Latest news with #DavidCutler
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Avian flu steamrolls at penny-grabbing Uncle Sam
NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - There's more to defending the United States than supplying the military, but the country's budget priorities have been thrown badly out of whack. The Trump administration just canceled a $770 million contract with Moderna (MRNA.O), opens new tabto develop, opens new tab an avian flu vaccine and the rights to buy the jabs. For the price of seven F-35 fighter jets, the government is taking a big risk against a formidable foe. Pandemics are no longer the long-shot threat that many politicians once believed. The last one killed more Americans than all the country's wars combined. It also cost some $14 trillion, mostly from lost business revenue, according to research, opens new tab from the University of Southern California. Lingering health effects add $4 trillion to the tab, Harvard University economist David Cutler estimated, opens new tab. The H5N1 virus already has caused egg prices to rise. Flu is also notorious for its ability to mutate and spread to humans. A deadly infectious disease similar to the one in 1918 might lead to 70 million deaths worldwide. Yanking money for Moderna's research follows a bad pattern. Trump appointed a man who champions debunked anti-vaccine science to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He also has proposed slashing the already shrunken, opens new tab $45 billion budget for the National Institutes of Health by about 40%. Moreover, the president cut billions of funding for Harvard University, one of the world's biggest medical researchers. Other curious decisions abound. The government, for example, recently awarded $500 million to develop so-called universal vaccines that target multiple strains of a virus, but it's all going to a single project linked, opens new tab to Trump's former NIH chief, according to CBS News. It also uses old technology, clinical trials won't start until next year, and the target for Food and Drug Administration approval is 2029. Moderna's use of messenger RNA to trigger immune responses is far more promising and more easily put into wider production. The company was aiming for a greenlight on its H5 vaccine by early 2026. From there, it's easier to match a circulating strain and produce millions of doses. The effort probably will be slowed rather than stopped. Moderna might secure funding from abroad or use its own cash. Even so, if an avian flu starts to spread, the United States may have to get in line behind other countries scrambling for limited production. As far as cost-benefit analyses go, this one is dangerously bird-brained. Follow Robert Cyran on Bluesky, opens new tab.
Medical News Today
6 days ago
- Health
- Medical News Today
Vitamin D supplements may help slow down aging by 3 years
Vitmain D supplements may impact etelemore length and helo slow down aging, according to new research. Bowery Image Group Inc./Stocksy Telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, are an important component of healthy aging. One study found that vitamin D supplementation helps to minimize the shortening of telomeres, which happens as people get older, and thus may protect against diseases tied to age and biological aging. This data adds to the potential protective components of vitamin D, which experts should consider alongside potential risks and additional research. As the authors of this study explained, telomeres help protect the ends of chromosomes. Telomere shortening might increase the risk of death and certain diseases. David Cutler, MD, a board certified family medicine physician at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today that 'When telomeres become too short, cells enter senescence (a non-dividing state) or apoptosis (programmed cell death). Either condition of cell inactivity or death is thought to contribute to aging and age-related diseases.' The researchers found that vitamin D supplementation helped minimize telomere shortening in white blood cells, which could help slow down biological aging. For this study, researchers used data from the VITAL trial. This trial included a representative sample of adults in the United States who received vitamin D3 supplements, omega-3 fatty acid supplements, or both for around five years. It was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, so some participants received the supplements while others received the placebo. All female participants were at least fifty-five years old, and all male participants were at least fifty. This data specifically examined a cohort that visited the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Centre. At baseline and follow-up visits, participants participated in in-person assessments and provided fasting blood samples. Researchers examined telomere length in leukocytes , which are the body's white blood cells, among participants who received supplements and those who received the placebo. Researchers were able to analyze over 2,500 samples from over 1,000 participants. They examined telomere length at baseline and at two- and four-year follow-up, though some data was missing. They conducted a statistical analysis using models to adjust for various covariates. They also did an exploratory subgroup analysis to see how different factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, impacted results. Aside from a higher body mass index in the omega-3 fatty acid supplement group, the placebo and intervention groups had similar baseline characteristics. Missing data was also similar between the two groups. Vitamin D appeared to have a positive impact on telomere length. Among participants who received vitamin D, there was only minimal shortening of telomere length at two and four years. In contrast, there was substantial telomere shortening in the placebo group at both time points. Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation appeared to have no significant impact on telomere length. The subgroup analysis further suggested that the effects of vitamin D on telomere length were significant for participants not taking medication for cholesterol, but not for participants who were taking cholesterol medication. Vitamin D also minimized telomere shortening at a statistically significant level for non-white participants. There was no significant interaction with body mass index, but researchers did observe that participants who were not obese had significantly minimized telomere shortening. Also, taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements did not appear to impact the role of vitamin D on telomere length. This analysis of telomere length in this study population does have some limitations. First, most participants were white, and all participants were at least fifty, so it may not be possible to generalize the findings to other groups. Researchers acknowledge that this was a post-hoc analysis of an already completed study and that the study was not originally designed to look at the effects of supplements on leukocyte telomere length. The analysis also excluded participants who did not have data on leukocyte telomere length. It's possible that unaccounted-for factors influenced the results, and the study also has any other limitations found in the original study. Regarding exploratory subgroup analysis results, researchers encourage caution, note limited power, and say people should look at the data as 'hypothesis-generating.' After four years, there were about 37% missing cases. Researchers acknowledge that this reduced power and could be why they did not find omega-3 fatty acid supplementation affected leukocyte telomere length. Future research can explore why vitamin D may have these effects on telomere length. For example, it could be related to an enzyme called telomerase that helps to lengthen telomeres and how vitamin D may protect against DNA damage. Cutler also noted the following limitations of the study: 'The present study involved only a relatively small number of people, looked only at telomeres in white blood cells, and did not look extensively at the health impact of these telomere changes. So, the clinical implications one can derive from this study are quite limited.' This study suggests the potential benefits of vitamin D in relation to aging. The authors suggest that the preservation of telomere length in this study 'could mean a 3-year decrease in aging.' 'As we know already, vitamin D supports bone, immune system and reduces inflammation, but this study is linked directly with telomere preservation which ties into aging and disease prevention. This [study] gives more of a general idea that vitamin D3 could do more than just helping your bones but actually slowing down the cellular age, impressive!' 'If this is confirmed in future studies, this could mean that daily [vitamin D} supplements could actually help reduce risks for age-related diseases. This is a door for new medical guidelines in the future and will be a huge deal for preventive medicine.' — Yoshua Quinones, MD However, it's also important to note the potential risks of vitamin D supplementation. 'While 2,000 units of vitamin D is unlikely to have any negative effects, there may be some risk to vitamin D supplements as they can cause kidney damage and other adverse effects in excessive quantities. Since vitamin D is fat soluble, it can accumulate in our bodies, causing toxicity. So, any potential, as yet unproven benefits of vitamin D need to be weighed against its known risks,' Cutler said. Supplements Nutrition / Diet Seniors / Aging antiaging
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How Old Are You Really? New Test Calculates Biological Age and Longevity With 90% Accuracy
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." You've heard it for years: Age is just a number. But there's been a huge focus lately on biological age, which is how old your cells are. There are a bunch of different ways to calculate this number, including tests you can order online. But researchers have just discovered a new way of calculating your biological age—and they say it's the most accurate one you'll find. It's called the Health Octo Tool, and it uses a slew of different metrics to figure out your biological age. Meet the experts: David Cutler, M.D., a family medicine physician at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA; Parul Goyal, M.D., a geriatrician at Vanderbilt Health in Nashville; Shabnam Salimi, M.D., Ph.D., physician-scientist and an investigator at the University of Washington Medicine Healthy Aging & Longevity Research Institute Here's why there's so much buzz around it right now, plus why knowing your biological age may help you live longer. The Health Octo tool is a new health assessment tool that uses several metrics taken from a physical exam and routine lab tests. When used together, it can help determine a person's biological age and predict their risk of disability and death, according to a scientific paper published in Nature Communications. The tool centers around an aging concept called health entropy, which is how much molecular and cellular damage the body accumulates over time, as well as how that damage impacts organs and bodily systems. To create the tool, the researchers analyzed data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging, analyzing participants' medical history as well as data from physical exams and other medical tests. The researchers also included data from two other large studies on more than 45,000 adults. The scientists created what they called a Body Organ Disease Number, which was based on the number of organ systems, like the cardiovascular, respiratory, and central nervous systems, that were impacted by disease. They also factored in whether a person had a history of cancer or stroke to get a score between one and 14. The researchers also created something called a Speed-Body Clock and Speed-Body Age to break down how a person's biological age impacts their walking speed (which is a common measure of function in older people). Also in the mix: Disability-Body Clock and Disability Body Age, which analyzes how getting older impacts the risk of developing cognitive and physical disability. All of those metrics can be gathered from a person's medical history, physical exam, and test results to calculate a person's aging process. Ultimately, the researchers say that the Health Octo tool is better than major tests used for assessing biological age, including the frailty index, a widely-used test that looks at a person's susceptibility to age-related health issues. The researchers found that the test can predict the odds of developing disability and death with 90% or higher accuracy. The Health Octo tool uses some of the same data from existing biological tests, but takes things a step further. Many of the tests that are currently used focus on the impact of certain diseases, but don't consider how those diseases and minor disorders impact a person's overall health, the researchers explained in the paper. 'Health decline is multi-dimensional,' says lead study author Shabnam Salimi, M.D., Ph.D., physician-scientist and an investigator at the University of Washington Medicine Healthy Aging & Longevity Research Institute. 'So, we decided to develop a multi-dimensional health metric that captures intrinsic aging and rate of aging.' Knowing your biological age has become more of a fun health flex lately, but doctors say it's important to know this number beyond bragging rights. 'There is some value to seeing the things you should be doing,' says David Cutler, M.D., a family medicine physician at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. Meaning, if you know your diet isn't as clean as it should be, and your biological age is older than your chronological age (i.e. how many years you've been alive), it should be a wake-up call to do things differently. 'Biological aging mechanisms underlie accumulation of chronic diseases,' Dr. Salimi says. 'So, translating health to rate of aging can help to better understand biological aging mechanisms and response to interventions that target biological age.' Parul Goyal, M.D., a geriatrician at Vanderbilt Health in Nashville, agrees. 'Knowing your biological age is a good tool so that patients are more aware of what their health looks like,' she says. 'They can then make proactive, positive changes in their health to be more physically fit and emotionally engaged.' While Dr. Cutler points out that 'you probably know that you should be doing things differently anyway,' if you're not on top of your health habits, he notes that a higher biological age may motivate some people to make changes. Of course, that doesn't mean that it will. 'Is that going to make people drink less, avoid smoking, and eat better? We don't know,' Dr. Cutler says. Doctors recommend doing a lot of different things to age in a healthy way, although none are shocking. Here's the advice Dr. Cutler and Dr. Goyal share with their patients: Eat a healthy, varied diet—ideally the Mediterranean diet. Limit alcohol or avoid it entirely. Don't smoke or quit smoking. Try to be active on a daily basis. Stay on top of routine healthcare, including cancer screenings. Wear a helmet when you ride a bike. Use your seatbelt in the car. Try to minimize stress in your life. Focus on getting good sleep. Try to stay mentally stimulated. Socialize with friends and family. Dr. Salimi says that she and her fellow researchers are now working on developing an app to make the Health Octo Tool easier to use. You Might Also Like Can Apple Cider Vinegar Lead to Weight Loss? Bobbi Brown Shares Her Top Face-Transforming Makeup Tips for Women Over 50
