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Tag: Aging

  • Albert Bendelac, pathologist and former chair of the University of Chicago Committee on Immunology, 1956-2023

    Albert Bendelac, pathologist and former chair of the University of Chicago Committee on Immunology, 1956-2023

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    Newswise — Albert Bendelac, MD, PhD, the A.N. Pritzker Distinguished Service Professor of Pathology at the University of Chicago, died at his home on August 23, 2023, surrounded by family. He had just celebrated his 67th birthday.

    Known for his passion for immunology, his mentorship of students and young faculty, and his broad scientific thinking, Bendelac joined the faculty in 2002 as an established investigator. His research had already demonstrated that CD4 and CD8 T cells were required for the development of type-1 diabetes and had described a novel subset of T cells that expressed Natural Killer cell antigens (NKT cells), discovering CD1d as their restricting element.

    “There is little doubt that he remained the leader in the field of NKT cell biology,” said Vinay Kumar, MBBS, MD, the Lowell T Coggeshall Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Chair Emeritus.

    Bendelac’s seminal discovery came in 1995 when he first described NKT cells in the journal Science, and later in 2005, finding that lysosomal glycosphingolipid ceramide is the natural ligand for NKT cells.  More largely, he explored the fundamental question of thymic selection of innate lymphocytes, and in 2008 identified the transcription factor PLZF as the master regulator of NKT, MAIT, and ILC development. In his final years of research, he expanded his work to mucosal IgA B cells. He published more than 100 papers, several of which are cited more than 1,000 times.

    Colleagues from across the country remembered Bendelac’s rigorous approach and contributions to the field.

    Marco Colonna, the Robert Rock Belliveau Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University, said, “I always admired Albert for his genius, unwavering experimental rigor, and fearless approach to exploring new frontiers in immunology. His upfront and uncompromising nature made him a true and authentic person.”

    Jason Cyster, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Howard Hughes Investigator at the University of California San Francisco, said, “I was always inspired by the quality of his work. His insights into innate lymphocytes were truly ahead of their time.” And Marc Jenkins, the Regents Professor and Director of the Center for Immunology at the University of Minnesota, said simply, “Albert made his mark on the world.”

    In addition to his groundbreaking research on lymphocyte biology, Bendelac made immeasurable contributions toward establishing UChicago’s Committee on Immunology (COI) as a home of leading-edge, multi-disciplinary research and a premiere training program for young scientists.

    Colleagues cite his Advanced Immunology course, which was widely regarded by many trainees as the most demanding and rewarding course of their graduate tenure, and which set the standard for other COI instructors. His Immunobiology course for undergraduate students, the first step in the Concentration on Immunology, was very popular and uniformly highly rated.

    Daria Esterhazy, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology, was recruited by Bendelac to UChicago in 2018 as part of his successful efforts to recruit junior faculty in immunology. “As of 2019, he shared an entire floor of a building unit with me and the other assistant professor recruits, Dr. Andrew Koh and Dr. David Zemmour. It was Dr. Bendelac’s initiative to install such an immunology floor and move himself from another space for the sake of fostering a new generation of independent investigators,” she said.

    “He was incredibly invested in and supportive of the next generation of immunologists, from undergraduate teaching, to conceiving of the graduate teaching curriculum in immunology, to recruiting multiple junior faculty members and helping them thrive.”

    The former chair of the COI, Bendelac received multiple awards throughout his career, including the Quantrell Teaching Award for Excellence in undergraduate teaching in 2019. At the time of the award, he explained that immunology is an incredibly complex field, and the amount of information students have to process can be daunting. Bendelac said the key to keeping undergraduates engaged as he introduces them to the field is to convey this complexity without overwhelming them with details.

    “You don’t want to turn them off. You want to excite them and inspire them,” he said. “My mission is to cover all the key aspects of the field but not go into excruciating detail, like knowing the music but not necessarily all the words.”

    It was an award that his wife, Bana Jabri, MD, PhD, the Sarah and Harold Lincoln Thompson Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and current Chair of the Committee on Immunology, also won in 2017. Colleagues described the two as a formidable team, working in different areas of immunology and together helping establish UChicago as a center of excellence in immunology.

    “Albert had a vision of scientific excellence that was deeply infectious – he challenged and inspired others to dig deeper both conceptually and technically,” said Peter Savage, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology. “He had high expectations of his colleagues and trainees and led by example. I never saw him flinch or hesitate to tackle a problem, or to put in the hard work necessary to do so.  Ultimately, this made an indelible impression that was inspiring to many of us.”

    Bendelac earned his MD from University Paris VI in 1985, and his PhD in immunology from University Paris VII in 1992. From 1994-2002, he was an associate and then assistant (tenured) professor of molecular biology at Princeton University, and before that was a visiting fellow and then visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

    Outside the lab, he enjoyed morning runs with his border collies along Lake Michigan, movies (particularly European cinema), literature, good food and wine, and he was an excellent cook.

    In addition to his wife, he is survived by their children, Aude, Raphaëlle, and Julien.

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    University of Chicago Medical Center

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  • UC Davis Eye Center tests experimental gene therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

    UC Davis Eye Center tests experimental gene therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

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    Newswise — (SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Ophthalmologists at UC Davis Health used an experimental gene therapy last month to treat a patient with wet age-related macular degeneration, or wet AMD. It was the first time the UC Davis Eye Center had used gene therapy.

    The treatment was part of a randomized, partially masked, controlled, phase 3 clinical study evaluating the efficacy and safety of an experimental therapy, ABBV-RGX-314, for wet AMD. UC Davis Health is one of 93 sites in the U.S. participating in the clinical trial.

    This investigational treatment is not FDA approved, and the efficacy and safety have not been established.

    Wet AMD affects approximately 2 million people in the United States, Europe and Japan. It is a leading cause of vision loss among older adults.

    “The current treatments for wet AMD may be life-long, and injections can be as frequent as every month,” said Glenn Yiu, professor of ophthalmology at UC Davis Health and principal investigator for the new clinical trial. “If approved, a gene therapy solution has the potential to maintain vision while reducing the number of injections, by allowing the eye to continuously produce the medicine on its own,” Yiu said.

    In AMD, the macula, an area of the eye’s lining that helps you see, becomes damaged. This can blur the central part of your vision, making it hard to drive or read. An early symptom of wet AMD is that straight lines look distorted and wavy.

    In wet, or neovascular AMD, abnormal blood vessels grow underneath the retina. These vessels lead to bleeding or fluid leakage in the back of your eye, causing vision loss. This process, known as “neovascularization,” is largely driven by a growth factor called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

    Treatments for wet AMD rely on repeated injections of drugs that block VEGF in the diseased eye.

    An illustration of a normal retina compared to a retina with wet AMD. The normal retina shows a flat layer of cells lining the eye and the wet AMD retina shows a branching blood vessel extending into and pushing up the cell layer.
    In wet or neovascular AMD, abnormal blood vessels grow underneath the retina, leading to bleeding or fluid leakage in the eye.

    Gene therapy may offer different approach

    Unlike stem cell therapies used to treat eye diseases — which involve injecting cells with regenerative or restorative capabilities into the eye — gene therapy generally uses an empty viral envelope (a vector) to deliver a gene with specific genetic instructions for making protein.

    ABBV-RGX-314 contains genetic instructions for making anti-VEGF proteins. After a single injection of ABBV-RGX-314 gene therapy, the eye can start to make the medicine on its own.

    Yiu performed the first experimental gene therapy eye surgery at UC Davis Health in July. The procedure is more complex than administering a monthly injection. It includes a vitrectomy, where the viscous gel in the eye is removed and replaced with a saline infusion. The experimental treatment with its gene delivery vector is then injected underneath the retina.

    Yiu will monitor whether the participant will continue to need monthly anti-VEGF injections in the coming months.

    Paul Sieving is the former director of the National Eye Institute and is now a professor of ophthalmology at UC Davis Health. He established the Center for Ocular Regenerative Therapy (CORT) for pursuing cell and gene therapies.

    “It is noteworthy for patients in Northern California that UC Davis Health is doing experimental ocular gene therapy studies in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences. What excites me most about this is the potential of Dr. Yiu’s work to reduce the repeated eye injections currently required for wet age-related macular degeneration,” Sieving said.

    UC Davis Health has enrolled three patients in the clinical trial and plans to enroll more. Individuals aged 50 to 88 with wet AMD who have had prior anti-VEGF injections may be eligible to participate.

    For more information, visit the study page, or email Denise Macias, clinical research supervisor, at [email protected].

    Resources

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    UC Davis Health

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  • People taking adult education classes run lower risk of dementia

    People taking adult education classes run lower risk of dementia

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    Newswise — How can we best keep our brain fit as we grow older? It’s well known that regular cognitive activity, for example brainteasers, sudokus, or certain video games in middle and old age tends to protect against cognitive decline and dementias like Alzheimer’s. But many of us regularly engage in adult education classes, for example learning a language or a new skill. Is such adult education likewise associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia?

    Yes, according to researchers from the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer of Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan who have shown for the first time, in a new study in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

    “Here we show that people who take adult education classes have a lower risk of developing dementia five years later,” said Dr Hikaru Takeuchi, the study’s first author. “Adult education is likewise associated with better preservation of nonverbal reasoning with increasing age.”

    UK Biobank

    Takeuchi and his co-author, Dr Ryuta Kawashima, a professor at the same institute, analyzed data from the UK Biobank, which holds genetic, health, and medical information from approximately half a million British volunteers, of which 282,421 participants were analyzed for this study. These had been enrolled between 2006 and 2010, when between 40 and 69 years old. On average, they had been followed for seven years by the time of the present study.

    Based on their genotype at 133 relevant single-locus polymorphisms (SNPs) in their DNA, participants were given an individual predictive ‘polygenic risk score’ for dementia. Participants self-reported if they took any adult education classes, without specifying the frequency, subject, or academic level.

    The authors focused on data from the enrollment visit and third assessment visit,  between 2014 and 2018. At those visits, participants were given a battery of psychological and cognitive tests, for example for fluid intelligence, visuospatial memory, and reaction time.

    1.1% of participants in the sample developed dementia over the study’s time window.

