Self-reported sleep disturbances linked to higher risk for Alzheimer's disease in men
October 28, 2014
Science Daily/Uppsala Universitet
Elderly men with self-reported sleep disturbances run a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than men without self-reported sleep disturbances, studies show. The researchers followed more than 1,000 men, who were initially 50 year old, between the years 1970 and 2010. The results of the study show that self-reported sleep disturbances were linked to an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease during the 40-year follow-up period, particularly if they occurred late in life.
'We demonstrate that men with self-reported sleep disturbances run a 1.5-fold higher risk to develop Alzheimer's disease than those without reports of sleep disturbances during a 40-year follow-up period. The later the self-reported sleep disturbance was found the higher the risk was for developing Alzheimer's disease. These findings suggest that strategies aimed at improving sleep quality in late life may help reduce the risk to develop Alzheimer's disease', says Christian Benedict, sleep researcher at Uppsala University, who led the study.
"Importantly, there are several lifestyle factors, such as exercise, that can influence your brain's health. Thus, it must be borne in mind that a multifaceted lifestyle approach comprising good sleep habits is essential for maintaining brain health as you age," says Christian Benedict.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141028082508.htm
Possible cause of common dementia found, opening avenues for treatment
October 30, 2014
Science Daily/University Health Network (UHN)
A major cause of dementia has been potentially discovered, scientists report. In the type of dementia studied, there is damage to the white matter (nerve fibres) of the brain apparent on computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of older individuals.
Approximately 50 per cent of older individuals have evident white matter damage on their medical imaging scans. For most patients, these changes are harmless but when this damage is severe, it can cause impairment.
Previous studies have already established that the more white matter disease there is in the brain, the more likely patients are to have symptoms of dementia such as cognitive impairment or changes in behaviour. What was not understood is why this white matter disease develops -- the traditional assumption was that it might be the result of the natural aging process.
Krembil researchers hypothesized that the white matter disease (also called leukoaraiosis) may actually be the result of many tiny unnoticed strokes accumulating over time -- a finding that points to a potentially treatable form of dementia. The research was published today in the journal Annals of Neurology.
"We were surprised by the study findings" said Dr. Daniel Mandell, Neuroradiologist, Joint Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto Western Hospital and the principal investigator of the study. "The findings suggest that the tiny, silent strokes are likely much more common than physicians previously appreciated, and these strokes are likely a cause of the age-related white matter disease that can lead to dementia."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141030100521.htm
Sense of meaning and purpose in life linked to longer lifespan
November 6, 2014
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Science Daily/University College London
A study of 9,050 English people with an average age of 65 found that the people with the greatest well-being were 30 percent less likely to die during the average eight and a half year follow-up period than those with the least well-being.
The study, published in The Lancet as part of a special series on ageing, was conducted by researchers from UCL, Princeton University and Stony Brook University. It used questionnaire answers to measure a type of wellbeing called 'eudemonic wellbeing', which relates to your sense of control, feeling that what you do is worthwhile, and your sense of purpose in life. People were divided into four categories based on their answers, ranked from highest wellbeing to lowest wellbeing.
The results were adjusted for age, sex, socio-economic status, physical health, depression, smoking, physical activity and alcohol intake, to rule out as many factors as possible that could influence both health and wellbeing. For example, terminal illnesses could reduce both wellbeing and life expectancy.
Over the next eight and a half years, 9% of people in the highest wellbeing category had died, compared with 29% in the lowest category. Once all the other factors had been taken into account, people with the highest wellbeing were 30% less likely to die over the study period, living on average two years longer than those in the lowest wellbeing group.
"We have previously found that happiness is associated with a lower risk of death," says Professor Andrew Steptoe, Director of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, who led the study. "These analyses show that the meaningfulness and sense of purpose that older people have in their lives are also related to survival.
We cannot be sure that higher wellbeing necessarily causes lower risk of death, since the relationship may not be causal. But the findings raise the intriguing possibility that increasing wellbeing could help to improve physical health. There are several biological mechanisms that may link wellbeing to improved health, for example through hormonal changes or reduced blood pressure. Further research is now needed to see if such changes might contribute to the links between wellbeing and life expectancy in older people."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141106211618.htm
Bilingualism delays Alzheimer's manifestation by more than four years
December 1, 2014
Science Daily/Ghent University
The symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD) manifest themselves about four to five years later in bilinguals as opposed to monolinguals. In bilinguals, the disease onset was estimated at the age of 77, while in monolinguals, this was at the age of 73.
Results showed that the age of AD manifestation was 71.5 in monolinguals and 76.1 in bilinguals. A similar difference was found for the age of AD diagnosis; for monolinguals this was 72.5 and for bilinguals it was 77.3. Analyses controlled for other confounding factors, such as education, profession, and socioeconomic status, which actually had a negative effect.
The protective effect of bilingualism
These findings confirm previous research suggesting that bilingualism can slow down cognitive aging and contribute to cognitive reserve. It seems that constantly and actively controlling two languages is like a workout for the brain. It challenges our grey cells and keeps them from degenerating.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141201090428.htm
Does sleep really shorten when we get older?
