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Articles on Ageing

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They’ve got their own issues. Chicago Man

Getting older doesn’t make you more conservative

Seventy years ago Swedish sociologist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Alva Myrdal pointed out in Nation and Family the generational bias inherent in democratic political systems: young voters will be old…
Old is the new young, in tennis anyway: at 35 years old, Germany’s Tommy Haas is still winning tournaments. EPA/Marc Mueller

You’ll never see another teenage tennis champ – here’s why

Lleyton Hewitt won the Brisbane International last weekend at the age of 32. Roger Federer and David Ferrer, two of the world’s top ten players, are over 30. And 35-year-old crowd favourite Tommy Haas…
Old people aren’t museum relics. Mr Push

Hard Evidence: can we afford an ageing population?

Stories about “population ageing” often have a number of things in common – it is bad, it is new, and it will overwhelm us all. The major fear is a burden of cost and caring that more older people will…
Cancer disproportionately affects the old. lnmurrey

Ageing cells reveal features of cancer

The older we get, the higher our risk of cancer. With age, we accumulate exposure to environments and chemicals that increase the risk of acquiring cancer-causing mutations. But the danger doesn’t increase…
Use-by dates: human chromosomes with their telomeres highlighted. NASA

Do Finnish men age faster when unemployed?

Men who are unemployed for more than two years show signs of faster ageing in their DNA, according to a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers at the University of Oulu, Finland and…
Increased longevity often comes with multiple health conditions and disability. Image from shutterstock.com

Australian women outlive men then struggle with disadvantage

Women live longer and healthier lives than men but face lower rates of pay, are less likely to participate in paid work and accumulate less superannuation to retire on, which leads to disadvantage later…
One day, if you’re lucky. Niall Kennedy

Despite risk, kids can be space flight pioneers

Humanity is standing on the cusp of a huge technological leap. Commercial space flight could place something that has been the preserve of a chosen few (around 500 people) who’ve completed years of gruelling…
Antioxidants are often portrayed as the good forces that fight evil free radicals. Markus Lütkemeyer

Health Check: the untrue story of antioxidants vs free radicals

Antioxidants are a commonly promoted feature of health foods and supplements. They’re portrayed as the good forces that fight free radicals – nasty molecules causing damage thought to hasten ageing and…
He’s in crisis, but we don’t know why. Ubi Desperare Nescio

Hard evidence: is the midlife crisis real?

Hard Evidence is a series of articles that looks at some of the trickiest public policy questions we face. Academic experts delve into available research evidence to provide informed analysis you won’t…
C. Elegans alive (left) and dead (right). Wellcome Trust

The worm that died in a blaze of blue glory

Never has “feeling blue” carried such a sense of finality. A new study has revealed the simple worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) meets its death in a flash of azure. And, according to researchers, the blue…
Does my brain look small in this? Scans can be used to detect brain shrinkage. Flickr/bucaorg

Brain scan library will help us understand normal ageing

As many as 500 brain scans are performed in Scotland every week. These scans are mostly used to diagnose - or rule out - serious diseases like strokes and tumours, but this is not their only function…
I’m 110 and still going strong. Nuno Cruz

Lust for life: breaking the 120-year barrier in human ageing

In rich countries, more than 80% of the population today will survive past the age of 70. About 150 years ago, only 20% did. In all this while, though, only one person lived beyond the age of 120. This…
Worrying about ageing is a waste of your time. Faith K Lefever

If you want to live longer, do nothing

I want to live longer and help others do the same. I assumed the most effective way to do that is by understanding the science of ageing and then engineering solutions to extend human lifespan. That is…
Social isolation in old age is linked to an increased risk of early death, the study found. EPA/DENNIS SABANGAN

Social isolation trumps loneliness as early death indicator in old age

Social isolation in old age significantly increases the risk of an early death and outstrips loneliness as a factor associated with mortality, a UK study has found. The new findings, published in the journal…
Ageing couple Gorges and Ann Laurant (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva) negotiate illness and death in Amour. EPA Claudio Onorati

The thorny issue of home care in Michael Haneke’s Amour

During our lifetime, we face a series of developmental tasks that are universal to the human condition. The last of these stages comes in our final years, when we face our mortality, reflect back upon…

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