New details on aged brain, Alzheimer's and dementia
Robust analysis of samples from 107 human brains highlights features of healthy and diseased aging
November 21, 2017
Science Daily/Allen Institute
In a comprehensive analysis of samples from 107 aged human brains, researchers have discovered details that will help researchers better understand the biological bases for Alzheimer's disease and dementia in older populations.
"Since the population of individuals over 90 years of age is rapidly increasing, understanding both healthy aging and age-related disease is essential," says Ed Lein, Investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. "This means we must discover how cognitive decline correlates with the brain pathologies we typically attribute to diseases like Alzheimer's in aged brains, as well as the biology underlying individual vulnerability and resilience to disease." In this analysis, researchers sought to understand whether associations previously identified between cognitive status, gene expression and brain pathologies -- such as the plaques and tangles typically found in Alzheimer's disease -- held true in a well characterized, aged population. To achieve this goal, researchers developed a state of the art approach combining traditional and quantitative measures to probe the relationships between gene expression and age-related neurodegeneration.
"Several studies exist that compare expression in donor brains aged 60-85 years, but few in the more aged cohort we were able to study here," says Jeremy Miller, Ph.D., Senior Scientist I at the Allen Institute for Brain Science and lead author on the publication. "We found that the more aged brains still showed a correlation between cognitive decline and the Alzheimer's-associated plaques and tangles, although the relationship was not as strong as in younger cohorts."
In addition, the research revealed a surprising relationship between dementia and decreased quality of RNA -- a key player in gene expression -- in the more aged brain.
"One factor that is not always taken into account when studying gene expression in the aged brain is the quality of the genetic material itself," says Miller. "This variable is not necessarily related to any specific pathology or disease, but these results highlight the importance of properly controlling for RNA quality when studying the aged brain and indicate that degradation of genetic material may be an underappreciated feature of neurodegeneration or dementia."
All of the data underlying the research is part of the Aging, Dementia and TBI resource, freely available through the Allen Brain Atlas data portal. "We want to promote a model of systematic, collaborative, multidimensional study of the diseased brain and open access to data and tools to facilitate discovery across the entire basic and biomedical research community," says Lein.
"We anticipate that this dataset and research model will inform and help shape future brain aging research to propel a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving neurological disease for improved diagnostic approaches and effective therapeutic strategies," says C. Dirk Keene, M.D., Ph.D., study co-author and Director of UW Medicine Neuropathology.
The study samples come from the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study, a longitudinal research effort led by Eric B. Larson, M.D., M.P.H., and Paul K. Crane, M.D., M.P.H., of the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) (formerly known as Group Health Research Institute) and the University of Washington School of Medicine to collect data on thousands of aging adults, including detailed information on their health histories and cognitive abilities.
"This collaboration with the Allen Institute for Brain Science has allowed us to gain insights never before possible into the relationships between neuropathology, gene expression, RNA quality, and clinical features tracked in the ACT study over more than 20 years," says Larson, who has led the National Institute of Aging-supported study from its start in 1986 and is Vice President for Research and Health Care Innovation at Kaiser Permanente Washington. "We are grateful to the thousands of volunteer subjects who worked with us and those who donated their brains to science. The results are transformative in improving our understanding of the aging brain, a theme of the ACT study, which aims to learn ways to reduce the burden of dementia for individuals and society overall."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171121095148.htm
The link between cognitive function and sexuality in older adults
September 21, 2018
Science Daily/American Geriatrics Society
Researchers learn more about the relationship between sexual behavior, function, and cognition (people's ability to think and make decisions).
Experts agree that we know very little about sexuality among people living at home with AD or other cognitive problems. Older adults who have cognitive problems that impact the way they think and make decisions may ask physicians to help managing sexual problems. And caregivers may ask physicians about sexuality in the older adults for whom they provide care.
One frequently asked question is: Do older adults always have the capacity to consent to sexual activity?
Researchers have previously shown that the majority of people aged 57 to 85 have a spouse or other intimate partner and, among those with a partner, most are sexually active. Having an active sexual life is linked to better physical and mental health, higher quality of life, and lower rates of loneliness.
To learn more about the connection between sexuality and cognitive status, researchers designed a new study. They analyzed data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to learn more about the relationship between sexual behavior, function, and cognition (people's ability to think and make decisions). Their study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Based on their study, the researchers reported that:
- 83 percent of men and 57 percent of women had an intimate partner. The more impaired participants' abilities to think and make decisions were, the less likely they were to have an intimate partner.
- Women with lower cognitive scores were less likely than men with lower cognitive scores to have intimate partners.
- Nearly half of all men with dementia were sexually active, as were 18 percent of women.
- Among people with an intimate partner, the majority of men (59 percent) and women (51 percent) with dementia were sexually active. More than 40 percent of partnered men and women ages 80 to 91 living with dementia were sexually active.
- More than 1 in 10 people living with a partner reported feeling threatened or frightened by a partner. This finding was similar among women and men and across different levels of cognitive problems. Experts and guidelines call on physicians to screen for elder abuse (the mistreatment of older people, which can take many forms, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect), including sexual abuse, but definitions of abuse and standards of consent for sex vary widely.
The researchers estimate that, among people living at home who are aged 62 and older, at least 1.8 million men and 1.4 million women with suspected or diagnosed dementia are sexually active. This number will more than double by 2050. However, rarely do these people (especially women) receive a physician's counseling about sexual changes that may occur with dementia or other medical conditions.
The researchers suggested that these findings can inform improved counseling, treatment, and person-centered decision-making by physicians and other healthcare providers caring for people with dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
Sexual activity is an important aspect of human function throughout your lifetime, said the researchers. They added that respectful care for older adults, including people with cognitive impairments, requires an understanding of sexual norms and problems -- and effective strategies to manage sexual concerns with dignity.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180921113453.htm
New insight into aging
Plasticity is enhanced but dysregulated in the aging brain
September 19, 2018
Science Daily/McGill University
Researchers examined the effects of aging on neuroplasticity in the primary auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes auditory information. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to modify its connections and function in response to environmental demands, an important process in learning.
They say you can't teach old dogs new tricks, but new research shows you can teach an old rat new sounds, even if the lesson doesn't stick very long.
Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) of McGill University examined the effects of aging on neuroplasticity in the primary auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes auditory information. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to modify its connections and function in response to environmental demands, an important process in learning.
Plasticity in the young brain is very strong as we learn to map our surroundings using the senses. As we grow older, plasticity decreases to stabilize what we have already learned. This stabilization is partly controlled by a neurotransmitter called gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), which inhibits neuronal activity. This role of GABA was discovered by K.A.C. Elliot and Ernst Florey at The Neuro in 1956.