    Reduced risk of developing dementia

    Takeuchi and Kawashima showed that participants who were taking part in adult education at enrollment had 19% lower risk of developing dementia than participants who did not. This held true for both Caucasian people and those of other ethnicities.

    Importantly, results were similar when participants with a history of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, or mental illness were excluded. This means that the observed lower risk wasn’t exclusively due participants with incipient dementia being prevented from following adult education by symptoms of these known co-morbidities.

    The results also showed that participants who took part in adult education classes kept up their fluid intelligence and nonverbal reasoning performance better than peers who did not. However, adult education didn’t affect the preservation of visuospatial memory or reaction time.

    Randomized clinical trials necessary

    “One possibility is that engaging in intellectual activities has positive results on the nervous system, which in turn may prevent dementia. But ours is an observational longitudinal study, so if a direct causal relationship exists between adult education and a lower risk of dementia, it could be in either direction,” said Dr Ryuta Kawashima, the study’s final author and a professor at the same institute.

    Takeuchi proposed that a randomized clinical trial be done to prove any protective effect of adult education.

    “This could take the form of a controlled trial where one group of participants is encouraged to participate in an adult education class, while the other is encouraged to participate in a control intervention with equivalent social interaction, but without education,“ said Takeuchi.

     

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    Frontiers

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  • How Breast Milk Boosts the Brain

    How Breast Milk Boosts the Brain

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    Newswise — A new study by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University suggests that a micronutrient in human breast milk provides significant benefit to the developing brains of newborns, a finding that further illuminates the link between nutrition and brain health and could help improve infant formulas used in circumstances when breastfeeding isn’t possible.

    The study, published July 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS),  also paves the way to study what role this micronutrient might play in the brain as we age.

    Researchers found that the micronutrient, a sugar molecule called myo-inositol, was most prominent in human breast milk during the first months of lactation, when neuronal connections termed synapses are forming rapidly in the infant brain. This was true regardless of the mother’s ethnicity or background; the researchers profiled and compared human milk samples collected across sites in Mexico City, Shanghai, and Cincinnati by the Global Exploration of Human Milk study, which included healthy mothers of term singleton infants.

    Further testing using rodent models as well as human neurons showed that myo-inositol increased both the size and number of synaptic connections between neurons in the developing brain, indicating stronger connectivity.

    “Forming and refining brain connectivity from birth is guided by genetic and environmental forces as well as by human experiences,” says Thomas Biederer, senior scientist on the Neuroscience and Aging Team at the HNRCA, senior author on the study, and faculty member at the Yale School of Medicine, where he leads a research group in the Department of Neurology.

    Diet is one of the environmental forces that offers many opportunities for study. In early infancy, the brain may be particularly sensitive to dietary factors because the blood-brain barrier is more permeable, and small molecules taken in as food can more easily pass from the blood to the brain.

    “As a neuroscientist, it’s intriguing to me how profound the effects of micronutrients are on the brain,” says Biederer. “It’s also amazing how complex and rich human breast milk is, and I now think it is conceivable that its composition is dynamically changing to support different stages of infant brain development.”

    Similar levels of myo-inositol across women in very different geographic locations point to its generally important role in human brain development, he observes.

    Research by others has shown that brain inositol levels decline over time as infants develop. In adults, lower than normal brain inositol levels have been found in patients with major depressive disorders and bipolar disease. Genetic alterations in myo-inositol transporters have been linked to schizophrenia. In contrast, in people with Down’s syndrome and patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Down’s syndrome, higher than normal accumulations of myo-inositol have been identified.

    “The current research does indicate that for circumstances where breastfeeding is not possible, it may be beneficial to increase the levels of myo-inositol in infant formula,” Biederer says.

    However, Biederer says it is too soon to recommend that adults consume more myo-inositol, which can be found in significant quantities in certain grains, beans, bran, citrus fruits, and cantaloupe (but which is not present in great quantities in cow’s milk). “We don’t know why inositol levels are lower in adults with certain psychiatric conditions, or higher in those with certain other diseases,” he says.

    A host of research questions remain: Are lower inositol levels in people with depression or bipolar disease a cause of those diseases, or a side effect of drugs used to treat them? Do higher than normal levels in people with Down’s syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease suggest that too much myo-inositol is problematic? What is the “right” level of myo-inositol to have in one’s brain for optimal brain health at various stages of life?

    “My colleagues at the HNRCA and I are now pursuing research to test how micronutrients like myo-inositol may impact cells and connectivity in the aging brain,” says Biederer. “We hope this work leads to a better understanding of how dietary factors interplay with age-related brain aberrations.”

    This work was supported by Reckitt Benckiser / Mead Johnson Nutrition and a gift from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. Complete information on authors, funders, methodology, and conflicts of interest is available in the published paper.

    The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of Reckitt Benckiser / Mead Johnson Nutrition or the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.

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    Tufts University

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  • HIV patients can safely undergo hip replacement, study finds

    HIV patients can safely undergo hip replacement, study finds

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    Newswise — DALLAS – July 26, 2023 – Hip replacement surgery is safe for patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center found.

    Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a common procedure performed primarily on older patients suffering from osteoarthritis or osteonecrosis, painful conditions that severely limit mobility and lifestyle choices. But some surgeons have been hesitant to perform THAs on patients with HIV or AIDS due to concerns about complications, including higher risk of infection, need for revision surgery, and increased length of hospital stay.

    “Patients living with HIV are at a higher risk for orthopedic-related diseases such as osteoarthritis or osteonecrosis of the hip due to changes in their bone metabolism and effects from their medication regimen,” said Senthil Sambandam, M.D., Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, who led the study. “With improvements in HIV treatment leading to increased life expectancies, we are seeing a rise in the need for THA procedures in this patient population. Our study demonstrates that HIV-positive patients can safely undergo THA without concern for increased risk of complications and adds to the growing amount of literature that encourages surgeons to deliver appropriate medical care to a marginalized patient population.”

    Using data from the National Inpatient Sample covering 2016-2019, UTSW researchers identified 504 HIV-positive patients who underwent THAs and compared their postoperative complications to a cohort of 493 HIV-negative patients. Their findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma, showed that postoperative complications such as pneumonia, periprosthetic infection, wound dehiscence (reopening), and superficial and deep surgical site infection were not significantly different between the HIV-positive and HIV-negative groups. Blood transfusion rates also were lower among the HIV-positive patients.

    The study was part of a larger effort by the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery to analyze arthroplasty complications in various subpopulations in support of UTSW’s commitment to the care of marginalized patient populations and equal treatment for every patient.

    “These are important findings because they can help alleviate worries among the medical community about treating a group of patients who are often overlooked,” Dr. Sambandam said. “It’s an important quality-of-life issue for many HIV-positive patients.”

    Other UTSW researchers who contributed to this study are Varatharaj Mounasamy, M.D., Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Ashish R. Chowdary, B.S., medical student; and Jack Beale, M.D., and Jack Martinez, M.D., residents in Orthopaedic Surgery.

    About UT Southwestern Medical Center  
    UT Southwestern, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 19 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 14 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,900 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in more than 80 specialties to more than 100,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 4 million outpatient visits a year.

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    UT Southwestern Medical Center

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  • MIND Diet Linked with Better Focus in School-Aged Children

    MIND Diet Linked with Better Focus in School-Aged Children

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    Newswise — A diet originally designed to help ward off cognitive decline in adults might also help improve attention in pre-adolescents, according to a new study. The findings could help inform future dietary interventions aimed at improving cognition in children.

    The new study examined two diets: the Healthy Eating Index – 2015 (HEI-2015), which is based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet, which combines the Mediterranean diet with the heart-healthy Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet to create a dietary pattern that focuses on brain health.

    “We assessed how adherence to these diets was associated with children’s attentional inhibition — the ability to resist distracting stimuli — and found that only the MIND diet was positively linked with children’s performance on a task assessing attentional inhibition,” said Shelby Keye, PhD, who performed the work as a doctoral student in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and will be an assistant professor there this fall. “This suggests that the MIND diet could have the potential to improve children’s cognitive development, which is important for success in school.”

    Keye will present the findings at NUTRITION 2023, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held July 22-25 in Boston.

    Much like the DASH and Mediterranean diets on which it is based, the MIND diet emphasizes fresh fruit, vegetables, and legumes like beans, lentils, and peas. However, it also includes recommendations for specific foods, such as leafy greens and berries, which promote brain health. Although the MIND diet has been shown to have positive effects in adults, very few studies have been performed in children.

    The new research used data collected in a previous cross-sectional study led by Naiman Khan, PhD, a professor of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The study’s 85 participants ranged in age from 7 to 11 years old and completed a seven-day diet record from which the researchers calculated HEI-2015 and MIND diet scores. To assess attentional inhibition, participants also completed a task that requires spatial attention and executive control with their reaction time and accuracy recorded. Children with neurological disorders such as ADHD or autism were excluded from the study to reduce confounding factors.

    The researchers found that MIND diet scores but not HEI-2015 scores were positively related to study participants’ accuracy on the task, meaning that study participants who better adhered to the MIND diet performed better on the task. The researchers caution that although the study shows an association, an intervention study would be necessary to make any causal inferences.

    Next, the researchers would like to study the relationship between the MIND diet and attention in younger children, including preschool age and toddlers, to determine if there are any differences based on age and whether a developmental effect is involved.

    Keye will present this research at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, July 23, during the Dietary Patterns Poster Session in the Hynes Convention Center Hall C (abstract; presentation details).

    Please note that abstracts presented at NUTRITION 2023 were evaluated and selected by a committee of experts but have not generally undergone the same peer review process required for publication in a scientific journal. As such, the findings presented should be considered preliminary until a peer-reviewed publication is available.

    Images available.

