🙌 Happy Friday!
We’re going to the farm this week. 🧑🌾 That is, metaphorically speaking.
This week’s stories cover new skin aging clues in pigs, the house cats supporting cancer research, and wisdom from the year of the Fire Horse. As an aside, virologists in Germany are studying how animals can predict (and prevent) future pandemics…thank goodness.
This week: Skin regeneration, who benefits from high-repetition, low-weight workouts better, cancer genes, and three health tips from the lunar new year.
Quick Poll
What skin symptoms have been hardest for you to navigate?
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Spotlight
Pigs, grizzlies, and skin regeneration
🐷Veterinary researchers at Washington State University suggest the secret to skin regeneration and slowing visible aging may lie in ‘rete ridges,’ a microscopic skin structure shared by humans, pigs, and other ‘thick-skinned’ animals like grizzlies, dolphins, and hippos.
“Whatever innovation is discovered to stop [skin] aging… the key seems to lie in rete ridges,” the researchers explain.
Rete ridges function to maintain skin structure. Like “biological Velcro,” they hold the inner layer of the skin to the outer layer.
Collecting samples of pig skin across their lifespan, researchers observed that changes in these ridges occur with age, flattening as we get older.
➡ This is potentially due to bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), molecules that produce the ridges, but other factors related to tissue aging may be at play.
— What happens when your ridges flat-line? It’s linked to numerous skin diseases, including psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, and visible signs of aging:
Frail skin
Bruising
Wrinkles
Sagging
Lingering questions: There aren’t any evidence-based ways to stop rete ridge-flattening (yet), and science is only just emerging. Most evidence is also in animals, which doesn’t directly translate to humans.
🌐 Big picture: This is an exciting clue to achieving healthy-looking skin. Researchers are interested in compounds that activate BMPs to produce more rete ridges, potentially slowing skin aging, accelerating wound healing, and easing inflammatory diseases.
Five ways to support skin health
These techniques may indirectly support rete ridges, but haven’t been shown to restore them:
Minimize UV exposure and wear SPF 30+ daily
Anti-inflammatory diet
Collagen support with retinoids, vitamin C, and niacinamide
Maintain good microcirculation and metabolic health.
Use topical antioxidant products with green tea, vitamin C, and pomegranate
Wellness Watch
🏋♀️ If you’re stressed, lift lighter
Lifting heavy for fewer repetitions is an effective way to build muscle, protect bones, and support metabolism and longevity. But it’s not the only strong route.
⚡ When the stress is high, your nervous system is already taxed, so heavy lifting can add to the burden. That’s when lifting lighter weights with higher repetitions may serve you better.
As trainer Rachel Thornton told Women’s Health, “Muscle doesn’t know the number on a dumbbell — it responds to tension, fatigue, and time under load.”
Why lift light?
🪶 It feels more rhythmic and less strenuous to the nervous system.
It’s accessible to more adults, and can be done more safely and consistently.
It can support faster gains through focusing on form and control
It boosts oxygen use and blood flow—both linked to recovery—via increased reps and time under tension. 🩸
Big picture: Heavy training still matters, but in high‑stress seasons, choosing lighter loads can keep you strong without burning out. Sometimes, lifting light is the strongest move.
❇ Sample circuit (20 minutes): A 20‑minute light‑to‑moderate circuit might include squats, rows, presses, deadlifts, lunges, and a short cardio finisher — done slowly, with control, for 12–15 reps each to build strength without overloading your nervous system.
In other news
🐱 Cats can help with the next generation of cancer treatment
A study in Science shows that cats and humans share similar cancer-causing genetic mutations, opening new avenues for more personalized cancer therapies in both species.
After sequencing more than 1,000 cancer-related genes in cats under the Cat Oncogenome Project, 🧬 researchers identified shared mutations driving 13 cancers, including aggressive breast, gastric, and lung cancers.
Key genes include p53 and PIK3CA, which often drive “spontaneously developing tumors.”
🏞 Environment: Because pet cats share our environments, researchers can also study how pollution and environmental exposures influence cancer risk, with cats acting as early indicators of shared hazards.
Why this matters: Studying cancers in pets 🐶 is more ethically grounded than using lab animals, and it could speed cross-species drug development, helping extend healthy lifespans for animals and humans.
This week’s highlights
QUICK READS
🫧 ‘Bubble bots’: Little gas bubbles are being used to target tumors.
🏀 Exercise fights ‘leaky brain’: Doing exercise trims harmful brain protein TNAP, offering a new drug target for Alzheimer’s.
🦳Toxic friends age us: A new study shows that unpleasant people speed up biological aging.
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LONG-LEVITY
Health during the year of the Fire Horse
Chinese New Year celebrations recently concluded, marking the start of a new lunar year 🌙 , a calendar shaped by animals, elements, and centuries of cultural meaning.
This is the year of the fire horse, which professor Xiaohuan Zhao of the University of Sydney tells The Guardian is “a period where heightened energy needs to be managed wisely.”
Experts offer three grounded, evidence-based practices that align with long-term health and the call for balance and resilience.
🫗 Drink water. Feng shui expert Mina Zheng suggests countering excess “fire” with hydration, aligning with research linking adequate fluid intake to healthy blood pressure, cognition, and sustained energy.
🧘♀ Embrace grounded movement. Practices like walking, yoga, meditation, and tai chi can reduce blood pressure and improve stress and flexibility.
🪷 Cultivate emotional steadiness: Skills like naming emotions, paced breathing, or brief mindfulness practices support mental health, social connection, and daily decision-making.
The lunar calendar may be symbolic, but the habits are tangible. Small, consistent practices are what can shape your year, health, and life.
Want to get involved in the Livelong Women’s Health Summit?!
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Poll response
We asked: How fast is your brain today?
Formula 1 racecar (58%)
On a Sunday stroll (23%)
Stuck in city traffic (10%)
Give me a second to think… (9%)
One response deeply resonated with me: “[My brain] is stop and go, quick and slow, focused and distracted, right on and forgetful.” So whether jolted awake by a cup of coffee or retired and relaxing, there are benefits in balancing energy and relaxation!
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The information provided about wellness and health is for general informational and educational purposes only. We are not licensed medical professionals, and the content here should not be considered medical advice. Talk to a doctor before trying any of these suggestions.
