Latino Children Play Swing (Photo credit: epSos.de)

Emerging evidence shows the DNA of ten year-olds who experienced violence in their young lives shows wear and tear that is normally associated with aging, according to Duke University.

The findings suggest a mechanism linking cumulative childhood stress to accelerated aging, even at a young age. 

The new report in Molecular Psychiatry shows that a subset of children with a history of two or more kinds of violent exposures have significantly more telomere loss than other children. Since shorter telomeres have been linked to poorer survival and chronic disease, this may not bode well for those kids.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Terrie Moffitt, who is the Knut Schmidt Nielson Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience. “Some of the billions of dollars spent on diseases of aging such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia might be better invested in protecting children from harm.”

Read more: ScienceDaily

AS the general health of the world’s population has improved, the average life span has risen by 20 years in the last half-century, and it will continue to grow.

The Sheffield Institute for Studies on Ageing has been formed at the University of Sheffield in northern England to undertake wide-ranging multidisciplinary research to find cost-effective ways of improving quality of life in old age, with or without extension of life expectancy. Rising numbers of older people, the increasing expectations of a better old age, reduced capacity of families to provide care and pressure on public finances have led governments around the world to give high priority to such work. Trends in ageing are also changing family structures in both developed and developing countries.

“In short, we are in the midst of a silent revolution,” said the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, when launching the International Year of Older Persons. “It is a revolution that extends well beyond demographics, with major economic, social, cultural, psychological and spiritual implications. And it is a evolution that hits developing nations harder than others, and not just because the majority of older persons live in developing countries, but because the tempo of ageing there is already — and will continue to be — far more rapid,” he said.

The Sheffield Institute for Studies on Ageing (SISA) has a core team of eight of the United Kingdom’s leading researchers into ageing from the fields of biomedical and health service research, sociology, nursing and palliative care. Some are world leaders in their work.

The results of their studies will be available to other researchers worldwide. As well as the five university departments represented by the core team, a further 21 groups throughout the University of Sheffield are undertaking research into ageing in areas as diverse as geography, health economics, architectural studies, engineering and genetic medicine.

SISA Director Professor Ian Philp has extensive links with colleagues in North America, Australia, Singapore and in Europe. He is an adviser to the World Health Organisation and to the European Commission’s research and development programme on ageing. He is also in charge of several programmes on research and education in the care of older people funded by the European Commission.

Other SISA executives have strong collaborative connections with international researchers and policy makers. SISA’s policy-related work deals with the use of scientific research in policies and practices at international, national and local levels. It covers highly topical national and worldwide questions concerning financial provision in old age and social and family care, inter-generational relations and social exclusions.

Little did I realise at the time, I’d be crawling, hopping, hobbling or just stopping still for at least ten weeks. Definitely no striding, nor much else for that matter. I was brought to a standstill, shot down like a duck during the hunting season. I was advised to take it easy. You can see how little my doctor knows me. This girl thinks easy is for the newly hatched, not an old bird like me. I take life head on, which is probably why my injury took so long to heal.

Aha the 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments comprising my foot thought. We have her now. And have me they nearly did. I hated immobility and vowed to defeat it. The news that I could be spending Christmas in plaster made me feel like a trussed turkey on the family Christmas table. There appeared to be no escape.

But escape I did. After visiting the wise old owl at the orthopaedic clinic four days before Christmas, I was finally given the verdict. I would walk again and avoid the seasonal pitfall of getting plastered. I could walk on my own two feet, but recovery would take time. Stay away from danger I was told. Keep swallowing pain killers and all will be well with the world. I left the clinic wondering if wine and pain killers did the same job.

Well, to stop this short story from turning into a book, that wise owl was right. With a little bit of rest and sensibility I can now pronounce myself mobile. I can walk, on both feet, with only the slightest hint of a wobble. In fact at times I’m almost striding. No longer feeling like an old bird, I have the enthusiasm of a spring chicken.

2012 is going to be a great year. Happy New Year to you all.

If you enjoy writing and have knowledge or experiences you’d like to share, why not click this link to publish here in the Triond writing community. You even earn a little cash for your efforts.

Recent writing by Val Mills includes:

Has Your Funny Bone Really Been Tickled?

