|
|
|
|
|
On March 26, 2012, an overflow audience gathered at Rambam to hear about contemporary scientific versions of ancient questions: Why do we age, and why is the aging immune system compromised? Which life habits distinguish people who experience extreme old age without cognitive impairment? Can senescence be reversed?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The extreme elderly (95 years of age and above) fascinate geriatricians, who are engaged in attempting to decipher the factors involved in extraordinary human longevity and are asking how to treat age-related illnesses and how to improve elderly patients’ lives.
 |
|
Prof. Nir Barzilai at the first annual Symposium in Memory of his father and uncle
Pioter Fliter-RHCC |
In March, these questions were explored at the first annual Symposium in Memory of Prof. David Barzilai and Prof. Ami Barzilai. The Barzilai brothers helped to found Rambam’s Division of Internal Medicine (David) and Department of Surgery (Ami) and the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. Their generational influence continues to be felt at Rambam today as evidenced by the procession of senior physicians who took the stage to recall having been mentored by them. Among them were event emcee Prof. Haim Hammerman, Director of the Department of Cardiology, and symposium lecturers Prof. Eddy Karnieli, Director of the Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, and Prof. Shimon Pollack, Director of the Institute of Allergy, Immunology & AIDS.
 |
|
The event emcee Prof. Haim Hammerman at the Symposium. On the screen, the photos of the late Prof. David Barzilai and Prof. Ami Barzilai
Pioter Fliter-RHCC |
Barzilai Family scion Prof. Nir Barzilai, Director of the Institute for Aging Research and its Longevity Genes Project at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, flew in from New York to honor the memory of his father (David) and uncle (Ami) and to deliver the keynote address. He said that according to wide-scope research, and despite the importance to longevity of such factors as good nutrition, exercise, and non-smoking, “the secret is first and foremost genetics.”
Guest speaker Shlomo Breznitz, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Haifa and founder of CogniFit Ltd., told an audience happy to hear it that the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease is 70% less for those with higher education and with lives distinguished by interesting work and active hobbies (e.g., reading) versus passive pursuits (e.g., watching TV). This is because an actively engaged mind is busy birthing new brain cells and forging protective neuronal networks.
From Prof. Shimon Gepstein, Emeritus Dean of the Technion’s Faculty of Biology and President of the Israel Association of Plant Scientists, the audience heard about senescence-associated genes (SAG is its wicked acronym). The world faces a looming existential food, water, and energy crisis, he said – “and all are connected to the aging of plants.” He and his research team are engaged in developing alternative, biomass-based fuels from plants that can be grown in marginal non-agricultural regions. Simultaneously, they are asking if there is a gene that decides when aging begins.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Main Link
: |
|
Link Title
: |
|
|
Url
: |
|
|
Choose existing Posting
|
|
Choose From Resource Gallery
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|