Category: Ageing

Categories : Ageing General InterestTags :

The 100 Year Old Doctor Who Won’t Hang Up His Stethoscope

On By ModernMedia
Credit: “What’s Next” Documentary

At 100, Dr Howard Tucker holds the Guinness world record for being the world’s oldest practising doctor. Though he has only just stopped seeing patients, he still teaches medical residents at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Ohio, USA.

Having practised medicine for 75 years, the secret is to keep going, he said. “I look upon retirement as the enemy of longevity,” Dr Tucker told TODAY over a video call. He has a computer and smartphone, and is determined to keep up with technology.

“I think that to retire, one can face potential shrivelling up and ending in a nursing home. It’s fun staying alive and working…  It’s delightful work. Every day I learn something new.”

Born on July 10, 1922 and graduating from medical school in 1947, Dr Tucker got the “gift of COVID” from one of his relatives at his 100th birthday last month, but recovered quickly and felt fine. He even broke is neck while skiing in the late 1980s, though he “came out of it totally intact”.

At age 67 he passed the Ohio Bar Exam because he was interested in law.

Tucker shared some of his longevity advice with TODAY:

“Heredity and family history of longevity is a healthy start. However, it must be supported by moderation of nutrition, alcohol, and happiness,” Dr Tucker explained in his Guinness World Records entry.

Longevity runs in his family: his mother lived to 84 and his father to 96, and he has avoided the diseases of ageing such as heart disease and dementia. In addition, Dr Tucker never smokes but drinks alcohol occasionally, and eats in moderation. He has exercised his entire life – though he is now banned from skiing. The day after his 100th birthday, he threw the opening pitch for a baseball game.

His advice is to not retire , and stay active. Though there are jobs which people can’t or don’t wat to do anymore as they age, people should at least take up a hobby or do communal work to provide a daily stimulus for the brain.

The other challenge is to keep learning. As well as earning his law degree, he stayed current with technology, for which he credits his grandson, Austin, who is also making a documentary about the centenarian’s life. He also keeps up with his field of neurology, which he follows with excitement.

Finally, Dr Tucker said that you have to cultivate happiness. “You have to be happy in your job and in your domestic life,” he said.

Source: Today

Categories : AgeingTags :

Assessing the Effectiveness of Chinese Traditional Medicine for Rheumatoid Arthritis

On By ModernMedia
Hand osteoarthritis
Source: Pixabay CC0

Chinese traditional medicine based on combinations of typically 5 to ten plants, usually boiled and administered as a decoction or tea, has long been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but few clinical trials have tested its potential. A review in the Journal of Internal Medicine outlines a strategy to analyse the ability of different mixtures of plants used in Chinese medicine to combat RA.

One fundamental of traditional medicine is to prevent disease. RA is an autoimmune, inflammatory and chronic disease that primarily affects the joints of 0.5%–1% of the population. In two out of three of the cases, the patients are characterised by the presence of autoantibodies such as the rheumatoid factor and the more disease-specific autoantibody against citrullinated proteins, so-called ‘ACPA’ (anticitrullinated protein/peptide antibodies). ACPA positivity is also strongly associated with specific variations in the HLA-DRB1 gene, the shared epitope alleles. Together with smoking, these factors account for the major risks of developing RA. 

The researchers’ strategy involves isolating the active components of individual plants and testing them alone or in combinations against key pathways of disease pathology, followed by experiments conducted in animal models of RA.

“A substantial number of our current drugs are natural products or derivatives thereof, and without doubt nature will continue to be a source of future discoveries,” the authors wrote. “Therefore continuous research based on the traditional use of plants is highly motivated. In our opinion, the strategy of starting from knowledge in traditional medicine, followed by the combination of in vivo evidence of efficacy and bioassay-guided isolation to understand the chemistry and pathways involved, is one effective way forward.”

Source: Wiley

Categories : Ageing Injury & TraumaTags :

Psychological Resilience Aids Faster Return to Walking after Hip Fracture

On By ModernMedia
Carers help an old man to walk
Photo by Kampus Productions on Pexels

In a study of 210 community-dwelling older adults who had surgery following hip fracture, participants who reported feeling high levels of psychological resilience were later able to walk faster and longer than those feeling less resilient. The results, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, will help the development of interventions such as targeted exercise programmes.