December 1, 2014
Science Daily/Waseda University
As we age, the quality of our sleep gets gradually worse. People who were able to sleep deeply all night in their twenties become increasingly likely to wake up in the night in their forties. This is a common change to sleeping patterns that can happen to anyone as a result of aging, and is not abnormal. As we enter old age, our sleep becomes even lighter and we wake up frequently during our sleep. In a new article, an author reviews sleeping and aging, and gives some advice.
Another change that occurs to us in old age is that we tend to go to bed early and wake up early. This has been explained by the fact that lower energy levels in old age mean we tire more easily, causing more people to go to bed early and wake up early as a result. For the same reason, another change that occurs in old age is increased frequency of daytime naps.
One characteristic of old age is increased variation between individuals' levels of health and energy. For this reason it goes without saying that there will also be people who claim that the above does not apply to them, that they tend to stay up late and lie in late, and do not nap.
However, according to the NHK Japanese Time Use Survey carried out from 1960 onwards, the amount of time dedicated to sleep every 24 hours increases as we enter old age. So does sleeping time actually increase as we age?
As described above, elderly people often sleep several times during the day, including daytime naps, and the NHK survey includes daytime naps as part of time dedicated to sleep.
The debate has been carried out without making a distinction between these sleeping times. In other words, time spent in bed is measured over a 24-hour period including daytime naps, whereas sleeping time is measured only by looking at nighttime sleep. From this perspective, robust data on how much time is actually spent sleeping by elderly people in a 24-hour period has not been submitted.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141201090014.htm
Can poor sleep lead to dementia?
December 10, 2014
Science Daily/American Academy of Neurology (AAN)
People who have sleep apnea or spend less time in deep sleep may be more likely to have changes in the brain that are associated with dementia, according to a new study. The study found that people who don’t have as much oxygen in their blood during sleep, which occurs with sleep apnea and conditions such as emphysema, are more likely to have tiny abnormalities in brain tissue, called micro infarcts, than people with higher levels of oxygen in the blood.
The study found that people who don’t have as much oxygen in their blood during sleep, which occurs with sleep apnea and conditions such as emphysema, are more likely to have tiny abnormalities in brain tissue, called micro infarcts, than people with higher levels of oxygen in the blood. These abnormalities are associated with the development of dementia.
In addition, people who spent less time in deep sleep, called slow wave sleep, were more likely to have loss of brain cells than people who spent more time in slow wave sleep. Slow wave sleep is important in processing new memories and remembering facts. People tend to spend less time in slow wave sleep as they age. Loss of brain cells is also associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Previous studies have also shown a link between sleep stages and dementia. For this study, the participants were again divided into four groups based on the percentage of the night spent in slow wave sleep. Of the 37 men who spent the least time in slow wave sleep, 17 had brain cell loss, compared to seven of the 38 men who spent the most time in slow wave sleep.
The results remained the same after adjusting for factors such as smoking and body mass index and after excluding participants who had died early in the follow-up period and those who had low scores on cognitive tests at the beginning of the study.
“These findings suggest that low blood oxygen levels and reduced slow wave sleep may contribute to the processes that lead to cognitive decline and dementia,” said study author Rebecca P. Gelber, MD, DrPH, of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System and the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute in Honolulu, Hawaii. “More research is needed to determine how slow wave sleep may play a restorative role in brain function and whether preventing low blood oxygen levels may reduce the risk of dementia.”
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141210162103.htm
Memory lapses among highly educated may signal higher stroke risk
December 11, 2014
Science Daily/American Heart Association
People with a high level of education who complain about memory lapses have a higher risk of stroke. Researchers suggest such people should be considered for screening for stroke risk.
"Studies have shown how stroke causes memory complaints," said Arfan Ikram, M.D., associate professor of neuroepidemiology at Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands. "Given the shared underlying vascular pathology, we posed the reverse question: 'Do memory complaints indicate an increased risk of strokes?'"
"Given the role of education in revealing subjective memory complaints, we investigated the same association but in three separate groups: low education, medium education and high education," Ikram said. "We found that the association of memory complaints with stroke was strongest among people with the highest education. If in future research we can confirm this, then I would like to assess whether people who complain about changes in their memory should be considered primary targets for further risk assessment and prevention of stroke."
Researchers categorized level of education into three groups: low education -- primary education only; intermediate education -- primary education plus some higher education, lower vocational education, intermediate vocational education, or general secondary education; and high education -- higher vocational education or university training.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141211162455.htm
Mild memory, thinking issues: What works, what doesn't?
December 16, 2014
Science Daily/University of Michigan Health System
For up to one in five Americans over age 65, getting older brings memory and thinking problems. It may seem like part of getting older - but officially, it’s called mild cognitive impairment or MCI. A new definitive look at the evidence about what works and what doesn’t in MCI should help doctors and the seniors they treat.
They might just call it "getting older." But officially, when memory or cognitive problems don't interfere significantly with daily living, doctors call them mild cognitive impairment, or MCI.
