StemCell Therapy

In my previous two articles, I focused on the social and dietary influences on longevity. This week I will be looking at the impact of the environment on our life expectancy. How timely then, to build on the positive effects of the recent pandemic on the change in our behaviours. Over the last 5 months of lockdown, we have experienced a dramatic improvement in air quality and climate change. There has never been a better time to take responsibility for both our health and our planet.

Below, I have attempted to provide the latest understanding of the environment on our health and advise how to mitigate the risks:1.Air quality: In Europe alone, there have been thousands of fewer deaths as a result of reduced road traffic and industrial emissions due to the recent lockdown. This is largely due to the dangerous effect particulates have on our respiratory and cardiovascular systems. London has had some of the highest levels of Nitrogen Dioxide pollution in the world (just behind Beijing and New Dehli). However, the Mayor of London has made significant improvements to reduce harmful emissions (by up to 20% in the last 4 years). In addition to this, electric and hybrid vehicles could not come at a better time.2.Sun exposure: This will not only make you look older, but will cause damage to the skins genetic material and put you at risk of skin cancer. You should use a daily facial moisturiser of at least spf30 and a similar spf for your body if you are exposed. Lighter skin will require higher spf. It is a delicate balance, as the sun is also important for Vitamin D production, and one study has actually shown increased longevity with sun exposure (only by 7 months), which may be a result of those who have healthier diets, higher Vitamin D or more active lifestyles.3.Smoking: This goes without saying. There is also a non-linear relationship to the amount smoked, so even smoking a couple of cigarettes per day can have significant risks. Thankfully, the smoking ban in public places has reduced the risks of passive smoking.4.Light emission: This is a theoretical risk from backlit screens, as it impacts on your internal body clock (Circadian Rhythm) and can disrupt sleep, a factor in longevity. I would recommend wearing blue-light filter glasses after sunset, and change the settings on your phone/devices to night shift which cuts down the blue light emissions. Ideally, one should not use backlit screens within 2 hours of bedtime.5.Background radiation: Predominantly from X-rays or CT scans, although the radiation for different procedures vary widely, and usually the benefit outweighs the risk. Radon occurs naturally in the ground and areas such as Cornwall have high levels, contributing to higher levels of lung cancer, but these risks are still relatively small. We are also exposed to radiation when flying. A return transatlantic flight is the equivalent of one Chest X-ray. However, this amount of radiation is still extremely small, and unless you were travelling extensively, it would have very little overall effect. There has been a lot of debate around the effect of wireless radiation from high mobile phone use. The jury is still out and the WHO have categorized it as possibly carcinogenic , but the Health Protection Agency has found no consistent evidence that it is harmful.6.Higher Altitudes: it is difficult to know if this is due to the cleaner air, but many communities in the Blue Zones who live beyond the average life expectancy, are in mountainous regions.7.Pesticides: These have evolved over the decades, and we no longer use highly toxic pesticides such as DDT, which is still detectable in peoples bodies, even now. The regulation has become much stricter, so the residue found on produce is hundreds of times lower than the amount known to cause harm. There is ongoing debate over the advantages of organic natural over synthetic pesticides and if there is any significant benefit. It is still advisable to wash your fruit and vegetables, but mostly to prevent infections such as Coronavirus, Norovirus or E.Coli.8.The Hygiene Hypothesis: Is a popular belief that we are over sanitised leading to a dysfunctional immune system. This is a misnomer, as it is more related to changes in our diet and urban lifestyle than being too hygienic. It is a complex argument, suggesting a lack of exposure to healthy micro-organisms early in life (particularly in relation to our gut flora), which are important in shaping our immune system. Manipulation of our environment over the past century may have led to a rise in allergies and auto-immune conditions. Research has been looking at the role of probiotics in helping with this.

If you look after your environment, your environment will look after you.

Written by Dr Tim Lebens, a private GP in Central London, with a subspecialty in health optimisation and latest advances in medicine. http://www.drlebens.com

Read more from the original source:
How to live to 100: why our environment affects longevity - Tatler

This entry was posted on August 10, 2020 at 11:48 pm and is filed under Longevity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |