This week in the Wall-Street Journal Dr. Els Torreele, director of the Access to Essential Medicines Initiative of the Open Society Foundation's Public Health Program based in New York, and Dr. Josh Bloom, director of chemical and pharmaceutical sciences at the American Council on Science and Health also based in New York, were asked an interesting question; should patents on pharmaceuticals be extended to encourage innovation?
Conventional political wisdom holds that economics will dominate the Presidential contest this year. That may be true, but increasingly clashes over scientific issues roil the American political waters: think global climate change, sex education, evolution, and Plan-B the so-called morning after pill.
Americans are living longer than ever – and that’s something to be thankful for. As Time points out, our oldest population is getting older as well.
Forget the Finger Wagging: It’s Aging, Stupid
It was reported on the NBC Today Show that type 2 diabetes is on the rise worldwide – the number of adults suffering from the disease has doubled since 1980, and will double again by 2030. Why the uptick? Anchor Natalie Morales attributed the increase to “weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle.” There’s only one problem: It’s not true.
A story from the Agence France-Press wire service documents the strides being taken toward greater understanding of the aging process. The AFP highlighted a new technique out of France by which “cells from elderly donors can be rejuvenated as stem cells, erasing the ravages of age and showing that aging is reversible.”
And Naked Came the Mole Rat
Here at the Alliance for Aging Research we are huge fans of the African naked mole rat. Now, why would anyone love a 4-inch squinty-eyed hairless wrinkled rodent with buck teeth?
An Early Salvo
When world class scientists and physicians call for a global project to modify human aging, it is time for policymakers in Washington and elsewhere to take notice.
In January, the Alliance held a briefing that discussed obesity in the U.S. aging population. Two experts in the field discussed the negative effects of obesity on chronic disease in this group. A new study presents more evidence that obese and overweight aging Americans could be putting their health at risk.
