Category Archives: Ageing

‘Almost beyond belief’: axing of UK teacher recruitment scheme will worsen crisis, say critics

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The government’s scrapping of the Now Teach scheme, which has overdelivered on targets for older workers, has sparked an outcry

Ministers have been accused of making a crisis in the recruitment of teachers even worse after axing funding to a much-praised programme helping older workers start a new career in the classroom.

An outcry is already beginning over the decision to axe the career change programme, with organisers complaining that there “will be barely anyone left to teach our children” unless Rishi Sunak lives up to his party conference pledge to prioritise education.

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Biden mistakes dead European leader for living one – for second time in a week

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President’s gaffes stoke concern over his age as election campaign against his presumptive opponent – also advanced in age – picks up

Joe Biden has twice made gaffes this week in which he told anecdotes wrongly identifying dead European leaders as having talked to him about the events of the attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

On Wednesday at a campaign fundraiser in New York, Biden reportedly referred to the former German chancellor Helmut Kohl as talking to him about European concerns about the attempt to stop the certification of his 2020 election win, when he apparently meant Angela Merkel. Kohl died in 2017.

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‘I just count the laps’: Canadian swimmer, 99, breaks three world records

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Betty Brussel sets records in the 100- to 104- year-old age class in Saanich, while inspiring members of local swim club

By the time an exhausted Betty Brussel finally swims to the finish and pulls herself from the pool, an Olympic athlete could have covered the same distance at least three times. But the 99-year-old Canadian’s quiet determination has led her to shatter world records and transformed her into an unlikely celebrity within the amateur swim community.

At a weekend swim meet in the British Columbia city of Saanich, Brussel broke the existing world record in the 400-metre freestyle, knocking nearly four minutes off the previous standard in the 100- to 104-year-old age class. She repeated her record-breaking performances in 50-metre backstroke and the 50-metre breaststroke that same day.

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Italy’s oldest man, Tripoli Giannini, dies at age of 111

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Giannini, nicknamed Tripolino, had said his secrets were light meals, no stress or smoking and taking each day as a gift

Italy’s oldest man, who credited “light meals and no stress” for his longevity, has died at the age of 111.

Tripoli Giannini, nicknamed Tripolino, died at his home in Cecina, near Livorno in Tuscany, on New Year’s Eve. He was the second-oldest man in Europe, after André Ludwig, a Frenchman who is 75 days older.

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Health concerns plague ageing Congress members returning to Capitol Hill

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Republicans Mitch McConnell and Steve Scalise join others in increased scrutiny over recent health issues

Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill as they race to reach a short-term funding deal by the end of the month to keep federal agencies open and avert a government shutdown. But worries about the health of two top Republicans loom over the high-stakes talks as politicians’ age has become a growing concern.

Speaking to reporters last week in Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, the 81-year-old Senate Republican leader, appeared to freeze for 30 seconds after calling the possibility of a shutdown “a pretty big mess”. The incident raised questions about his health and mirrored an earlier incident where he suddenly paused for several seconds while speaking to reporters at the US Capitol.

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‘Catastrophic’ forecast shows 9m people in England with major illnesses by 2040

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Cases of dementia, diabetes, cancer, depression and kidney disease expected to soar as growing numbers reach old age

Nine million people in England will be living with major illnesses such as dementia, diabetes, cancer, depression and kidney disease by 2040, according to projections health leaders called “catastrophic”.

In a rapidly ageing population, the number living with serious diseases will rise from almost one in six of the adult population in 2019, to nearly one in five by 2040, with huge implications for the NHS, social care and the public finances.

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A limit to ageing? Australian life expectancy is rising, but new report asks why few live to 110

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More people are making it to 100, but there’s little change in the proportion of ‘supercentenarians’, a report has found

Despite average life expectancy increasing, the proportion of Australians making it to age 110 has barely shifted since the 1960s, with a new report asking whether there is a limit to how far lifespan can be pushed.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Tuesday published its How long can Australians live? report, containing the latest life expectancy and longevity data. Over the past five decades, life expectancy in Australia has increased by 13.7 years for males (to 81.3) and by 11.2 years for females (to 85.4).