What can be done to prevent or slow MCI? And how much should seniors fear that their thinking or memory problems will get much worse? A pair of doctors from the University of Michigan Medical School and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System have put together a definitive look at the evidence, based on a thorough review of recent studies about MCI.
Among the key findings of their review, and what they mean for seniors:
• Speak up to your doctor about memory and thinking problems: The new paper offers doctors a step-by-step guide for what to do when a patient or his or her caregiver mentions concerns about memory and thinking problems. Specific lab tests for things like vitamin deficiencies, standard cognitive tests and a full physical and neurological exam can reveal important clues to factors that might be causing their symptoms.
• Keep body and brain active: A number of studies have indicated that aerobic exercise and mental activities can have a small beneficial effect on thinking ability in older adults with MCI.
• Keeping a stroke at bay helps the brain too: Since strokes are brain injuries caused by clots or holes in the blood vessels that keep brain tissue healthy, it makes sense that preventing a stroke can preserve memory and thinking ability. People who have had mini-strokes or survived a full-blown stroke should especially focus on preventing new strokes to keep their brain function as intact as possible as they age, Langa and Levine advise based on the evidence they reviewed. So should people diagnosed with MCI. Having a stroke can worsen cognition and raises the risk of progressing on to dementia.
Stroke prevention strategies include controlling high blood pressure, stopping smoking, lowering cholesterol with drugs called statins and taking aspirin or other medicines to prevent blood clots.
• Multiple medicines can fog the brain: Many seniors have prescriptions for a number of medications, and take over-the-counter drugs and supplements, to address their various health risks and conditions. These may have been prescribed or recommended by different doctors -- who don't always know or ask what else a patient is taking. But, say Langa and Levine, studies show that multiple drugs can interact with one another and affect memory and thinking. Doctors and seniors should review all drugs and supplements and see if any interactions can be prevented by reducing the number of medications the patient takes, or stopping drugs that aren't needed after a hospital stay.
• Avoid over-treatment of high blood pressure and diabetes: While it is important to control blood pressure and diabetes to prevent harmful consequences, doctors need to be careful not to overdo it. "It is important to avoid overtreatment of high blood pressure and diabetes because low blood pressure and low blood sugar may increase the risk of cognitive decline and other patient harms," says Langa.
• What are the odds?: That's the key question in the mind of anyone with suspected or diagnosed MCI -- how likely are they to get worse and progress to dementia and not be able to function independently. Reassuringly, Levine says, the evidence available shows that progression from MCI is far from a sure thing. "The numbers are less scary than many people believe," she notes. "The majority of people with MCI will not progress to dementia and loss of independence, even after 10 years. Some patients with MCI will actually have improved cognition after a year or two, if their cognitive test scores were brought down by an acute illness that gets addressed." Older adults with MCI are 12 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than to die of dementia. So, preventing stroke and heart attack by controlling vascular risk factors is crucial for people diagnosed with MCI.
• More evidence needed for a number of new detection/treatment options: The review of the literature showed that a number of new blood tests and brain imaging options have been proposed and preliminarily tested for diagnosing MCI, and tracking or predicting its progression to dementia. But many of these tests haven't yet been proven to offer significant benefit to patients, says Langa. And in fact, there can be some risk of "over-diagnosis" when a test identifies a problem that would not go on to cause significant problems for a patient.
In the end, he says, MCI can be a complicated issue, and that can make it even scarier for patients and their families. More research is needed on the factors that put someone at increased risk of MCI, new options for treating it, and better research on what the risk of progression to dementia is. But until new findings are available, this new review should help doctors and patients alike.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141216161449.htm
Ibuprofen use leads to extended lifespan in several species
December 18, 2014
Science Daily/Texas A&M AgriLife Communications
A common over-the-counter drug that tackles pain and fever may also hold keys to a longer, healthier life, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist. Regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of multiple species.
Regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of multiple species, according to research published in the journal Public Library of Science, Genetics.
"We first used baker's yeast, which is an established aging model, and noticed that the yeast treated with ibuprofen lived longer," said Dr. Michael Polymenis, an AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station. "Then we tried the same process with worms and flies and saw the same extended lifespan. Plus, these organisms not only lived longer, but also appeared healthy."
He said the treatment, given at doses comparable to the recommended human dose, added about 15 percent more to the species lives. In humans, that would be equivalent to another dozen or so years of healthy living.
Polymenis, who also is a professor in the biochemistry and biophysics department at Texas A&M University, collaborated with Dr. Brian Kennedy, the president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California, along with several researchers from Russia and the University of Washington.
Ibuprofen is a relatively safe drug that was created in the early 1960s in England. It was first made available by prescription and then, after widespread use, became available over-the-counter throughout the world in the 1980s. The World Health Organization includes ibuprofen on their "List of Essential Medications" needed in a basic health system. Ibuprofen is described as a"nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for relieving pain, helping with fever and reducing inflammation."
