Social activity in old age aids

A new study suggests older adults who remain socially engaged may be less likely to experience declines in motor skills like strength,speed and dexterity.
Researchers who followed the health of 900 people in retirement homes and elsewhere found that those who had the most social activity experienced the least decline in their motor skills. The report appears in The Archives of Internal Medicine.
The researchers,led by Dr. Aron S. Buchman of the Rush University Medical Center,examined each volunteer over a period of about five years. They assessed their motor skills,looking at the strength in their arms and legs and at their ability to walk and perform other tasks. The volunteers were also asked to give information about their social activities. While poor motor skills could make it harder for someone to take part in these activities,Dr. Buchman said the study found evidence that it worked both ways.

Obesity in young adulthood raises pancreatic cancer risk
Obesity is known to increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. But a new study suggests the risk is greatest among people who were already overweight during their teenage years or obese during their 20s and 30s.
Adults who were overweight as teens were twice as likely as similar adults who had never been overweight to develop pancreatic cancer later in life,and people who were obese as young adults were at more than twice the risk of adults who had never been obese,the study found.
The study compared 841 pancreatic cancer patients with 754 healthy people matched by age,race and sex. Personal interviews were done to obtain detailed histories of the participants’ height and weight at each age period,as well as information about alcohol use,smoking and family and personal medical backgrounds.
Smoking and diabetes also increased the risk of pancreatic cancer,with obesity accounting for 27 per cent of cases and smoking for one-quarter of all cases. “Diabetes is a risk factor,but even without diabetes,obesity increases the risk,” said Donghui Li,a professor of cancer medicine at the University of Texas and an author of the new study.
—NYT