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A third of Britons wait ‘more than a month’ to discuss dementia concerns

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Alzheimer’s Society says fear and confusion delays discussion for 33% of those who think they or a loved one may have dementia

A third of Britons who have concerns about whether they, or a loved one, might have dementia wait more than a month to discuss their worries with others, a leading charity has found, despite early diagnosis being important for treatment, support and planning.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 55 million people have dementia worldwide, with 60-70% of cases thought to be down to Alzheimer disease.

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New York woman found breathing at funeral home after being declared dead

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The 82-year-old was pronounced dead at a Long Island nursing home, only to be discovered alive and then taken to a hospital

An 82-year-old woman was pronounced dead at a New York nursing home only to be found breathing three hours later at the funeral home where she had been taken, authorities said.

It was the second time in about a month something of the sort has happened in the US, according to officials.

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All South Koreans to become younger as traditional age system scrapped

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June will mark end of system that deemed newborns to be a year old, with a year added every 1 January

South Korea is to scrap its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standard – a change that that will knock one or two years off people’s ages on official documents but could take time to seep into daily life.

South Koreans are deemed to be a year old when they are born, and a year is added every 1 January. The unusual – and increasingly unpopular – custom means a baby born on New Year’s Eve becomes two years old as soon as the clock strikes midnight.

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‘We can be in bed by 1am – amazing’: veteran DJ Annie Mac’s new clubbing venture hits the spot

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A club night that ends at midnight is welcomed by those who – like the DJ – want a good time without partying all night long

Before Annie Macmanus – aka veteran DJ Annie Mac – started her four-hour set for her new night, Before Midnight, she wandered around the early arrivals saying hello. They all said the same thing: thank you. “It’s like I’m doing some kind of a public service,” she says.

At Islington Assembly Hall in north London on Friday night, the gratitude was real – with the mixed crowd delighted to be raving hard by 9pm, before many clubs have even opened, and knowing they’d be on their merry way home just after midnight, when “normal” clubbers are just getting started. Macmanus started the night, billed as “clubbing for people who need sleep”, because, at 43 and with children to care for, she no longer wanted to play sets all night. The DJ – who during her 17 years as one of the biggest DJs at BBC Radio 1 always declared that “raving is a state of mind” – also wanted to put on nights “for anyone who just wants to go out and loves nightclubbing but hasn’t really felt like nightclubbing is a place for them any more.”

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Scientists make further inroads into reversing ageing process of cells

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UK research could lead to development of techniques that will stave off diseases of old age

People could eventually be able to turn the clock back on the cell-ageing process by 30 years, according to researchers who have developed a technique for reprogramming skin cells to behave as if they are much younger.

Research from the Babraham Institute, which is affiliated to the University of Cambridge, could lead to the development of techniques that will stave off the diseases of old age by restoring the function of older cells and reducing their biological age.

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Ageing reversal: scientists rejuvenate tissues in middle-aged mice

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Prospect of medical therapies that rewind clock for humans edges a little closer

The prospect of medical therapies that rewind the clock on the ageing process has edged a little closer after scientists safely rejuvenated tissues in middle-aged mice.

Researchers in the US treated healthy animals with a form of gene therapy that refreshed older cells, making the animals more youthful according to biological markers that are used to measure the effects of ageing.

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Reasons to be cheerful: optimists live longer, says study

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Those with a positive attitude to life may lower their anxiety levels by avoiding arguments

People who have a rosy outlook on the world may live healthier, longer lives because they have fewer stressful events to cope with, new research suggests.

Scientists found that while optimists reacted to, and recovered from, stressful situations in much the same way as pessimists, the optimists fared better emotionally because they had fewer stressful events in their daily lives.

