Feature Channels: Aging

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A new study by researchers at Humboldt State University and the University of Colorado, Boulder is shedding light on an unexpected benefit of jogging in older adults.

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Neuroscientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have shown that calorie-reduced diets stop the normal rise and fall in activity levels of close to 900 different genes linked to aging and memory formation in the brain.

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A novel looping mechanism that involves the end caps of DNA may help explain the aging of cells and how they initiate and transmit disease, according to new research from UT Southwestern Medical Center cell biologists.

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Studies have demonstrated that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and indoor tanning damages the DNA in our skin cells. This not only increases a person’s risk for skin cancer, it can also lead to premature skin aging in the form of wrinkles and sun spots. November is National Healthy Skin Month – the perfect time to learn how to maintain healthy skin care habits.

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Every day in America, roughly 10,000 people turn age 65. To help keep roadways safe as America grays and to help preserve the freedom of mobility of older drivers, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine are training law enforcement officers to recognize warning signs of impaired driving skills and to take appropriate, compassionate action.

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Einstein and Montefiore to present new research that reveals a genotype that can predict survival and risk factors for cognitive impairment.

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Everyone knows that exercise makes you feel more mentally alert at any age. But do you need to follow a specific training program to improve your cognitive function? Science has shown that the important thing is to just get moving. It's that simple. In fact, this was the finding of a study conducted at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (IUGM), an institution affiliated with Université de Montréal, by Dr. Nicolas Berryman, PhD, Exercise Physiologist, under the supervision of Dr. Louis Bherer, PhD, and Dr. Laurent Bosquet, PhD, that was published in the journal AGE (American Aging Association) in October.

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For many adults, the word scoliosis conjures up childhood memories of lining up in gym class for an examination by the school nurse. But scoliosis isn't just a pediatric condition. Curvature of the spine can develop in adults too, and the osteoporosis that can accompany menopause is a risk factor. Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon Paul Huddleston, M.D., explains how scoliosis develops, prevention and treatment options and a trend he is seeing in Baby Boomer women.

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About 18 million Americans age 65 and older require help with routine daily activities like bathing, handling medications or meals, finds a new study in Milbank Quarterly. The research shows a growing need for improved services and support for older Americans, their spouses, their children and other "informal caregivers."

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By a tremendous margin – over 95 percent – older Americans choose to live at home or with relatives. Families making that choice should consider seeking the assistance of a geriatric specialist, especially when they see changes in their loved one’s behavior, says Bruce R. Troen, MD, chief of the division of geriatrics and palliative medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University at Buffalo.

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Wistar researchers have identified a new mutation in the H1N1 influenza virus that made it easily transmitted in middle-aged adults--those who should be able to resist the viral assault--during the 2013-2014 influenza season. .

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Memory decline — a frequent complaint of menopausal women — potentially could be lessened by hypnotic relaxation therapy, say Baylor University researchers, who already have done studies showing that such therapy eases hot flashes, improves sleep and reduces stress in menopausal women.

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Using a recently developed biomarker of aging known as an epigenetic clock, UCLA researchers working closely with a German team of investigators have found for the first time that obesity greatly accelerates aging of the liver.

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Reports of insomnia are common among the elderly, but a new study finds that sleep problems may stem from the quality of rest and other health concerns more than the overall amount of sleep that patients get.

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The inability of older adults to identify scents is a strong predictor of death within five years. Almost 40% of those who failed a smelling test died during that period, compared to 10% of those with a healthy sense of smell. Olfactory dysfunction predicted mortality better than a diagnosis of heart failure or cancer.

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Aging baby boomers and others caring for seniors are, more than ever, turning to the Internet to self-diagnose illnesses and find information on issues related to aging, without knowing whether the information is accurate or trustworthy.

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In the first, small study of a novel, personalized and comprehensive program to reverse memory loss, nine of 10 participants, including the ones above, displayed subjective or objective improvement in their memories beginning within 3-to-6 months after the program’s start.

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Prof. Michal Schwartz and Dr. Ido Amit have found evidence of a unique “signature” that may be the missing link between cognitive decline and aging. They suggest that cognitive decline may be connected not just to chronological age, but also to one’s “immunological age.” The scientists believe this may, in the future, lead to treatments that can slow or reverse cognitive decline in older people.

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The Movi chair is a replacement of the old-fashioned wheelchair. It is designed for use in a hospital or skilled-nursing facility, or even in the home as a mobility aid. Designed with the safety and comfort of patients and care givers in mind.

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The switch controls the growth of telomeres, the timekeepers of cells.

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Among older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly those with asthma, newly prescribed long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs) and inhaled corticosteroid combination therapy, compared with newly prescribed LABAs alone, was associated with a lower risk of death or COPD hospitalization, according to a study in the September 17 issue of JAMA.

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As we age, all of us begin to think about what makes us tick and what kind of legacy we want to leave. For some, this manifests itself in the purchase of a motorcycle, a boat or an exotic vacation. But for others, the issues of age and transition are a bit more contemplative. Vanessa Fabbre, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, considers these issues in her paper “Gender Transitions in Later Life: The Significance of Time in Queer Aging,” recently published in the 2014 print issue of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.

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Exercising to improve our cardiovascular strength may protect us from cognitive impairment as we age, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated Institut universitaire de gératrie de Montréal Research Centre.

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The area of the brain involved in multitasking and ways to train it have been identified by a research team at the IUGM Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal and the University of Montreal. The research includes a model to better predict the effectiveness of this training

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Feeling that conventional doctors did not take their suffering seriously, women instead sought out hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms from anti-aging clinicians, according to a Case Western Reserve University study that investigated the appeal of anti-aging medicine.