Polymenis said the three-year project showed that ibuprofen interferes with the ability of yeast cells to pick up tryptophan, an amino acid found in every cell of every organism. Tryptophan is essential for humans, who get it from protein sources in the diet.
"We are not sure why this works, but it's worth exploring further. This study was a proof of principle to show that common, relatively safe drugs in humans can extend the lifespan of very diverse organisms. Therefore, it should be possible to find others like ibuprofen with even better ability to extend lifespan, with the aim of adding healthy years of life in people."
"Dr. Polymenis approached me with this idea of seeing how his cell cycle analysis corresponded with our aging studies," said Dr. Brian Kennedy, CEO at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California. "He had identified some drugs that had some really unique properties, and we wanted to know if they might affect aging, so we did those studies in our lab. We're beginning to find not just ibuprofen, but other drugs that affect aging, so we're really excited about it.
"Our institute is interested in finding out why people get sick when they get old. We think that by understanding those processes, we can intervene and find ways to extend human health span, keeping people healthier longer and slowing down aging. That's our ultimate goal."
Chong He, a postdoctoral fellow at Buck Institute and lead author on the paper, said looking deeper into the common drugs that target individual diseases might shed light on understanding the aging process.
"We have some preliminary data on worms that showed that this drug also extended the health span in worms," she said. "It made them live not just longer but also more healthy. You can measure the thrashing of the worms. If they're healthy, they do have a tendency to thrash a lot, and also we can measure the pumping as they swallow, because if they're healthy, the pumping is faster.
"Ibuprofen is something that people have been taking for years, and no one actually knew that it can have some benefits for longevity and health span."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141218141004.htm
New non-invasive method can detect Alzheimer's disease early
December 22, 2014
Science Daily/Northwestern University
A noninvasive MRI approach that can detect the Alzheimer's disease in a living animal, well before typical Alzheimer's symptoms appear, has been developed by researchers. The research team created an MRI probe that pairs a magnetic nanostructure with an antibody that seeks out the amyloid beta brain toxins responsible for onset of the disease. The accumulated toxins, because of the associated magnetic nanostructures, show up as dark areas in MRI scans of the brain.
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No methods currently exist for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease, which affects one out of nine people over the age of 65. Now, an interdisciplinary team of Northwestern University scientists and engineers has developed a noninvasive MRI approach that can detect the disease in a living animal. And it can do so at the earliest stages of the disease, well before typical Alzheimer's symptoms appear
"We have a new brain imaging method that can detect the toxin that leads to Alzheimer's disease," said Klein, who first identified the amyloid beta oligomer in 1998. He is a professor of neurobiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
The ability to detect amyloid beta oligomers, Klein said, is important for two reasons: amyloid beta oligomers are the toxins that damage neurons, and the oligomers are the first sign of trouble in the disease process, appearing before any other pathology.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141222143019.htm
Use it or lose it: Active learning improves cognitive learning in active adults
January 23, 2015
Science Daily/Canisius College
Older adults who learn a new, mentally demanding skill can improve their cognitive function, according to research. "When we see all these media reports that tell people that they should get involved socially, or do crossword puzzles or Sudoku, they are just not as beneficial as learning something new where you really have to put that effort in,” says one investigator. “You have to want to change and work hard to see real benefits.”
"At the end of three months, we found that only the group who learned digital photography grew in their memory skills," says Lodi-Smith. The participants were computer novices, they had to remember a series of steps, learn to use Adobe Photoshop, and mount their photos. The key, adds Lodi-Smith, is that the group was productively engaged and consistently challenged during their activity.
Other participants were asked to participate in more familiar activities such as crossword puzzles, watch documentaries and listen to classical music. To account for the possible influence of social contact, some participants were assigned to a group that included field trips and entertainment.
"So when we see all these media reports that tell people that they should get involved socially, or do crossword puzzles or Sudoku, they are just not as beneficial as learning something new where you really have to put that effort in," says Lodi-Smith. "You have to want to change and work hard to see real benefits."
Next steps for further research, says Lodi-Smith, include potential methods for improving psychological function for older adults. "My current research examines identity in older adults, specifically how we understand who we are, how that changes as we age, and if we can maintain that identity long-term."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150123190148.htm
Chronic loneliness in older adults leads to more doctors' office visits
March 31, 2015
Science Daily/University of Georgia
Experiences of loneliness and social isolation can lead to increased health care use among older adults, according to new research. The study found that the frequency of physician visits was particularly influenced by chronic loneliness -- and suggests that the identification and targeting of interventions for lonely elders may significantly decrease physician visits and health care costs.
The study, published online in the American Journal of Public Health, found that the frequency of physician visits was particularly influenced by chronic loneliness--and suggests that the identification and targeting of interventions for lonely elders may significantly decrease physician visits and health care costs.
"Logically, it makes sense that people who are in poorer health because of loneliness would use health care more," said study co-author Kerstin Gerst Emerson, an assistant professor of health policy and management. "But we wondered, could people also be visiting their doctor or making those extra appointments because they were lonely?"
