Disease mongering — defined by American and British researchers quoted in The Guardian newspaper on April 11 as “corporate-sponsored creation of disease” — is here to stay. Eleven papers in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine argue that “new diseases are being defined by specialists who are often funded by the drug industry.”

In recent years, inflammation has been linked more and more to major life-threatening conditions, including serious brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s. Now, it has been boosted into a starring role in heart disease. As Jack Challem explains in his excellent book, Inflammation Syndrome, “the current thinking on heart disease is that it results from chronic low-grade inflammation of the arteries.” (1) In 2001, a European study found that adults with common chronic infections were three times more likely to develop fatty deposits in the key arteries that supply the brain. (2)

Medical research is developing a new focus — to find ways to extend our years, to promote a longer, healthier lifespan. This is excellent news for the older population, which is swelling around the globe.

Just one example of recent research is the discovery that the loss of a certain gene called p63 may play a fundamental role in the aging process. Researcher Alea Mills and her team at New York’s Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory found premature aging in laboratory mice whose p63 gene had been eliminated. The difference was remarkable. The p63-deficient mice looked almost pitifully older, had progressive curvature of the spine, hair loss, weight loss, reduced fitness and a much shorter life span. Mills is hopeful that these findings establish that p63 will create a balance “that enables organisms to live relatively cancer-free for a reasonably long time.” (1)

The ability to hear well may be a much more vital component of a healthy life than many of us realize. A recent study found that hearing loss can be accompanied by a failing memory and depression.

No, This Is A Bogus Idea

When I last looked at my birth certificate, it seemed that retirement age is creeping up on me. But nah, I don’t want to retire, even though some of my male friends do. Nonetheless, I’ve been thinking about some of the images that accompany male retirement.

For instance, around the age of 60, the male often plunges into bouts of deep depression and melancholy. He wakes up in a sweat staring aimlessly at the ceiling. His once bright hopes, dreams and ambitions creep past like a beaten fighter. In life he is no longer a contender but an opponent...nearly punch drunk by the vagaries of a competitive society. He has taken too many beatings, suffered too many defeats, and experienced too many hits. He realizes that he will never make a million, run his own company, be his own boss, write that memoir, hit the tenth inning homerun, score the winning touchdown, hit the outside jump shot or be a rock star. He feels fat and out of shape. Everyone around him seems so young. Should he get divorced, dye his hair, have an affair, run off to Tahiti like Gauguin to paint and womanize? Who would want him? A fat balding middle-aged baby boomer that is in a rut called security.

A Potential Non-Drug Treatment

By Shuk Ching Ho And Kwok Shing Wong Thomas (hsjho@inet.polyu.edu.hk)