Journal of internal medicine
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In recent decades, global life expectancies have risen significantly, accompanied by a marked increase in chronic diseases and population aging. This narrative review aims to summarize recent findings on the dietary factors influencing chronic diseases and longevity, primarily from large cohort studies. First, maintaining a healthy weight throughout life is pivotal for healthy aging and longevity, mirroring the benefits of lifelong, moderate calorie restriction in today's obesogenic food environment. ⋯ While adhering to core principles of healthy diets, it is crucial to adapt dietary recommendations to individual preferences and cultures as well as nutritional needs of aging populations. Public health strategies should aim to create a healthier food environment where nutritious options are readily accessible, especially in public institutions and care facilities for the elderly. Although further mechanistic studies and human trials are needed to better understand molecular effects of diet on aging, there is a pressing need to establish and maintain long-term cohorts studying diet and aging in culturally diverse populations.
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Demographers have studied the Japanese mortality pattern since Japan became the most longevous population worldwide, half a century ago. Nutrition and lifestyle were considered by epidemiologists, gerontologists and other scientists as the most important reasons explaining the Japanese superiority. In Okinawa, the mortality pattern is even more exceptional, but few demographers have pointed out this exception. ⋯ The older generations clearly experience a highly favourable mortality pattern, whereas the younger generations show mortality levels that are definitively higher compared to mainland Japan. This contribution considers which factors may explain such a situation, including the plausible invalidation of the age of some oldest in the population. We plea for in-depth demographic age validation that will enhance all scientific findings so far and boost the exceptional longevity in Okinawa.
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Multicenter Study
Prevalence and prognostic value of electrocardiographic abnormalities in hypokalemia: A multicenter cohort study.
Hypokalemia is common in hospitalized patients and associated with ECG abnormalities. The prevalence and prognostic value of ECG abnormalities in hypokalemic patients are, however, not well established. ⋯ ECG abnormalities were common in hypokalemic patients, but they are poor prognostic markers for short-term adverse events under the current standard of care.
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Nutrition profoundly influences the risk for many age-related diseases. Whether nutrition influences human aging biology directly is less clear. Studies in different animal species indicate that reducing food intake ("caloric restriction" [CR]) can increase lifespan and delay the onset of diseases and the biological hallmarks of aging. ⋯ Studies where animals are calorically restricted by providing free access to diluted diets have had less impact on lifespan than those studies where animals are given a reduced aliquot of food each day and are fasting between meals. This has drawn attention to the role of fasting in health and aging, and exploration of the health effects of various fasting regimes. Although definitive human clinical trials of nutrition and aging would need to be unfeasibly long and unrealistically controlled, there is good evidence from animal experiments that some nutritional interventions based on CR, manipulating dietary macronutrients, and fasting can influence aging biology and lifespan.