To answer this question, Emerson and co-author Jayani Jayawardhana, also an assistant professor in health policy and management, looked at how loneliness impacted the number of physician visits and hospitalizations reported by senior adults living among the general population and not in a retirement community. Their analysis relied on data from the 2008 and 2012 University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, a national survey of Americans over the age of 50.
To gauge loneliness, study participants were asked how often they felt they lacked companionship, how often they felt left out and how often they felt isolated from others. Their responses, ranging from "often" to "some of the time" to "hardly ever or never," were then used to create an index of loneliness, where higher scores on the scale equaled higher loneliness. Respondents who were identified as lonely in both years of the study were considered to be chronically lonely.
"We often assume that if a person has enough friends and relatives they are doing OK. But loneliness is not the same as being alone. You can be lonely in a crowded room. It's very much about how you feel about your actual social relationships," said Emerson, who is also a faculty member in the college's Institute of Gerontology.
Emerson and Jayawardhana reviewed responses from 3,530 community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older, comparing their loneliness scores with their self-reported hospital stays and physician visits.
The researchers found that while loneliness experienced at only one time point did not predict health care use, chronic loneliness--being lonely in both 2008 and 2012--was significantly associated with an increased number of doctor visits. Although Emerson and Jayawardhana had hypothesized that chronic loneliness would impact both physician visits and hospitalizations, only physician visits were significant in their sample of older adults.
"This finding made sense to us," Jayawardhana said. "You build a relationship with your physician over the years, so a visit to the doctor's office is like seeing a friend. Hospitalizations, on the other hand, require a referral from a doctor, and you don't know who you will see."
The study's findings support a growing body of research establishing loneliness as a significant public health issue among older adults. Over half of study respondents reported being lonely, with that percentage increasing from 53 percent to 57 percent four years later. Lonely respondents also reported more problems with daily living tasks and a greater number of depressive symptoms. They also were less likely to count their health as good, very good or excellent.
Despite its high prevalence of among seniors and its clear implications on both health outcomes and health care use, Emerson said, public health officials and medical professionals pay little attention to loneliness.
The UGA study suggests that since chronically lonely older adults are likely to turn to physicians for social contact, health care workers should take loneliness into consideration as a factor when seeing patients for other illnesses and complaints.
"Loneliness is something that is easily preventable and with little cost compared to other chronic illnesses," Jayawardhana said. "With an interventions as simple as a phone call, home visit or community program, you can avoid unnecessary health care utilization and additional expenditures that ultimately cost all of us as a society."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150331154746.htm
Older people can learn to spend less time sitting down
April 8, 2015
Science Daily/Group Health Research Institute
Older adults spend 8.5 waking hours a day sitting or lying down -- time linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and death -- even if they're physically active at other times. A new study showed it was feasible to coach older people to spend less time sitting: an average of a half hour less per day. They reported feeling more able to accomplish everyday tasks -- and they walked faster and had fewer depression symptoms.
I feel lethargic when I sit all day," said Gerald Alexander, an 82-year-old retired social service worker among the 25 Group Health patients who participated in the Take Active Breaks from Sitting (TABS) pilot study. "I feel much peppier when I stand and take walks.”
Retirement may be more golden if less of it is spent in a resting position. Yet older adults spend an average of 8.5 waking hours a day sitting or lying down, according to TABS study leader Dori Rosenberg, PhD, MPH, an assistant scientific investigator at Group Health Research Institute. More of this kind of time has been linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and death--even if people are physically active at other times of the day.
"We're not sure whether older people can improve their health by reducing the time they spend sitting," Dr. Rosenberg said. "To prove that, we need randomized trials--and none have been done yet in older adults." As a first step toward such a trial, she conducted the TABS study, which showed that it was feasible to coach adults aged 60 and older to spend less time sitting: an average of 27 minutes less per day. They reported feeling more able to accomplish everyday tasks. And data suggested that after coaching, they also walked faster and had fewer symptoms of depression.
Health Education & Behavior published the new study's quantitative results: "The Feasibility of Reducing Sitting Time in Overweight and Obese Older Adults." And The Gerontologist published its results from interviews with participants: "Motivators and Barriers to Reducing Sedentary Behavior Among Overweight and Obese Older Adults."
How coaching worked
In the TABS study, health coaches talked by phone with each participant five times during eight weeks. The coaches used motivational interviewing to engage participants in setting personalized goals to sit less by standing and moving more--and to take more breaks from sitting throughout the day. Participants tracked how much they thought they were sitting. And at baseline, midway through the study, and at its end, participants used two devices for a week to measure how much they were sitting. They also received charts showing feedback from these measurements. Participants found the feedback charts most helpful, followed by the coaching phone calls.
"The feedback was like a reward for standing up and moving," Mr. Alexander said.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150408100647.htm
Can arts, crafts and computer use preserve your memory?
April 8, 2015
Science Daily/American Academy of Neurology (AAN)
People who participate in arts and craft activities and who socialize in middle and old age may delay the development in very old age of the thinking and memory problems that often lead to dementia, according to a new study.