     

    About NUTRITION 2023

    NUTRITION 2023 is the flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition and the premier educational event for nutritional professionals around the globe. NUTRITION brings together lab scientists, practicing clinicians, population health researchers, and community intervention investigators to identify solutions to today’s greatest nutrition challenges. Our audience also includes rising leaders in the field – undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. NUTRITION 2023 will be held July 22-25, 2023 in Boston. https://nutrition.org/N23 #Nutrition2023

     

    About the American Society for Nutrition (ASN)

    ASN is the preeminent professional organization for nutrition scientists and clinicians around the world. Founded in 1928, the society brings together the top nutrition researchers, medical practitioners, policy makers and industry leaders to advance our knowledge and application of nutrition. ASN publishes four peer-reviewed journals and provides education and professional development opportunities to advance nutrition research, practice, and education. Since 2018, the American Society of Nutrition has presented NUTRITION, the leading global annual meeting for nutrition professionals.

     

    Find more news briefs and tipsheets at: https://www.eurekalert.org/newsroom/nutrition2023.

     

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    American Society for Nutrition (ASN)

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  • Study: Hearing AIDS May Slow Cognitive Decline for at-Risk Adults

    Study: Hearing AIDS May Slow Cognitive Decline for at-Risk Adults

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    Newswise — A new study published in the medical journal The Lancet found that hearing aids might slow cognitive decline for at-risk older adults with hearing loss.

    Sadie Braun, audiologist and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, said she’ll incorporate these findings into her counseling with patients.

    “For people who have any sort of high risk for cognitive decline such as dementia (or) Alzheimer’s, this study tells us that those individuals should get hearing aids as soon as they need them,” Braun said. “The average person waits 5 to 7 years or more to get hearing aids once they know they have a hearing loss.”

    The study, co-led by Dr. Frank Lin of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health, analyzed cognitive performance for groups of older adults (ages 70 to 84) with untreated hearing loss.

    Participants were randomly assigned to either the control group that received counseling on disease prevention, or to the intervention group, which received regular audiology treatment and hearing aids.

    Researchers followed up with participants every six months for three years. For participants at lower risk of cognitive decline, hearing aid interventions showed no significant effect on cognitive function. But for participants with high risk for dementia, cognitive decline slowed by 48 percent over the three-year period.

    “That’s a pretty amazing statistic to me,” Braun said. “We’ve known there was a correlation between hearing loss and cognitive decline, but there were a lot of unknowns regarding the exact nature of that correlation as well as whether hearing aids or other treatments could have a positive impact.”

    The connection between hearing loss and dementia is well-documented, but the “why” is still up for research inquiry, Braun said. Regardless, the finding adds to the growing list of reasons for adults to check their hearing sooner rather than later.

    Long-term speech understanding can improve the earlier a patient uses hearing aids, Braun said.

    “Cognitive health is something that people really care about,” Braun said. “I think this is going to cause more people to be more concerned about a mild or moderate hearing loss.”

    For at-risk adults and anyone interested in checking their hearing, Braun recommends a visit to an audiologist.

    The Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Clinic at 2001 S. Oak Street in Champaign is open to all patients, regardless of affiliation to the University of Illinois and accepts some insurance plans. It is operated by the College of Applied Health Sciences’ Department of Speech and Hearing Science.

    New patients are required to schedule an appointment by calling 217-333-2205 or emailing [email protected].

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    College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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  • Gwyneth Paltrow Shuts Down ‘Double Standard’ Women Face As They Age

    Gwyneth Paltrow Shuts Down ‘Double Standard’ Women Face As They Age

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    Gwyneth Paltrow is pushing back against the “double standard” that celebrates men but devalues women as they age.

    In a new interview with British Vogue, the Goop founder, 50, made it clear that she welcomes growing older while reflecting on the “weird” cultural expectation that women should resist aging.

    “I think it’s culture’s problem. It’s not ours,” said Paltrow, who noted how women are judged more harshly for getting older than men. “As women, we want to be healthy, we want to be [aging]. This idea that we’re supposed to be frozen in time is so weird.”

    The wellness guru gave credit to stars who are “embracing” growing older, like Andie MacDowell, who stopped coloring her hair after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

    “I love it when I hear somebody like Andie MacDowell, with her beautiful grey curls, talking about embracing aging and the difference between how we handle a George Clooney [versus an aging female star],” Paltrow said.

    She added: “It’s handsome to go grey [as a man], but for women it’s like, ‘What do you plan to do about your wrinkles and your aging skin?’”

    The “Avengers” actor, who said she enjoys seeing “examples of how you can age,” encouraged women to age “how they want to do it.”

    “Some women want to address every single thing aesthetically, and some women want to be a fabulous French grandmother who doesn’t ever do anything. Everybody should be empowered to do it how they want to,” the actor declared.

    Paltrow isn’t the only star to call out sexist double standards.

    Just last week, actor Gabrielle Union slammed ageist internet trolls who criticized her for being “too old” to wear a thong bikini at age 50.

    In September 2022, Paltrow, whose Goop brand produces several anti-aging products, admitted that she’d made peace with her wrinkles.

    “I accept. I accept the marks and the loosening skin, the wrinkles. I accept my body and let go of the need to be perfect, look perfect, defy gravity, defy logic, defy humanity. I accept my humanity,” Paltrow said in a self-published essay on Goop’s website.

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  • TikTok’s Viral ‘Aged Filter’ Is Humbling A Lot Of People. Here’s What You Should Know.

    TikTok’s Viral ‘Aged Filter’ Is Humbling A Lot Of People. Here’s What You Should Know.

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    A new TikTok filter gives users a glimpse into what they might look like when they get older ― and not everyone is liking what they see.

    The TikTok aging filter, which shows a split screen of the user’s current face and an aged, AI-generated older version, is inescapable on the app right now, appearing on videos that have amassed more than 10 billion views.

    Like many trends on the internet, use of the filter caught on after a Kardashian-Jenner sister tried it — this time, makeup mogul youngest sister Kylie Jenner.

    Unsurprisingly, she was not a fan.

    “I don’t like it, I don’t like it at all,” the 25-year-old said in a clip posted Monday on the video platform as she shook her head and stared at a version of herself with wrinkles, sagging skin and undereye bags. “No. No.”

    Others were equally unimpressed with their filtered results.

    “[I’ll] age like milk left in the hot sun,” TikToker Alex Beck said, sizing up his before and after.

    “POV: This filter humbled you and made you realize Botox is in fact the move,” lifestyle influencer Emilie Kiser wrote about the filter.

    Other people used the popular filter on old photos of celebrities to see if the filter accurately predicted what people like George Clooney or Sarah Jessica Parker would look like when they got older. (It did.)

    Even plastic surgeons who’ve used the filter say it pretty accurately mirrored the natural aging process.

    “I can see that overall my skin texture has lost some collagen, it has some sun spots, age spots,” said Lauren Umstattd, a plastic surgeon in Kansas, as she looked over her filtered results.

    “The skin of my upper lids is accentuated. Crows feet are accentuated, the volume loss in your cheeks,” she added. “There’s more prominent nasolabial folds and marionette lines. [One] critique is that I will probably lose more volume in my lips than it shows based on what I see in other women.”

    Demoralized by the results, some shared ways to “beat” the filter: If you see someone who is supposedly “aging” better, they suggested, it’s probably because they filmed themselves in good lighting.

    It’s understandable why so many of us are perturbed by the “old” filter: Most filters on the apps are aspirational, giving users a poreless, perfect Instagram Face version of themselves.

    It feels like you, only better ― which might be why plastic surgeons have said they’ve had a surplus of clients bringing filtered selfies to appointments to illustrate the tweaks they’d like to make.

    The “old” filter is more deterministic: “You’re going to look like this,” it suggests; “maybe you should look into that preventive Botox after all.”

    It isn’t surprising that people are playing around with the aging filter, even after seeing others have “bad” results with it. Most of us are curious about how we’ll look as we grow older, and using the filter is a way to satisfy that curiosity, said Julie Erickson, a psychologist and the author of the forthcoming book “The Aging Well Workbook for Anxiety and Depression.”

    Unfortunately, the “old” filter does more than satisfy a benign curiosity.

    “Trying it out can activate fears of growing ― and looking ― older, reinforce ageist assumptions that looking old is inherently problematic, and make someone more hyper-focused on their appearance,” Erickson said.

    The psychologist noted that there’s increasing evidence suggesting that the use of these filters increases body image dissatisfaction, worsens mood and could lead to body dysmorphia, an unhealthy preoccupation on some perceived flaw in physical appearance that’s either small or not even detectable to others.

    “Filters are particularly bad news for women, who already face heightened pressure to defy age and maintain a youthful appearance as they grow older,” Erickson said.

    “With the ‘old’ filter, worrying about how you look isn’t just restricted to the present; it’s making people worry about the future, too, playing right into our anti-aging fixation.”

    The augmented-reality face filters were gimmicky at first (think: the puppy face filter from Snapchat’s heyday), but today they offer hyperrealism. Some have even argued that the filters might be making us forget what we actually look like.

    With the “old” filter, worrying about how you look isn’t just restricted to the present; it’s making people worry about the future, too, playing right into our anti-aging fixation.

    A 2018 U.K. report found that millennials have by far the most negative attitudes about aging of all age groups, with nearly one-quarter of millennials surveyed admitting they thought being unhappy and depressed is a normal part of old age.

    The anti-aging market is estimated to make tens of billions of dollars in global sales every year. The demand for procedures that stave off signs of aging ― “preventative” Botox (intended to delay wrinkles by paralyzing the muscles that create fine lines) and fillers (injected beneath the surface of the skin to add fullness) ― is only increasing.

    Our fears of aging are reflected in how quick we are to cheerlead celebrities who “don’t age” or still “look hot” in selfies, like Martha Stewart.

    The filter plays into all these fears and more, the experts we spoke to said.

    Of course, not everyone using the aging filter on TikTok is demoralized by the results. Some users have said they felt a sense of peace from seeing an older version of themselves. “She looks so fun and full of life! I can’t wait to meet her,” said @yazzy_so_co0l.

    “I’ve decided that those in the assisted living center with me are going to love me,” social media strategist Hope Woodard joked about her “old” self.

    Clearly, that’s a better approach. Below, therapists and experts on aging share how to capture some of that energy and embrace aging as a filter and in real life.

    Ask yourself: Why did I have such a visceral reaction to this?

    If the age filter caused you to spiral into the depths of body image despair ― or just made you say, “Ugh, I have that to look forward to?” ― it might be helpful to take a step back and explore the roots of this spiral, said Chadley Zobolas, a therapist and owner of CZ Therapy Group in Denver.