First author Dr. Mike Cisneros-Franco and lab director Dr. Étienne de Villers-Sidani wanted to test the hypothesis that plasticity stabilization processes become dysregulated as we age. They ran an experiment where rats were exposed to audio tones of a specific frequency to measure how neurons in the primary auditory cortex adapt their responses to the tones.
They found that tone exposure caused neurons in older adult rats to become increasingly sensitized to the frequency, but this did not happen in younger adult rats. The effect in the older adult rats quickly disappeared after exposure, showing that plasticity was indeed dysregulated. However, by increasing the levels of the GABA neurotransmitter in another group of older rats, the exposure-induced plastic changes in the auditory cortex lasted longer.
These findings suggest the brain's ability to adapt its functional properties does not disappear as we age. Rather, they provide evidence that plasticity is, in fact, increased but dysregulated in the aged brain because of reduced GABA levels. Overall, the findings suggest that increasing GABA levels may improve the retention of learning in the aging brain.
"Our work showed that the aging brain is, contrary to a widely-held notion, more plastic than the young adult brain," says Cisneros-Franco. "On the flip side, this increased plasticity meant that any changes achieved through stimulation or training were unstable: both easy to achieve and easy to reverse."
"However, we also showed that it is possible to reduce this instability using clinically available drugs. Researchers and clinicians may build upon this knowledge to develop rehabilitation strategies to harness the full plastic potential of the aging brain."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180919115827.htm
Dietary fiber reduces brain inflammation during aging
September 14, 2018
Science Daily/University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
As mammals age, immune cells in the brain known as microglia become chronically inflamed. In this state, they produce chemicals known to impair cognitive and motor function. That's one explanation for why memory fades and other brain functions decline during old age. But, according to a new study, there may be a remedy to delay the inevitable: dietary fiber.
Dietary fiber promotes the growth of good bacteria in the gut. When these bacteria digest fiber, they produce short-chain-fatty-acids (SCFAs), including butyrate, as byproducts.
"Butyrate is of interest because it has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties on microglia and improve memory in mice when administered pharmacologically," says Rodney Johnson, professor and head of the Department of Animal Sciences at U of I, and corresponding author on the Frontiers in Immunology study.
Although positive outcomes of sodium butyrate -- the drug form -- were seen in previous studies, the mechanism wasn't clear. The new study reveals, in old mice, that butyrate inhibits production of damaging chemicals by inflamed microglia. One of those chemicals is interleukin-1?, which has been associated with Alzheimer's disease in humans.
Understanding how sodium butyrate works is a step forward, but the researchers were more interested in knowing whether the same effects could be obtained simply by feeding the mice more fiber.
"People are not likely to consume sodium butyrate directly, due to its noxious odor," Johnson says. "A practical way to get elevated butyrate is to consume a diet high in soluble fiber."
The concept takes advantage of the fact that gut bacteria convert fiber into butyrate naturally.
"We know that diet has a major influence on the composition and function of microbes in the gut and that diets high in fiber benefit good microbes, while diets high in fat and protein can have a negative influence on microbial composition and function. Diet, through altering gut microbes, is one way in which it affects disease," says Jeff Woods, professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at U of I, and co-author on the study.
Butyrate derived from dietary fiber should have the same benefits in the brain as the drug form, but no one had tested it before. The researchers fed low- and high-fiber diets to groups of young and old mice, then measured the levels of butyrate and other SCFAs in the blood, as well as inflammatory chemicals in the intestine.
"The high-fiber diet elevated butyrate and other SCFAs in the blood both for young and old mice. But only the old mice showed intestinal inflammation on the low-fiber diet," Johnson says. "It's interesting that young adults didn't have that inflammatory response on the same diet. It clearly highlights the vulnerability of being old."
On the other hand, when old mice consumed the high-fiber diet, their intestinal inflammation was reduced dramatically, showing no difference between the age groups. Johnson concludes, "Dietary fiber can really manipulate the inflammatory environment in the gut."
The next step was looking at signs of inflammation in the brain. The researchers examined about 50 unique genes in microglia and found the high-fiber diet reduced the inflammatory profile in aged animals.
The researchers did not examine the effects of the diets on cognition and behavior or the precise mechanisms in the gut-brain axis, but they plan to tackle that work in the future as part of a new, almost-$2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Although the study was conducted in mice, Johnson is comfortable extending his findings to humans, if only in a general sense. "What you eat matters. We know that older adults consume 40 percent less dietary fiber than is recommended. Not getting enough fiber could have negative consequences for things you don't even think about, such as connections to brain health and inflammation in general."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180914084850.htm
Anxiety, depression, other mental distress may increase heart attack, stroke risk in adults over 45
August 28, 2018
Science Daily/American Heart Association
A new study links anxiety, depression and other mental distress to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke among adults ages 45 or older, even after factoring for lifestyle behaviors and disease history. The associations were slightly stronger for stroke among women than men.
In a study of 221,677 participants from Australia, researchers found that:
· among women, high/very high psychological distress was associated with a 44 percent increased risk of stroke; and
· in men ages 45 to 79, high/very high versus low psychological distress was associated with a 30 percent increased risk of heart attack, with weaker estimates in those 80 years old or older.
The association between psychological distress and increased cardiovascular disease risk was present even after accounting for lifestyle behaviors (smoking, alcohol intake, dietary habits, etc.) and disease history.
"While these factors might explain some of the observed increased risk, they do not appear to account for all of it, indicating that other mechanisms are likely to be important," said Caroline Jackson, Ph.D., the study's senior author and a Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The research involved participants who had not experienced a heart attack or stroke at the start of the study and who were part of the New South Wales 45 and Up Study that recruited adults ages 45 or older between 2006 and 2009.
Researchers categorized psychological distress as low, medium and high/very high using a standard psychological distress scale which asks people to self-assess the level.
The 10-question survey asks questions such as: "How often do you feel tired out for no good reason?" How often do you feel so sad that nothing could cheer you up?" How often do you feel restless or fidgety?"
Of the participants -- 102,039 men (average age 62) and 119,638 women (average age 60) -- 16.2 percent reported having moderate psychological distress and 7.3 percent had high/very high psychological distress.
During follow-up of more than four years, 4,573 heart attacks and 2,421 strokes occurred. The absolute risk -- overall risk of developing a disease in a certain time period -- of heart attack and stroke rose with each level of psychological distress.
