GOOD NEWS

Heart protector

Couch potatoes who start exercising in later life can still significantly cut their chances of developing coronary artery disease, suggests a study in the journal Heart. The authors of the study say that while optimal health is likely to be enjoyed by those who exercise all their lives, it is not too late to start. Regular exercise, even if started in older life, still confers many benefits and substantially cuts the risk of heart disease. The authors based their findings on 312 adults between the ages of 40 and 68 who had confirmed coronary artery disease and 479 volunteers matched for age and sex.

Battling allergy

British researchers are developing drugs designed to stop allergens from entering the body, thus rendering them harmless. The research takes a completely new approach to the treatment and prevention of allergies. “The technology is based on our earlier discovery of how allergens, the substances that cause allergy, enter the body through the surface layer of cells that protect the skin and the tubes of the lungs. The drugs we are developing - called Allergen Delivery Inhibitors (ADIs) - are designed to disable these allergens so that they can no longer eat through the protective cell layer and block the allergic reaction before it occurs. The effect will be like avoiding allergens altogether,” the researchers report.

BAD NEWS

Asthma-obesity link

A new asthma gene provides an unexpected link between asthma and obesity, according to researchers at Sydney’s Garvan Institute. They found that a fatty acid binding protein called aP2, which is known for its role in diabetes and obesity, is also present in the lung where it is crucial in controlling inflammation in asthma. “There’s up to three times the risk of being asthmatic if you are obese: the more obese, the greater the risk. We know that obese asthmatics who lose weight have large improvements in their asthma,” the researchers say in their report.

Anaemia risk

Men and women older than 65 years of age with low testosterone levels are at increased risk of becoming anaemic, a team of US researchers report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. “Low testosterone levels should be considered a potential cause of anaemia in older men and women, and in patients with nutritional deficiencies or in whom nutritional supplementation has been ineffective,” they say.