1962 : Limbo Rocking Into The Teenage Years

These Old Bones Aint So Bad After All

We are all good about giving food and toys to others at Christmas time, but what about the rich, lonely elderly?  Sometimes just a simple gesture of kindness like offering to drive an elderly person to a church service is very appreciated.  If you have time, offer to go to the service with them.  Or offering to have someone in your home on the holiday itself is a welcome change to their lonely apartment full of sad memories.

Visiting the nursing home around the holidays is a great way to share.  Bringing caroling books to host a Christmas carol sing a long is one of many ideas.  Help an invalid decorate their tree that is now a cumbersome task for them. 

I have been guilty of spending a whole afternoon with an elder person that I was not looking forward to.  You lose track of time enjoying their wonderful stories and cannot wait to return.  A dreaded meeting suddenly becomes a joy.  And most elderly people are just so pleased to have your company.

One day some of us are going to be that older person without anyone.  You may live to be over one hundred and may outlive your children.  No one ever expects to be the sole survivor of a generation or anticipates all the things it may mean.  So this holiday season, open up your home and your heart to a special persons with no one left.  It is so easy to make a large difference with your presence.  Someday that recipient may be you or someone you once loved and cared about.

For imagination to roam free, you must have confidence in yourself and not be afraid of looking partner. What difference does the extra pounds, it’s essential to feel sexy in the eyes of her lover! To increase your confidence in yourself, find out your skills. Take a piece of paper and write five things you like about your physique. Submit your partner to do the same and you will see that when you feel good about your sexual desire is the highest. 

Second Stage: sexy wardrobe. No way to get into bed with an XXL shirt or pajamas! It’s time to pull desuurile with lace and transparent. 

Days 3 and 4 – the temperature increases 

At the restaurant on the beach, in the car, any place is suitable for a subtle seduction. Patting him discreetly, and whisper sweet words and see him passionately that you can not go all the way is a very exciting game, and once you are alone in your hotel room, changing the facts will be more intense and more agreeable. Do different games to extend foreplay in bed. 

Days 5 and 6 – Take time to love 

Two holidays are ideal for relaxation, to escape the busy schedule and to be back “on the same slice with your partner by finding the moments of intimacy often forgotten in the face everyday problems. 

For example, the awakening is one of the moments of the day carer can take advantage of the most partner: will not rush into cup of coffee, you love and you will feel entertained all day. 

Days 7 and 8 – Season nights 

How to make the nights less predictable? You propose to his partner to play a game: both the papers write sexual fantasies that I’ve never dared to put them into practice and then pull one at random. Each will then have to make more realistic scene. 

You can bring other delights in bed: strawberries, champagne, chocolates. Whichever method is chosen for seasoning sex parties, is essential to have fun and discover new possibilities of pleasure, without having to be afraid of taboos. 

And a body that has traces imbatranesca starts to decrease significantly more attractive. How to show exactly “aging” of the body, sexually? 

-Female: 
1. reduce blood flow to the genitals 
2. low levels of estrogen and testosterone in the body 
3. decreased vaginal elasticity and muscle tone 
4. wrinkling and “sagging” skin 
5. loss of skin luminosity 
6. little or painful uterine contractions during orgasm 
7. body length is much easier to initially keep their sexual desire and not 

Man-in: 
1. reducing testosterone levels, resulting directly reduce sexual desire 
2. reduce blood flow to the penis, resulting in weak or poorly maintained erections 
3. reduced sensitivity in the penis, resulting in diminishing erection 
4. low volume of sperm, resulting in reduction of sensation during orgasm 
5. wrinkling and “sagging” skin 
6. body length is much easier to initially keep their sexual desire and not 

Experts say all these “inconveniences” are no effective and immediate solutions so that there can be a satisfying sex life for couples that have exceeded 60 years. 

What are your? 

There is insufficient natural lubrication-for special gels, greenhouse heating and vasodilation 
No low-dose hormone level of hormones that help the body both physically and mentally, by maintaining libido 
Always there for thinning-penetration orgasms without ejaculation, which keeps intact sexual pleasure 

-         20.8% of Japan’s population is aged 65+

-         26.8 million people are on pensions in Japan

-         Over 25,000 people are over 100 years old

-         The average of a Japanese citizen is 44 (the highest in the world)

-         The birth rate is below the replacement level (number of children needed for the population to remain constant, normally around 2.1)

-         Only 13.6% of Japanese people are aged 15 or under.

