Wrinkles are not due to genetics alone but also to stressful environmental factors, such as a divorce, abnormal weight loss and use of antidepressants, according to a study published Tuesday.


"A person's heritage may initially dictate how they age - but if you introduce certain factors into your life, you will certainly age faster. Likewise, if you avoid those factors, you can slow down the hands of time," said study author Bahaman Guyuron, an American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) member.

Researchers examined 186 pairs of identical twins because "they are genetically programmed to age exactly the same," explained Guyuron, professor and chairman of the department of plastic surgery at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center, in Cleveland, Ohio.

The study found that twins who had been divorced looked nearly two years older than their identical siblings who were married, widowed or single. Researchers found that antidepressant use and weight gain were also factors in perceived age difference.

In sets of twins younger than 40, the heavier twin seemed older, while in sets of twins more than 40 years old, the heavier twin seemed younger.

"The presence of stress could be one of the common denominators in those twins who appeared older," said Guyuron.

Continued relaxation of the facial muscles due to antidepressant use could explain sagging, and losing abnormal amounts of weight has harmful effects on health and appearance, the researchers found.

The study was published in the web-based version of "Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery," the ASPS medical journal.

Researchers at the University of Sydney report they have developed a special program that can be used along with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), a type of scan, to identify breast cancer that is more likely to spread to the lymph nodes.

They hope the technique might one day provide a diagnosis and prognosis before a woman goes into surgery. Patients with early breast cancer might avoid having numerous armpit lymph nodes removed for testing and women with truly benign lesions may be able to avoid surgery to rule out cancer, the Australian researchers said.

The program is a type of mathematical pattern recognition or statistical classification strategy (SCS) that organizes thousands of pieces of information to gauge whether or not breast tissue is malignant, and if so whether it is likely to spread to the lymph nodes.

Dr. Cynthia Lean, scientific director of the Institute for Magnetic Resonance Research, presented results of her research Friday at the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research meeting here. In an interview with Reuters Health, lead investigator Lean said the ultimate goal of her team is to develop "a total program of breast cancer screening and diagnosis that is completely noninvasive."

Currently, she and her colleagues have collected cell samples from 400 breast cancer patients who participated in three separate breast cancer trials. The samples were from fine needle biopsies, in which cells are collected with a needle to test for cancer after a suspicious mammogram. Initially they used MRS to look at the specimens, and determine if malignant samples had "a different array on the spectrum" than benign specimens. Spectroscopy uses the spectrum of light to identify the chemical components of a substance, each of which absorbs different wavelengths of light.

"And the specimens did appear very different," Lean explained. The next step involved identifying approximately 4,000 pieces of chemical formation in each sample. "With those 4,000 pieces of information, we were able to develop the statistical classification strategy program." She said that she and her colleagues are developing similar recognition programs for "10 or 12 other cancers, but we have achieved the greatest success with breast cancer."

MRS analysis using the statistical classification strategy identified 94% of the cancerous samples, with 2% false positives. It is also useful in termining which tumors were likely to spread to lymph nodes. Lean said MRS may be most useful as an adjunctive test for women "who have inconclusive mammography and fine needle biopsy. As an additional piece of information, MRS could be used to confirm malignancy without the need for an open biopsy." Moreover, she added, it could be used to confirm that the cancer had spread, or metastasized, to the lymph nodes. While Lean and colleagues are currently using MRS to analyze biopsy samples, they hope to use MRS for diagnosing and determining prognosis in patients.

Dr. Kenneth A. Bertram, colonel in the US Army Medical Corps and director of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, said that MRS is appealing because it "has the potential to reduce the need for open biopsy."

Asked if it was likely that MRS could someday be used as a completely non-invasive technique for diagnosis, he said "the physics folks tell us this is possible. And although it is likely to be expensive, remember CT (CAT scanning) was very expensive in the beginning."

And I'm leaving on a jet plane...



