The Cilento Initiative on Aging Outcomes (CIAO) study has been a decade in the making, and this month, researchers will gather in Acciaroli, Italy to review their progress and plan their next steps. Launched in 2016, the CIAO study seeks to identify key factors that promote healthy aging and extreme longevity.

The region of Cilento in southern Italy is home to a remarkable 300 residents who are over 100 years old and in robust health. This area was also the original source of research for Ancel Keys, the American physiologist who studied the influence of diet on health and promoted the benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Scientists hope to reveal the longevity secrets of the Cilento region by using an array of tools to measure metabolomics, biomes, cognitive dysfunction, and protein biomarkers for risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, kidney disease, and cancer. They will also conduct psychological, social, and lifestyle surveys to gain a more comprehensive understanding.

“There is no single secret to living a long, healthy life,” said Salvatore Di Somma, MD, the study’s lead Italian investigator. “It is many secrets, most of which we are only beginning to understand and more importantly, learn how they might be applied to the well-being of everybody.”

The CIAO study is a multi-institution collaboration that includes Sanford Burnham Prebys, an independent nonprofit biomedical research institute in San Diego, the Sanford Stem Cell Institute at University of California San Diego, University La Sapienza in Rome, and Great Health Science.

A symposium will take place on May 22-23, featuring scientists describing their work and findings. The event is titled “CIAO Study: A decade of science on healthy aging, stem cells, and the revealed secrets of longevity.” Understanding how we age and how we might age better is a timeless pursuit, said David Brenner, MD, president and CEO of Sanford Burnham Prebys.

Current CIAO projects are leveraging genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, metabolic, proteomic, and environmental analyses to identify key contributors to extreme longevity. Researchers are using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived from the centenarians to model age-related and metabolic stresses in human 3D organoids.

“This study will provide new insights into the development of regenerative medicine strategies for promoting healthy aging and treating age-related conditions,” said Tatiana Kisseleva, MD, PhD, professor of surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Preliminary findings are expected to be presented at the symposium.

The University of East Anglia (UEA) has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of cardiology. Scientists have developed a revolutionary new way of uncovering the “true age” of your heart using MRI scans. This innovative technique is set to transform how heart disease is diagnosed, offering a lifeline to millions by catching problems before they become deadly.

The research team, led by Dr Pankaj Garg from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and a consultant cardiologist at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, has developed an advanced MRI approach that measures not just your chronological age but also how well your heart is holding up. This allows doctors to determine your “functional age” – essentially, how old your heart acts.

The team studied MRI scans from 557 people, including 191 healthy individuals and 366 with conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity. They found that in healthy people, the heart’s functional age was similar to their chronological age. However, for patients with health issues, their functional heart age was significantly higher.

For instance, a 50-year-old with high blood pressure might have a heart that works like it’s 55. This means that people with conditions like diabetes or obesity often have hearts that are aging faster than they should – sometimes by decades. By using this new MRI method, doctors can spot trouble early and take action to prevent heart attacks or strokes.

Dr Garg said, “We found that an MRI scan can reveal your heart’s ‘functional age’ – how old it acts, not how old you are.” He added, “This is a game-changer for keeping hearts healthier, longer. Heart disease is one of the world’s biggest killers, and our new MRI method gives doctors a powerful tool to look inside the heart like never before and spot trouble early.”

The research was led by UEA in collaboration with several other institutions, including the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the National Heart Research Institute Singapore, and others. It was funded by Wellcome.

PhD Student Hosam Assadi from UEA’s Norwich Medical School said, “It’s thrilling to see how this MRI technique could change lives. We’ve found a way to spot hearts that are aging too fast, and that could mean catching problems early enough to fix them.”

This revolutionary new approach has the potential to save countless lives by giving doctors a powerful tool to diagnose heart disease early on. By knowing your heart’s true age, patients can get advice or treatments to slow down the aging process, potentially preventing heart attacks or strokes. It’s about giving people a fighting chance against heart disease, and this research is a crucial step in that direction.

The world is facing a silent health crisis that threatens to claim millions of lives prematurely. A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has made a groundbreaking discovery: the consumption of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) is linked to a significant increase in preventable premature deaths worldwide.

For those unfamiliar, UPFs are industrially formulated products made with little or no whole foods and high amounts of artificial ingredients. They have become a staple in many households, replacing traditional meals made from fresh and minimally processed ingredients.

The study analyzed data from eight countries – Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States – and found that for every 10% increase in UPF consumption, there is a corresponding 3% increase in all-cause mortality. This translates to a staggering number: in 2018, an estimated 124,000 premature deaths were attributed to UPF consumption alone in the United States.

The researchers also modeled data to estimate that the percentage of preventable premature deaths due to UPF consumption varies from 4% in countries with lower UPF consumption to almost 14% in countries with the highest UPF consumption. This is a wake-up call for global action, as high UPF consumption has been linked to 32 different diseases, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer, and depression.

The lead investigator, Dr. Eduardo Augusto Fernandes Nilson, emphasizes that addressing UPF consumption should be a global public nutrition priority. He notes that while high-income countries have relatively stable UPF consumption rates, low- and middle-income countries are seeing an increase in UPF consumption, which poses a significant threat to public health.

As the world grapples with this new information, it’s essential to recognize the dangers of ultraprocessed foods and take collective action to promote healthier dietary patterns. By making informed choices about what we eat, we can work towards reducing the burden of preventable premature deaths and creating a healthier future for all.