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Parents are better off having daughters if they want to be cared for in their old age suggests a new study, which finds that women appear to provide as much elderly parent care as they can, while men contribute as little as possible.

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At least one part of the human brain may be able to process information the same way in older age as it does in the prime of life, according to new research conducted at the University of Adelaide.

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MedStar Washington Hospital Center geriatricians found that when medical care for frail elders with advanced illness shifts to the home, total Medicare costs were reduced by 17 percent during a two-year period. A new study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) underscores the value of home-based primary care for America’s aging seniors.

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Salk scientists find that a plant used for centuries by healers of São Tomé e Príncipe holds lessons for modern medicine.

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While developing an important cancer drug, Wistar scientists discovered that mice without the TRAP-1 protein live healthier longer lives, with fewer tumors and signs of aging.

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The immune system ages and weakens with time, making the elderly prone to life-threatening infection and other maladies, and a UC San Francisco research team now has discovered a reason why.

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A new study gives insight into the relationship between depression and dementia. The study is published in the July 30, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) patients may confront a common but largely unrecognized challenge: the occurrence of impulse control disorders (ICDs) such as compulsive gambling, sexual behavior, eating, or spending. A team of investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center conducted a pilot study and found that the opioid antagonist naltrexone may be an effective treatment for diminishing ICD symptoms in PD patients. The results were published in the journal Neurology.

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A new study from UC San Francisco is the first to show that while the impact of life’s stressors accumulate overtime and accelerate cellular aging, these negative effects may be reduced by maintaining a healthy diet, exercising and sleeping well.

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A study involving nearly 27,000 older adults on five continents found that nearly 1 in 10 met criteria for pre-dementia based on a simple test that measures how fast people walk and whether they have cognitive complaints. People who tested positive for pre-dementia were twice as likely as others to develop dementia within 12 years. The study, led by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center, was published online on July 16, 2014 in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Recent years have seen major strides in basic science and clinical research on age-related macular degeneration (AMD)—the leading cause of vision loss in older adults. The August issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry, is a theme issue devoted to advances and challenges in AMD research. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere argue that medicine focuses too much on fighting diseases individually instead of concentrating on interventions that prevent multiple chronic diseases and extend healthy lifespan. They call for moving forward with strategies that have been shown to delay aging in animals. In addition to promoting a healthy diet and regular exercise, these strategies include manipulating molecular pathways that slow aging and promote healthy longevity.

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With nearly four in five older Americans living with multiple chronic medical conditions, a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that the more ailments you have after retirement age, the shorter your life expectancy. The analysis, one of the first to examine the burden of multiple chronic conditions on life expectancy among the elderly, may help explain why increases in life expectancy among older Americans are slowing.

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Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have found in animal models that a single gene plays a surprising role in aging, a discovery that could lead to the possibility of using therapeutics, even commonly used ones, to manipulate the aging process itself.

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According to a recent report from AARP’s Public Policy Institute, unpaid, informal caregivers provide almost half a trillion dollars’ worth of support to individuals with disabilities each year. These caregivers - usually family members - often perform physically-demanding tasks with little or no training, which can result in muscle strains and chronic pain. With very little data on the physical impact of informal caregiving, new research is identifying which tasks caregivers say are the most physically demanding and where they experience the most body pain. Researchers are using the information to develop interventions to help keep caregivers and their loved ones safe and healthy.

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Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) highlights the importance of an accurate Lewy body dementia diagnosis, which may have life-saving implications. Affecting more than 1.3 million Americans, Lewy body dementia (LBD) is the most misdiagnosed form of dementia and, following Alzheimer’s disease, is the second most common cause of progressive dementia. LBD is associated with abnormal protein deposits in the brain, called Lewy bodies, that affect thinking, movement, behavior and mood. It’s difficult to diagnose LBD, because its early symptoms resemble those found in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

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In the complex environment of a spinal cord injury, researchers have found that immune cells in the central nervous system of elderly mice fail to activate an important signaling pathway, dramatically lowering chances for repair after injury.

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Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered aging can occur at different rates within an individual's genome, with some portions aging 100 times faster than others. It makes personalized medicine even more challenging.

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Elderly men with low levels of testosterone or other sex hormones have twice the likelihood of having declining physical function over two years’ time compared with their peers who have the highest hormone levels, a new study from Australia finds. The results will be presented Saturday at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society: ICE/ENDO 2014 in Chicago.

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A study finds that the number of taste buds we have on our tongue decreases as we get older, and that the lower the number of taste buds, the more likely for fasting blood glucose (sugar) levels to be higher than normal. The results will be presented Sunday at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society: ICE/ENDO 2014 in Chicago.

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A new study at the University of Iowa reports a potential link between stress hormones and short-term memory loss in older adults. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, reveals that having high levels of cortisol—a natural hormone in our body whose levels surge when we are stressed—can lead to memory lapses as we age.

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Researchers at Tufts University identify a muscle-building mechanism that could be important in addressing sarcopenia, the significant loss of muscle mass and function that can occur as we age.

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Dancing eases hip and knee pain and helps older adults move better, according to a Saint Louis University study.

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As people continue to live longer, more Americans are caring for someone with a chronic condition, disability or old age. According to the Caregiver Action Network, there are approximately 90 million family caregivers in the U.S. today and two out of every five adults care for a family member. As the baby boomer generation ages, caregiving will continue to be a crucial issue among Americans.

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New research suggests that high blood pressure in middle age plays a critical role in whether blood pressure in old age may affect memory and thinking. The study is published in the June 4, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.