The findings add to the existing evidence that there may be an association between psychological distress and increased risk of heart attack and stroke, she said. But they also support the need for future studies focused on the underlying mechanisms connecting psychological distress and cardiovascular disease and stroke risk and look to replicate the differences between men and women.
Mental disorders and their symptoms are thought to be associated with increased risk of heart disease and stroke, but previous studies have produced inconsistent findings and the interplay between mental and physical health is poorly understood.
People with symptoms of psychological distress should be encouraged to seek medical help because, aside from the impact on their mental health, symptoms of psychological distress appear to also impact physical health, Jackson said. "We encourage more proactive screening for symptoms of psychological distress. Clinicians should actively screen for cardiovascular risk factors in people with these mental health symptoms."
All factors analyzed in this research, apart from the outcomes of heart attack and stroke, were identified at the same point in time, which made it difficult for researchers to understand the relationship between psychological distress and variables such as unhealthy behaviors like smoking and poor diet. With that analysis approach, they may have underestimated the effect psychological distress has on the risk of heart attack and stroke.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180828085920.htm
Happy older people live longer
New study among senior Singaporeans suggests happiness may be key to longevity
August 27, 2018
Science Daily/Duke-NUS Medical School
In a new study, researchers have found that increase in happiness is directly proportional with a reduction in mortality. The study, which focused on Singaporeans aged 60 years and older, found that even small increments in happiness may be beneficial, suggesting individual activities as well as government policies and programs that maintain or improve psychological well-being may contribute to longer life.
The study utilised data for 4,478 participants of a nationally-representative survey to look at the association between happiness, assessed in the year 2009, and subsequent likelihood of dying due to any cause, until 31 December 2015. The survey was focused on individuals' aged 60 years and older living in Singapore.
Happiness was assessed by asking the survey participants how often in the past week they experienced the following: 'I felt happy', 'I enjoyed life' and 'I felt hope about the future'. Their responses were considered in two distinct ways; a 'happiness score', and a 'binary happiness variable -- Happy/Unhappy'. A wide range of demographics, lifestyle choices, health and social factors were accounted for in the analysis.
The researchers found that among happy older people, 15% passed away until 31 December 2015. In contrast, the corresponding proportion was higher, at 20%, among unhappy older people. Every increase of one point on the happiness score lowered the chance of dying due to any cause among participants by an additional nine percent. The likelihood of dying due to any cause was 19 percent lower for happy older people. Further, the inverse association of happiness with mortality was consistently present among men and women, and among the young-old (aged 60-79 years) and the old-old (aged 75 years or older).
"The findings indicate that even small increments in happiness may be beneficial to older people's longevity," explained Assistant Professor Rahul Malhotra, Head of Research at Duke-NUS' Centre for Ageing Research and Education and senior author of the paper. "Therefore individual-level activities as well as government policies and programs that maintain or improve happiness or psychological well-being may contribute to a longer life among older people."
June May-Ling Lee, a co-author, added: "The consistency of the inverse association of happiness with mortality across age groups and gender is insightful -- men and women, the young-old and the old-old, all are likely to benefit from an increase in happiness."
Interest in the pursuit of happiness to improve the health of older people has been growing. While previous studies have linked happiness or positive emotions with a range of better health outcomes, the evidence on the effect of happiness on living longer has been inconclusive. Many of these studies do initially observe a greater extent of happiness to be associated with a lower likelihood of dying, but this link disappears once differences in demographic, lifestyle and health factors between those less and more happy are accounted for.
This is one of the few Asian studies to have assessed the association between happiness and mortality among older people, while accounting for several social factors, such as loneliness and social network, therefore extending the generalisability of the findings to non-Western populations.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180827100426.htm
Feeling young could mean your brain is aging more slowly
The first study to link subjective age to biological age shows that elderly people who feel younger have less signs of brain aging
Science Daily/July 3, 2018
Frontiers
While some people are young at heart, others feel older than their age -- and a recent study finds that this 'subjective age' may reflect brain aging. Researchers found that elderly people who feel younger than their age had a younger estimated brain age, compared with those who felt their age, or older than their age. The study is the first to find a link between brain aging and subjective age.
While everyone gets older, not everyone feels their age. A recent study finds that such feelings, called subjective age, may reflect brain aging. Using MRI brain scans, researchers found that elderly people who feel younger than their age show fewer signs of brain aging, compared with those who feel their age or older than their age. Published in open-access journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, this study is the first to find a link between subjective age and brain aging. The results suggest that elderly people who feel older than their age should consider caring for their brain health.
We tend to think of aging as a fixed process, where our bodies and minds change steadily. However, the passing years affect everyone differently. How old we feel, which is called our subjective age, also varies between people -- with many feeling older or younger than their actual age.
But is subjective age just a feeling or attitude, or does it reflect how our bodies are actually aging? This question intrigued Dr Jeanyung Chey of Seoul National University in Korea.
"Why do some people feel younger or older than their real age?" asks Chey. "Some possibilities include depressive states, personality differences or physical health. However, no-one had investigated brain aging processes as a possible reason for differences in subjective age."
People frequently experience some cognitive impairment as they age. In fact, the brain shows a variety of age-related changes that are reflective of declining neural health, including reductions in gray matter volumes. Recently developed techniques can help researchers to identify brain features associated with aging, to provide an estimated brain age.
Chey and her colleagues applied these techniques to investigate the link between subjective age and brain aging. They performed MRI brain scans in 68 healthy people whose ages ranged from 59-84 years and looked at gray matter volumes in various brain regions. The participants also completed a survey, which included questions on whether they felt older or younger than their age and questions assessing their cognitive abilities and perceptions of their overall health.
People who felt younger than their age were more likely to score higher on a memory test, considered their health to be better and were less likely to report depressive symptoms. Critically, those who felt younger than their age showed increased gray matter volume in key brain regions. The researchers used the MRI data to calculate estimated brain ages for the participants.
"We found that people who feel younger have the structural characteristics of a younger brain," said Chey. "Importantly, this difference remains robust even when other possible factors, including personality, subjective health, depressive symptoms, or cognitive functions, are accounted for."
The researchers hypothesize that those who feel older may be able to sense the aging process in their brain, as their loss of gray matter may make cognitive tasks more challenging.
However, at present the researchers do not know for sure if these brain characteristics are directly responsible for subjective age and will need to carry out long-term studies to understand this link further.
One intriguing possibility is that those who feel younger are more likely to lead a more physically and mentally active life, which could cause improvements in brain health. However, for those who feel older, the opposite could be true.