    “What’s being triggered underneath the surface that’s causing this response?” she said. “What are the past experiences and lingering messages that are fueling the self-esteem fire?”

    For a lot of us, it’s internalized societal messaging. The anti-aging industry is centuries in the making, and the misconceptions and negative beliefs we have about aging ― that we lose vitality, that we become less attractive to others ― are deeply entrenched in our society.

    As one person, it’s hard to counter all that negative messaging. Still, simply recognizing how much negative messaging you’ve received around aging in your life can be a game changer, Zobolas said.

    The therapist also offered a short list of questions that might be helpful to ask yourself:

    • What messages have been internalized about your appearance, the appearance of others, and what’s considered “beautiful” vs. “unattractive” as it relates to aging?
    • Where, when, and from whom did you hear these messages? How was/is the aging process viewed in your family?
    • What cultural factors might come into play?
    • How do your older family members talk about their aging bodies with you or in front of you?

    Find things you like about the aging version of yourself.

    Like we mentioned, some people who posted their “old” filter videos emphasized what they liked about what they saw. Maybe you look more distinguished than you thought, for instance.

    Quite a few people said they looked at their aged selves and noticed that they looked like a beloved family member.

    “Everyone’s freaking out about this filter, but I kind of love it, because who do I look like? I look like my nanny who just passed away a few months ago,” TikToker @thiskindalife said.

    Get comfortable with aging by exposing yourself to positive “age role models.”

    One way to confront any ageism you’ve internalized is to seek out positive representations of aging, said Samantha DeCaro, the director of clinical outreach and education at the Renfrew Center, an eating disorder treatment center in Philadelphia.

    Follow some older influencers on Instagram or check out books that flip the script or deal critically with how our culture treats aging. (“Not Too Old for That: How Women Are Changing the Story of Aging,” by Vicki Larson, for instance, or the late Nora Ephron’s “I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman.”)

    “It’s so important to find inspirational people who are older than you, perhaps in person, through books, or by following older creators online, who are re-writing the harmful narratives about aging often reflected in the media,” DeCaro said.

    Monitor your negative self-talk.

    Our fears of aging are reflected in how casually we talk about our encroaching flaws internally and among friends: “Ugh, my crow’s feet are terrible,” or “I need to do something about my elevens [the vertical forehead lines].”

    In general, be mindful about how you speak about getting older. It might feel like camaraderie when you commiserate about your laugh lines with a friend, but it could also feed into negative beliefs you may hold about getting older.

    georgeclerk via Getty Images

    Be mindful of any negative language you use around aging, internally or with friends.

    Focus on the positive aspects of changing.

    Aging isn’t just about how you look, it’s about how you feel, too, said Alan Castel, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies memory and successful aging.

    “Often our subjective age ― how old we feel ― is a better indicator of how well we will age, so these apps may overemphasize physical aging and not account for psychological well-being,” said Castel, who’s the author of “Better with Age: The Psychology of Successful Aging.”

    “There are so many myths about aging being all downhill, but in fact, research shows that aspects of our psychological health, such as mood and emotional regulation, may improve in older age,” he said. “Many older adults report older age to be a happier and more satisfying time in life.”

    Remember that aging is a gift.

    It may be a tad cliché, but it’s always important to note that aging is a privilege not all of us get to experience. Erickson said: “Remind yourself that aging ultimately reflects successful adaptation, and that is something to be revered and celebrated, wrinkles and all.”

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  • Significant variations in hip fracture health costs and care between NHS hospitals and regions, study finds

    Significant variations in hip fracture health costs and care between NHS hospitals and regions, study finds

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    Newswise — There are significant variations in healthcare spending and care delivery across NHS hospitals in England and Wales following hip fracture, a new study aimed at understanding how hospital care impacts patients’ outcomes and costs has revealed. 

    The study, led by the University of Bristol and funded by Versus Arthritis, highlights the urgent need for evidence-based quality improvement strategies to reduce healthcare spending and improve patient outcomes in the year following a hip fracture.  The research is published online in The Lancet Healthy Longevity today [10 July].

    Hip fracture is a serious health concern, with more than 70,000 older adults admitted to a UK hospital each year. This study highlights the high healthcare burden associated with breaking a hip.

    The research analysed data from national databases for 178,757 hip fracture patients aged 60 years and above in England and Wales, who broke their hip between 2016 and 2019, followed up to just before the pandemic. More than one in four patients died within a year of their hip fracture.

    Patients spent an average of 32 days in hospital in the year following a hip fracture, resulting in substantial inpatient costs of on average £14,642 per patient – a cost similar to that incurred in the year after a stroke, and that exceeds costs of many common cancers. But this cost varied substantially between hospitals, with more than a two-fold difference in spending, ranging from £10,867 to £23,188 per patient, between 172 NHS hospitals studied in England and Wales.

    The researchers identified that in hospitals where patients are up and about quickly after their operation and where physiotherapy is provided seven days a week, patient costs were lower, and patients spent fewer days in hospital in the year following hip fracture.

    The research further highlighted the crucial role of orthogeriatricians – consultant geriatricians who specialise in the care of people with fractures – in hip fracture care.

    Dr Petra Baji, Senior Research Associate in Health Economics at Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences (THS) and the paper’s first author, explained: “The findings suggest that having all patients assessed by an orthogeriatrician within the first days of admission could cut healthcare spending by £529 per patient, as well as reduce the chance of dying by 15% in the year following hip fracture.”

    Dr Rita Patel, Senior Research Associate in Medical Statistics at Bristol and statistician for the study, added: “If a consultant orthogeriatrician attends hospital clinical governance meetings, a further cost saving of £356 per patient could potentially be achieved, as well as patients spending fewer days spent in the hospital in the year following hip fracture.”

    “Hospitals with fracture liaison services also have lower mortality rates and patients spend fewer days in hospital. Our study suggests that rather than increasing the burden on the NHS, providing additional care for patients with orthogeriatrician and fracture liaison services may actually improve NHS efficiency.”

    The study highlights the importance of addressing the way hospitals deliver hip fracture care to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of hip fracture services, and the need to develop evidence-based quality improvement strategies across the UK, to achieve financial savings while also improving patient outcomes.

    Celia Gregson, Professor in Clinical Epidemiology in the Musculoskeletal Research Unit at the University of Bristol and Chief Investigator of the study, commented, “The variation we have seen in patient outcomes and health spending following hip fracture are difficult to justify on purely clinical grounds, it tells us that the way we organise the delivery of care can be improved nationally.

    “By prioritising orthogeriatrician assessment, getting patients out of bed promptly after surgery, providing seven-day physiotherapy, reducing delirium risk for patients, and holding monthly multidisciplinary clinical governance meetings, hospitals stand to improve patient outcomes and reduce their healthcare spending.”

    Caroline Aylott, Head of Research Delivery at Versus Arthritis, said: “This research shows the unacceptable state of care for older people who break their hip. The findings show that older people have a high chance of dying within a year of a hip fracture, and that quality of care varies hugely between NHS hospitals in England and Wales.

    “As hip fractures mainly affect older people, many of whom live with multiple long-term conditions, this research suggests we are not getting older people’s care right. That must change.

    “The study found that better, faster access to orthogeriatricians and fracture liaison services would not only reduce people’s risk of dying and improve chances of a better recovery, but also reduce NHS spending. Just weeks after publication of the NHS workforce plan, the study provides yet further evidence of the desperate and immediate need for a properly resourced NHS.”

    The research team has already developed a potential solution, after working with the Royal Osteoporosis Society to develop an innovative toolkit – REDUCE hip fracture service implementation toolkit – informed by the results of their research.

    The toolkit is freely available to all healthcare professionals and service managers to support the quality improvement of fracture service provision within the 172 acute hospital settings across England and Wales.

    This study follows previous work from the REDUCE study (REducing unwarranted variation in the Delivery of high-qUality hip fraCture services in England and Wales), published last year in Age and Ageing, the journal of the British Geriatrics Society, which focused on patient outcomes of hip fracture patients in the short term.

    The study was funded by Versus Arthritis (ref: 22086), the UK’s biggest charity supporting people with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions, and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Bristol BRC).

    Paper

    ‘Organisational factors associated with hospital costs and patient mortality in the 365 days following hip fracture in England and Wales (REDUCE): a record-linkage cohort study’ by Petra Baji, Elsa M R Marques, Celia L Gregson et al. in The Lancet Healthy Longevity [open access]

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  • Walter R. Frontera, MD, PhD, Selected to Speak at 2023 AANEM Annual Meeting

    Walter R. Frontera, MD, PhD, Selected to Speak at 2023 AANEM Annual Meeting

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    Newswise — Rochester, Minn. (June 19, 2023)- The American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM), is excited to announce Walter R. Frontera, MD, PhD, as a 2023 plenary speaker at the AANEM Annual Meeting Nov. 1-4 in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Frontera is a professor in the departments of PM&R, sports medicine, and physiology at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, and serves as the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of PM&R. His primary research interest is in geriatric rehabilitation, particularly the study of the mechanisms underlying muscle atrophy and weakness in elderly and the potential benefits of exercise training in older men and women. Dr. Frontera’s plenary session titled, “Sarcopenia: Aging of Skeletal Muscle and Benefits of Exercise,” will examine the diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia and discuss the most recent research related to the cellular and physiological changes associated with it. The potential contribution of different types of exercise to the rehabilitation of older adults will also be discussed. According to Dr. Frontera, this topic is important to address because, “There are significant demographic changes globally with more people in the older adult group and a longer life expectancy. Sarcopenia is highly prevalent in this population.” Dr. Frontera is excited to connect with other clinicians and investigators at the 2023 AANEM Annual Meeting in Phoenix. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share recent research on the topic of aging skeletal muscle that hopefully will provoke some discussion on this topic.”

