The Leading the Way team is with George Stephenson High School between 3rd-6th June 2014 during their science lessons.

We have organised the chance for each team to work with one of us on preparing a poster on the topic of AGEING over 3 days. Do not worry we are here to help you and remember this is a team project.

A very important part of our work as scientists is to explain to the Government and the Public (you) why our research is important and why we need to do those key experiments. Sometimes the numbers involved help the justification.

For example, in 2012 approximately 5 % of the adult population in the UK were suffering from Diabetes (source: www.diabetes.org.uk). This is approximately 2.9 million individuals and has been estimated to cost the NHS:

£1 million per hour!

This is a very strong reason why we should invest in Diabetes research to identify innovative ways of preventing, diagnosing and managing the disease. As maybe our research can help the NHS reduce this cost (even a saving of £10000 an hour soon adds up).

Poster Criteria

1) Choose an age related health risk to study.

2) Justify why that health risk.

3) Justify why we need to research into improving an aspect of healthcare or preventation associated with the chosen risk.

On Friday 6th June we have organised a Poster Fair. During this event researchers based at Newcastle University will judge your posters.

Competition Prize: The winning team will win a day at the Mitochondrial Research Centre to see the research of the judges in action.

It is therefore time to get our thinking caps on. As a team you will need to begin to think which health risk you wish to research with us and why. Do you want to focus on a particular disease you have heard about? Do you want to consider a prevention or healthcare improvements? or Do you want to research this topic in for a different outcome?

Good Luck

The Leading the Way Team

There are two forms of Diabetes Type I and Type II. Type II is the most common and represents up to 90% of all cases of Diabetes.

A key issue with Type II diabetes is that in the majority of cases it is defined as an age related health issue as its onset begins when adults reach their mid 40’s or older.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease where there is too much sugar (glucose) in the blood. Glucose enters your body from the foods you eat such as cakes, fruits, pasta and bread. Your body uses glucose as energy for everything you do.

The insulin peptide structure

Insulin is a hormone that is made in the pancreas when there is too much glucose in the blood. Insulin acts like a key that opens the doors that lets glucose move from the blood and into your cells. It is then used for energy.

When someone’s body loses its ability to produce Insulin, they have Type 1 Diabetes and when someone’s Insulin loses its ability to ‘open the door’ to their cells, they have Type 2 Diabetes.

Symptoms

• Frequent urination
• Dehydration
• Thirst

Problems caused by Diabetes

• Blindness
• Kidney failure
• Problems with legs and feet
• Death

Some facts about Diabetes…

Type 1 Diabetes

• Genetic (inherit from parents)
• Autoimmune condition (your immune system attacks your pancreas, leading to Diabetes)
• Begins when you are a kid
• Need to inject Insulin into your body everyday for treatment

Type 2 Diabetes

• Lifestyle (lack of exercise, obesity)
• Can happen at any age
• Need to live a healthier life, exercise more and sometimes take medicines for treatment.

Our eyes are crucial to help us make sense of the world around us. We use them to visualise our surroundings, to guide our movements, and in our social interactions with other people.

As we get older, there are natural changes that occur within our eyes which can have drastic effects on the quality of our vision and therefore our ability to perform everyday tasks. Most of these changes do not occur suddenly; they progress very gradually so may not be noticeable for many years.

Here are some examples of common changes that cause visual deficits in older people:

People >40 years old

Have you ever wondered why many adults require varifocal glasses as they get older?

The reason is scientifically defined as Presbyopia. This isn’t technically a disease but it is by far the most common effect of age on vision.

Sufferers have difficulty focussing on nearby objects. It happens because the lens of the eye becomes inflexible with age and loses the ability to focus light onto the retina is reduced. To correct this, many older people use special reading glasses or varifocals when they need to look at things close to them. A recent study suggested that more than 1 billion people across the world are currently affected by presbyopia.

People >50 years old

Loss of vision sometimes can not be rectified by wearing glasses!

An example is Macular degeneration that causes loss of ‘central vision.’ This is when things that are directly in front of the eyes look very blurred. This is because the centre of the retina (the macula), deteriorates gradually over time. Patients with macular degeneration have normal peripheral vision and have to learn to use this remaining sight to manage their everyday tasks.

People >60 years old

As we get older we can potentially encounter other visual deficits. Two examples are:

1) Cataracts – this is a progressive clouding of the lens in the eye which stops light getting through. Treatment in developed countries like the UK involves surgical removal of the damaged lens and replacement with a plastic one. Whilst this is very successful, in the developing world for many people cataracts will lead to blindness. Age-related cataracts cause 51% of world blindness amounting to an estimated 20 million people.

2) Glaucoma – This is a general term relating to a group of eye diseases that affect the pressure inside the eye. Increasing pressure leads to damage of the nerve which transmits information about what you see from the eye to the brain.  Patients experience ‘tunnel vision’ initially as their peripheral vision is lost first, but glaucoma can eventually lead to blindness.

There are very few cures for any of these diseases and symptoms gradually get worse with age. Early detection and treatment is important to preserve as much vision as possible.

Discussion Points: How much consideration do we place on the health of our eyes? What do you think it was like 100 years ago? Do we take the technology to correct our eyesight for granted?

We are sure you will all appreciate the importance of names. Names provide you, your favourite team, favourite biscuit or favourite game with an identity. A name also leaves a legacy behind it. Get the name right and people will never forget your impact. You will be working as a teams through the experiments and lessons during Leading the Way.

Pre-event challenge: we would like you to meet your team mates and discuss your team name.

The only rule: We ask when considering your team name that you stay within the theme of human health – remember during Leading the Way we are exploring the topic of Ageing.

Your team name needs to be submitted to your Science teacher by 23trd May. The Leading the Way team will then be awarding a prize to the best name when we meet you on Monday 2nd June

Over the next two weeks leading up to Leading the Way 2014 at George Stephenson High School we will be publishing several blog posts relating to the topic of Ageing.

For now why not have a read of two recent media reports relating to Ageing that highlight the work Newcastle university do on this topic.

The Ageing Game – BBC Website 7th May 2014

Your Diet and Ageing – The Journal 13th May 2014