Appearances may not be deceptive
Monday December 14th, 2009
You may well be as young - or as old - as you look, doctors claimed today.
A study of twins has concluded that a person's appearance by age may be linked to their biological age.
The
Danish study is one of a number of medical oddities to be published in
the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal.
The perfect heart-beat, the benefits of Nellie the Elephant for resuscitation and the fate of Charles Darwin are among other off-beat items of research.
The Danish researchers used geriatric nurses, young men and elderly women to estimate the age of each of 1,800 elderly twins from their photographs. The twins were aged 70 or over.
The researchers found that twins who were rated as older than their siblings were also highly likely to die before then, especially if there was a big difference in the age ratings.
Researcher Professor Kaare Christensen, of the University of Southern Denmark, said perceived age was a "robust biomarker" of survival after the age of 70.
* A second study from Austria argues that the ancient "golden ratio" is found right at the heart of humanity - in healthy blood pressure.
The ratio was used by classical architects and can be found in the Parthenon in Athens and Notre Dame Cathedral, which are designed with a ratio of 1.68 to 1. It is also supposed to be found in the face of actor George Clooney.
The
Austrian researchers, led by Professor Hanno Ulmer, of Innsbruck Medical
University, say that the same ratio between the maximum and minimum blood
pressure counts indicates a reduced risk of suffering a heart attack.
Their study of 160,000 blood pressure readings found that a ratio of 1 to 1.7459 was linked to a risk of a fatal heart attack.
* The popular song Nellie the Elephant really does help to train people in heart resuscitation techniques, according to a new study.
The song is a well-established part of training because it is thought it can help resuscitators achieve the correct tempo of 100 compressions per minute.
This was tested using 130 volunteers at Coventry University, UK, and the song was compared with the disco classic, That's the Way I Like It, which has a slightly faster tempo.
Although the correct tempo of Nellie the Elephant is 105 beats per minute, the researchers found it helped 32 per cent of participants get close to 100 compressions.
Just nine per cent achieved the correct rate with the other song compared with 12 per cent who were successful with no music.
The search is now on for songs with a beat even closer to 100 per minute.
* Charles Darwin probably suffered from a condition called cyclical vomiting syndrome, closely linked to migraine, according to Professor John Hayman, of Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
British Medical Journal December 14 2009
Tags: Australia | Europe | General Health | Geriatric Health | Heart Health | UK News
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