Japan has an aging population. This is defined as ‘a population with a rising average age’.

What is causing the changes in Japan’s population structure?

People in Japan now have longer life expectancies. Women, statistically, will live to 85, men to 79. This is because people tend to have healthier diets, consuming low amounts of fat and salt. Japanese people also have access to excellent health and benefit systems, meaning they have good quality of life. 8.2% of the GDP (gross domestic profit) is spent on their health system, where 210 doctors serve 100,000 people. In the UK there are only 190 doctors per 100,000 people. Japan is also one of the most wealthy countries in the world, and is a member of the G8.

Since 1975 the Birth rate in Japan has been decreasing. This is believed to be because the age at which women are giving birth to their first born has risen. Over 36 years, from 1970-2006 the mean age rose 3.6 years, from 25.6 years old to 29.2 years old. During this time period the amount of people who did not get married rose, and the age of first marrying also rose. This decreased the birth rates as people have less time to have babies, decreasing the amount each couple has.

What are the implications?

The amount of elderly people in the country will rise, this will lead to:

·       Increased cost of pensions, as more people require payouts for longer.

·       Due to lack of workforce there will be less people to pay taxes, so taxes will have to rise to keep the country working

·       Increase of people living in elderly care homes. From 2000 the government has made every citizen pay £20/month to pay for these nursing home places.

·       More money needs to be spent on healthcare. To raise more money Japanese citizens now have to pay 20% of their medical costs. Previously they only had to contribute 10%.

WOW! I hardly expected to rouse such a storm of debate about this topic, when I read about it on the web, but I simply had to write the post, because the ethical issues involved are truly immense, and the possibilities endless for actions that people might take, once the test results are in. OK, right now this is a little far-fetched, because the experimental technology, though proven, is still relatively new, and truly accurate predictions on death dates may be some years away yet.

The pace of change, these days, however, in terms of advances in technology is frighteningly rapid, at times, and who can say for sure that it will not, within a few years, have reached the stage of telling the tested person in what year and month their death will probably occur? Imagine that the person concerned is you, and you want to be remembered in history for a long time. You might have months or years to plan your final actions, meaning they could be as dramatic as you like.

You could commit some unspeakable crime, knowing that you had almost no time left in which to answer for it, or get yourself into a mountain of debt that you would never have any intention of paying off. You could fulfill those boyhood ambitions without fear of reprisal because you would know that time was not really on your side, except in the most perverse sense of all. The questions raised by this news are endless.

If it does, as those announcing it expect, really take off, in terms of uptake, how then will the fact that a large swathe of the population know roughly how much time they have left sit with those who do not? Would anyone be happy going into partnership with someone who was confident of living for another forty years, say, when the other half of the equation had no idea?

Would a man who had been tested really not want his bride-to-be to undergo the test, to make sure they had time to look forward to, and would he call the marriage off if her result was unfavorable? These may seem like stupid questions now, but in a society where the ability to foretell lifespan became the normal thing, then nothing could be done about insurance, business generally or even relationships if the people concerned had not had the test.

That is, I hate to say it, the nightmarish possibility that such tests throw up. Big Brother wanting even more of a handle on the citizens through knowing roughly how long, barring accidents, they should be around for. It is very easy to see that the age test could well become mandatory for every child at puberty, easing the planning burden for pension provision, schools building, housing needs and so on.

WHOA! I hear you all crying out, this is the worst picture you could paint, and surely this simple test, with the obvious medical benefits in research terms, could never be allowed to get so out of hand, surely not?  The problem is that it is a private company starting off the testing process, and the profits lure must be huge, because they propose to offer humanity an answer to a question that has plagued every human on earth since the beginning. WHEN WILL I DIE?

Wisdom may dictate that this testing process, still in the infancy stages, be regardedby everyone with a huge pinch of salt, but the urge to know will override every hint of common sense, and the laboratory involved will be besieged with applicants. I will definitely not be among them, because I really do NOT want to know, and feel truly sorry for those that think they do.