We all understand intuitively that we’re going to get old and our bodies will begin to break down. Yet a surprising number of people don’t want to think about what it will mean for them.
Lori Jack, a seniors nurse with the St. Albert and Sturgeon Primary Care Network, will host a free session this Monday, Aug. 24, to discuss the natural aging process and what we can expect from it.
“By going through what happens to our body as we age it helps them to understand whether some of the symptoms they’re experiencing are expected or not,” she said.
Topics to be covered will include a discussion of the aging process itself, but also dispelling some of the prevalent myths about aging, such as the idea that all older people will lose things and become forgetful.
The session will also cover sleep and how it influences aging, practical active living and how to prevent memory loss and dementia.
“The key focus of healthy lifestyles is on promoting health and preventing injury,” Jack said.
For more information contact the Primary Care Network at 780-419-2214.
While it may not be the most pressing oral health concern, most tea drinkers have undoubtedly heard that enjoying one of the world’s most popular drinks can lead to some staining on their teeth.
Fortunately for them, a University of Alberta researcher in the School of Dentistry has found a way to reduce tea’s ability to stain your teeth, and it’s something many tea purists will say you should be doing anyway – adding a little milk.
The university reports that Ava Chow recently conducted a study on the prevention of tea-induced tooth staining as way to introduce undergraduate dental hygiene students to research, but made a discovery that will have many feeling better about the pearly whites.
Casein, which is the main protein in milks, was found to bind the tea’s tannins, which are the compounds also found in red wine and coffee that are responsible for tooth staining, thereby preventing some of the staining.
Her research did not weigh in on whether the tea or milk should be added to the cup first.
Also at the U of A, new research in the area of genome engineering is showing promise with respect to health-care applications, according to the university.
Basil Hubbard, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, has published research results demonstrating a new technology that significantly improves the ability of scientists to target specific problem genes causing a range of conditions, and essentially edit them to replace the damaged code with healthy DNA.
Since many diseases are caused by genetic mutations, including hemophilia, sickle-cell anemia, muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, the potential future applications are plentiful.
Although the research is still in the early stages, Hubbard described the research as being potentially “transformative in medicine.”