Walking capacity is a critically important outcome following hip fracture, in that it serves both as a surrogate measure of functional ability and physical health more globally, as well as a predictor of future survival, institutionalisation, social interaction and community engagement. Moreover, poor recovery after hip fracture causes considerable suffering for patients and imposes a financial burden on the social and health care sector. In 29%–50% of cases, older adults with hip fracture do not reach their pre-fracture levels of functioning a year after the fracture. Poorer pre-fracture function, greater cognitive impairment, greater co-morbidity burden, poorer social support, and poorer nutrition, have been identified as predictors for diminished post-fracture recovery.

Psychological resilience was measured through a questionnaire provided at the start of the study, and they assessed walking capacity at the start as well as 16 weeks later.

“We believe these results support opportunities to improve walking capacity following hip fracture in older adults by devising multicomponent interventions combining targeted exercise with psychological resilience-enhancing programmes,” said corresponding author Richard H. Fortinsky, PhD, of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the UConn Center of Aging.

Source: Wiley

Categories : AgeingTags : 1 Comment

Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis Before Disease Develops Yields Benefits

On By ModernMedia
Hand osteoarthritis
Source: Pixabay CC0

A temporary treatment with methotrexate in the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis resulted in benefits for patients, according to research published in The Lancet. By temporarily prescribing methotrexate in the “pre-rheumatic phase,” patients experienced a reduction long-term joint inflammations, pain and physical limitations.

“At present, methotrexate is only prescribed to the patient following a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis,” explained Annette van der Helm, Professor of Rheumatology at Leiden University Medical Centre. “But that is too late. By then, the disease is already considered chronic.” The researchers hope to prevent or reduce disease burden by giving methotrexate to patients likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.

The researchers found that while the development of rheumatoid arthritis was not prevented by early treatment, diagnosis was delayed. Patients that had temporarily received methotrexate also reported less pain, morning stiffness and daily functioning impediments. Fewer joint inflammations were seen in MRI scans. “This is an important step towards reducing disease burden for this group of patients,” said Prof Van der Helm. “Moreover, it serves as initial evidence for initiating treatment in the ‘pre-rheumatic’ phase.”

The 8 year study included more than 230 patients. “All suffered from joint pain and inflammation, which could be seen on the MRI, and was thought to be a rheumatism precursor,” said PhD student Doortje Krijbolder. Rheumatologists are not certain whether this is truly the case, however. Pre-rheumatoid patients were treated with methotrexate or a placebo for one year, and a one year follow-up enabled researchers to see if the effects of the treatment persisted.

“This chronic disease is extremely burdensome to patients and their families. Our study is paving the way toward arthritis prevention,” said Prof Van der Helm. “To achieve this completely, greater understanding of the molecular processes underlying the chronic nature of rheumatoid arthritis is necessary.”

Source: Medical Xpress

Categories : Ageing GenderTags :

Losing their Y Chromosome Shortens Men’s Lifespans

On By ModernMedia
DNA repair
Source: Pixabay/CC0

As many men age, they lose their Y chromosome, which causes heart muscle to scar and can lead to deadly heart failure, new research from the shows. The finding, which appears in Science, may help explain why men die, on average, several years younger than women.

University of Virginia School of Medicine researcher Kenneth Walsh, PhD, says the new discovery suggests that men who suffer Y chromosome loss – estimated to include 40% of 70-year-olds – may particularly benefit from an existing drug that targets dangerous tissue scarring. The drug, he suspects, may help counteract the harmful effects of the chromosome loss – effects that may manifest not just in the heart but in other parts of the body as well.

On average, women live five years longer than men in the United States. The new finding, Prof Walsh estimates, may explain nearly four of the five-year difference.

“Particularly past age 60, men die more rapidly than women. It’s as if they biologically age more quickly,” said Prof Walsh. “There are more than 160 million males in the United States alone. The years of life lost due to the survival disadvantage of maleness is staggering. This new research provides clues as to why men have shorter lifespans than women.”

Many men begin to lose their Y chromosome in a fraction of their cells as they age, especially in smokers. The loss occurs predominantly in cells that undergo rapid turnover, such as blood cells. However, Y chromosome loss does not occur in male reproductive cells, so it is not inherited by the children of men who exhibit Y chromosome loss. It has been observed that men who suffer Y chromosome loss are more likely to die at a younger age and suffer age-associated maladies such as Alzheimer’s disease. This new research however is believed to be the first hard evidence that the chromosome loss harms men’s health.

Walsh and his team used CRISPR gene-editing technology to develop a special mouse model to better understand the effects of Y chromosome loss in the blood. The loss accelerated age-related diseases, made the mice more prone to heart scarring, leading to earlier death. But more than just the results of inflammation, there was complex series of responses in the immune system, leading to fibrosis throughout the body. This tug-of-war within the immune system, the researchers believe, may accelerate disease development.

