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Gerontology
Age as a litmus test for choosing the next US president
With three Democrats in their 70s vying to challenge the 73-year old Donal Trump, the oldest first-term president in US history, age’s importance will...
Losing hearing in middle age may increase dementia risk
Hearing loss in middle age is associated with higher odds of cognitive decline and dementia in later years, Reuters Health reports a large study...
Daily 'tickling' of the vagus nerve may improve mood and sleep
Scientists found that a short daily therapy, stimulating the vagus nerve with an electrical current, delivered for two weeks led to both physiological and...
Master athletes demonstrate what is physically possible in later life
A growing band of of "master athletes" demonstrate that "we often confuse the effects of inactivity with the ageing process itself", write Stephen Harridge and Norman...
Poor sense of smell in older adults linked to 50% increased mortality risk
A new Michigan State University study suggests that older adults with poor sense of smell may see an almost 50% increase in their risk...
Hypertension linked to regular sleeping pill use in older people
Older adults with hypertension followed from 2008-2010 through 2012-2013, using sleeping pills on a regular basis was linked with use of an increasing number...
Human mortality 'plateau' more likely statistical error than hint of immortality
Human error, not human biology, largely accounts for the apparent decline of mortality among the very old, according to a report by Saul Newman...
Sleep disturbances increase risk of falls in the elderly
Disturbances during sleep decreases capability to control posture and balance according to researchers from the department of engineering and Warwick Medical School at the...
Half of older patients exposed to potentially inappropriate prescribing
Around half of older patients are exposed to potentially inappropriate prescribing, each year, and hospitalisation is independently associated with an increased risk, finds a...
Back pain associated with 24% increased mortality in older women
Researchers at Boston Medical Centre found that frequent, persistent back pain is associated with earlier death in a study of more than 8,000 older...
Lacking resilience makes men more vulnerable to depression
Men who lack resilience are exponentially more vulnerable to becoming severely depressed after their spouse dies, according to a study from Florida State University...
Increased happiness links to reduced mortality in older people
Happy older people live longer, according to researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. The authors of the study found that an increase in...
You can reach 110 – if you survive the perilous 90s
The chances of reaching the ripe old age of 110 are within reach – a you survive the perilous 90s and make it to...
Chronic inflammation in middle age linked to increased frailty when older
A study, led by Johns Hopkins Medicine investigators, of nearly 6,000 Americans followed for 24 years from middle to late adulthood found that having...
Neglect widespread in English care homes
The largest-ever survey of care home staff in England, led by University College London (UCL) researchers, has found that neglectful behaviours are widespread. For...
'Fateful Life Events' affect ageing and mortality risk
A sudden substantial financial loss in middle-age or older people, is associated with an up to 50% higher risk of death, found a US...
'Boomerang generation' reduces parents' quality of life
Adult children who return to live with their parents, the so-called “boomerang generation”, cause a significant decline in parents' quality of life and well-being,...
Discovering why the 'super-agers' live long and well
'Super-agers' have long puzzled scientists, but now researchers say they are unpicking why some people live beyond 80 – and still appear to be...
Heavy drinking and smoking linked to visible ageing
Heavy drinking and smoking are linked to four visible signs of physical ageing, and looking older than one's years, found a long-term Danish observational...
Mushrooms producing high amounts of antioxidants
Mushrooms may contain unusually high amounts of two antioxidants that some scientists suggest could help fight ageing and bolster health, according to a team...
Healthy gut is a biomarker for healthy ageing
In one of the largest microbiota studies conducted in humans, researchers at Western University, Lawson Health Research Institute and Tianyi Health Science Institute in...
Reaction time variation may be a marker of mortality in old age
An individual's variation in reaction times, when completing a single cognitive task across several trials, has been identified in an Australian study as an...
Regular exercise significantly boosts brain power in the over 50s
A combination of aerobic and resistance exercises can significantly boost the brain power of the over 50s, finds the most comprehensive review of the...
Weak grip a strong predictor of metabolic disease and disability
A simple test to determine a person's grip strength is a robust predictor of developing metabolic disorders in middle or older age, a cross-continental...
Poor smell linked to increased risk of dying
In a Swedish study of adults aged 40 to 90 years who were followed for 10 years, poor smell was linked with an increased...
Assessing effect of exercise and supplements on muscle mass and function
Physical exercise has a positive impact on muscle mass and muscle function in healthy subjects aged 60 and older but the interactive effect of...
People who care for others live longer
Older people who help and support others live longer, found a multinational study. And grandparents who care for their grandchildren on average live longer than...
Drug tx to prevent hip fractures not viable
Drug treatment to prevent hip fracture is neither viable nor cost effective, with current strategy inefficient and associated with considerable harms, an international team of researchers found.
Testosterone's role in prostate enlargement
The factors that contribute to prostate enlargement have yet to be definitively identified, but a University of California anthropological study suggests that the overabundance of testosterone may be a prime culprit.
Physical activity slashes mortality risk in elderly men
Half an hour of physical activity for six days a week linked to 40% lower risk of death in elderly men and the impact on health is as good as giving up smoking, suggests a large 12-year Norwegian study. Men who regularly engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity during their leisure time lived five years longer, on average, than those classified as sedentary.
Diet in preventing late-life muscle loss
Although some studies find diet can enhance the effects of exercise to prevent muscle loss in later life, current evidence about what works is inconsistent.
Healthy eating stalls elderly's cognitive decline
Older people who eat healthily may be less likely to experience declines in thinking and memory over time, according to an international study.
Frailty is better risk indicator than age
Frailty among older people with cardiovascular disease appears to be more predictive than age for gauging their risk of heart attack, stroke and death, according to an international study.
50-year Swedish study's clues to longevity
A 50-year Swedish study into longevity recommends that those who 'aspire to centenarianism refrain from smoking, maintain healthy cholesterol levels and confine themselves to four cups of coffee a day'.
Early imaging not linked with better outcomes
Older adults who had spine imaging within six weeks of a primary care visit for back pain had pain and disability over the following year that was no different from similar patients who did not, contradicting many guidelines.
Interventions slow cognitive decline
A comprehensive programme providing those at risk of dementia with nutritional guidance, exercise, brain training, and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors appears to slow down cognitive decline, according to a randomised controlled trial lead from the Karolinska Institute.
Elderly with AF face higher risk of falling
Older adults who suffer a fall are twice as likely to have atrial fibrillation, found a Netherlands-led analysis of data on 4,800 adults over age 50 in Ireland.
Perceptual training benefits contrast sensitivity
Older adults whose vision is affected by declining contrast sensitivity can improve their ability to see with perceptual learning training, found research from University of California and Brown University.
SuperAgers have super-different brains
The cognitively elite elderly, so-called SuperAgers, have distinctly different looking brains than those of normal older people, according to Northwestern Medicine research.
Drug combination doubles mortality risk
The combination of the commonly prescribed antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole with the diuretic spironolactone, widely used for heart failure, more than doubles the risk of death for older patients, according to a large Canadian study.