At a meeting sponsored by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the Medicare Diabetes Screening Project (MDSP), former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, experts in diabetes research and education, and representatives of senior-serving organizations from a four-state area gathered in Washington, DC to draw attention to the need for increased screening for diabetes among older adults ages 65 and older insured by Medicare.

“Diabetes is a major health threat for seniors and a driver in escalating Medicare costs,” said Daschle. “Screening and early diagnosis are critical to managing diabetes effectively and to prevent the onset of the disease for those at risk. And yet, less than 10 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are screened annually for diabetes, even though Medicare offers a free diabetes screening benefit. We have to do better.”

“When diabetes is undiagnosed and untreated, it can be devastating, and new government statistics show that older adults are especially vulnerable,” said Nancy Whitelaw, Senior Vice President and Director, Center for Healthy Aging of NCOA. “That’s why it is crucial that we create awareness of the benefits that Medicare offers for diabetes screening, and coach our seniors to ask their health care providers about being tested for diabetes, and if diagnosed, take up ways to improve their self-management of this dangerous disease.”

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The European Congress on Anti-Aging & Aesthetic Medicine (ECAAAM) is proud to welcome the support of the University of Mainz for its 2nd annual event (15th – 17th October, Mainz, Mainz Congress Centre). ECAAAM is a cutting edge congress that provides medical professionals, scientists and industry personnel with the training and education they need to treat age-related dysfunctions, disorders and diseases.

The support from the University demonstrates that ECAAAM is a valuable event in the European medical calendar, and illustrates the importance of this medical speciality to treat the effects of aging via non invasive and safe invasive techniques.

The University of Mainz Medical Center and the Faculty of Medicine of The Johannes Gutenberg University warmly welcomes the speakers, participants and experts in the field that convene in Mainz for ECAAAM. As the world’s population is progressively aging, anti-aging medicine is an area of increasing medical need. Aesthetic medicine is one of the fastest growing areas of medicine and accommodates substantial demand by the public in the developed world. Being highly innovative, a large body of new research results and subsequent therapeutic procedures is published every year. Professor Dr Grabbe, Director, Dermatological Clinic of the University Hospital commented “This conference will contribute to the exchange of ideas, new research results, innovative therapeutic procedures and medical information on this exciting field”.

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Older mice are more susceptible to proteoglycan-induced arthritis (PGIA). Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Immunity & Ageing have shown, for the first time, that young mice are completely resistant, but become fully susceptible to the disease with age.

Tibor Glant, from Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, worked with a team of researchers to investigate the effects of immunological senescence on susceptibility to arthritis. He said, “Our results suggest that, while the young can effectively regulate their immune response to proteoglycan, in older mice these mechanisms are partially lost. This ‘physiological’ loss of control may lead to sustained activation of autoreactive T cells and auto-antibody production, directing the immune system against self antigen and culminating in joint inflammation in genetically susceptible animals”.

The researchers conclude that complex age-related changes in interactions between T cells and antigen presenting cells, and reduced generation of regulatory T cells, may lead to impaired immune regulation and the development of autoimmune disease. Glant said, “Increasing incidence of rheumatoid arthritis with age has been repeatedly shown in the human population, hopefully this mouse model will go some way towards explaining why”.

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Cult skincare brand SKIN.NY(R) have issued legal proceedings against beauty giant, Boots the Chemist, for misleading the public. In a recent blaze of publicity, Boots the Chemist claimed that their much-lauded Boots No.7 Protect and Perfect was the first anti-wrinkle cream to be proven to be effective in clinical trials. This is untrue. In fact, SKIN.NY Radical Restructure Complex(R) containing QAL-100(R) was the first complex skin cream with proven clinical trials published in the BJD over 6 years earlier in October 2003.

SKIN.NY(R) also gives faster, broader skincare results. SKIN.NY(R) achieves more in three months than Boots No.7 does in six – SKIN.NY(R) delivers an additional 10% in wrinkle reduction. In fact the “inactive” control cream used in the SKIN.NY(R) study was as effective in 3 months as the Boots Serum was in a year. This also makes SKIN.NY(R) more cost-effective – three month’s supply of SKIN.NY(R) costs GBP99.00 whereas six month’s of Boots No.7 is GBP197.50.

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Scientists in Germany have discovered a gene that links the gum disease periodontitis and increased risk of coronorary heart disease (CHD) and although they don’t yet fully understand the underlying mechanism of the link, they urged dentists to make sure they diagnose and treat cases of periodontitis as early as possible to mimimize the risk of heart disease.

The discovery, was the work of Dr Arne Schaefer, of the Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology at the University of Kiel, and colleagues. Schaefer presented their findings to the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Vienna on Monday 25 May.

CHD is the leading cause of human deaths worldwide, and periodontitis, a type of gum disease that results in loss of connective tissue and the bone that supports the teeth, is the major cause of tooth loss in adults over 40 years old.

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