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Brains do not slow down until after age of 60, study finds

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Findings go against the assumption that mental processing speed declines from a peak at age 20

It is widely accepted as one of life’s bleak but unavoidable facts: as we get older, our brains get slower. But now a study, based on data from more than 1 million people, suggests that mental processing speed remains almost constant until the age of 60.

The analysis puts perceived reductions in speed down to people becoming more cautious as they get older. This could account for the large body of research that has concluded that mental processing speed peaks at about the age of 20 and undergoes a steady decline from that point onwards.

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If they could turn back time: how tech billionaires are trying to reverse the ageing process

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Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel are pouring huge sums into startups aiming to keep us all young – or even cheat death. And the science isn’t as far-fetched as you might think

In the summer of 2019, months before the word “coronavirus” entered the daily discourse, Diljeet Gill was double-checking data from his latest experiment. He was investigating what happens when old human skin cells are “reprogrammed” – a process used in labs around the world to turn adult cells (heart, brain, muscle and the like) – into stem cells, the body’s equivalent of a blank slate.

Gill, a PhD student at the Babraham Institute near Cambridge, had stopped the reprogramming process midway to see how the cells responded. Sure of his findings, he took them to his supervisor, Wolf Reik, a leading authority in epigenetics. What Gill’s work showed was remarkable: the aged skin had become more youthful – and by no small margin. Tests found that the cells behaved as if they were 25 years younger. “That was the real wow moment for me,” says Reik. “I fell off my chair three times.”

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Florence asks residents to pay utility bills of struggling pensioners

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Social impact of Italy’s 50% energy price rise is evident in city where 27.6% of the population is over 65

Florence residents are being asked to pay the utility bills of elderly people living alone and struggling to make ends meet as the city’s leaders seek to shield the most vulnerable from soaring energy costs.

The “adopt a bill” initiative begins in the next few days and comes as the social implications of a more than 50% hike in gas and electricity bills in Italy this winter start to manifest.

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Signs of premature ageing found in monkeys after hurricane

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Rhesus macaques in Puerto Rico appear to have aged by about two years more than expected

Monkeys that survived a devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico were prematurely aged by the experience, a study has found.

Scientists say the findings suggest that an increase in extreme weather around the world may have negative biological consequences for the humans and animals affected.

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A new start after 60: ‘I’m one of the world’s worst athletes – but I learned to skate in my 70s’

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Richard Epstein, a 78-year-old scientist with stage four prostate cancer, says that skating helps him to embrace uncertainty

The first time Richard Epstein went to his local ice-skating rink in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he was handed a free pair of skates. They had been left behind by a discontented customer. “I do things out of my comfort zone, and good things happen,” he observes.

This wisdom was borne out last December, when Epstein, now 78, skated in his first exhibition. His wife filmed his routine, which he performed with his coach, Teri Moellenberg, then his eldest daughter posted it on Twitter, along with a note that Epstein has stage four prostate cancer. Nearly 3 million people viewed it. Epstein is somewhat baffled by the response, describing himself as “just an old guy going around in circles”.

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Cold baths, cherry juice and sleep: the secret to staying fit in your 40s

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Despite aching backs and stiff joints, a growing number of elite athletes – from Zlatan Ibrahimović to Serena Williams – are pushing the clock back. So why can’t you? We ask the experts how to do it


Six years ago it looked as if Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s footballing career was approaching the final whistle. After Sweden’s early exit from Euro 2016, the striker announced his retirement from international competition. At 34, he was getting on a bit for an elite athlete. Cut to November 2021 and, days after firing in a spectacular free-kick for his club, AC Milan, Sweden’s record goalscorer was helping keep alive his country’s hopes of making the next World Cup. The retirement chat was over. “I am trying to prove that 40 is just a number,” he said.

Ibrahimovic had joined what feels like a growing club: the quadragenarian athlete holding back the clock. In an era of ever more punishing professional sport, these twilight stars seem to challenge notions that youth trumps all else. Members include American football superstar Tom Brady (44), the tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams (41, 40), Roger Federer (40), and Oksana Chusovitina (46), the eight-time Olympic gymnast from Uzbekistan.

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