Monday, May 6, 2013

The secret to a longer life

The hypothalamus is a small structure located deep within the brain. It plays a critical role in controlling growth, reproduction and metabolism - but now it could hold the key to ageing too.

A team of scientists in the US looked at this region of the brain in mice. They found that blocking a chemical in this area increased the animals' lifespan. Healthy mice typically live for between 600 to 1000 days.

But the rodents in the study were living about a fifth longer without suffering problems that are common in old age, such as muscle loss or...

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Advances in technology and medicine continue to improve our quality of life. They also increase our life expectancy, that is how long we are expected to live. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages to this trend?

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