Latest news with #Borg
The Age
5 days ago
- Health
- The Age
Why 36 to 46 is the most important time of your life for your health
For many of us, our 20s are a decade of hedonism – of giving barely a passing thought to our health. It's the era where we might smoke, binge-drink and shun exercise. But new research shows that by our mid-30s, this kind of party lifestyle will take its toll. Researchers in Finland found there were relatively few consequences for heavy drinking and smoking in people's 20s, but those who continued these habits found their health begin to deteriorate at 36. Over the course of their lifetime, they were found to result in a plethora of health problems including higher rates of depression, cancer, heart disease, lung disease and early death. In fact, the decade from 36 to 46 is a pivotal one for our future wellbeing. 'What you do in that window shapes the health you'll experience in the decades to come,' says Dr Philip Borg, an NHS oncologist and founder of The Longevity Doctor, a clinic specialising in preventative medicine. Accumulative damage It's in our mid to late 30s that we stop 'getting away' with unhealthy behaviour, as the cumulative effects of our lifestyle begin to show their impact. 'Chronic diseases are caused by long-term, silent processes like inflammation, triggered by habits including poor diet, stress, drinking, smoking and lack of exercise, which can slowly damage your cells, arteries and brain, starting decades before symptoms appear,' says Borg. Loading Prior to this age, much of the damage can be undone – for instance, people who quit smoking by the age of 35 were shown in a 2022 study of half-a-million Americans to have a similar long-term mortality risk to people who have never smoked. But the rates of lung cancer caused by smoking begin to rise steadily in the 40-44 age range, steadily for women and more rapidly for men, according to Cancer Research UK.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Why 36 to 46 is the most important time of your life for your health
For many of us, our 20s are a decade of hedonism – of giving barely a passing thought to our health. It's the era where we might smoke, binge-drink and shun exercise. But new research shows that by our mid-30s, this kind of party lifestyle will take its toll. Researchers in Finland found there were relatively few consequences for heavy drinking and smoking in people's 20s, but those who continued these habits found their health begin to deteriorate at 36. Over the course of their lifetime, they were found to result in a plethora of health problems including higher rates of depression, cancer, heart disease, lung disease and early death. In fact, the decade from 36 to 46 is a pivotal one for our future wellbeing. 'What you do in that window shapes the health you'll experience in the decades to come,' says Dr Philip Borg, an NHS oncologist and founder of The Longevity Doctor, a clinic specialising in preventative medicine. Accumulative damage It's in our mid to late 30s that we stop 'getting away' with unhealthy behaviour, as the cumulative effects of our lifestyle begin to show their impact. 'Chronic diseases are caused by long-term, silent processes like inflammation, triggered by habits including poor diet, stress, drinking, smoking and lack of exercise, which can slowly damage your cells, arteries and brain, starting decades before symptoms appear,' says Borg. Loading Prior to this age, much of the damage can be undone – for instance, people who quit smoking by the age of 35 were shown in a 2022 study of half-a-million Americans to have a similar long-term mortality risk to people who have never smoked. But the rates of lung cancer caused by smoking begin to rise steadily in the 40-44 age range, steadily for women and more rapidly for men, according to Cancer Research UK.
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Rafael Nadal's French Open dominance can be examined by looking at numbers such as 14 and 112-4
PARIS (AP) — Rafael Nadal retired late last season after a career filled with notable accomplishments, including a total of 22 Grand Slam singles titles. Nothing stands out as much, though, as his success at the French Open — which is why there is a statue of him near the main entrance to the tournament site. 'It's probably one of the biggest challenges that you can have in the tennis tour, playing Rafa at Roland-Garros,' is how rival Novak Djokovic put it last year. 'We know his records there. ... You have some times when he's really in the zone and in the groove, not making many errors. You feel like he's impenetrable. He's like a wall.' Ahead of this year's tournament at Roland-Garros, where Nadal will be honored during a ceremony at Court Philippe-Chatrier after Sunday's day session, here is a look at some of the numbers associated with the 38-year-old Spaniard at the only major tennis tournament played on red clay. 14 That is the total haul of singles championships won by Nadal at the French Open, more than other tennis player — male or female — collected at any Grand Slam tournament. It's not even close, really. In Paris, the man in second place on the list in the Open era (since 1968) is Bjorn Borg with six. Chris Evert won the women's trophy seven times. 112-4 That's the win-loss record for Nadal at the French Open, giving him a career winning percentage of .966. The only four losses came in 2009 against Robin Soderling in the fourth round, against Novak Djokovic in the 2015 quarterfinals and the 2021 semifinals, and against Alexander Zverev in last year's first round. 6-0 Nadal went unbeaten against rival Roger Federer at the French Open, with victories in four finals and two semifinals. Nadal's record there against Djokovic was 8-2. 14-0 If Nadal reached the final at Roland-Garros, he won the trophy, winning all 14 title matches there, from his first in his tournament debut in 2005 to the last at age 36 in 2022. 333-37 That's Nadal's record in sets at the French Open. He was only pushed to five sets three times, going 3-0 in those matches by beating John Isner in 2011, Djokovic in 2013 and Felix Auger-Aliassime in 2022. 39 Nadal's longest winning streak at the French Open came from 2010 to 2015, a 39-match span during which he earned five of his trophies there. ___ AP tennis:
Malay Mail
20-05-2025
- Science
- Malay Mail
‘Silent guardians' of the fields: What to know about Asian barn owls that are helping Malaysian farms fight rat infestations for less