The scientists also looked at the effects of Y chromosome loss in human men. They conducted three analyses of data compiled from the UK Biobank, a massive biomedical database, and found that Y chromosome loss was associated with cardiovascular disease and heart failure. As chromosome loss increased, the scientists found, so did the risk of death.

The findings suggest that targeting the effects of Y chromosome loss could help men live longer, healthier lives. One treatment option might be a drug, pirfenidone, approved in the US for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The drug is also being tested for the treatment of heart failure and chronic kidney disease, two conditions for which tissue scarring is a hallmark. Based on his research, Walsh believes that men with Y chromosome loss could respond particularly well to this drug, and other classes of antifibrotic drugs that are being developed, though more research will be needed to determine that.

At the moment, doctors have no easy way to determine which men suffer Y chromosome loss. Prof Walsh’s collaborator Lars A. Forsberg, of Uppsala University in Sweden, has developed an inexpensive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that can detect Y chromosome loss, but the test is largely confined to his and Prof Walsh’s labs. Prof Walsh, however, can foresee that changing: “If interest in this continues and it’s shown to have utility in terms of being prognostic for men’s disease and can lead to personalised therapy, maybe this becomes a routine diagnostic test,” he said.

“The DNA of all our cells inevitably accumulate mutations as we age. This includes the loss of the entire Y chromosome within a subset of cells within men. Understanding that the body is a mosaic of acquired mutations provides clues about age-related diseases and the aging process itself,” said Walsh, a member of UVA’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. “Studies that examine Y chromosome loss and other acquired mutations have great promise for the development of personalised medicines that are tailored to these specific mutations.”

Source: University of Virginia Health System

Categories : Ageing Cardiovascular DiseaseTags :

Type of Macular Degeneration Linked to Cardiovascular Disease

On By ModernMedia
Credit: National Eye Institute

Patients with a certain subtype of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are at significant risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to new research published in Retina.

“For the last three decades researchers have suggested an association between AMD and cardiovascular disease, but there has been no conclusive data on this until now. Our retinal team answered this important question by focusing on two different varieties of AMD that can be seen with advanced retinal imaging. We discovered that only one form of AMD, that with subretinal drusenoid deposits, is tightly connected to high-risk vascular diseases, and the other form, known as drusen, is not,” explained lead author R. Theodore Smith, MD, PhD, Professor at Mount Sinai. “If ophthalmologists diagnose or treat someone with the specific subretinal drusenoid deposits form of AMD, but who otherwise seems well, that patient may have significant undetected heart disease, or possibly carotid artery stenosis that could result in a stroke. We foresee that in the future, as an improved standard of care, such patients will be considered for early referral to a cardiologist for evaluation and possibly treatment.”

AMD is the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness over the age of 65. Drusen is one major form of early AMD: small yellow cholesterol deposits form in a layer under the retina, depriving it of blood and oxygen, leading to vision loss. Drusen formation can be slowed by appropriate vitamin supplementation.

The other major form of early AMD is the presence of subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD), which is lesser known, which needs advanced retinal imaging to detect. These deposits are also made of fatty lipids and other materials, but form in a different layer beneath the light sensitive retina cells, where they are also associated with vision loss. There is no known treatment for SDD at present.

Mount Sinai researchers analysed 126 patients with AMD, using optical coherence tomography (OCT) which captures high-resolution cross-sectional scans of the retina. Patients also answered health history questionnaires. Of the patients on the study, 62 had SDD and 64 had drusen; 51 of the 126 total patients (40%) reported having cardiovascular disease or a past stroke, and most (66%) of those patients had SDD. By contrast, of the 75 patients who did not have known heart disease or stroke, relatively few (19%) had SDD. The odds of patients with cardiovascular disease or stroke having SDD was three times than in patients without.

The researchers suggested that the underlying cardiovascular disease likely compromises blood circulation in the eye, leading to the SDDs beneath the retina.

“We believe poor ocular circulation that causes SDDs is a manifestation of underlying vascular disease. This has important public health implications and can facilitate population screening and disease detection with major impact,” explained author Jagat Narula, MD, PhD, Associate Dean of Global Affairs and Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Radiology, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Seen in an eye clinic, such patients should be prompted to see a cardiologist. On the other hand, if clinically substantiated in prospective studies, SDDs could emerge as a risk marker for underlying vascular disease in asymptomatic patients in primary care or a cardiology clinic. The temporal relationship between SDDs and macrovascular disease will also need to be established in prospective studies which are currently in progress.”