"If somebody feels older than their age, it could be sign for them to evaluate their lifestyle, habits and activities that could contribute to brain aging and take measures to better care for their brain health," said Chey.
The research is part of a special article collection on assessment of brain aging across the lifespan
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180703110014.htm
Sex after 65: Poll finds links to health, gender differences, lack of communication
Majority are satisfied with their sex lives; nearly 1 in 5 older men use medications or supplements, U-M/AARP National Poll on Healthy Aging finds
May 3, 2018
Science Daily/Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
A new poll busts stereotypes about the sex lives of older Americans -- and reveals gender and health-related divides on key aspects of sexual health, while highlighting the need for more people to talk with their health providers about sexual issues.
Forty percent of people between the ages of 65 and 80 are sexually active, according to the new findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging. Nearly three-quarters of people in this age range have a romantic partner and 54 percent of those with a partner are sexually active.
Whether or not they have an active sex life, nearly two-thirds of older adults say they're interested in sex, and more than half say sex is important to their quality of life.
And when asked if they are satisfied with their current sex life, 73 percent of the nationally representative sample of 1,002 people polled said they were. The poll was conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, and sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center.
The poll explored how older adults might seek help or advice for sexual problems, and if they've talked with their doctors about their sexual health.
In all, 18 percent of older men and 3 percent of older women say they've taken medications or supplements to improve sexual function in the past two years. But only 17 percent of older adults said they have talked with their doctor or other health care provider about sexual health in the past two years. Most who had engaged in such discussions said they brought the topic up, suggesting the need for more proactive conversations by clinicians with their older patients.
"Sexual health among older adults doesn't get much attention but is linked closely to quality of life, health and well-being," says U-M's Erica Solway, Ph.D., co-associate director of the poll. "It's important for older adults and the clinicians who care for them to talk about these issues and about how age-related changes in physical health, relationships, lifestyles and responsibilities such as caregiving, affect them."
Gender, age and health status divides
Solway notes that the poll finds some sharp differences along health, age and gender lines.
For instance, compared with the 45 percent of respondents with excellent, very good, or good health who reported they were sexually active, only 22 percent of those who said they are in fair or poor health were sexually active. Only 28 percent of those with fair or poor health said they were extremely or very satisfied with their sex lives.
There are also differences within age groups. Those between the ages of 65 and 70 were nearly twice as likely as those in their late 70s to be sexually active. One-third of those in their late 60s said they were extremely or very interested in sex, compared with 19 percent of those in their late 70s.
The gender gaps that emerged reveal some differences that may create challenges for relationships. For instance, women were less likely than men to be sexually active -- 31 percent overall, compared with 51 percent of men -- but were more likely to be extremely or very satisfied with their sex lives. And while 84 percent of older men said sex was an important part of a romantic relationship, 69 percent of older women agreed with that statement.
But the biggest gender difference was the percentage of those who said they were extremely or very interested in sex. Half of men aged 65 to 80 said they had this level of interest, compared with just 12 percent of women in the same age range.
"This survey just confirms that the need for and interest in sexual intimacy doesn't stop at a certain age," says Alison Bryant, Ph.D., senior vice president of research for AARP. "Although most older adults say that they would talk with their doctor about sexual concerns, health care providers should routinely be asking all of their older patients about their sexual health and not assume that bringing up the issue will offend or embarrass them."
A key takeaway from the poll, Solway notes, is that there appears to be opportunity for more proactive conversations between providers and their older patients about sexual health.
In all, 62 percent of the older adults polled said that if they were having a problem with their sexual health, they would talk with their health provider about it, yet only 17 percent had actually done so in the past two years. The majority (88 percent) of those who had talked with their provider about their sexual health said they were comfortable doing so.
The poll results are based on answers from a nationally representative sample of 1,002 people ages 65 to 80. The poll respondents answered a wide range of questions online. Questions were written, and data interpreted and compiled, by the IHPI team. Laptops and Internet access were provided to poll respondents who did not already have it.
A full report of the findings and methodology is available at http://www.healthyagingpoll.org, along with past National Poll on Healthy Aging reports.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180503085606.htm
Medical marijuana could reduce opioid use in older adults
Study shows up to 65 percent of older adults who use medical marijuana significantly reduced their chronic pain and dependence on opioid painkillers
May 1, 2018
Science Daily/Northwell Health
A study shows up to 65 percent of older adults who use medical marijuana significantly reduced their chronic pain and dependence on opioid painkillers.
A questionnaire of older men and women suffering from chronic pain who were given medical marijuana found that the drug significantly reduced pain and their need for opioid painkillers, Northwell Health researchers report.
The results of the study, "Older Adults' Use of Medical Marijuana for Chronic Pain: A Multisite Community-Based Survey," are scheduled to be presented May 3, 2018 at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society in Orlando, FL.
To gauge how effective medical marijuana was at managing chronic pain and reducing opioid use, researchers surveyed 138 medical marijuana users with an anonymous 20-question survey focusing on how often they used the marijuana, in what form they took it, how much it reduced pain and whether or not they were able to cut back their use of other painkillers.
When patients were asked if they were able to curb their use of other painkillers after starting medical marijuana, 18 percent reported decreasing their use "moderately," 20 percent "extremely" and 27 percent "completely." An overwhelming number of subjects (91 percent) would recommend medical marijuana to others.
Comments from patients tell the tale:
"My quality of life has increased considerably since starting medical marijuana," one patient said. "I was on opiates for 15 years, and 6 months on marijuana, and off both completely."
Another patient said: "It [medical marijuana] is extremely effective and has allowed me to function in my work and life again. It has not completely taken away the pain, but allows me to manage it."
"I was on Percocet and replaced it with medical marijuana. Thank you, thank you, thank you," said another.
These patients had been living with chronic pain from osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, hips and knees that could not be replaced, and pain not relieved by steroid injections, said Diana Martins-Welch, MD, a co-author of the study and physician in the Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Department of Medicine at Northwell Health.
Based on these results, she believes that medical marijuana could be effective in curbing the opioid epidemic now ravaging the United States. "What I'm seeing in my practice, and what I'm hearing from other providers who are participating in medical marijuana programs, is that their patients are using less opioids," said Martins-Welch. "I've even gotten some patients completely off opioids."
As effective as medical marijuana can be, it's not widely available or prescribed, Martins-Welch said. Plus, people have to jump through many hoops just to get certified to receive it, she said.
Martins-Welch believes medical marijuana should be more widely available and easier to get. Medical marijuana is legal in only 30 states, she said. In addition, because marijuana is federally illegal, it's expensive and not covered by insurance, putting it beyond the reach of many patients who could benefit from it, she said.
Medical marijuana can cost on average $300 for a one-month supply, Martins-Welch said. "And it's a cash-only business."
"Even the process you have to go through to get certified is expensive," she said.
Martins-Welch and colleagues surveyed men and women between the ages 61 to 70 about their use of medical marijuana. Patients responded to 20 questions about their marijuana use. The researchers found that most patients, 45 percent, used vaporized oil, while 28 percent used pills and 17 percent used marijuana-laced oil. Twenty-one percent used marijuana once a day, 23 percent used it twice daily, and 39 percent used marijuana more than twice a day.
Using marijuana in these forms dramatically reduces its mind-altering effect, Martins-Welch said.
In most cases, a doctor recommended medical marijuana (46 percent) followed by a family member or friend (24 percent) or another health care provider (6 percent), while others did not specify who recommended it (24 percent).
When asked how pain levels changed before and one month after starting marijuana, most patients reported that average pain scores dropped from 9.0 on a scale of 0-10 to a more moderate pain threshold of 5.6.
However, older patients reported a reduction in the use of other painkillers less often than younger patients (64 percent versus 93 percent), the researchers found. Older patients also recommended medical marijuana less often than younger ones (86 percent versus 100 percent respectively).
When patients were quizzed about whether side effects of medications impacted their daily activities, the average score went from 6.9 before starting medical marijuana to 3.5 a month after using the drug.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180501085137.htm
Daily photography improves wellbeing
Taking a photo each day and posting it online has complex benefits
April 30, 2018
Science Daily/Lancaster University
Taking a photo each day and posting it online has complex benefits say researchers who say it supports improved wellbeing. A study recorded what photos people took, what text they added and how they interacted with others on the photo-a-day site for two months.
This is a popular social phenomenon, with Instagram having over 1.5million photos tagged #365 for each day of the year while there are thousands of members of Blipfoto, a key photo-a-day site.
A study co-authored by Dr Liz Brewster of Lancaster University and Dr Andrew Cox of the University of Sheffield recorded what photos people took, what text they added and how they interacted with others on the photo-a-day site for two months.
They found that taking a daily photo improved wellbeing through:
· Self-care
· Community interaction
· The potential for reminiscence
· Taking a moment to be mindful, and looking for something different or unusual in the day were seen as positive well-being benefits of the practice.
One participant said: "My job was a very highly stressful role... There were some days when I'd almost not stopped to breathe, you know what I mean... And just the thought: oh wait a moment, no, I'll stop and take a photograph of this insect sitting on my computer or something. Just taking a moment is very salutary I think."
It also led to more exercise and gave a sense of purpose, competence and achievement.
Another participant said: "It encourages me out of the house sometimes when I could just sit on my backside with a cup of tea. I'll think maybe I'll take a walk down on to the seafront and before I know it I'm two miles along the coast. "
The online contact helped people to manage loneliness and grief as well as meeting new people with shared interests. Several participants had taken early retirement and found that the contact established via photo-a-day replaced some of the daily office chatter that they missed.
"There's the banter in the workshop or the office or the place where you work. And perhaps [photo-a-day] offers that... Because I'm having conversations with people that I would perhaps have had in the workplace.
The online interactions created a community based on the photos and accompanying text.
"It could be a rubbish photograph but if somebody commented on it, it made it worthwhile."
The online text was used to provide personal narratives, reminiscences, and explanations of repeated images.
"I'm ever feeling down or something it's nice to be able to scroll back and see good memories. You know, the photos I've taken will have a positive memory attached to it even if it's something as simple as I had a really lovely half an hour for lunch sitting outside and was feeling really relaxed."
The researchers said the practice is "an active process of meaning making, in which a new conceptualisation of wellbeing emerges."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180430131759.htm
Higher aerobic fitness levels are associated with better word production skills in healthy older adults
April 30, 2018
Science Daily/University of Birmingham
Researchers found that older adults' aerobic fitness levels are directly related to the incidence of age-related language failures such as 'tip-of-the-tongue' states.
Healthy older people who exercise regularly are less inclined to struggle to find words to express themselves, research led by the University of Birmingham has discovered.
Researchers found that older adults' aerobic fitness levels are directly related to the incidence of age-related language failures such as 'tip-of-the-tongue' states.
The research, published today in Scientific Reports, is the first of its kind to investigate the relationship between aerobic fitness levels and temporary cognitive lapses, such as not having a word come to mind when speaking -- known as a 'tip-of-the-tongue' state.
People in a tip-of-the-tongue state have a strong conviction that they know a word, but are unable to produce it, and this phenomena occurs more frequently as we grow older.
The University of Birmingham study -- carried out in collaboration with the University of Agder in Norway, the University of Leuven in Belgium and King's College London -- measured the occurrence of tip-of-the-tongue states in a psycholinguistic experiment.
The study saw a group of 28 healthy adults (20 women with the average age of 70 and 8 men with the average age of 67), being compared in a 'tip-of-the-tongue' language test to 27 young people (19 women with the average age of 23 and 8 men with the average age of 22).
The test involved a 'definition filling task', done on a computer. They were asked to name famous people in the UK, such as authors, politicians and actors, based on 20 questions about them. They were also given the definitions of 20 'low frequency' and 20 'easy' words and asked whether they knew the word relating to the definition.
The participants' underwent a static bike cycling test -- a gold standard test which quantified their ability to use oxygen during exercise and their resulting individual aerobic fitness levels.
Lead author Dr Katrien Segaert, of the University of Birmingham's School of Psychology, said: "Older adults free from medical diseases still experience age-related cognitive decline.
"Significantly, what we found was that the degree of decline is related to one's aerobic fitness.
"In our study, the higher the older adults' aerobic fitness level, the lower the probability of experiencing a tip-of-the-tongue state.
"Importantly, our results also showed that the relationship between the frequency of tip-of-the-tongue occurrences and aerobic fitness levels exists over and above the influence of a person's age and vocabulary size."
Dr Segaert said that tip-of-the-tongue states are uniquely a problem with language functioning.
"Older adults sometimes worry that tip-of-the-tongue states indicate serious memory problems but this is a misconception: tip-of-the-tongue states are not associated with memory loss," she added. "In fact, older adults usually have a much larger vocabulary than young adults. Instead, tip-of-the-tongue states occur when the meaning of a word is available in our memory, but the sound form of the word can temporarily not be accessed."
"Accessing the sound forms of words is essential for successful and fluent language production, and its disruption has very noticeable negative consequences for older adults."
She said she hoped the study would add gravitas to the public health message that regular exercise is important to ensure healthy ageing.
She added: "There are a lot of findings already on the benefits of aerobic fitness and regular exercise, and our research demonstrates another side of the benefits, namely a relationship between fitness and language skills. We were able to show, for the first time, that the benefits of aerobic fitness extend to the domain of language."
"Maintaining good language skills is extremely important for older adults. Older adults frequently have word finding difficulties and they experience these as particularly irritating and embarrassing."
"Speaking is a skill we all rely on every day. Communication with others helps us maintain social relationships and independence into old age."
In future research, the University of Birmingham plans to undertake exercise intervention studies to determine whether regular exercise can successfully increase language abilities.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180430075622.htm
Mental, not physical, fatigue affects seniors' walking ability
April 24, 2018
Science Daily/Experimental Biology 2018
Low 'mental energy' may affect walking patterns in older adults more than physical fatigue. New research shows the relationship between walking ability and self-reported mood.
Researchers from Clarkson University in New York observed a group of older adults (average age 75) while they performed physically and mentally tiring tasks. The volunteers performed the physical task -- a timed walking test at normal speed for six minutes -- before and after the cognitive components. LED sensors embedded in the five-meter walking track captured gait speed and stride length. The cognitive portion of the test consisted of several math subtraction activities and visually identifying specific numbers and sequences on a computer screen. The volunteers reported their mood, motivation and energy levels after both the physical and cognitive tests. Vocabulary used to capture the participants' mood included "a list of mood components such as tense, worn out, energetic, confused [and] lively," explained Abigail Avolio, first author of the study.
The research team used a well-known correlation formula (Pearson correlation coefficient) to determine the relationship between self-reported mood and physical performance. There was no change in gait in relation to mental fatigue in the first 30 seconds of the follow-up walking test. However, walking speed and stride length later in the test period decreased significantly in people who reported more cognitive fatigue, but not in response to lagging physical energy levels.
More study is needed "to further evaluate why feelings of physical energy and fatigue are not related to gait," the researchers wrote.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180424133642.htm
Drinking water may help exercising seniors stay mentally sharp
Hydration boosts performance on test of executive function following exercise
April 22, 2018
Science Daily/American Physiological Society
Older people should drink more water to reap the full cognitive benefits of exercise, new research suggests. The study explores the association between hydration status before exercising and exercise-enhanced cognition in older adults.
Dehydration has been shown to impair exercise performance and brain function in young people, but less is known about its impact on older populations. "Middle-age and older adults often display a blunted thirst perception, which places them at risk for dehydration and subsequently may reduce the cognitive health-related benefits of exercise," a team of New England-based researchers wrote.
The researchers recruited recreational cyclists (average age 55) who participated in a large cycling event on a warm day (78-86 degrees F). The cyclists performed a "trail-making" executive function test -- quickly and accurately connecting numbered dots using paper and pencil -- before and after the event. Executive function includes the skills needed to plan, focus, remember and multitask. Exercise has been shown to improve intellectual health, including executive function.
The research team tested the volunteers' urine before they exercised and divided them into two groups -- normal hydration and dehydrated -- based on their hydration status. The normal hydration group showed noticeable improvement in the completion time of the trail-making test after cycling when compared to their pre-cycling test. The dehydration group also completed their post-cycling test more quickly, but the time reduction was not significant. "This suggests that older adults should adopt adequate drinking behaviors to reduce cognitive fatigue and potentially enhance the cognitive benefits of regular exercise participation," the researchers wrote.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180422123757.htm
Volunteering 2 hours per week reduces loneliness in widowed older adults
April 16, 2018
Science Daily/Georgia State University
Widowed older adults can reduce the loneliness that results from the death of a spouse by volunteering 100 hours per year, which is about two hours per week, according to a recent study.
The study examined whether becoming a volunteer at the time of widowhood is associated with reducing the risks of loneliness, which is a significant public health concern, particularly for those who have lost a spouse, linked to poorer physical health, depression and even earlier mortality. The findings are published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.
"Becoming a widow is one of the most difficult transitions that people face later in life," said Dr. Ben Lennox Kail, co-author of the study and assistant professor of sociology at Georgia State University. "We found that for people in general, widowhood was associated with increased loneliness over time. Among people who became widowed, if they started volunteering 100 hours per year, which is about two hours per week, this reduced loneliness to an extent that they almost look exactly like those people who never became widowed at all."
The researchers analyzed data from 5,882 married adults, ages 51 and older, who completed the Health and Retirement Study, which was given every two years and collected information on family, health and volunteer engagement. Using data from 2006 to 2014 for individuals who were married and either remained continuously married or became widowed, the researchers determined the relationship between loneliness and becoming widowed and whether the loneliness from losing a spouse was reduced by volunteering.
The survey asked questions about volunteer status and how much time was spent volunteering for an organization during the previous year. Participants could choose from three categories: one to 99 hours per year, 100 to 199 hours per year and 200 or more hours per year.
The study found loneliness was significantly higher in those who become widowed compared to those who stay continuously married. However, starting to volunteer two or more hours per week resulted in decreased loneliness, with levels of loneliness similar to those of continuously married individuals volunteering at the same intensity. The findings suggest higher intensity volunteering (about two hours per week) as a potential intervention for alleviating loneliness in older adults who have recently become widowed.
"Volunteering only matters for people's loneliness when they've experienced the loss of social integration that results from widowhood," Kail said. "It also suggests something that I think is particularly interesting. When you experience loneliness that is because of some kind of loss, even if you're robustly integrated, that loss is meaningful to you. So if you have this robust social network, and you then experience some loss, what you need to do is begin something new. It's the new social integration that can make up for loss."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180416185559.htm
Older adults grow just as many new brain cells as young people
April 5, 2018
Science Daily/Cell Press
Researchers show for the first time that healthy older men and women can generate just as many new brain cells as younger people.
There has been controversy over whether adult humans grow new neurons, and some research has previously suggested that the adult brain was hard-wired and that adults did not grow new neurons. This study, to appear in the journal Cell Stem Cell on April 5, counters that notion. Lead author Maura Boldrini, associate professor of neurobiology at Columbia University, says the findings may suggest that many senior citizens remain more cognitively and emotionally intact than commonly believed.
"We found that older people have similar ability to make thousands of hippocampal new neurons from progenitor cells as younger people do," Boldrini says. "We also found equivalent volumes of the hippocampus (a brain structure used for emotion and cognition) across ages. Nevertheless, older individuals had less vascularization and maybe less ability of new neurons to make connections."
The researchers autopsied hippocampi from 28 previously healthy individuals aged 14-79 who had died suddenly. This is the first time researchers looked at newly formed neurons and the state of blood vessels within the entire human hippocampus soon after death. (The researchers had determined that study subjects were not cognitively impaired and had not suffered from depression or taken antidepressants, which Boldrini and colleagues had previously found could impact the production of new brain cells.)
In rodents and primates, the ability to generate new hippocampal cells declines with age. Waning production of neurons and an overall shrinking of the dentate gyrus, part of the hippocampus thought to help form new episodic memories, was believed to occur in aging humans as well.
The researchers from Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute found that even the oldest brains they studied produced new brain cells. "We found similar numbers of intermediate neural progenitors and thousands of immature neurons," they wrote. Nevertheless, older individuals form fewer new blood vessels within brain structures and possess a smaller pool of progenitor cells -- descendants of stem cells that are more constrained in their capacity to differentiate and self-renew.
Boldrini surmised that reduced cognitive-emotional resilience in old age may be caused by this smaller pool of neural stem cells, the decline in vascularization, and reduced cell-to-cell connectivity within the hippocampus. "It is possible that ongoing hippocampal neurogenesis sustains human-specific cognitive function throughout life and that declines may be linked to compromised cognitive-emotional resilience," she says.
Boldrini says that future research on the aging brain will continue to explore how neural cell proliferation, maturation, and survival are regulated by hormones, transcription factors, and other inter-cellular pathways.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180405223413.htm
Negative fateful life events and the brains of middle-aged men
Findings suggest common major midlife adverse events, such as divorce or death of a family member, accelerates aging in the brain
April 5, 2018
Science Daily/University of California - San Diego
Conflict, a death in the family, financial hardship and serious medical crises are all associated with accelerated physical aging. In a new study, researchers found that such negative fateful life events -- or FLEs -- appear to also specifically accelerate aging in the brain.
Writing in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, a research team, led by senior author William S. Kremen, PhD, professor of psychiatry and co-director of the Center for Behavior Genetics of Aging at UC San Diego School of Medicine, found that major adverse events in life, such as divorce, separation, miscarriage or death of a family member or friend, can measurably accelerate aging in the brains of older men, even when controlling for such factors as cardiovascular risk, alcohol consumption, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, which are all associated with aging risk.
Specifically, they found that on average, one FLE was associated with an increase in predicted brain age difference (PBAD) of 0.37 years. In other words, a single adverse event caused the brain to appear physiologically older by approximately one-third of a year than the person's chronological age, based upon magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The researchers studied 359 men, ages 57 to 66 years old, participating in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA). Researchers asked participants to tally a list of life-changing events over the past two years, which were compared to a similar measure collected five years previously when they joined VETSA. The summaries encapsulated stressful midlife events that had occurred in the first two and last two years of the past seven years. All participants underwent MRI exams and further physical and psychological assessments within one month of completing the most recent self-reports.
The MRIs assessed physiological aspects of the brain, such as volume and cortical thickness -- a measure of the cerebral cortex or outer layer of the brain linked to consciousness, memory, attention, thought and other key elements of cognition. These neuroanatomical measurements were then analyzed using advanced software to predict brain age.
"Having more midlife FLEs, particularly relating to divorce/separation or a family death, was associated with advanced predicted brain aging," said Sean Hatton, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at UC San Diego School of Medicine and the study's first author.
Hatton said exposure to chronic stress has long been associated with biological weathering and premature aging, linked, for example, to oxidative and mitochondrial damage in cells, impaired immune system response and genomic changes. The study's authors said their findings provide a possible link between molecular aging and brain structure changes in response to major stressful life events.
They do note that the study was a snapshot of a narrow demographic: older, predominantly white, males. It is not known whether females or other ethnicities would show similar findings.
The authors said additional, broader studies involving greater and more diverse numbers of participants were needed to further validate their findings. But they suggest that using tools to predict brain age could be clinically useful in helping patients understand their brain health relative to their age and in clinical trials where it might improve study design and recruitment.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180405120321.htm
Medical marijuana gets wary welcome from older adults, poll shows
Most accept its use with doctor's recommendation, but want more research
April 3, 2018
Science Daily/Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
Few older adults use medical marijuana, a new national poll finds, but the majority support its use if a doctor recommends it, and might talk to their own doctor about it if they developed a serious health condition. And two-thirds say the government should do more to study the drug's health effects.
Four out five of poll respondents between the ages of 50 and 80 said they support allowing medical marijuana if it's recommended by a physician. Forty percent support allowing marijuana use for any reason.
And two-thirds say the government should do more to study the drug's health effects, according to the new findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging.
While more than two-thirds of those polled said they thought that marijuana can ease pain, about half said they believed prescription pain medications were more effective than marijuana.
The poll was conducted in a nationally representative sample of 2,007 Americans between the ages of 50 and 80 by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. It was sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center.
"While just six percent of our poll respondents said they'd used marijuana for medical purposes themselves, 18 percent said they know someone who has," says U-M's Preeti Malani, M.D., director of the poll and a specialist in treatment of older patients. "With medical marijuana already legal in 29 states and the District of Columbia, and other states considering legalizing this use or all use, this is an issue of interest to patients, providers and policymakers alike."
She notes that the poll results indicate older Americans have a sense of wariness, rather than wholehearted acceptance, around medical use of marijuana. This may be surprising to those who think of the Baby Boom generation -- who are now in their mid-50s to early 70s -- as embracing marijuana use in their youth in the 1960s and 1970s.
Marijuana and pain
The poll sheds new light on older Americans' attitudes toward the use of marijuana to control pain -- one of the most common conditions cited in state medical marijuana statutes. Just under one-third of respondents said they feel that marijuana definitely provides pain relief, and another 38 percent said it probably does. But only 14 percent thought marijuana was more effective than prescription pain medication, while 48 percent believed the opposite and 38 percent believed the two were equally effective. When it came to controlling dosages for pain relief, though, prescription pain medicine won out: 41 percent thought it would be easier to control dosage with medication.
The poll also asked respondents about negative effects of both substances. In all, 48 percent thought prescription pain medicines are more addictive than marijuana, and 57 said that such medicines have more side effects than marijuana.
"These perceptions of relative safety and efficacy are important for physicians, other providers and public health regulators to understand," says Malani. Marijuana use, particularly long-term use, has been associated with impaired memory, decision making and ability to perform complex tasks.
The widespread support by older Americans for more research on the effects of marijuana is especially significant, she says, given the growing legalization trend in states and the continued federal policy that marijuana use is illegal.