People age 85 and older make up the fastest growing age group in the United States and worldwide.
"As millions of older US adults are reaching the age where they may experience these memory and thinking problem called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), it is important we look to find lifestyle changes that may stave off the condition," said study author Rosebud Roberts, MB, ChB, MS, of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "Our study supports the idea that engaging the mind may protect neurons, or the building blocks of the brain, from dying, stimulate growth of new neurons, or may help recruit new neurons to maintain cognitive activities in old age."
The study involved 256 people with an average age of 87 who were free of memory and thinking problems at the start of the study. The participants reported their participation in arts, such as painting, drawing and sculpting; crafts, like woodworking, pottery ceramics quilting, quilling and sewing; social activities, such as going to the theater, movies, concerts, socializing with friends, book clubs, Bible study and travel; and computer activities such as using the internet, computer games, conducting web searches and online purchases.
After an average of four years, 121 people developed mild cognitive impairment. Participants who engaged in arts in both middle and old age were 73 percent less likely to develop MCI than those who did not report engaging in artistic activities. Those who crafted in middle and old age were 45 percent less likely to develop MCI and people who socialized in middle and old age were 55 percent less likely to develop MCI compared to those who did not engage in like activities. Computer use in later life was associated with a 53 percent reduced risk of MCI.
On the other hand, risk factors such as having the APOE gene, having high blood pressure in middle age, depression and risk factors related to blood vessels increased the risk of developing MCI.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150408160643.htm
Civic engagement may stave off brain atrophy, improve memory
April 14, 2015
Science Daily/Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Instead of shrinking as expected, as part of the normal aging process, the memory center in the brains of seniors maintained their size and, in men, grew modestly after two years in a program that engaged them in meaningful and social activities, new research suggests.
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At the same time, those with larger increases in the brain's volume over two years also saw the greatest improvements on memory tests, showing a direct correlation between brain volume and the reversal of a type of cognitive decline linked to increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.
The research, published online in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, studied participants in the Baltimore Experience Corps, a program that brings retired people into public schools to serve as mentors to young children, working with teachers to help them learn to read in understaffed school libraries.
"Someone once said to me that being in this program removed the cobwebs from her brain and this study shows that is exactly what is happening," says study leader Michelle Carlson, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "By helping others, participants are helping themselves in ways beyond just feeding their souls. They are helping their brains. The brain shrinks as part of aging, but with this program we appear to have stopped that shrinkage and are reversing part of the aging process."
For the study, Carlson and her colleagues randomized 111 men and women to either participate in the Experience Corps (58) or not (53). They took MRI scans of their brains at enrollment and then again after 12 and 24 months. They also conducted memory tests. Participants were an average of 67.2 years old, predominantly African-American, were in good health, came from neighborhoods with low socioeconomic status and had some college education.
The control arm of the study, those not involved in Experience Corps, exhibited age-related shrinkage in brain volumes. Typically, annual rates of atrophy in adults over age 65 range from .8 percent to two percent. The men who were enrolled in Experience Corps, however, showed a .7 percent to 1.6 percent increase in brain volumes over the course of two years. Though not statistically significant, women appeared to experience small gains, as compared to declines in the control group of one percent over 24 months.
Carlson notes that many cognitive intervention studies last one year or less. One strength of this study, she says, is that the participants were followed for two years, which in this case was long enough to see changes that wouldn't have been detected after just one year.
The researchers were particularly interested in the results, considering that people with less education and who live in poverty are at greater risk for cognitive decline.
Carlson says it's not entirely clear which elements of Experience Corps account for the improved memory function and increased brain volumes. She says the program increases involvement in so many different kinds of activities that retired people may not have engaged in otherwise. Participants need to get out of bed, walk to the bus, and walk up and down stairs inside the schools. They work in teams. They work with young people. They share their knowledge and know they are doing good in the world. They engage in problem solving and they socialize in ways they wouldn't have if they stayed at home.
"We're not training them on one skill, like doing crossword puzzles," she says. "We're embedding complexity and novelty into their daily lives, something that tends to disappear once people retire. The same things that benefit us at 5, 10, 25, 35 -- contact with others, meaningful work -- are certain to benefit us as we age."
Experience Corps is a national program, however it can be costly and isn't available everywhere. But Carlson says she believes finding purpose and civic engagement may forestall some of the damage of aging on the brain.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150414100826.htm
Housework keeps older adults more physically, emotionally fit
April 16, 2015
Science Daily/Case Western Reserve University
Older adults who keep a clean and orderly home -- because of the exercise it takes to get the job done -- tend to feel emotionally and physically better after tackling house chores, according to new findings.
"House cleaning kept them up and moving," said Kathy D. Wright, PhD, RN, CNS, a postdoctoral KL2 Scholar at the university's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. "A clean environment is therapeutic."
Wright and a research team set out to test a theory called House's Conceptual Framework for Understanding Social Inequalities in Health and Aging. It's considered a blueprint for understanding how factors such as income, education, environment and health behaviors, like smoking and exercise, influence an older person's health.
