At Home: Help Will Come to Those Who Give It
Pay it forward. Remember karma. Do unto others as you’d have others do to you. No matter how you say it, the principle has been ingrained into our collective consciousness: do good, and good will follow you someday. Someday. But for one Canadian Good Samaritan, payback came a lot more quickly than he might have expected.
As The Toronto Star reports, Winnipeg native Victor Giesbrecht was driving through Wisconsin ?when he stopped to help a motorist change a tire.? After giving assistance, Giesbrecht and his wife continued travelling?but they hadn’t driven far when ?Giesbrecht was stricken by a heart attack.?
His wife helped stop the vehicle and called 911 while attempting to flag down passers-by. Who should stop to help but the stranded motorists Giesbrecht had just assisted!
One of the motorists ?performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him until emergency personnel arrived? with an AED. Giesbrecht was later moved by helicopter to a local hospital.
It was suggested by those at the rescue scene that ?if Giesbrecht hadn’t helped with the tire change, his initial rescuer [might] have remained stranded for too long to play a life-saving role.?
Giesbrecht remained in critical condition as of Monday.
Around the World: Age Remover
Potions and concoctions for removing or slowing the effects of aging may seem like a lot of overeager marketing, but the concept might not be completely out of the question. A new study from the Mayo Clinic suggests that the key to eradicating the ravages of the years is to find the so-called ?old cells??and remove them from the body to delay aging and age-related illness.
As The Toronto Star‘s healthzone.ca reports, the study found that when ?senescent cells ? cells that accumulate in various tissues with aging ? were removed in genetically altered mice . . . chronic ailments and disabilities routinely associated with aging ? such as muscle weakness, chronic inflammation, lack of fat under the skin and cataracts ? were all delayed.?
Senescent cells ?have lost the capacity to divide but . . . don’t die.? They gradually build up as our bodies age, although they still form just a tenth of the cells in aging tissue. However, as the study leader told reporters, ?[if] you clear these cells, you can delay age-related changes.?
So far the process hasn’t had any negative effects on the mice, but more research is needed. Still, scientists are hopeful that they may someday be able to ?[increase] the health span of the elderly.?