The Detective's Virtues

 

The detective's virtues:  thinking of coherent explanations of the facts (source).

Cheers, 

Colin 

Exposome and accelerated aging

Nature news has the scoop on an important new study on the exposome and accelerated aging in different regions of the world.  From the news item:

Social inequality and weak democratic institutions are linked to faster ageing, as are other environmental features such as high levels of air pollution, finds a study spanning four continents1. Education was one of the top factors that protected against faster ageing.

The study also showed that ageing is accelerated by less-surprising factors such as high blood pressure and heart disease. But the link to social and political influences could help to explain why rates of ageing vary from country to country, the authors say.

The abstract from the study:

Protective and risk factors can drive healthy or accelerated aging, with distinct environments modulating their effects. The impact of the exposome—the combined physical and social exposures experienced throughout life—on accelerated aging remains unknown. We assessed delayed and accelerated aging in 161,981 participants from 40 countries (45.09% female; mean age, 67.06; s.d., 9.85) by measuring biobehavioral age gaps (BBAGs), defined as the difference between estimated age from protective and risk factors and chronological age, in cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. BBAGs predicted chronological age, followed by regional and exposomal factor analyses, linked to accelerated aging. Europe led in healthy aging, while Egypt and South Africa showed the greatest acceleration; Asia and Latin America fell in between (Cliff’s delta (δd) = 0.15–0.52; all P < 0.0001). Accelerated aging was more evident in eastern and southern Europe; globally, it was also associated with lower income (δd = 0.48–0.56, P < 1 × 10−15). Exposomal factors of accelerated aging include physical (air quality), social (socioeconomic and gender inequality, migration) and sociopolitical (representation, party freedom, suffrage, elections and democracy) determinants (all Cohen’s d (d) > 0.37, P < 0.0001). BBAGs predicted future functional (r (Pearson correlation) = −0.33, P < 1 × 10−15, d = 0.70) and cognitive declines (r = −0.22, P < 1 × 10−15, d = 0.44), and larger BBAGs (P < 0.0001, d = 1.55). Healthy and accelerated aging are influenced by physical, social and sociopolitical exposomes, with considerable disparities across nations.

Cheers, 

Colin 

Potter on Bioethics (55 years ago)

 

Van Rensselaer Potter (1911-2001) was a biochemist who devoted his career to the study of cancer, and in 1970 he proposed the term “bioethics” to emphasize the two most important ingredients in achieving what he called “new wisdom”- biological knowledge and human values.  Article “Bioethics, the Science of Survival” (1970)

Cheers, 

Colin

"The Pro" (3 passages)

I've been re-reading The War of Art, a book I often draw inspiration from with respect to harnessing grit and fortitude during the academic research, writing and publishing process.  Here are a few passages worth noting that I think apply aptly to academia:

The professional prepares mentally to absorb blows and to deliver them.  His aim is to take what the day gives him.  He is prepared to be prudent and prepared to be reckless, to take a beating when he has to, and to go for the throat when he can.  He understands that the field alters every day.  His goal is not victory (success will come on its own when it wants to) but to handle himself, his insides, as sturdily and steadily as he can. (p. 82)

....The professional cannot take rejection personally because to do so reinforces Resistance.  Editors are not the enemy; critics are not the enemy.   Resistance is the enemy.  The battle is inside our own heads.  We cannot let external criticism, even if it is true, fortify our internal foe.  That foe is strong enough already. (p. 89)

....The professional does not permit himself to become hidebound within one incarnation, however comfortable or successful.  Like a transmigrating soul, he shucks his outworn body and dons a new one.  He continues his work. (p. 95)

Cheers, 

Colin

One Health Paper Published

My latest publication is a Forum article in BioScience’s special issue on One Health.  BioScience  is the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, a nonprofit scientific association created in 1947 that is dedicated “to the use of science to inform decision making for the benefit of the science and society”.

The abstract:

The One Health concept has been invoked to foster collaborations at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health to address zoonotic disease risk. But the One Health concept is also helpful in framing and addressing the public health imperative to prevent and delay the onset of the chronic diseases of late life, to extend healthy life expectancy in ways that are sustainable and beneficial to animal and environmental health. This is an urgent global health imperative because healthy life expectancy is not increasing at the same pace as life expectancy, leading to more years being lived in poor health. This Forum article advances the Geroscience Perspective on One Health, a framework that draws attention to the interdependence of healthy human aging and animal and environmental health by emphasizing the importance of pursuing nonpharmacological (environmental and lifestyle) and potential pharmacological (gerotherapeutics) interventions to increase healthspan.

Cheers, 

Colin

A "Hack"

I am re-reading The War of Art, a book I read about 6 years ago and blogged about back then.  

I find the book a fascinating and moving read for many reasons.  Today I just want to make a note of Pressfield's account of what he calls "the hack".  This insight really resonates with me and is one that  I have tried to sustain for a quarter of a century in my academic writing, I believe it is the reason why my motivation for research and writing today burns just as passionately today as it did when I first completed my PhD. 

A hack (p. 152):  someone who second guesses their audience.  A hack doesn't write from their heart, but rather asks "what is the market looking for?"  The hack writes hierarchically, which means they write what they think will play well in the eyes of others versus what they authentically want to write or think is important.  In writing hacks function like politicians who first ask the public what they want before taking a position on such matter.  They pander to their audience.  

Cheers, 

Colin   

Taurine and Aging

Science has a new study on the effects of taurine on aging.

The editor's abstract:

Some studies (including work published in 2023 by Singh et al.) have indicated that taurine concentrations decline with age, and supplementation has been suggested to improve both healthspan and lifespan. Fernandez et al. now report results in mice, nonhuman primates, and three distinct large human cohorts studied longitudinally (i.e., with repeated measurements of the same individuals) that yield a more complex picture. The authors found large interindividual variation in circulating taurine concentrations and an increase in taurine concentrations with age for women. There was also no clear association of taurine concentrations with measures of health status. Thus, the possible beneficial effects of taurine supplementation are likely to depend on a range of variables and individual context. —L. Bryan Ray

Nature news has a news item as well. 

Cheers, 

Colin

Drone footage of places I have lived

Drone footage of places I have had the good fortune to live over the past have a century. 

Hamilton (25 years)

Bristol (3 years)

Aberdeen (1 year)

Birmingham (2 years)

Manchester (1 year)

Waterloo (5 years)

Oxford (1 year)

Kingston (17 years)

Los Angeles (3 months)

Manoa (3 months)

Ankara (half a year)

Life has certainly been an amazing journey!  I wonder where I will be exploring next.

Cheers, 

Colin

One Health and Geroscience

I was very pleased to learn the news that the journal Bioscience has accepted for publication my latest paper on translational gerontology and the One Health concept.  The abstract:

The One Health concept has been invoked to foster collaborations at the intersection of human, animal and environmental health to address zoonotic disease risk.  But the One Health concept is also helpful in framing and addressing the public health imperative to prevent and delay the onset of the chronic diseases of late life, to extend healthy life expectancy in ways that are environmentally sustainable and beneficial to animal and planetary health.  This is an urgent global health imperative as healthy life expectancy is not increasing at the same pace as life expectancy, leading to more years being lived in poor health.  This Forum article advances what is called the Geroscience Perspective on One Health, a framework which draws attention to the interdependence of healthy human aging and animal and environmental health by emphasizing the importance of pursuing non-pharmacological (environmental and lifestyle) and potential pharmacological (“gerotherapeutics”) interventions to increase healthspan.

I will post a link when the article is published (open access) in the next few weeks.

Cheers, 

Colin