Analysis of patient blood samples revealed genetic risk factors may also play a role in SDD cases in addition to vascular causes. Specifically, they found that the ARMS2 gene acted independently of vascular disease to cause SDD in some patients.

“This study further demonstrates that AMD is not a single condition or an isolated disease, but is often a signal of systemic malfunction which could benefit from targeted medical evaluation in addition to localised eye care,” noted Richard B. Rosen, MD, Chief of the Retina Service for the Mount Sinai Health System. “It helps bring us one step closer to unraveling the mystery of this horrible condition which robs so many patients of the pleasure of good vision during their later years. “

Source: The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Categories : Ageing HIVTags :

HIV Infection Found to Accelerate Ageing Process

On By ModernMedia
HIV Infecting a T9 Cell. Credit: NIH

Within just two to three years of infection, HIV causes an “early and substantial” impact on ageing in infected people, accelerating epigenetic changes and telomere shortening associated with normal ageing, according to a study in iScience.

The findings suggest that new HIV infection may act to reduce an individual’s life span by five years compared to an uninfected person.

“Our work demonstrates that even in the early months and years of living with HIV, the virus has already set into motion an accelerated ageing process at the DNA level,” said lead author Elizabeth Crabb Breen, a professor emerita at UCLA. “This emphasises the critical importance of early HIV diagnosis and an awareness of ageing-related problems, as well as the value of preventing HIV infection in the first place.”

In previous studies, HIV and antiretroviral treatment has been observed to accelerate age-related conditions such as cardiovascular and renal disease, grail and cognitive impairment.

Researchers analysed stored blood samples from 102 men collected six months or less before they became infected with HIV and again two to three years after infection. They compared these with matching samples from 102 non-infected age-matched men taken over the same time period. All the men were participants in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, an ongoing US study initiated in 1984.

The study examined how HIV affects epigenetic DNA methylation. Epigenetic changes are those made in response to the influence of outside factors such as disease that affect how genes behave without changing the genes themselves.

Five epigenetic measures of ageing were analysed – four of them are epigenetic ‘ clocks’, each of which uses a slightly different approach to estimate biological age acceleration in years, relative to chronologic age. The fifth measure assessed telomere length, which shorten with age and cell divisions.

Compared to non-infected controls, HIV-infected individuals showed significant age acceleration in each of the four epigenetic clock measurements – ranging from 1.9 to 4.8 years – as well as telomere shortening over the period beginning just before infection and ending two to three years after, in the absence of highly active antiretroviral treatment.

“Our access to rare, well-characterised samples allowed us to design this study in a way that leaves little doubt about the role of HIV in eliciting biological signatures of early ageing,” said senior author Professor Beth Jamieson. “Our long-term goal is to determine whether we can use any of these signatures to predict whether an individual is at increased risk for specific ageing-related disease outcomes, thus exposing new targets for intervention therapeutics.”

Study limitations included having only men as participants, with few non-white participants. The sample size was also too small to take into consideration later effects of highly active antiretroviral treatment or to predict clinical outcomes. Additionally, there presently is no consensus on what is normal ageing or how to define it, the researchers wrote.

Source: UCLA

Categories : Ageing VaccinesTags : 1 Comment

Flu Jab May Protect Against Developing Alzheimer’s

On By ModernMedia
Old man
Source: JD Mason on Unsplash

In a study with nearly 2 million older adults, those who received at least one influenza vaccine were 40% less likely than their non-vaccinated peers to develop Alzheimer’s disease over four years of follow-up, according to a new study from UTHealth Houston.

An early online version of the paper detailing the findings is available in advance of its publication in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in August.

“We found that flu vaccination in older adults reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease for several years. The strength of this protective effect increased with the number of years that a person received an annual flu vaccine – in other words, the rate of developing Alzheimer’s was lowest among those who consistently received the flu vaccine every year,” said first author Avram S. Bukhbinder, MD. “Future research should assess whether flu vaccination is also associated with the rate of symptom progression in patients who already have Alzheimer’s dementia.”

The study comes two years after UTHealth Houston researchers found a possible link between the flu vaccine and reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease. This new study analysed a much larger sample than previous research, including 935 887 flu-vaccinated patients and 935 887 non-vaccinated patients.

During four-year follow-up appointments, about 5.1% of flu-vaccinated patients were found to have developed Alzheimer’s disease. Meanwhile, 8.5% of non-vaccinated patients had developed Alzheimer’s disease during follow-up.

