Regular Exercise Program May Stall Cognitive Decline
Sedentary older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment who engaged in regular exercise for a year maintained their cognition without decline, topline data from the EXERT trial showed. Older adults who engaged in either moderate intensity aerobic training or stretching, balance, and range-of-motion exercises for 12 months showed no change from baseline in ADAS-Cog-Exec scores, […]
Thyroid problems linked to increased risk of dementia
Older people with hypothyroidism, also called underactive thyroid, may be at increased risk of developing dementia, according to a study published in the July 6, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The risk of developing dementia was even higher for people whose thyroid condition required thyroid hormone […]
Younger Kids ‘Should’ Get COVID Booster, Says CDC Panel
Similar to their older peers, children ages 5 to 11 should get a third dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty), the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said on Thursday. In an 11-1 vote, with one abstention, the committee agreed that children ages 5 to 11 should receive an additional dose of the mRNA […]
Poor eyesight unfairly mistaken for brain decline
Millions of older people with poor vision are at risk of being misdiagnosed with mild cognitive impairments, according to a new study by the University of South Australia. Cognitive tests that rely on vision-dependent tasks could be skewing results in up to a quarter of people aged over 50 who have undiagnosed visual problems such […]
High cardiovascular risk is associated with symptoms of depression: Improving cardiovascular health might help prevent the onset of depression in the elderly, researchers say
Cardiovascular risk factors are associated with an increased risk of depression in older adults, according to a new study published April 13 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sandra Martín-Peláez of University of Granada, Spain, and colleagues. Cardiovascular disease and depression are thought to be closely related due to similar risk factors, including inflammation […]
How to rejuvenate the immune system of elderly people and reduce their risk of infectious disease: Study results identify reason for why older adults are significantly more susceptible to infectious diseases
A new study, led by researchers from the University of California, Irvine, identifies a reason for why older adults are significantly more susceptible to infectious diseases than younger people, a critical societal issue most recently exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Study results also pave the way for new potential therapeutic targets to rejuvenate the immune […]
For Men on ADT, Checking Bone Density May Thwart Fractures
Bone density testing in older prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was significantly associated with a decreased risk for major osteoporotic fractures, but remains little used, a prospective population-based study found. In the cohort of nearly 55,000 men treated with ADT from 2005 to 2015, those who received dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) screening […]
Peripheral Nerve Problems Tied to Later Dementia
Peripheral nerve impairments in older adults were tied to a higher risk of subsequent dementia, a study of longitudinal data showed. Combined sensory and motor impairments in the lower leg doubled the risk of subsequent dementia (HR 1.92, 95% CI 1.29-2.88) compared with people who had no leg impairments, reported Willa Brenowitz, PhD, MPH, of […]
More adults are falling every year, despite prevention efforts
Falls are a leading cause of hospitalization and institutionalization for older adults in the U.S. and fall prevention efforts are an important part of geriatric education and health. Yet, a new University of Michigan study found that despite prevention efforts, falls increase by about 1.5% annually, with wide variations in incidence based on geography. “It […]
Even dying stars can still give birth to planets
Planets are usually not much older than the stars around which they revolve. Take the Sun: it was born 4.6 billion years ago, and not long after that, Earth came into the world. But KU Leuven astronomers have discovered that a completely different scenario is also possible. Even if they are near death, some types […]