SciTechBits – Interesting Bits of Science & Technoglogy Served For You!

Researchers have found that, people with Alzheimer’s are least likely to develop cancer and people with cancer are least likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Though the reason is unknown, this finding coupled with an earlier research focused on cancer and Parkinson’s disease, shows a clear trend – cancer is linked to neurodegeneration.


A group of researchers recruited 3,020 people aged 65 and older, of which 164 people (5.4%) already had Alzheimer’s disease and 522 people (17.3%) already had a cancer diagnosis. All of them followed up for an average of 5 years to see whether they developed dementia and an average of 8 years to see whether they developed cancer. During the study, 478 people developed dementia and 376 people developed invasive cancer. Surprisingly, for people who had Alzheimer’s disease at the start of the study, the risk of future cancer hospitalization was reduced by 69% compared to those who did not have Alzheimer’s disease when the study started. For Caucasian people who had cancer when the study started, their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease was reduced by 43% compared to people who did not have cancer at the start of the study.

As people get older, their arms and legs become thinner, making them weak with more chances for falls and fractures.  Research is now showing why this is happening and how to handle it.

Researchers from Nottingham have been researching about this and had already shown that the food intake by the elderly cannot convert to muscles as fast as in their younger counter parts. Newer research by the same team, has now found that the suppression of muscle breakdown, which also happens during feeding, is blunted with age. They belive that a ‘double whammy’ affects people aged over 65. However the team think that weight training may “rejuvenate” muscle blood flow and help retain muscle for older people.

When they eat they don’t build enough muscle with the protein in food; also, the insulin fails to shut down the muscle breakdown that rises between meals and overnight. Normally, in young people, insulin acts to slow muscle breakdown. Common to these problems may be a failure to deliver nutrients and hormones to muscle because of a poorer blood supply.