    About American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM)

    Based in Rochester, MN, AANEM is the premier nonprofit membership association dedicated to the advancement of neuromuscular (NM), musculoskeletal, and electrodiagnostic (EDX) medicine. The organization and its members work to improve the quality of patient care and advance the science of NM diseases and EDX medicine by serving physicians and allied health professionals who care for those with muscle and nerve disorders. For more information about AANEM, visit aanem.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

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  • Logging on for health: More older adults use patient portals, but access and attitudes vary widely

    Logging on for health: More older adults use patient portals, but access and attitudes vary widely

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    Newswise — Far more older adults these days log on to secure websites or apps to connect with their health information or have a virtual health care appointment, compared with five years ago, a new poll shows.

    Overall, 78% of people aged 50 to 80 have used at least one patient portal, up from 51% in a poll taken five years ago, according to findings from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. Of those with portal access, 55% had used it in the past month, and 49% have accounts on more than one portal.

    But the poll also reveals major disparities, with some groups of older adults less likely to use patient portals, or more likely to have concerns about them. Older adults with annual household incomes below $60,000, and those who are Black or Hispanic, have lower rates of portal use, and were less likely to say they’re comfortable using a portal, than respondents who are higher-income or non-Hispanic white.

    There were also differences among older adults who don’t use portals, or haven’t used one in three or more years. Those who say they’re in fair or poor health physically or mentally were much more likely to say they’re not confident about their ability to log in and navigate a portal than those with better physical or mental health.

    Even among older adults who use online portals, the poll shows many still prefer phone calls for some tasks like scheduling appointments or asking a medical question. Portal users in general said they prefer the portal to the phone when it comes to tasks such as getting test results and requesting refills of their prescriptions.

    The poll is based at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center.

    The jump in portal use between polls done in 2018 and 2023 likely happened in part due to the increase in use of telehealth visits, says Denise Anthony, Ph.D., the U-M School of Public Health researcher who worked on the poll.

    The pandemic spurred many health systems, physician groups and hospitals to support video visits within their secure websites and apps.

    “This change makes access to secure portals even more important for older adults who want to see their doctors and other health care providers virtually. It also makes the disparities we found in our poll even more troubling,” says Anthony, who chairs the Department of Health Management and Policy and studies use of telehealth and patient portals. “Improving the functionality and accessibility of portal systems, as well as providing more outreach and training to help patients understand and use portal systems, will be crucial to improving equity.”

    Many portals allow patients who have created their own accounts to also grant a loved one access to some or all of their information, so they can help manage their health care. The new poll shows that 49% of portal users have done so, up from 43% in 2018. Of all portal users, 40% have given access to a spouse or partner, with 48% of men doing so compared with 32% of women.

    “A growing body of evidence shows that patients who use portals to access their information are more likely to take an active role in their care and stick to the treatment plan their physicians and other providers recommend, which we know is likely to lead to better outcomes,” says poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., an associate professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine and physician and researcher at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

    “Health care organizations that offer portals, and providers working in those organizations, should make an effort to engage and support patients who have not yet activated a portal account, and to offer training to increase confidence and encourage the sharing of access with trusted loved ones,” he says. “This is especially important for patients who have complex health needs or multiple conditions.”  

    He notes that 27% of the poll respondents who have used a patient portal in the last year expressed an interest in more training. The percentage was higher among respondents who haven’t used a patient portal recently, and those who are Black, Hispanic or have incomes below $60,000.

    “Research shows that while more older Americans are embracing technology, nearly 22 million seniors still do not have wireline broadband access at home, limiting their access to essential digital health care services like patient portals,” said Indira Venkat, AARP Senior Vice President of Research. “Closing the digital divide among older adults is critical to improving their wellbeing, especially for vulnerable communities and individuals.”

    Michigan Medicine launched its portal, MyUofMhealth.org, in 2012. Like many health systems, it has continued to add online functions, from rapid test result access and paperless billing, to self-scheduling some types of appointments and having asynchronous chats with providers for urgent matters. Today, 20% of all outpatient visits with University of Michigan Health providers take place via video connections hosted in the portal.

    The poll report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for IHPI and administered online and via phone in January 2023 among 2,563 adults aged 50 to 80. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect the U.S. population. For the previous patient portal poll, a different sample of older adults was asked about patient portal use, but both samples were weighted to reflect the population of U.S. adults aged 50 to 80.

    Read past National Poll on Healthy Aging reports and about the poll methodology.

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    Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan

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  • Virginia Tech researchers join together on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment

    Virginia Tech researchers join together on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment

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    May is a month to recognize the importance of cancer research, with both Brain Tumor Awareness Month and National Cancer Research Month taking center stage. Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC is dedicated to advancing our understanding of cancer and developing new ways to treat and prevent it.

    Teams of investigators are working to uncover the molecular mechanisms that drive cancer growth, migration, and metastasis. They are tackling a range of cancers, from childhood cancers to breast cancer to glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. Scientists are not just looking for new treatments, but working to make existing treatments more effective by making cancer cells more vulnerable and developing entirely new treatments that can halt cancer in its tracks and prevent its return.

    • Preventing the spread of cell death after injury – Robert Gourdie’s lab tests new compounds targeting connexin channels for therapeutic use in wound healing, reducing scarring following breast reconstruction surgery, as well as applications to treat glioblastomas and drug-resistant cancers.
    • Developing new cancer therapies – Samy Lamouille’s lab studies how cancer cells communicate; he is developing novel therapeutic strategies to target these communication mechanisms to prevent metastases in human cancer progression.
    • Connecting scientific disciplines to cure cancer – Carla Finkielstein studies the molecular clocks that instruct cells when to grow, divide, and die, and how they’re impaired in cancer cells. Her research offers a foundation for the emerging field of chronotherapeutics.
    • Understanding health impacts of cancer diagnosis – Warren Bickel studies how a cancer diagnosis and an individual’s ability to think about and plan for the future affects their health.
    • Tracking fluid flow to understand cancer, aging and women’s health – Jenny Munson studies how cancer increases fluid flow between cells, altering how tumors respond to drug therapies. She is working to commercialize some of her findings in Cairina Inc., a startup biotech company whose technologies will allow clinicians to better fight cancer and deliver personalized medicine by mapping individual tumors.
    • Finding new therapies to fight pediatric brain cancer – At the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC labs at Children’s National Research Institute in Washington, D.C., Jia-Ray Yu is seeking better understanding and therapies surrounding pediatric midline glioma, and Kathleen Mulvaney is exploring cellular communication to find better cancer treatments.

    But we don’t work alone. At the Virginia Tech Cancer Research Alliance, we are collaborating with cancer scientists from across multiple universities and health centers to introduce innovative preventions, diagnostics, and therapeutics for a variety of cancers. On May 25, the second annual Virginia Tech Cancer Research Alliance Retreat will be held at the Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C., where alliance members will share their research, forge new collaborations, and learn from keynote speakers spanning veterinary and human oncology and biomedical cancer research.

    About the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

    The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC is one of the nation’s fastest-growing academic biomedical research enterprises and a destination for world-class researchers. The institute’s Virginia Tech scientists focus on diseases that are the leading causes of death and suffering in the United States, including brain disorders, heart disease, and cancer. Since its founding in 2010, the research institute has experienced unprecedented growth: doubling its enterprise and lab facilities in Roanoke, while also investing in brand-new laboratories on the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C.

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  • NHCOA Will Host Its First Virtual Legislative Breakfast

    NHCOA Will Host Its First Virtual Legislative Breakfast

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    A space to give a voice to the Latino community before members of Congress.


    WASHINGTON, April 26, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
     The National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) continues its mission to ensure a dignified life for older adult communities in the United States. As a result, it has set out to be a voice for the community and to advocate for its key challenges in order to achieve substantial, timely and favorable change for all.

    To accomplish this, NHCOA will host its virtual Legislative Breakfast on May 2, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. (EST) via GoToWebinar. The event seeks to open the discussion on key issues affecting Latinos before members of Congress, who will be the special guests of this new project. NHCOA also aims to bring together legislators and constituents to discuss legislative priorities and understanding from leaders of the older adult communities in the U.S. This event aims to facilitate discussions around the preeminent matters impacting older adults today, such as improving the access and affordability of drugs to treat obesity and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the importance of vaccination schedules that include immunizations against influenza, pneumococcus and shingles.

    This space will also serve to address other issues related to health care for older adults, such as barriers to access to prescription drugs, health insurance barriers, and the importance of Medicare for communities. There will also be discussions regarding access to treatment for chronic diseases such as obesity and Alzheimer’s and the challenges in caring for patients with these conditions and health disparities between black and Latino communities, exacerbated by the inequities uncovered by the pandemic.

    The Legislative Breakfast will feature presentations by NHCOA experts along with national and international organizations working with older adults, among others. The event is free and open to the public.

    RSVP here: bit.ly/3maGuVz

    For questions, contact Christine Perez at events@nhcoa.org or 202-347-9733.

    About NHCOA: NHCOA is the leading national organization working to improve the lives of Hispanic older adults, their families, and their caregivers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NHCOA has been a strong voice dedicated to promoting, educating, and advocating for research, policy, and practice in the areas of economic security, health, and housing for Hispanic older adults, families, and caregivers for the last 51 years.

    For more information about NHCOA, call 202-347-9733 or visit www.NHCOA.org.

    Source: NHCOA

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  • Peripheral Nerve Blocks in Total Joint Arthroplasty May Provide the Best Reduction in Complications in Older Patients With Fewer Comorbidities

    Peripheral Nerve Blocks in Total Joint Arthroplasty May Provide the Best Reduction in Complications in Older Patients With Fewer Comorbidities

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    Newswise — Hollywood, Florida, April 22, 2023 — In a study conducted at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), researchers found that the use of peripheral nerve blocks in total knee and total hip arthroplasty were associated with a consistent reduction in risk for postoperative complications in patients with a lower comorbidity burden. In particular, the most consistent reduction in risk of complications and use of hospital resources was in older patients with no comorbidity burden. These findings were presented at the 2023 Spring American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) Annual Meeting and were acknowledged as one of the President’s Choice Abstracts.1

    “The utility of interventions in a general population of patients might be difficult to show, but might differ by subgroups, with certain patients deriving benefit when others do not,” said Stavros G. Memtsoudis, MD, PhD MBA FCCP, an anesthesiologist at HSS and lead author of the study. “In this study, we tried to identify which subgroups might benefit most from peripheral nerve blocks in terms of a reduction in complications after joint arthroplasty.”

