Aromatherapy’s Anti-Aging Elixir: How 3 Essential Oils Can Transform Your Skin
While there is no dearth of products for anti-ageing but people are turning towards essential oils for this particular concern as they are natural and more than just skin care they have a holistic effect. As people age, the skin begins to break down and lose elasticity. This natural process causes wrinkles and fine lines to appear on the face around the forehead, mouth, and eyes.
Although essential oils will not eliminate wrinkles completely, they may be able to reduce their appearance. They are also a natural alternative to chemical creams and lotions. They may also:
Now that we spoke so highly of essential oils for anti-ageing let us look at the oils, we can turn to for this –
Sandalwood essential oil is one of the most fragrant of all oils that have been used widely in the beauty industry. It possesses a unique earthy aroma and holds a significant role in healing skin woes. The strong antioxidant nature of this oil is effective in scavenging free radicals from the skin and reduces oxidative damage. Furthermore, it flushes out the toxins from the skin and uplifts overall skin health and glow.
Lemon is well-known for its vitamin C content and potential health benefits for the immune system. However, lemon oils are also used in a variety of commercial skin care products to help reduce the signs of aging, such as wrinkles. All citrus essential oils, including lemon and grapefruit, make the skin more sensitive to sunlight. It is essential to avoid sun exposure for several hours after using citrus essential oils, so it is wise to apply them before bed.
The potent antimicrobial and antioxidant traits of rosemary essential oil help to cure skin problems like dermatitis, eczema, and rosacea. It is beneficial in maintaining the overall health and beauty of the skin. Rosemary essential oil is known to avert the alteration of the natural lipids of the skin surface and slow down signs of ageing.
Frankincense oil is well known for their potential to promote cell regeneration, fade away fine lines and wrinkles, and improve skin elasticity.
Credit: Bryan Johnson/X
Bryan Johnson, the billionaire biohacker and longevity enthusiast, has been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease called Autoimmune Gastritis (AIG).
Johnson is known for his radical longevity experiments, including measuring the biological age of his organs in an effort to reverse aging, injecting himself with ketamine, taking over 50 pills a day, undergoing fat transfers, and receiving blood transfusions from his teenage son.
In a recent post on X, he made the shocking announcement of his autoimmune conditions, which went undetected for years: Autoimmune Gastritis.
Calling it "bad news," Johnson wrote: "I have an autoimmune disease. My stomach is eating itself."
"2-5 per cent of people have this, too. Likely more, because it hides," he added.
According to Johnson, his stomach had been attacking itself without causing noticeable symptoms. The condition was only discovered in May.
Autoimmune Gastritis, a condition in which the immune system attacks the stomach's acid-producing cells, also impairs the absorption of iron and vitamin B12.
Johnson said one of the earliest signs of the condition was persistently low ferritin levels over the past 11 years despite not having anemia.
"We continually tried to raise my iron levels with food and supplementation, but nothing would work."
He said he followed a plant-based diet, trained intensely, used a sauna and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and took iron supplements, yet his iron levels remained low.
Ferritin stores the body's iron. Iron is essential for transporting oxygen and producing energy, and low iron levels can lead to fatigue, weakness, and dizziness.
Johnson said autoimmune gastritis is difficult to diagnose because its earliest clue is often overlooked.
"The earliest clue, low ferritin, is the one standard medicine waves through. Low iron stores get normalized and rarely investigated at all when anemia hasn't shown up yet. That blind spot is what hid mine for a decade."
While initially it wasn't clear why his iron levels were continuously dipping, after further testing, Johnson's team identified three interconnected issues.
Autoimmune Gastritis was preventing normal iron absorption by damaging the stomach cells that produce acid. He also discovered autoimmune thyroid disease.
"The iron deficiency, the autoimmune gastritis driving it, and the autoimmune thyroid disease alongside it. Iron and thyroid feed each other both ways; low iron impairs the conversion of thyroid hormone into its active form, and an underactive thyroid impairs how the body uses iron," Johnson explained.
According to research published in JAMA Network Open, about one in four Americans may have inadequate iron intake or absorption.
As per the study of more than 8,000 Americans, 14 per cent of adults had absolute iron deficiency, reflecting depleted iron stores.
Even after excluding common causes such as anemia, pregnancy, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease, 11 per cent remained iron deficient. Another 15 per cent had functional iron deficiency, where iron levels appear normal but the body cannot use the mineral effectively.
Since receiving the diagnosis, Johnson has begun iron infusions, which deliver a full dose of iron in a single treatment.
He said his team will continue routine monitoring of his ferritin and iron levels.
Johnson ended his post with a warning that hidden health conditions can go unnoticed for years.
"You too may have a lurking health issue that is undiagnosed and could increase in severity from unhealthy life choices, without your knowing… A gentle nudge that minding your health, no matter your situation in life, is a good decision-making."
Credit: AI
A recent study has indicated that following a healthy diet consistently may help reduce the risk of dementia, even in those who already show early signs of Alzheimer's disease. The study could help in early management of neurodegenerative diseases like dementia.
According to a new study published in the JAMA Network Open, scientists found that participants who maintained better-quality diets over a period of 15 years were less likely to develop dementia, regardless of whether their blood tests indicated the presence of Alzheimer ’s related biomarkers.
The findings also suggest that healthy eating habits may benefit even after the individual shows signs of the disease processes have begun.
