Hubungan antara puasa sunnah dan kerosakan DNA dalam kalangan warga emas yang mengalami gangguan kognitif ringan (MCI)

Diet pemakanan memainkan peranan penting dalam menentukan kesihatan individu. Salah satu pendekatan yang paling mudah dan sesuai diikuti oleh individu tertentu terutamanya warga emas adalah puasa Sunnah. Puasa sunnah dilaporkan mempunyai kesan positif dalam kesihatan umum dan turut membantu dalam memanjangkan jangka hayat warga emas. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji hubungan puasa Sunnah dalam membaiki kerosakan DNA pada warga emas yang mengalami gangguan kognitif ringan (MCI). Reka bentuk kajian adalah kajian hirisan lintang perbandingan yang membandingkan dua fasa (dasar dan 36 bulan). Seramai 99 orang subjek MCI berumur ≥ 60 tahun keatas dan tidak mempunyai sebarang penyakit yang kritikal terlibat di dalam kajian ini. Sebanyak 10 ml darah penuh, data sosio-demografi dan penilaian kognitif juga turut diambil. MMSE, IADL, ADL dan GDS telah dijalankan untuk menentukan fungsi kognitif. Kajian mendapati bahawa peratusan ekor DNA (TD) bagi subjek yang mengamalkan puasa Sunnah untuk kedua-dua fasa adalah jauh lebih rendah berbanding subjek yang tidak mengamalkan puasa Sunnah (Dasar, TD: 12.49 ± 0.24% vs 17.40 ± 0.43%; 36 bulan, TD: 8.21 ± 0.43% vs 15.23 ± 1.16%). Peratusan momen ekor (TM) bagi subjek yang mengamalkan puasa Sunnah untuk kedua-dua fasa adalah jauh lebih rendah berbanding subjek yang tidak mengamalkan puasa Sunnah (Dasar, TM: 0.92 ± 0.05% vs 1.46 ± 0.08%; 36 bulan, TM: 0.4 ± 0.03% vs 1.32 ± 0.13%). Tuntasnya, ini menunjukkan bahawa puasa Sunnah boleh mengurangkan kerosakan DNA dalam kalangan warga emas MCI. Oleh itu, penyelidikan lanjut diperlukan untuk menentukan metabolit dalam kalangan subjek MCI yang berkaitan dengan puasa Sunnah untuk menghasilkan model ramalan diet sihat untuk digunakan pada masa hadapan

A Framework to Spatially Cluster Air Quality Monitoring Stations in Peninsular Malaysia using the Hybrid Clustering Method

Multiple variables must be analyzed in order to assess air quality trends. It turns into a multidimensional issue that calls for dynamic methods. In order to provide an improved spatial cluster distribution with distinct validation, this study set out to illustrate the hybrid cluster method in air quality monitoring stations in Peninsular Malaysia. The Department of Environment, Malaysia (DOE), provided the data set, which covered the two-year period from 2018 to 2019. This study included six air quality pollutants: PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, O3, and CO. Principal component analysis (PCA), a multivariate technique, was used to condense the information found in enormous data tables in order to better comprehend the variables (to reduce dimensionality) prior to grouping the data. The PCA factor scores were then used to produce the AHC. The clusters were validated using discriminant analysis (DA). 36 of 47 stations required additional analysis using AHC, according to the PCA factor scores. Low Polluted Region (LPR = seven stations), Moderate Polluted Region (MPR = 20 stations), and High Polluted Region (HPR = nine stations) were created from AHC and share the same characteristics. The DA results showed 84 % correct classification rate for the clusters. With regard to identifying and categorizing stations according to air quality characteristics, the framework presented here offers an improved method. This illustrates that the hybrid cluster method utilized in this work can produce a new method of pollutant distributions that is helpful in air pollution investigations

Intermittent fasting enhanced the cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment by inducing biochemical and metabolic changes: a 3-year progressive study

Intermittent fasting (IF) refers to various dietary regimens that cycle between a period of non-fasting and a period of total fasting. This study aimed to determine the effects of IF on cognitive function among elderly individuals who practice IF who have mild cognitive impairment (MCI). A total of 99 elderly subjects with MCI of Malay ethnicity without any terminal illness were recruited from a larger cohort study, LRGS TUA. The subjects were divided into three groups, comprising those who were regularly practicing IF (r-IF), irregularly practicing IF (i-IF), and non-fasters (n-IF). Upon 36 months of follow-up, more MCI subjects in the r-IF group reverted to successful aging with no cognitive impairment and diseases (24.3%) compared to those in i-IF (14.2%) and n-IF groups (3.7%). The r-IF group’s subjects exhibited significant increment in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and reduction in body weight, levels of insulin, fasting blood glucose, malondialdehyde (MDA), C-reactive protein (CRP), and DNA damage. Moreover, metabolomics analysis showed that IF may modulate cognitive function via various metabolite pathways, including the synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, butanoate metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, and glycolysis and gluconeogenesis pathways. Overall, the MCI-afflicted older adults who practiced IF regularly had better cognitive scores and reverted to better cognitive function at 36 months follow-up

Higher Lead and Lower Calcium Levels Are Associated with Increased Risk of Mortality in Malaysian Older Population: Findings from the LRGS-TUA Longitudinal Study

The main objective of this study is to determine the association of various trace elements’ status with the 5-year mortality rate among community-dwelling older adults in Malaysia. This study was part of the Long-term Research Grant Scheme—Towards Useful Ageing (LRGS-TUA). The participants were followed up for five years, and their mortality status was identified through the Mortality Data Matching Service provided by the National Registration Department, Malaysia. Of the 303 participants included in this study, 34 (11.2%) participants had died within five years after baseline data collection. As compared to the survivors, participants who died earlier were more likely (p < 0.05) to be men, smokers, have a lower intake of total dietary fiber and molybdenum, higher intake of manganese, lower zinc levels in toenail samples, lower calcium and higher lead levels in hair samples during baseline. Following the multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis, lower total dietary fiber intake (HR: 0.681; 0.532–0.871), lower calcium (HR: 0.999; 95% CI: 0.999–1.000) and higher lead (HR: 1.309; 95% CI: 1.061–1.616) levels in hair samples appeared as the predictors of mortality. In conclusion, higher lead and lower calcium levels are associated with higher risk of mortality among community-dwelling older adults in Malaysia. Our current findings provide a better understanding of how the trace elements’ status may affect older populations’ well-being and mortality rate