    These findings demonstrate that comorbidities may be a factor with a greater effect on complication risk than other factors, such as age, and that peripheral nerve blocks alone may not be sufficient to consistently influence outcomes in patients with comorbidities.

    These findings may also demonstrate that there may be a specific optimal baseline patient population for whom peripheral nerve blocks have the greatest impact on improving surgical outcomes: patients who are older but do not have many comorbidities. This study could help clinicians determine which surgical patients may benefit most from peripheral nerve blocks and which candidates may need additional measures to improve their outcomes.

    Many total joint arthroplasty (TJA) patients are at risk for poorly controlled pain and complications. The number of these surgeries performed increases each year, underscoring the importance of finding solutions. To find out how uniformly peripheral nerve blocks can improve perioperative outcomes and pain relief in TJA patients, the researchers conducted a population-based analysis using data from TJA surgeries in the United States from January 2006 to December 2019.

    Patients were divided into nine groups based on age and number of comorbidities. Age was broken down as follows: Young (Y) = younger than 65 years; Middle (M) = 65 to 75 years; and Old (O) = older than 75 years. Comorbidities were categorized as: no pre-existing comorbidity (Group 1); 1 or 2 comorbidities (Group 2); and 3 or more comorbidities (Group 3). This led to a breakdown of nine groups total: Y1, Y2, Y3, M1, M2, M3, O1, O2, and O3.

    The sample included more than 2.8 million TJA cases performed in 887 hospitals. Of those, 15.5% received a peripheral nerve block. The overall rate of peripheral nerve blocks increased from 9.5% in 2006 to 18.9% in 2019. Peripheral nerve blocks were used least often in young patients with more than 3 comorbidities (13.9%) and used most often in middle-aged patients with no comorbidities (16.3%). Peripheral nerve blocks were associated with a significant reduction in the odds of respiratory complication, acute renal failure, delirium, ICU admission, high opioid consumption during hospitalization, and prolonged length of stay.

    The results showed reduced odds of respiratory complications for the O1 and Y2 groups, reduced odds of acute renal failure in the Y1, O1, and M2 groups, and reduced odds of delirium in O1. The risk for ICU admission was reduced in those who received peripheral nerve blocks in all ages with no comorbidities, as well as in the Y2 and O2 groups, compared with those who did not receive a peripheral nerve block. Peripheral nerve blocks also reduced the odds of a prolonged length of stay in the Y1, M1, Y2, M2, and Y3 groups. Odds of high opioid use in patients who received a peripheral nerve block versus no peripheral nerve block were significantly reduced in all groups except for Y3 and O3.

    “While peripheral nerve blocks might have the advantage of providing superior pain control versus systemic modalities as well as reducing opioid consumption, a reduction in complications might be expected in those without comorbidities,” Dr. Memtsoudis said. “However, given that peripheral nerve blocks still provide better pain control and reduce opioid use, all patients should be considered for peripheral nerve blocks.”

    “Older patients without major comorbidities might represent a subgroup in which the beneficial effects of peripheral nerve blocks are most likely to be expected,” he noted. “This might be the case because major comorbidities are a bigger determinant of complications, with peripheral nerve blocks being less likely to be able to exert a substantial effect.”

    Future research should include further examination of the benefits of peripheral nerve blocks. “Many questions remain unanswered, including quantification of attributable risk reduction of peripheral nerve blocks and which peripheral nerve blocks provide the biggest effect,” Dr. Memtsoudis concluded.

     

    References

    1. Haoyan Zhong MPA, Marko Popovic BS, Jashvant Poeran MD PhD, Crispiana Cozowicz MD, Alex Illescas MPH, Jiabin Liu MD PhD, Stavros G Memtsoudis MD PhD MBA FCCP. “Does the impact of peripheral nerve blocks vary by age and comorbidity subgroups? A nationwide population based study.” Presented at: 48th Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), April 20-22, 2023; Hollywood, FL.

     

    About HSS

    HSS is the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics (for the 13th consecutive year), No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2022-2023), and the best pediatric orthopedic hospital in NY, NJ and CT by U.S. News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” list (2022-2023). In a survey of medical professionals in more than 20 countries by Newsweek, HSS is ranked world #1 in orthopedics for a third consecutive year (2023). Founded in 1863, the Hospital has the lowest complication and readmission rates in the nation for orthopedics, and among the lowest infection rates. HSS was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center five consecutive times. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 laboratories and 300 staff members focused on leading the advancement of musculoskeletal health through prevention of degeneration, tissue repair and tissue regeneration. The HSS Innovation Institute works to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics and devices. The HSS Education Institute is a trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal knowledge and research for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, academic trainees, and consumers in more than 145 countries. The institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally. www.hss.edu.

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  • TRANSCRIPT AND VIDEO AVAILABLE Live Event for April 21: Sleeping pill reduces levels of Alzheimer’s proteins

    TRANSCRIPT AND VIDEO AVAILABLE Live Event for April 21: Sleeping pill reduces levels of Alzheimer’s proteins

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    What: Researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will discuss the study which involved a sleeping aid known as suvorexant that is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for insomnia, hints at the potential of sleep medications to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

    When: April 21st, 2PM EST

    Where: Live Events Zoom Room (link will be given once you register)

    Who: Dr. Brendan P. Lucey, MD -Associate Professor of Neurology, Section Head, Sleep Medicine

    Researcher’s info:

    Brendan Lucey is associate professor of neurology and Sleep Medicine Section head. Born and raised in Burlington, Vermont, he received his undergraduate degree at the University of Vermont and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Following medical school, Lucey completed his neurology residency at Washington University and a clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. From 2008-2012, Lucey was on active duty in the U.S. Air Force and then joined the Department of Neurology at Washington University.

    Lucey’s current research interests are in sleep, aging and Alzheimer’s disease. His lab focuses on studying the potential of sleep interventions to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Using lumbar catheters, he investigates how sleep affects different markers of Alzheimer’s disease changes in the brain such as amyloid-beta and tau. Lucey is also interested in whether or not sleep changes may be non-invasive markers for Alzheimer’s disease progression.

     

     

    Media Register to Attend Here

     

    Transcript:

    Thom: Welcome to today’s newswise live event. We have with us today Dr. Brendan Lucey, MD from Washington University in St. Louis. He is Associate Professor of Neurology and section head of Sleep Medicine.

    There was a recent study just off embargo that examined patients taking sleep meds and testing for the presence of key Alzheimer’s proteins. So I want to ask Dr. Lucey, the lead author, your study builds on previous research in mice to demonstrate for the first time that there’s a similar response in humans. So can you describe the participants in this trial and the results that were observed?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: Yeah, thank you, Tom. The participants in this trial were aged 45 to 65 years old. They didn’t have any evidence of problems with their memory or thinking, we did measure their quality of their sleep using an activity monitor that’s worn on the wrist. And they had evidence that their efficiency of how much they slept at night was lower. And then they were randomized to receive either placebo, or one of two doses of a drug called suvorexant 10 or 20 milligrams. And those are both FDA approved doses to treat insomnia. And our goal is to see how this drug affected the levels of amyloid beta and tau and phosphorylated tau in the fluid that’s around the brain. And these proteins, amyloid and tau and phosphorylated tau, are markers for Alzheimer’s disease pathology that are used to identify individuals who may have changes in the brain consistent with Alzheimer’s disease, and our targets for potential interventions, we wanted to see if this drug lowered the amounts of amyloid beta, which has been shown in mice a similar type of drug has been shown to lower amyloid beta in mice. And then to extend that into looking at the tau protein as well.

    Thom: We have a question from Alicia Medscape. Given that these dual orexin receptor antagonists are controlled substances, would the author’s envision a time when they’d be recommended for daily use? Can you talk about the safety and efficacy and their status as controlled substance?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: Well, I think that what’s exciting about this study and these results is that suvorexant is approved by the FDA for treatment of insomnia. And it’s been on the market since 2015. And so it has a lot of safety data already available. The FDA also has an additional indication for suvorexant to treat insomnia in individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. So although it’s a controlled substance, in contrast to some other drugs that have been investigated as potential ad modifying drugs and interventions, you know, the safety profile is already well known. I’m thinking specifically of base inhibitors whose trials were shut down a few years ago due to adverse events.

    Thom: Another question from Alicia Medscape. This being a small proof of concept study, what are your plans for larger trials? And are they already underway? And when might you expect to have further results?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: Let’s think that’s an excellent question. I mean, this is a very small trial looking at changes over hours. But an important proof of concept, as the questioner said, and we do have funding for additional trials that are getting underway now, where we’ll be answering a couple of important questions. One, do we see similar changes in these biomarkers or these proteins, when these drugs are given for months? That’s one question that we have. So giving longer periods of time, we’re going to be testing some different doses of this class of medication to see, you know, if we give 10 milligrams of one drug do we see a much greater effect at a higher dose. And we’re also looking at individuals who are cognitively unimpaired. They don’t have any problems with memory and thinking, but they do have biomarker evidence of amyloid pathology. So these participants, these participants in our study, were biomarker negative. We didn’t screen for them actually to get into the trial, but we did have their amyloid beta and tau phosphorylated tau protein means at the end, and we know that they don’t have evidence of amyloid deposition based on those markers. But we actually want to recruit people who do. And to see if we see we see similar changes, which would suggest potential larger studies could then be done as a secondary prevention for Alzheimer’s disease.

    Thom: Question from Lynn at Belvoir media. Do the researchers have a theory about the mechanism for the effect of this dual orexin receptor and antagonist?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: Yeah, I mean, the our hypothesized effect was that we would be affecting sleep. And I think that that is definitely I believe that is a mechanism that plays a role. The this drug suvorexant is a dual orexin receptor antagonist. So it blocks the effect of orexin at its receptor. Orexin is weight promoting and so by blocking that you induce sleep. But orexin has a number of other roles. There’s a role in metabolism, energy management, the reward system, and others that conceivably could be affecting these biomarkers as well. And so I think that those mechanisms really need to be explored to better understand what this drug is doing. A big hole in the literature is that there have not been trials of different sleep drugs that have different mechanisms head to head. So in the same trial under the same conditions, looking at drug A and drug B, that are hitting different systems in the brain. They may be affecting sleep as the outcome, but they are different neurotransmitter systems. And are you seeing similar effects? Are they different? And I think that those sorts of studies really need to be done to address that question. We also did monitor sleep during the two days that the participants were in our research unit. And just in looking at measures like total sleep time and their sleep efficiency and time in different sleep stages. There were no significant differences statistically between the groups, which I think suggests that while sleep probably played a role, there may be some other mechanisms that we need to explore. That could be important targets for future interventions.

