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Happiness is the key to longer life

People who enjoy life the most, are three times more likely to live a little longer than those who do so the least, a study has claimed.

University College London researchers’ study of 10,000 English people also suggested that future disability and poor health could be predicted by the state of a person’s mind, the BBC reported.

The team said the effects were “large” and independent of age, sex and wealth.
Researchers tracked the psychological well-being of 10,000 people aged 50 to 100 over nine years as part of the university’s English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

They interviewed the participants three times between 2002 and 2011, assessing them using three measures of psychological well-being and testing their enjoyment of life with a series of questions.

They found that those recorded as having the greatest enjoyment of life at first interview were more likely than other participants to still be alive nine or 10 years later. 

The difference between those who enjoyed life the most and those who enjoyed life the least was marked, with nearly three times more people dying in the lower than greater enjoyment group.

Gum disease may trigger severe arthritis

A new research at the University of Adelaide has revealed strong evidence of a link between a common type of gum disease and severe arthritis.

The research found mice with gum disease developed significantly worse arthritis than those without the disease, said PhD student Melissa Cantley from the university's School of Medical Science.

Clinical studies are now underway to determine if treating periodontitis - a disease that results in red, inflamed gums and loss of bone and tissues that support the teeth - can help reduce the symptoms associated with arthritis, News.com.au reported.

More than 60 per cent of the world's population is affected by periodontitis, according to a media release from the university.

In rheumatoid arthritis, the body's immune system attacks health tissues in the joints, leading to inflammation as well as bone and cartilage loss, and affects up to two per cent of the population.

House dust can spur allergic asthma

A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic responses to indoor allergens, a new research has revealed.

The finding is the first to document the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link between allergic asthma and the environment.The research was conducted by scientists from the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Duke University Medical Center.

“Most people with asthma have allergic asthma, resulting largely from allergic responses to inhaled substances,” said the paper’s corresponding author Donald Cook, Ph.D., an NIEHS scientist.

His research team began the study to identify environmental factors that amplify the allergic responses.