The study's 337 participants, from 65 to 94 years old, had to have at least one chronic illness, be enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, have physical restrictions that prevented them from doing at least one basic daily task, such as bathing and dressing, and be unable to manage such responsibilities as taking medicines, handling finances or accessing transportation. All lived in Ohio's Summit and Portage counties.
They discussed their backgrounds and physical and emotional well-being in interviews. The researchers then used the University of Utah's Digit Lab, where Wright earned her doctorate degree while working for the Summa Health System, to link geographic and socioeconomic information on the neighborhoods with health data.
Wright said she was surprised to learn that housework and maintaining their property affected the participants' physical and mental well-being more than such factors as neighborhood or income.
"What I found was that neighborhood poverty did not directly affect mental or physical health," she said.
The study provided evidence that Wright had observed in her visits: people living in a chaotic environment seemed less satisfied than those in a place that was neat and tidy.
Wright hopes the study shows how important it is for sedentary older adults with disabilities and chronic illnesses to continue physical activities, such as doing reaching exercises while sitting, arm curls and standing up and sitting down in a chair.
Wright and her team's findings were reported in the recent Geriatric Nursing article, "Factors that Influence physical function and emotional well-being among Medicare-Medicaid enrollees."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150416132627.htm
Long-term exposure to air pollution may pose risk to brain structure, cognitive functions
April 23, 2015
Science Daily/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Air pollution, even at moderate levels, has long been recognized as a factor in raising the risk of stroke. A new study suggests that long-term exposure can cause damage to brain structures and impair cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults.
http://images.sciencedaily.com/2015/04/150423182357_1_540x360.jpg
Writing in the May 2015 issue of Stroke, researchers who studied more than 900 participants of the Framingham Heart Study found evidence of smaller brain structure and of covert brain infarcts, a type of "silent" ischemic stroke resulting from a blockage in the blood vessels supplying the brain.
The study evaluated how far participants lived from major roadways and used satellite imagery to assess prolonged exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, particles with a diameter of 2.5 millionth of a meter, referred to as PM2.5. These particles come from a variety of sources, including power plants, factories, trucks and automobiles and the burning of wood. They can travel deeply into the lungs and have been associated in other studies with increased numbers of hospital admissions for cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.
"This is one of the first studies to look at the relationship between ambient air pollution and brain structure," says Elissa Wilker, ScD, a researcher in the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "Our findings suggest that air pollution is associated with insidious effects on structural brain aging, even in dementia- and stroke-free individuals."
Study participants were at least 60 years old and were free of dementia and stroke. The evaluation included total cerebral brain volume, a marker of age-associated brain atrophy; hippocampal volume, which reflect changes in the area of the brain that controls memory; white matter hyperintensity volume, which can be used as a measure of pathology and aging; and covert brain infarcts.
The study found that an increase of only 2µg per cubic meter in PM2.5, a range commonly observed across metropolitan regions in New England and New York, was associated with being more likely to have covert brain infarcts and smaller cerebral brain volume, equivalent to approximately one year of brain aging.
"These results are an important step in helping us learn what is going on in the brain," Wilker says. "The mechanisms through which air pollution may affect brain aging remain unclear, but systemic inflammation resulting from the deposit of fine particles in the lungs is likely important."
"This study shows that for a 2 microgram per cubic meter of air (μg/m3) increase in PM2.5, a range commonly observed across major US cities, on average participants who lived in more polluted areas had the brain volume of someone a year older than participants who lived in less polluted areas. They also had a 46 percent higher risk of silent strokes on MRI," said Sudha Seshadri, MD, a Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and Senior Investigator, the Framingham Study.
"This is concerning since we know that silent strokes increase the risk of overt strokes and of developing dementia, walking problems and depression. We now plan to look at more the impact of air pollution over a longer period, its effect on more sensitive MRI measures, on brain shrinkage over time, and other risks including of stroke and dementia."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150423182357.htm
Omega-3 fatty acids enhance cognitive flexibility in at-risk older adults
May 19, 2015
Science Daily/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
A study of older adults at risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease found that those who consumed more omega-3 fatty acids did better than their peers on tests of cognitive flexibility -- the ability to efficiently switch between tasks -- and had a bigger anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region known to contribute to cognitive flexibility.
The analysis suggests, but does not prove, that consuming DHA and EPA, two omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, enhanced cognitive flexibility in these adults in part by beefing up the anterior cingulate cortex, the researchers report in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
"Recent research suggests that there is a critical link between nutritional deficiencies and the incidence of both cognitive impairment and degenerative neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease," said University of Illinois neuroscience, psychology, and speech and hearing science professor Aron Barbey, who led the study with M.D./Ph.D. student Marta Zamroziewicz. "Our findings add to the evidence that optimal nutrition helps preserve cognitive function, slow the progression of aging and reduce the incidence of debilitating diseases in healthy aging populations."
