Scroll Up
Scroll Down
Play Play Play Play
Unregistered User
Click here if this is not your Personal Edition
 
Contact Us | Free E-Mail Updates | Journals | Register a colleague
 
 
Genetics
 
   
 
SEARCH   
Doctor's Guide Free CME
Medline
Congress Resource Centre
 

 EXPLORE :
   Most Read News
 All News  All News
 All Webcasts / CME  All Webcasts / CME
 All Cases  All Cases
 Congress Resource Centre  Congress Resource Centre
 All Medical Resources  All Medical Resources
 Medical  My Personal Edition



Warning | Privacy

 

 
 Recent news - Genetics
    FDA Approves Ecallantide for Treatment of Acute Attacks of Hereditary Angio-Oedema in Patients 16 Years and Older - (DGNews)
    A Novel Protective Prion Protein Variant that Colocalizes with Kuru Exposure - (N Engl J Med)
    Genotypes Do Not Modify Lung Function In Response to Asthma Treatment - (DGNews)
    Clinical and Mutational Spectrum of Neurofibromatosis Type 1-like Syndrome - (JAMA)
    Challenges Exist in Diagnosing Neurofibromatosis Type 1-Like Syndrome - (DGNews)

    News archive

     Recent webcasts/CME - Genetics
    • Optimizing the Use of Chemotherapy as the Backbone of Breast Cancer Treatment: An Update of the Latest Evidence
    • Genetic Prognostic Testing for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
      Alpha1-Antitrypsin Augmentation: Approaches and Benefits
      A Genome-Wide Association Study Exploring Statin-Induced Myopathy
      Prothrombotic States

      Webcasts/CME archive

       Recent cases - Genetics
        Rapid and Persistent Selection of the K103N Mutation as a Majority Quasispecies in a HIV1-Patient Exposed to Efavirenz for Three Weeks: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
        A Patient with Typical Clinical Features of Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis and Stroke-Like Episodes (MELAS) but Without an Obvious Genetic Cause: A Case Report
        Familial Esophageal Atresia
        Distal Myopathy in Multi-minicore Disease
        Compound Heterozygous Mutation of Aquaporin 2 Gene in Woman Patient with Congenital Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus

        Cases archive
          




        my personal edition > genetics > news
        divider

          E-Mail this DGReview to a colleague

        DGReview


        Chromosome Ends In Elderly Could Show Mortality Risks

        Lancet

        01/30/2003
        By Harvey McConnell


        Measuring the ends of chromosomes (telomeres) among older men and women could indicate their relative risks of dying from age-related diseases.

        Dr Richard Cawthon and colleagues at the Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States, said their findings are "the first research study showing that telomere length is predictive of survival in humans. It supports the hypothesis that telomere shortening is a fundamental process of ageing, contributing to mortality from multiple age-related diseases."

        They point out that there is a gradual loss of telomeric DNA in dividing somatic cells as people age, and this could contribute to replicate senescence, apoptosis, or neoplastic transformation. In the genetic disorder dyskeratosis congenita, for example, telomere shortening is accelerated, and patients have premature onset of many age-related diseases and early death.

        In the general population, however, whether people with longer telomeres live longer than those with shorter telomeres has not been tested before now.

        The researchers studied 143 men and women over the age of 60. When the study population were matched by age, and ranked by telomere length, done by blood DNA assessment, those in the top half for telomere length lived four to five years longer than those in the bottom half.

        People with shorter telomeres were found to have higher mortality rates. This was associated with a 3.18-fold increase in risk of death from heart disease for those in the bottom half of telomere length, to an 8.54-fold increased risk of death from infectious diseases for people in the bottom quartile of telomere length.

        "Our results lend support to the hypothesis that telomere shortening contributes to the rise in mortality rates from multiple diseases typically seen with aging, " Dr Cawthon and colleagues said, "Alternatively, telomere shortening might not affect mortality, but might be controlled by (and so serve as a useful indicator of) progression of a process of senescence that raises mortality rates by other mechanisms."

        They conclude that if telomere shortening is a fundamental process of ageing, " then it may be possible to extend the duration of healthy adult life using medical interventions that maintain telomere length."
        Lancet 2003;361:393-95.

        E-Mail this DGReview to a colleague   To print, use this version






        All contents Copyright (c) 1995-2009 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.



        The NTK initiative. Physicians helping physicians identify Need-To-Know science
           Feedback
        Please rate this article: Strongly DISAGREE...Strongly AGREE NTK logo
        Question 1 - Physicians need to become aware of this information as soon as possible. Question 2 - This information is likely to have an impact on the way physicians practice medicine.
        1
        2
        3
        4
        5
        6
        7
        Send