those with the highest levels.
GENERATIONAL HEALTH DECLINE
PEOPLE in their 40s and 50s are in worse physical shape than those in their 60s and early 70s were at the same age, according to a new study.
The analysis of 135,000 people living in England has suggested that although they are living longer, their lives are not necessarily any healthier.
Professor George Ploubidis, of University College London, said: “Those born later are expected to live longer on average – but with more years of ill health.”
EYE DISORDER BREAKTHROUGH
A NEW therapy could help sufferers of macular dystrophy – a genetic eye disorder that can cause blindness.
People with the condition need to have painful injections in their eyes every four to six weeks to ensure they don’t lose their sight.
But a new study on rats and mice at John Hopkins University showed that gene therapy could be used to prevent further damage to eyesight.
And it is effective after just a handful of treatments.
The method could be used to treat other inherited eyesight conditions in the future too.
TRUST YOUR GUT ON DIABETES?
A STUDY of more than 4,000 people has shown the bacteria in our intestines fluctuate throughout the day.
But this occurs to a lesser extent in people with type 2 diabetes, so doctors could use the patterns to predict and diagnose the disease.