GEORGE TOWN, May 21 — The Asian barn owls, natives of Malaysia, are known as 'silent guardians' — whose voracious appetite for rats protects valuable crops on local farms. Since 2014, the Barn Owl and Rodent Research Group (Borg) from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been encouraging the conservation of barn owls and introducing the species to padi farms and oil palm plantations as natural pest control agents. Borg, spearheaded by Associate Professor in Pest Management Hasber Salim, has successfully introduced thousands of artificial nest boxes to attract barn owls to oil palm plantations and farms nationwide since then. Recently, 20 artificial nest boxes were installed in padi farms in Kepala Batas to reduce pesticide costs and increase yield — a collaborative effort by Borg, Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas), Global Giving Grant and Corteva Agriscience. But what do you actually know about this local species? Associate Professor Hasber Salim displays a pellet that a barn owls regurgitated after consuming rats. — Picture by Opalyn Mok Here are some facts about the barn owls:
Malay Mail
20-05-2025
- Science
- Malay Mail
Barn owls vs rodenticide: Why scientists want you to ditch poison and trust this local bird instead for sustainable farming
GEORGE TOWN, May 21 — The Barn Owl and Rodent Research Group (Borg) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) is pushing for a reduction in rodenticide use in plantations and fields to prevent secondary poisoning of other non-target species such as birds, fish, and reptiles. Associate Professor Hasber Salim, who leads Borg, said some oil palm plantations and paddy farmers are using highly toxic second-generation rodenticides, which pose a threat to the natural predators of rodents, which includes the Asian barn owl. 'We are trying to encourage the conservation of barn owls as they can be implemented as biological control agents of rodents in oil palm plantations and paddy fields,' he said in an interview with Malay Mail. An adult barn owl has a voracious appetite and can consume up to three rodents per night. However, Hasber said secondary poisoning from ingesting rodents that have consumed second-generation rodenticides is one of the biggest threats to these owls. 'We have worked with various oil palm plantations and farms nationwide to introduce artificial nest boxes to attract barn owls to these places and to reduce the rodent population and reliance on rodenticides,' he said. He added that corporations often refuse to stop using rodenticide, so Borg is hoping to push them to switch back to first generation rodenticides that are less toxic to the owls. To note, first-generation rodenticides often require multiple feedings over several days to kill a rodent, whereas a second-generation dose is likely to kill in one feeding. 'Even after introducing barn owls to reduce the rodent population, we know they would not stop using rodenticide entirely so a compromise is to encourage them to use the less toxic rodenticides,' he said. An installation of nest boxes at a paddy field by the Barn Owl and Rodent Research Group. — Pictures courtesy of Borg Trials and setbacks in owl conservation Borg, established in 2014, has been studying barn owls and rodents in the past decade and has implemented multiple projects introducing the owls in various situations. This included a project to introduce barn owls into urban settings to reduce rodent populations, specifically in Subang Jaya and around the USM campus. 'I would not say the project in Subang Jaya was a failure but we discovered that the bright moving lights of vehicles affected the sight of the owls' sensitive eyes,' he said. Furthermore, whenever people spotted the owls in the city, they chased after them and used flash photography that further frightened the owls, he added. 'Somehow, people get excited when they see the owls,' he said. As for the project around USM grounds, Hasber said 20 artificial nest boxes were installed around the area, but only a small number of barn owls were attracted to live in them. 'We do not have a large population of barn owls here because of insufficient food for them,' he said. In oil palm plantations and farms, the artificial nest boxes that Borg installs are often made of wood and placed on a stilt that is about 12 to 14 feet high. 'It has to be high enough so that people could not reach it and not too high that it could tip over when there is strong winds,' Hasber said. At its aviary in USM, Borg has studied owlets that were rescued from nests where the mother owl was unable to feed all of its nestlings. This allowed the group to learn about the growth, the habits and the diets of the owls up close before releasing the bird back into the wild. 'We let them learn to hunt rodents within the aviary and once we are confident that they can survive in the wild, we will release them in the paddy fields,' he said. He said sometimes, people would find injured owls and bring them back to Borg to be rehabilitated and released once again. Though Borg sometimes brings young barn owls out for exhibitions as part of educational campaigns to push for their conservation, he said the team is careful not to tame the owls. 'We do not want them to be tame because we plan to release them to the wild so that they can survive in the wild on their own,' he said. Samples preserved in jars and display boxes for research at USM's Borg. — Picture by Opalyn Mok Establishing barn owls in East Malaysia The Asian barn owls are native to West Malaysia, but there used to be none in East Malaysia, so Borg conducted several projects to introduce the species there. It took a few attempts, but they finally managed to translocate eight pairs of barn owls to Sabah about 10 years ago. Hasber said translocating owlets from Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah does not work, as they would return due to a strong homing instinct. 'They are very smart creatures, so even if you bring them to another country, they will find their way back here,' he said. So Borg devised a plan to bring eight pairs of owls to Sabah and breed them there, so that the owlets born in the location will consider it their home. 'It was successful as the owls, including the original eight pairs, continued to stay there and now, there are thousands of barn owls there,' he said. Moving forward, he said Borg will continue to work with plantations and paddy farms to install more nest boxes to encourage the use of these natural pest-control instead of relying on rodenticides. 'Barn owls are the best method in sustainable farming that does not poison the environment or kill non-targeted species in the farms,' he said.