The researchers focused on aspects of brain function that are sometimes overlooked in research on aging, Zamroziewicz said. "A lot of work in cognitive aging focuses on memory, but in fact cognitive flexibility and other executive functions have been shown to better predict daily functioning than memory does," she said.
"Executive function" describes processes like planning, reasoning, paying attention, problem solving, impulse control and task switching.
"These functions tend to decline earlier than other cognitive functions in aging," Zamroziewicz said.
The new research built on previous studies that found associations between omega-3 fatty acid consumption, cognitive flexibility and the size of the anterior cingulate cortex.
"There's been some work to show that omega-3 fatty acids benefit cognitive flexibility, and there's also been work showing that cognitive flexibility is linked to this specific brain region, the anterior cingulate. But there's been very little work actually connecting these pieces," Zamroziewicz said.
The new study focused on 40 cognitively healthy older adults between the ages of 65 and 75 who are carriers of a gene variant (APOE e4) that is known to contribute to the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers tested participants' cognitive flexibility, measured levels of the fatty acids EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) in their blood, and imaged their brains using MRI. Statistical analyses teased out the relationships between these factors.
"We wanted to confirm that higher omega-3 fatty acids related to better cognitive flexibility, and we did in fact see that," Zamroziewicz said. "We also wanted to confirm that higher omega-3 fatty acids related to higher volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, and we saw that. Finally, we were able to show that higher volume in the anterior cingulate cortex was an intermediary in the relationship between omega-3 fatty acids and cognitive flexibility."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150519084322.htm
Moderate drinking in later years may damage heart
May 26, 2015
Science Daily/American Heart Association
Moderate to heavy alcohol intake later in life may be associated with subtle changes in the structure and efficiency of the heart. Women may be particularly vulnerable to negative cardiac effects of alcohol at moderate to higher levels of consumption.
Drinking two or more alcoholic beverages daily may damage the heart of elderly people, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. The study correlated weekly alcohol consumption among 4,466 people -- average age 76 -- to the size, structure and motion of various parts of the heart.
Researchers found:
The more people drank, the greater the subtle changes to the heart's structure and function.
Among men, drinking more than 14 alcoholic beverages weekly (heavy drinking) was linked with enlargement of the wall of the heart's main pumping chamber (left ventricular mass).
Among women, moderate drinkers had small reductions in heart function.
"Women appear more susceptible than men to the cardiotoxic effects of alcohol, which might potentially contribute to a higher risk of alcoholic cardiomyopathy, for any given level of alcohol intake," said Scott Solomon, M.D., senior author of the study and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of noninvasive cardiology at Brigham and Women's in Boston.
Previous research has shown that light to moderate drinking may protect against some cardiovascular disease, while heavy drinking has been linked with a higher risk for cardiomyopathy -- in which the heart muscle becomes larger, thicker, more rigid, or is replaced by scar tissue.
"In spite of potential benefits of low alcohol intake, our findings highlight the possible hazards to cardiac structure and function by increased amounts of alcohol consumption in the elderly, particularly among women. This reinforces the U.S. recommendations stating that those who drink should do so with moderation," said Alexandra Gonçalves, M.D.; Ph.D., lead author of the study and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Brigham and Women's in Boston.
Moderate drinking is generally defined as two drinks a day (beer, wine or liquor) for men and one drink a day for women. The American Heart Association guidelines and 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting alcohol intake to up to one drink a day for women and up to two for men.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150526164232.htm
As baby boomers age, do their decisions get better or worse?
June 5, 2015
Science Daily/West Virginia University - Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
In 2050, the total number of Americans aged 65 and older will be 88 million, double the number estimated for 2010.As an economic and political force, researchers say that older adults hold a tremendous amount of social power in the United States. A new study is examining what factors contribute to older adults’ decisions.
"Most of the research that has been done has utilized younger adults as participants," said Natalie Shook, principal investigator on the project and assistant professor in the WVU Department of Psychology. "We've got a lot of information regarding the psychological decision-making processes that guide younger adults' behavior. But very little work has explored older adults."
The study is supported by a three-year, $458,547 National Science Foundation grant. JoNell Strough, also a professor in the Department of Psychology, serves as co-principal investigator.
WVU researchers use an activity that explores attitude formation called "Bean Fest." The game uncovers how people process positive and negative information by presenting them with novel stimuli, referred to as beans. Points are rewarded for identifying good and bad beans correctly.
Research has shown that decision-making changes by age. Many have attributed this to causes such as declines in cognitive processing and health associated with age. But not all decisions get worse with age. Some get better.
Understanding how people perceive positive and negative information may provide a window into age-related differences in decision-making. Young adults typically focus on the negative rather than the positive, using it diagnostically to inform their decisions.
This negativity bias doesn't necessarily generalize, Shook said. Data indicate that as we age, we start to shift to have a positivity bias, and this could affect decisions.
"There is unprecedented growth in the population that's going to be 65 and older," Strough said. "People that age tend to control a lot of the assets in the U.S. -- a lot of the finances and wealth are held by older people. The types of decisions they make with their money, about their health, are going to have implications on society as a whole."
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150605182356.htm