    Thom: If anybody in the audience has questions, please chat them. And I can ask them on your behalf. Or if you’re interested, we can enable your audio and let you ask them yourself. Doctor, how early should people start thinking about their risk for Alzheimer’s and potentially taking preventive measures?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: I think that from a prevention point of view as early as problems can certain problems can be identified that we know affect Alzheimer’s disease risk and also sort of good general health should be intervened on, such as high blood pressure and sleep problems like obstructive sleep apnea. A lot of this the studies for interventions over you know, decades are, are obviously very challenging, if not impossible to get funded. But there is data showing that, you know, for instance, with sleep disturbances, very early sleep disturbances, say in midlife and your 40s have been associated with increased risk of, of having cognitive impairment or dementia as much as 25 years later. And so if you have insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea, getting that treated, you know, as early as it gets identified, has the potential to really change your risk profile and going forward.

    Thom: And tell us more about the potential for those entire class of drugs for further study in relation to these effects.

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: As I mentioned, the suvorexant was approved to treat insomnia in 2015. And so has a lot of safety data already available. But in the meantime, additional medications in this class have been approved. So these are dual the RX and receptor antagonists and there’s now three that have been approved. And I think even within this class, there’s the potential to look at different drugs like you know, maybe suvorexant isn’t the best drug for potential intervention and Alzheimer’s disease and maybe it’s one of these other compounds. But like suvorexant, they’ve also been approved for treatment of insomnia, which you know, from a safety profile going forward, is very, very encouraging for future studies that these will be safe and well tolerated.

    Thom: Will you be following up the participants in this study for future longitudinal results?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: We don’t have any plans right now to do that. A number of participants have reached out who were in the study did you know indicate they are interested in future studies and we do plan that if they seem to be eligible based on what we know from this study, reaching out to them if they expressed interest about enrolling in some of our future studies, we are looking to move in addition to amyloid positive individuals also into older adults who are at a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease. So there are many participants in the study who wouldn’t qualify for some of those studies because it was a 45 to 65 year old age range.

    Thom: And looking at patients who have potential sleep disturbances at that earlier midlife age, when it’s maybe decades before Alzheimer’s would present, your advice to anybody with those kinds of sleep disturbance in light of this research, what would you say?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: Yeah, I get asked that question a lot. And, and I think the state of the research is such that, the recommendations are fairly general, you know, this is really a proof of concept study, and certainly does not support going out and taking suvorexant to prevent or delay Alzheimer’s disease. But, you know, I think that individuals need to allow themselves enough time to sleep. Most people on average need seven, seven and a half hours of time to sleep that’s not interrupted, has a good sleep environment with the lower temperature and it’s dark and quiet, sleeping at night, rather than during the day. And when I tell folks is that, you know, if they’re sleep is a problem, where it’s, you know, impacting their, you know, certainly their daily lives, you know, because they’re, they’re too tired to perform at work or to do things that they want to do in their lives, that they should certainly get that checked out. If they’re having insomnia and difficulty maintaining sleep at night, if they have symptoms of sleep disorders, like sleep apnea was snoring and pauses in their breathing while sleeping that they’ve been told about that those should be investigated. And, and treated. And I get that at this point. That’s really the best advice that we can, we can give.

    Thom: If there are any other questions from our audience, please do chat them to us. And we’ll also make sure to share the contact information for the communicators at Washington University who can help get in touch with Dr. Lucey for any further follow up questions. Dr. Lucey, it seems to me that if someone’s experiencing sleep disturbances, they already have lots of reasons to maybe get that checked out. But now this is just one more reason to say the importance of sleep can really not be overstated. Would you agree with that?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: Absolutely. I think that one of the great aspects of sleep, but also a real challenge in doing these sorts of studies is that sleep affects everything. So you know, sleep disturbances have negative effect on Heart, heart disease outcomes, pulmonary function, the endocrine system metabolism, it’s more, it’s probably more fruitful to find a system that doesn’t, that isn’t affected by sleep. And so I think it’s part of good, good general health. And it’s definitely one that I think that our society in general has somewhat neglected. And, and hopefully, that’s beginning to change, because I think there’s increasing recognition of the importance of sleep to health.

    Thom: Absolutely. Well, thank you for contributing your study to that knowledge about the importance of sleep, and expanding our understanding of what can be early signs and early prevention of Alzheimer’s. I think these are two really important areas that people need to be more and more aware of for their health. So thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions. I will chat here, the contact information for Judy at Washington University so she can help any other reporters who’d like to get in touch with Dr. Lucey, for further questions, you can do that. And we’ll also provide a transcript and a recording of this discussion. So any members of the media can utilize that for any articles that they’re writing about this. Dr. Lucey, anything you’d like to say in conclusion before we wrap things up here about your study?

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: No, I think we’ve covered it and I really appreciate the opportunity to present this study to everyone who’s on the call.

    Thom: Thank you, Dr. Lucey and we look forward to the bigger and more in depth studies on this topic as we learn more about the results here. Thank you so much and good luck with the next steps of everything.

    Dr. Brendan Lucey: Thank you, appreciate it.

    Thom: Thank you, everyone!

    Lucey’s current research interests are in sleep, aging and Alzheimer’s disease. His lab focuses on studying the potential of sleep interventions to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Using lumbar catheters, he investigates how sleep affects different markers of Alzheimer’s disease changes in the brain such as amyloid-beta and tau. Lucey is also interested in whether or not sleep changes may be non-invasive markers for Alzheimer’s disease progression. 

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  • Could Fixing a Problem with the Heart Be Good for Your Brain?

    Could Fixing a Problem with the Heart Be Good for Your Brain?

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    EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2023

    Newswise — MINNEAPOLIS – People who have an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation that is treated with a procedure called catheter ablation may have a reduced risk of dementia compared to those who are treated with medication alone. The preliminary study released April 18, 2023, will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 75th Annual Meeting being held in person in Boston and live online from April 22-27, 2023.

    Catheter ablation uses radiofrequency through a tube into the heart to destroy small areas of heart tissue that may be causing the abnormal heartbeat.

    “Previous studies have found that people with arrythmias may have long-term thinking and memory problems due to how this condition may affect the blood flow to the brain,” said Bahadar Srichawla, DO, of University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “Our findings show that treatment with catheter ablation is linked to a reduced risk of cognitive impairment.”

    The study involved 887 people with an average age of 75 at the start of the study. Of this group, 193 people received catheter ablation.

    Participants completed a memory and thinking test at the start of the study, at one year and at two years. This test included questions regarding short-term memory, attention, concentration and language. Scores ranged from zero to 30. Cognitive impairment was defined as a score of 23 or less. People who received catheter ablation had an average score of 25 compared to people who did not receive the procedure with an average score of 23.

    After adjusting for factors like heart disease, renal disease, sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation risk score, those who underwent catheter ablation were 36% less likely to develop cognitive impairment than those who did not receive the procedure and were treated only with medication.

    “Our results are encouraging, however there are many factors taken into consideration when catheter ablation is prescribed,” Srichawla added. “More research is needed to confirm our results.”

    A limitation of the study was that no tests of blood flow to the brain were recorded.

    Learn more about dementia at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology’s free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life® on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

    When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the American Academy of Neurology’s Annual Meeting hashtag #AANAM.

    The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 40,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

    For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

    Dr. Srichawla will present the study findings at 11:15 a.m. ET, Monday, April 24, in room 210C at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

    Please send an email to  to schedule an advance interview. 

    Emerging Science abstracts are embargoed until 12:01 a.m., ET, Friday, April 21, 2023, unless otherwise noted by the Academy’s Media and Public Relations Department.

    To access Non-emerging Science abstracts to be presented at the 2023 AAN Annual Meeting, visit https://www.aan.com/events/annual-meeting-abstracts-awards.  

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  • Can phototherapy improve cognitive function in patients with dementia?

    Can phototherapy improve cognitive function in patients with dementia?

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    Newswise — In an analysis of published clinical trials, investigators found that phototherapy—or exposure to sessions of bright light—may be a promising non-pharmacological intervention for lessening symptoms of dementia.

    The analysis in Brain and Behavior included 12 randomized clinical trials. Results indicated that phototherapy improved cognitive function in patients with dementia, but it did not affect symptoms of depression or sleep quality.

    “Further well-designed studies are needed to explore the most effective clinical implementation conditions, including device type, duration, frequency, and time,” the authors wrote.

    URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/brb3.2952

     

    Additional Information
    NOTE:     The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage.

    About the Journal
    Brain and Behavior is a peer-reviewed, open access, interdisciplinary journal, providing rapid publication of scientifically sound research across neurology, neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry.

    About Wiley
    Wiley is one of the world’s largest publishers and a global leader in scientific research and career-connected education. Founded in 1807, Wiley enables discovery, powers education, and shapes workforces. Through its industry-leading content, digital platforms, and knowledge networks, the company delivers on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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  • Fatigue Is Common Among Older Adults, and It Has Many Possible Causes

    Fatigue Is Common Among Older Adults, and It Has Many Possible Causes

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    By Judith Graham

    Tuesday, April 04, 2023 (Kaiser News) — Nothing prepared Linda C. Johnson of Indianapolis for the fatigue that descended on her after a diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer in early 2020.

    Initially, Johnson, now 77, thought she was depressed. She could barely summon the energy to get dressed in the morning. Some days, she couldn’t get out of bed.

    But as she began to get her affairs in order, Johnson realized something else was going on. However long she slept the night before, she woke up exhausted. She felt depleted, even if she didn’t do much during the day.