The researchers followed middle-aged and older adults one and a half decades, examining their dietary habits alongside blood biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease, including phosphorylated tau217 (p-tau217), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and neurofilament light (NfL).
These biomarkers are commonly used to detect early Alzheimer's-related changes and neurodegeneration before symptoms of the disease become visible.
The participants followed a healthy diet, particularly a Mediterranean-style as well as an anti-inflammatory diet. The findings showed that individuals with healthier diets had a lower risk of developing dementia over the follow-up period.
Remarkably, this association was observed even among participants who presented Alzheimer's biomarkers, indicating that diet may offer protective benefits despite early signs.
Alzheimer's disease begins years, and sometimes decades, before memory problems emerge. During this preclinical stage, abnormal proteins accumulate in the brain while individuals remain symptom-free.
Read more: New Blood Test May Predict Alzheimer's Symptoms At Least 4 Years In Advance: Study
The new findings indicate that lifestyle factors such as diet could still influence dementia risk even after these biological changes have started. This reinforces growing evidence that preventive measures need not be limited to people without detectable Alzheimer's pathology.
While the study shows promising results of the effect of a healthy diet on the neurodegenerative disease, it does not prove that diets can directly prevent dementia.
The researchers emphasized that the study was merely an observation, meaning it highlighted an association rather than a direct cause-and-effect relationship. It just supports the idea that long-term healthy eating could have a significant impact on one’s brain health throughout adulthood.
The anti-inflammatory diet, as recommended by Harvard Nutrition Source, helps calm the immune system by choosing foods that reduce inflammation.
This dietary approach encourages a balance of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, whole grains, and other nutrient-dense foods while avoiding those that trigger inflammation.
On the other hand, Mediterranean diet, long celebrated for its heart-and longevity-promoting benefits, is now gaining attention for its beneficial effects on the brain.
This diet emphasizes plant-based foods, healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, with moderate fish intake.
In another study published in Nature Medicine, researchers observed that individuals at the highest genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease, particularly carriers of the APOE4 gene variant, showed the most significant reduction in dementia risk when adhering closely to this dietary pattern.
Credit: iStock
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world and is the fastest-growing neurological condition worldwide. Its classic hallmarks - resting tremor, bradykinesia, and rigidity usually lead to diagnosis only after extensive dopaminergic neuronal loss has already happened. Newer research, however, highlights a prodromal window that might open decades earlier. There’s an increasing theory that pathological changes of the nervous system could start in a person’s 20s. This means that early detection is not just desirable but could be transformative for clinical outcomes.
Individuals with PD at prodromal and early motor stages alike report symptoms in multiple domains, including behavioral, cognitive, autonomic, sensory, sleep-related, and activities of daily living. Most of these symptoms are subtle and overlap with common conditions, so they aren’t often recognized or are mistaken for ageing, stress or other lifestyle factors. So, identifying consistent patterns amid daily behavioral variations is crucial for improving early PD detection.
Sleep Disturbances: An Early Warning Sign
One of the most robust prodromal markers is REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). People who are affected have sleep disruption, physically act out their dreams during REM phase (acting out dreams), and vivid dream life and some through sleepwalking — all of them worthy substrates for signals of early brainstem pathology.
Anosmia, a partial or complete loss of the sense of smell, could be PD’s earliest recognizable sign, occurring as much as 10 years before motor signs become apparent. In practice, this means being unable to easily perceive familiar smells like food or coffee. Because this symptom manifests so early and appears so unrelated to the health of the brain, it is rarely taken seriously in clinical practice.
Chronic constipation is a common prodromal symptom indicating reduced gut motility that can predate motor symptoms by years. This observation is consistent with the gut–brain axis hypothesis: gut microbiota dysbiosis disrupts gastrointestinal motility, permeability and inflammation, which may facilitate a prion-like transmission of misformed alpha-synuclein (α-syn) from gut to brain through the enteric nervous system.1 further underscoring the biomarker potential of gastrointestinal symptoms with clinical relevance.
Before tremors are apparent, there can be subtle changes in fine motor control. Trouble with tasks such as handwriting, using electronic devices or manipulating small objects, along with uncharacteristic anxiety or a low mood, can serve as signals of the preclinical stage. Micrographia (progressively smaller and cramped handwriting) is a particularly telling sign from daily life that deserves a neurological workup when it appears without an obvious cause.
Fatigue that never seems to get better with rest affects work performance, social engagement and daily motivation, and can occur long before an official diagnosis. More than half of all PD patients develop at least one form of autonomic dysfunction, which can precede motor symptoms by four years or more, and is now being recognized as a key prognostic biomarker for prodromal PD. Cardiovascular instability, orthostatic hypotension, and urinary irregularities further influence how individuals navigate everyday environments long before a definitive diagnosis is made.
The evidence reviewed here collectively supports a paradigm shift: Parkinson's disease is best defined as systemic, progressive, and with recognizable signals in daily life long before motor signs of decline. Disrupted sleep, anosmia, gastrointestinal changes, fine motor difficulties and chronic fatigue are not complaints in a vacuum; they are potential early signs of a neurological process left unsupervised and now in motion. Incorporating routine clinical assessment of these behavioural precursors and pre-motor signs would allow us to meaningfully extend the opportunity for therapeutic intervention, which could in turn improve patient outcomes across a broad range of CNS disorders.
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