You've just staggered off a 12-hour flight. The clock says it's dawn, but your body says it's bedtime. You can't remember what day it is nor do you really care.


The fuzzy, queasy sensation of jet lag has sometimes been likened to having your brain gently squeezed - and now, a researcher in Britain says that feeling has scientific backing.

Kwangwook Cho, of the University of Bristol Medical School, found that chronic jet lag appears to shrink the frontal part of the brain, inflicting temporary loss of memory and cognitive skills. He studied 20 women flight attendants aged between 22 and 28 who had worked for at least five years for an airline and routinely flew across at least seven time zones. Women were chosen for the test because they generally suffered worse jet lag than men.

Cho carried out a scan of each woman, using magnetic resonance imaging, which provides a 3-D image of the brain, and assessed their performance in tests. Among the women had a short turnaround in flights, an area of the brain called the right temporal lobe was "significantly smaller" than women who had the 14-day turnaround.

Early maturation related to overweight.

Reuters citing researchers stated that young girls who are overweight tend to enter puberty at an earlier age, adding to the debate about whether the trend towards earlier maturation is a cause for concern.

''A lot of people are concerned that early maturing girls might feel isolated and different from their peers,'' said Paul Kaplowitz, a paediatrician at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine who authored the study of 17,000 girls.

Kaplowitz said in extreme cases, they can end up rather short because if they start growing early, they also have chances of serious psychological or physical problems,'' Kaplowitz said in a statement. ''These girls can simply be monitored,'' he added.

Writing in the journal 'Paediatrics, he found an association between heavier-weight girls and early puberty among white girls but the link was less apparent among black girls.

A well-publicised study published four years ago in paediatrics showed American children were hitting puberty earlier than they did in previous decades, and that black girls reached puberty about a year earlier on average than whites.


More black girls than whites are overweight.

Other studies have suggested that the bodies of heavier-weight girls may reach puberty earlier because they have more of a type of proteins called leptins, which are thought to trigger hormone releases that cause pubic hair to grow and breasts to form.



''The latest ... Growth data, which comes from a large National sample, shows that both boys and girls are getting their growth spurts earlier now than they were 30 or 40 years ago,'' she said. ''If environmental conditions are influencing girls to develop earlier than they used to, we ought to try to find out what they are because they are not likely to be healthy,'' she said.

Are You A Chocoholic? Succumb To Your Sweet Tooth!

Alright, so you have just gorged on your favourite bar of chocolate and are now suffering guilt pangs. Sounds familiar? Maybe you should read on and see if you feel better.

Research has contributed to findings that suggest that chocolates may not be the guilty pleasure they are thought to be.

Chocolates are derived from cocoa bean, the fruit of the cacao tree. It is true that chocolates are high in saturated fat (which is present in cocoa butter) and calories. However, there are findings that indicate that chocolates may have positive cardiovascular benefits.

For years people have been encouraged to eat more vegetables and fruits, owing to the presence of antioxidants in them. It is now believed that chocolates contain substances called "flavonoids", which are present in cocoa.

These are antioxidants, as also found in red wine, fruits , tea etc , which help the blood vessels relax and prevent blood clots. Sounds good ? Wait before you reach out for more because it is too early to conclude that eating chocolates may ward off heart disease.

Chocolates have also been lauded as a 'comfort food', contributing towards helping a person maintain a positive outlook. Consuming chocolate triggers off 'endorphins' in the body that psychologically make you feel good.

Further, it is believed that cocoa powder, and to a lesser degree, dark chocolate and milk chocolate also contain antioxidants. It is therefore a good idea to head for dark chocolate, as it contains more antioxidants than milk chocolate, and also has less fat and sugar.

Just as chocolate lovers like me are welcoming these new findings, you must remember that 'moderation' is the key word. Just as with all things in life, anything in excess does more harm than good! While it's okay to have that bite, see that you don't splurge.

Don't cheat on yourself and your body won't cheat you!