    “People would tell me, ‘You know, you’re getting old.’ And that wasn’t helpful at all. Because then you feel there’s nothing you can do mentally or physically to deal with this,” she told me.

    Fatigue is a common companion of many illnesses that beset older adults: heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, lung disease, kidney disease, and neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis, among others. It’s one of the most common symptoms associated with chronic illness, affecting 40% to 74% of older people living with these conditions, according to a 2021 review by researchers at the University of Massachusetts.

    This is more than exhaustion after an extremely busy day or a night of poor sleep. It’s a persistent whole-body feeling of having no energy, even with minimal or no exertion. “I feel like I have a drained battery pretty much all of the time,” wrote a user named Renee in a Facebook group for people with polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer. “It’s sort of like being a wrung-out dish rag.”

    Fatigue doesn’t represent “a day when you’re tired; it’s a couple of weeks or a couple of months when you’re tired,” said Dr. Kurt Kroenke, a research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis, which specializes in medical research, and a professor at Indiana University’s School of Medicine.

    When he and colleagues queried nearly 3,500 older patients at a large primary care clinic in Indianapolis about bothersome symptoms, 55% listed fatigue — second only to musculoskeletal pain (65%) and more than back pain (45%) and shortness of breath (41%).

    Separately, a 2010 study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society estimated that 31% of people 51 and older reported being fatigued in the past week.

    The impact can be profound. Fatigue is the leading reason for restricted activity in people 70 and older, according to a 2001 study by researchers at Yale. Other studies have linked fatigue with impaired mobility, limitations in people’s abilities to perform daily activities, the onset or worsening of disability, and earlier death.

    What often happens is older adults with fatigue stop being active and become deconditioned, which leads to muscle loss and weakness, which heightens fatigue. “It becomes a vicious cycle that contributes to things like depression, which can make you more fatigued,” said Dr. Jean Kutner, a professor of medicine and chief medical officer at the University of Colorado Hospital.

    To stop that from happening, Johnson came up with a plan after learning her lung cancer had returned. Every morning, she set small goals for herself. One day, she’d get up and wash her face. The next, she’d take a shower. Another day, she’d go to the grocery store. After each activity, she’d rest.

    In the three years since her cancer came back, Johnson’s fatigue has been constant. But “I’m functioning better,” she told me, because she’s learned how to pace herself and find things that motivate her, like teaching a virtual class to students training to be teachers and getting exercise under the supervision of a personal trainer.

    When should older adults be concerned about fatigue? “If someone has been doing OK but is now feeling fatigued all the time, it’s important to get an evaluation,” said Dr. Holly Yang, a physician at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego and incoming board president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

    “Fatigue is an alarm signal that something is wrong with the body but it’s rarely one thing. Usually, several things need to be addressed,” said Dr. Ardeshir Hashmi, section chief of the Center for Geriatric Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

    Among the items physicians should check: Are your thyroid levels normal? Are you having trouble with sleep? If you have underlying medical conditions, are they well controlled? Do you have an underlying infection? Are you chronically dehydrated? Do you have anemia (a deficiency of red blood cells or hemoglobin), an electrolyte imbalance, or low levels of testosterone? Are you eating enough protein? Have you been feeling more anxious or depressed recently? And might medications you’re taking be contributing to fatigue?

    “The medications and doses may be the same, but your body’s ability to metabolize those medications and clear them from your system may have changed,” Hashmi said, noting that such changes in the body’s metabolic activity are common as people become older.

    Many potential contributors to fatigue can be addressed. But much of the time, reasons for fatigue can’t be explained by an underlying medical condition.

    That happened to Teresa Goodell, 64, a retired nurse who lives just outside Portland, Oregon. During a December visit to Arizona, she suddenly found herself exhausted and short of breath while on a hike, even though she was in good physical condition. At an urgent care facility, she was diagnosed with an asthma exacerbation and given steroids, but they didn’t help.

    Soon, Goodell was spending hours each day in bed, overcome by profound tiredness and weakness. Even small activities wore her out. But none of the medical tests she received in Arizona and subsequently in Portland — a chest X-ray and CT scan, blood work, a cardiac stress test — showed abnormalities.

    “There was no objective evidence of illness, and that makes it hard for anybody to believe you’re sick,” she told me.

    Goodell started visiting long covid web sites and chat rooms for people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Today, she’s convinced she has post-viral syndrome from an infection. One of the most common symptoms of long covid is fatigue that interferes with daily life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    There are several strategies for dealing with persistent fatigue. In cancer patients, “the best evidence favors physical activity such as tai chi, yoga, walking, or low-impact exercises,” said Dr. Christian Sinclair, an associate professor of palliative medicine at the University of Kansas Health System. The goal is to “gradually stretch patients’ stamina,” he said.

    With long covid, however, doing too much too soon can backfire by causing “post-exertional malaise.” Pacing one’s activities is often recommended: doing only what’s most important, when one’s energy level is highest, and resting afterward. “You learn how to set realistic goals,” said Dr. Andrew Esch, senior education advisor at the Center to Advance Palliative Care.

    Cognitive behavioral therapy can help older adults with fatigue learn how to adjust expectations and address intrusive thoughts such as, “I should be able to do more.” At the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, management plans for older patients with fatigue typically include strategies to address physical activity, sleep health, nutrition, emotional health, and support from family and friends.

    “So much of fatigue management is about forming new habits,” said Dr. Ishwaria Subbiah, a palliative care and integrative medicine physician at MD Anderson. “It’s important to recognize that this doesn’t happen right away: It takes time.”

    We’re eager to hear from readers about questions you’d like answered, problems you’ve been having with your care, and advice you need in dealing with the health care system. Visit khn.org/columnists to submit your requests or tips.

    KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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  • How do we know if our brain is capable of repairing itself?

    How do we know if our brain is capable of repairing itself?

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    Newswise — Is our brain able to regenerate? And can we harness this regenerative potential during aging or in neurodegenerative conditions? These questions sparked intense controversy within the field of neuroscience for many years. A new study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience shows why there are conflicting results and proposes a roadmap on how to solve these issues.

    The notion of exploiting the regenerative potential of the human brain in aging or neurological diseases represents a particularly attractive alternative to conventional strategies for enhancing or restoring brain function, especially given the current lack of effective therapeutic strategies in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. The question of whether the human brain does possess the ability to regenerate or not has been at the center of a fierce scientific debate for many years and recent studies yielded conflicting results. A new study from Giorgia Tosoni and Dilara Ayyildiz, under the supervision of Evgenia Salta in the laboratory of Neurogenesis and Neurodegeneration, critically discusses and re-analyzes previously published datasets. How is it possible that we haven’t yet found a clear answer to this mystery?

    Previous studies in which dividing cells were labeled in postmortem human brain, showed that new cells can indeed arise throughout adulthood in the hippocampus of our brain, a structure that plays an important role in learning and memory, and is also severely affected in Alzheimer’s disease. However, other studies contradict these results and cannot detect the generation of new brain cells in this area. Both conceptual and methodological confounders have likely contributed to these seemingly opposing observations. Hence, elucidating the extent of regeneration in the human brain remains a challenge.

    New state-of-the-art technologies

    Recent advances in single-cell transcriptomics technologies have provided valuable insights into the different cell types found in human brains from deceased donors with different brain diseases. To date, single-cell transcriptomic technologies have been used to characterize rare cell populations in the human brain. In addition to identifying specific cell types, single-nucleus RNA sequencing can also explore specific gene expression profiles to unravel full the complexity of the cells in the hippocampus.

    The advent of single-cell transcriptomics technologies was initially viewed as a panacea to resolving the controversy in the field. However, recent single-cell RNA sequencing studies in human hippocampus yielded conflicting results. Two studies indeed identified neural stem cells, while a third study failed to detect any neurogenic populations. Are these novel approaches – once again – failing to finally settle the controversy regarding the existence of hippocampal regeneration in humans? Will we eventually be able to overcome the conceptual and technical challenges and reconcile these -seemingly- opposing views and findings?

    Technical issues

    In this study, the researchers critically discussed and re-analyzed previously published single-cell transcriptomics datasets. They caution that the design, analysis and interpretation of these studies in the adult human hippocampus can be confounded by specific issues, which ask for conceptual, methodological and computational adjustments. By re-analyzing previously published datasets, a series of specific challenges were probed that require particular attention and would greatly profit from an open discussion in the field.

    Giorgia Tosoni: ‘We analyzed previously published single-cell transcriptomic studies and performed a meta-analysis to assess whether adult neurogenic populations can reliably be identified across different species, especially when comparing mice and humans. The neurogenic process in adult mice is very well characterized and the profiles of the different cellular populations involved are known. These are actually the same molecular and cellular signatures that have been widely used in the field to also identify neurogenic cells in the human brain. However, due to several evolutionary adaptations, we would expect the neurogenesis between mice and humans to be different. We checked the markers for every neurogenic cell type and looked at the amount of marker overlap between the two species.’

    ‘We found very little, if no, overlap between the two, which suggests that the mouse-inferred markers we have been long using may not be suitable for the human brain. We also discovered that such studies require enough statistical power: if regeneration of neuronal cells does happen in the adult human brain, we expect it to be quite rare. Therefore, enough cells would need to be sequenced in order to identify those scarce, presumably neurogenic populations. Other parameters are also important, for example the quality of the samples. The interval between the death of the donor and the downstream processing is critical, since the quality of the tissue and of the resulting data drops over time.’

    Reproducibility is key

    Dilara Ayyildiz: ‘These novel technologies, when appropriately applied, offer a unique opportunity to map hippocampal regeneration in the human brain and explore which cell types and states may be possibly most amenable to therapeutic interventions in aging, neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. However, reproducibility and consistency are key. While doing the analysis we realized that some seemingly small, but otherwise very critical details and parameters in the experimental and computational pipeline, can have a big impact on the results, and hence affect the interpretation of the data.’

    ‘Accurate reporting is essential for making these single-cell transcriptomics experiments and their analysis reproducible. Once we re-analyzed these previous studies applying common computational pipelines and criteria, we realized that the apparent controversy in the field may in reality be misleading: with our work we propose that there may actually be more that we agree on than previously believed.’

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    Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

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