HomeGerontology
Gerontology
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.
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'.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Meditation could preserve the ‘little grey cells’
Building on earlier work that suggested people who meditate have less age-related atrophy in the brain’s white matter, University of California researchers have found that meditation appeared to help preserve the brain’s grey matter, the tissue that contains neurons.
Elderly continue to enjoy sex
Older people are continuing to enjoy active sex lives well into their seventies and eighties, according to research from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Elderly need more protein than RDA
US researchers found that a higher amount of protein intake than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) in older adults improved whole body net protein balance and muscle protein synthesis.
Elderly in care at risk of dehydration
A British study on 20,000 old and infirm people found them to be at increased risk of dehydration, leading to high sodium levels, an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality.
Add happiness for healthier bones
Older women who are satisfied with their lives may have better bone health, a 1,100-woman study from the University of Eastern Finland found.
Team finds more reliable algorithm for diagnosing Alzheimer's
An international team of researchers has spent 10 years working towards a simpler, more reliable approach to the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Medical News...
Sleep deprivation linked to premature ageing of the brain
Researchers at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore have found that less sleep in older adults is linked to premature ageing of the brain. Science...
‘Living with multiple chronic diseases now the norm’
With nearly four in five older Americans living with multiple chronic medical conditions, a new study finds that the more ailments you have after...
Air pollution may hasten cognitive decline in elderly
The tiny particles in vehicle exhaust and other sources of air pollution may hasten cognitive decline in older adults. Reuters Health reports that scientists...