"Although older adults may be a bit wary about marijuana, the majority support more research on it," says Alison Bryant, Ph.D., senior vice president of research for AARP. "This openness to more research likely speaks to a desire to find safe, alternative treatments to control pain."
Research on marijuana's effects and related issues can be done under carefully controlled circumstances, but few studies have included older adults. The new poll results indicate an appetite for further government-sponsored research, including government-standardized dosing.
Malani, a professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School who specializes in infectious diseases and geriatrics, notes that providers should be routinely asking older patients about marijuana use.
Only one in five poll respondents said their primary health care provider had asked whether they use marijuana. A slightly lower percentage said they thought their provider was knowledgeable about medical marijuana -- but three-quarters said they simply didn't know how much their provider knows about the topic.
Still, 70 percent of those who answered the poll said they would definitely or probably ask their provider about marijuana if they had a serious medical condition that might respond to it. That means providers need to be ready to answer questions and provide counseling to patients, especially in states where medical marijuana is legal.
The poll results are based on answers from a nationally representative sample of 2,007 people ages 50 to 80. The poll respondents answered a wide range of questions online. Questions were written, and data interpreted and compiled, by the IHPI team. Laptops and Internet access were provided to poll respondents who did not already have it.
A full report of the findings and methodology is available at http://www.healthyagingpoll.org, along with past reports on National Poll on Healthy Aging findings.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180403085044.htm
Can a Mediterranean diet pattern slow aging?
March 30, 2018
Science Daily/The Gerontological Society of America
A series of six articles finds new correlations between a Mediterranean diet and healthy aging outcomes -- while also underscoring the need for careful approaches to the use of data in order to measure the diet's potential benefits.
Among their findings, the new articles report on underlying mechanisms of the diet; the positive relationship between the diet and physical and cognitive function; the value of taking a coenzyme Q10 supplement while adhering to the diet; and the role of the diet in reducing inflammation. But in several of the studies, the level of benefit was dependent on how adherence to the diet was measured.
"Greater clarity on how this diet is defined, in both interventions and observational studies, will be critical in the aim of achieving a consensus on how to optimally apply this dietary pattern towards maximizing healthy aging," state Michelle A. Mendez, PhD, and Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences Editor-in-Chief Anne B. Newman, MD, FGSA, in an opening editorial.
Hallmarks of the Mediterranean diet include: a variety of minimally processed whole grains and legumes as the staple food; plenty of a huge diversity of fresh vegetables consumed on a daily basis; fresh fruits as the typical daily dessert; cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil, nuts, and seeds as the principal source of fat; moderate consumption of fish; dairy products consumed in low amounts; red and processed meat consumed in very low frequency and amounts; and wine consumed in low to moderate amounts only with meals.
There are a number of scales used to measure adherence to the diet. One of the journal's studies, conducted by researchers at the University of Paris 13, found that among test subjects, higher numbers on the Literature-based Adherence Score to the Mediterranean Diet were associated with higher odds of meeting certain healthy aging criteria. Similar results were found with another index, the Mediterranean Diet Score; however, use of the Mediterranean Diet Scale yielded a weaker correlation. In another study by researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid, closer adherence to the diet was associated with a lower likelihood of physical function impairment in older adults, although in this case using the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener provided more significant results than the Mediterranean Diet Score.
The exact mechanism by which an increased adherence to the diet exerts its favorable effects is still unknown to scientists. However, writing in one of the new articles, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis state there is accumulating evidence of five important adaptations induced by the Mediterranean dietary pattern. These include lipid lowering; protection from oxidative stress and inflammation; modification of growth factors that can promote cancer; inhibition of nutrient sensing pathways by amino acid restriction and gut microbiota-mediated production of metabolites.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180330145322.htm
Why we struggle to get good night's sleep as we get older
March 27, 2018
Science Daily/University of Kent
New research has identified the way age impairs the ability of the circadian clock in mammals to re-set itself when exposed to light, resulting in disruption to sleeping patterns and consequent threats to wellbeing.
Researchers, led by a University of Kent neurophysiologist, found that aging results in a significant reduction in sensitivity to light in the part of the brain that controls circadian rhythms, known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
The breakthrough could help target treatments that aim to improve both physiological and behavioural circadian clock 're-setting' in older people.
Dr Gurprit Lall, of the University's Medway School of Pharmacy, and the other members of the research team explored alterations in one of the pathways in the part of the brain controlling circadian rhythms. They found that a glutamate receptor (NMDA), used to transmit light information, became less effective in resetting the circadian clock as part of the aging process.
This structural change in the glutamate receptor was responsible for the decline in light response observed. A subunit of the NMDA receptor exhibited a marked decrease in presence among older mammal, indicating an age-associated change in structural configuration.
The study concluded that the aging SCN suffers from a structural reorganisation of its light receiving components; which ultimately impair its function in setting and maintaining a stable circadian rhythm.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180327102829.htm
Perceptions of old age change as we age
February 26, 2018
Science Daily/Michigan State University
Does life really begin at 40? Is 50 the new 30? For people in these age groups, the answer appears to be yes.
But for young adults in their teens and early 20s, turning 50 equates to hitting old age.
A new study of more than a half-million Americans led by a Michigan State University scholar shows just how skewed views of aging can be -- particularly among the young. The findings come as people are living longer than ever; life expectancy in the U.S. was about 79 years in 2015 -- up nearly nine years from 1965.
But perception may not be keeping up with reality. Nearly 30,000 people in the study thought middle age starts at 30.
"I find it interesting that there's a ton of people who have skewed perceptions about aging -- mostly young adults," said William Chopik, assistant professor of psychology and principal investigator of the research.
The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, is the largest investigation to date of age perceptions, with 502,548 internet respondents ranging in age from 10 to 89.
A key finding: People's perception of old age changes as they age. Essentially, the older we get, the younger we feel.
"I think the most interesting finding of this study is that our perceptions of aging aren't static -- they change as we change ourselves," Chopik said. "What you consider to be old changes as you become old yourself."
Part of this is understandable, he said. People view older adulthood as a negative experience and want to avoid it because it's painful to think of ourselves as old.
"But, of course, older adults actually have really enriching lives and some studies suggest that they're happier than young adults," Chopik noted.
Interestingly, when asked how long they wanted to live, the different age groups gave different answers. While kids and young adults wanted to live into their early 90s, that ideal age dropped among the 30- and 40-year age groups, hitting a low of about 88. But the ideal age started rising steadily starting with 50-year-olds and reached about 93 among 80-year-olds.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180226122517.htm