These results underscore the strong protective effect of the flu vaccine against Alzheimer’s disease, according to Bukhbinder and Schulz. However, the underlying mechanisms behind this process require further study.

“Since there is evidence that several vaccines may protect from Alzheimer’s disease, we are thinking that it isn’t a specific effect of the flu vaccine,” said Professor Paul. E. Schulz, MD, senior author of the study. “Instead, we believe that the immune system is complex, and some alterations, such as pneumonia, may activate it in a way that makes Alzheimer’s disease worse. But other things that activate the immune system may do so in a different way – one that protects from Alzheimer’s disease. Clearly, we have more to learn about how the immune system worsens or improves outcomes in this disease.”

Past research has uncovered a decreased risk of dementia associated with prior exposure to various adulthood vaccinations, including those for tetanus, polio, and herpes, in addition to the flu vaccine and others.

Additionally, as more time passes since the introduction of the COVID vaccine and longer follow-up data becomes available, Dr Bukhbinder said it seeing if there is a similar link between COVID vaccination and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Source: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Categories : AgeingTags :

In Women, an Optimistic Outlook Leads to Longer Lifespan

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Loren Joseph on Unsplash

In a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society with 159 255 female participants from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, higher levels of optimism were associated with longer lifespans and a greater likelihood of living past 90 years of age. 

Investigators found that the link between optimism and longevity was evident across racial and ethnic groups, and that lifestyle factors accounted for nearly one-quarter of the optimism-lifespan association. 

“Although optimism itself may be patterned by social structural factors, our findings suggest that the benefits of optimism for longevity may hold across racial and ethnic groups,” said lead author Hayami K. Koga, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Optimism may be an important target of intervention for longevity across diverse groups.”  

Source: Wiley

Categories : Ageing CancerTags :

Supplementation Effective in Slowing Age-related Macular Degeneration

On By ModernMedia
Credit: National Eye Institute

A pair of major studies established that dietary supplements can slow progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In a new report published in JAMA Ophthalmology, scientists went through 10 years of Age-Related Eye Disease Studies (AREDS2) data and showed that the AREDS2 formula, which substituted antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin for beta-carotene, not only reduces risk of lung cancer due to beta-carotene, but is also more effective at reducing risk of AMD progression, compared to the original formula.

“Because beta-carotene increased the risk of lung cancer for current smokers in two NIH-supported studies, our goal with AREDS2 was to create an equally effective supplement formula that could be used by anyone, whether or not they smoke,” said Emily Chew, MD, lead author of the study report. “This 10-year data confirms that not only is the new formula safer, it’s actually better at slowing AMD progression.”

AMD is a degenerative disease of the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. Progressive death of retinal cells in the macula, the part of the retina that provides clear central vision, eventually leads to blindness. Treatment can slow or reverse vision loss; however, no cure for AMD exists.

The original AREDS study, launched in 1996, showed that a dietary supplement formulation (50 mg vitamin C, 400 international units vitamin E, 2mg copper, 80mg zinc, and 15mg beta-carotene) could significantly slow the progression of AMD from moderate to late disease. However, two concurrent studies also revealed that people who smoked and took beta-carotene had a significantly higher risk of lung cancer than expected.

In AREDS2, begun in 2006, Dr Chew and colleagues compared the beta-carotene formulation to one with 10 mg lutein and 2 mg zeaxanthin instead. Like beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin are antioxidants with activity in the retina. The beta-carotene-containing formation was only given to participants who had never smoked or who had quit smoking.

At the end of the five-year AREDS2 study period, the researchers concluded that lutein and zeaxanthin did not increase risk for lung cancer, and that the new formation could reduce the risk of AMD progression by about 26%. After the completion of the five-year study period, the study participants were all offered the final AREDS2 formation that included lutein and zeaxanthin instead of beta-carotene.

In this new report, the researchers followed up with 3883 of the original 4203 AREDS2 participants an extra five years from when the AREDS2 study ended in 2011, collecting information AMD progression, and lung cancer diagnosis. Even though all the participants had switched to the formula containing lutein and zeaxanthin after the end of the study period, the follow up study continued to show that beta-carotene increased risk of lung cancer for people who had ever smoked by nearly double. No increased risk for lung cancer was seen in those receiving lutein/zeaxanthin. In addition, after 10 years, the group originally assigned to receive lutein/zeaxanthin had an additional 20% reduced risk of progression to late AMD compared to those originally assigned to receive beta-carotene.

“These results confirmed that switching our formula from beta-carotene to lutein and zeaxanthin was the right choice,” said Dr Chew.

Source: NIH/National Eye Institute