For the first time, researchers have developed a form of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that is capable of crossing into the eye’s retina to ward off visual declines related to Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and other disorders.
Tag: Aging
To Ward Off Aging, Stem Cells Must Take Out the Trash
UC San Diego researchers find stem cells use a surprising system for discarding misfolded proteins. This unique pathway could be the key to maintaining long-term health and preventing age-related blood and immune disorders.
Does discrimination accelerate aging in African American cancer survivors?
Cancer and its treatment can accelerate the rate of aging because they both destabilize and damage biological systems in the body.
On pandemic’s third anniversary, loneliness and isolation are down, but still high, among older adults
After three years of pandemic living, loneliness, isolation and lack of social contact have finally started to decline among older adults, a new poll shows.

Heart Tissue Heads to Space to Aid Research on Aging and Impact of Long Spaceflights
Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers are collaborating with NASA to send human heart “tissue-on-a-chip” specimens into space as early as March. The project is designed to monitor the tissue for changes in heart muscle cells’ mitochondria (their power supply) and ability to contract in low-gravity conditions.

UC San Diego’s Astrobiotechnology Hub to Drive Drug Discovery in Space
UC San Diego’s new Astrobiotechnology Hub brings together leaders in academia, biotechnology and aerospace industries under a united mission to advance stem cell science and commercialization in space.
Scientists Discover New Protein Activity in Telomeres
Reporting in the PNAS, UNC School of Medicine researchers made the stunning discovery that telomeres contain genetic information to produce two small proteins, one of which they found is elevated in some human cancer cells, as well as cells from patients suffering from telomere-related defects.
A New Strategy for Repairing DNA Damage in Neurons
Researchers discover a mechanism used by neurons to repair damage that occurs during neuronal activity
Coconut Sugar May Lower Blood Pressure, Artery Stiffness in Older Adults
A first-of-its-kind study finds a natural coconut sugar may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by improving blood vessel health and managing high blood pressure. The study is published ahead of print in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Stay alert to avoid falls that can cause serious injuries, UT Southwestern orthopedist says
Slipping on ice or tripping over a curb can result in broken bones or more serious injuries. To avoid taking an unexpected tumble, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and watch where you’re walking, a UT Southwestern Medical Center orthopedist advises.
Study finds large gap in breast cancer treatment recommendations for patients aged 70 vs 69
Age-based heuristics can lead to large differences in breast cancer treatment based on small differences in chronologic age, according to a new analysis of more than 500,000 patient records. Patients aged 70 were nearly twice as likely to be passed over for standard-of-care radiation as those aged 69. There were no similar gaps between other age pairs. The study is among the first to demonstrate an age cutoff heuristic in oncology.
Lifespan increasing drug with potential for healthier ageing
Long-term treatment of healthy middle-aged mice with a cancer drug increases lifespan by 10% on average, equivalent to 3 years.
More Steps, Moderate Physical Activity Cuts Dementia, Cognitive Impairment Risk
UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science study: senior women were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment or dementia if they did more daily walking and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
Researchers Find That Brains With More Vitamin D Function Better
Researchers at Tufts University have completed the first study examining levels of vitamin D in brain tissue, specifically in adults who suffered from varying rates of cognitive decline. They found that members of this group with higher levels of vitamin D in their brains had better cognitive function.
Severe COVID-19 Linked with Molecular Signatures of Brain Aging, Researchers Find
In a series of experiments, scientists found that gene usage in the brains of patients with COVID-19 is similar to those observed in aging brains.
COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness diminishes with age, research shows
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine limits transmission, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 even among patients infected by variants of the virus, but the effectiveness of antibodies it generates diminishes as patients get older, according to a study by UT Southwestern researchers.
UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute Launches Stem Cells Into Space
The UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute leads its first space launch, sending stem cells into space aboard the International Space Station. The NASA-partnered study will take advantage of the microgravity environment of space to study accelerated aging in stem cells.
How to Handle the Challenges of Caring for Your Aging Parent
As a clinical social worker, Natasha Mosby has counseled family members on both sides of the spectrum: the caretakers and their aging parents. Both groups want to understand how to navigate their reversal of roles as they progress into this new chapter of their lives.
A link between lethal childhood disease and age-related muscle decline
Adopting some of the strategies behind successfully treating the childhood disease spinal muscular atrophy may enable development of therapies to curb the muscle decline that accompanies aging, new research suggests.
Cellular housekeeping process implicated in fatal neurological disorder
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that as patients age, Huntington’s disease gradually impairs autophagy, which eliminates waste from cells. This housekeeping is significant because a buildup of waste in a specific kind of neuron leads to such cells’ untimely deaths. The researchers also showed that enhancing the autophagy pathway in such neurons that were created from skin cells of Huntington’s patients protects those cells from dying.
Aging and Multiple Sclerosis
In a Lancet Neurology review, UC San Diego Health neurologist Jennifer Graves, MD, and colleagues explore the inextricable association between aging and multiple sclerosis — a chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord that changes in nature and severity…
CDC grant spurs research for fall prevention
With a $1 million grant from the CDC, ISU researchers and community partners will be the first to directly evaluate a walking program’s potential for reducing the risk and incidence of falling, which is the leading cause of injuries among people ages 65 and older in the U.S.
Sex Differences in Aging Include Varied Gene Expression, Splicing Changes
Article title: Proteogenomics reveals sex-biased aging genes and coordinated splicing in cardiac aging Authors: Yu Han, Sara A. Wennersten, Julianna M. Wright, R. W. Ludwig, Edward Lau, Maggie P. Y. Lam From the authors: “In summary, this study shows that…
Alzheimer’s Association Awards Grant to Wake Forest University School of Medicine for Alzheimer’s Research
The Alzheimer’s Association, through its Part the Cloud global research grant program, has awarded Wake Forest University School of Medicine $795,000 over two years to study potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

UCI is key member of multi-institutional, $126 million NIH brain mapping project
Irvine, Calif., Sept. 22, 2022 – The University of California, Irvine will participate in a five-year, multi-institutional, $126 million grant from the National Institutes of Health supporting the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network. The project aims to describe the cells that make up the human brain in unprecedented molecular detail, classifying them into more precise subtypes and pinpointing their location.
Daily Multivitamin May Improve Cognition and Possibly Protect Against Decline
New research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows that taking a daily supplement may improve cognition in older adults. In the study, researchers estimated that three years of multivitamin supplementation roughly translated to a 60% slowing of cognitive decline (about 1.8 years).
Wayne State University designated as age friendly
Wayne State University has been named a member of the Age-Friendly University Global Network, an innovative consortium of universities dedicated to promoting equity, inclusion and opportunity for older adults. A strategic focus of the university is diversity, equity and inclusion. The AFU designation confirms that “age” is an important dimension of that strategy.
Poll: Aching joints make older adults reach for many forms of pain relief – but health risks could follow
Popping a pill may bring short-term relief for arthritis-related joint pain, but many older adults may not realize that what they swallow could raise their risk of other health problems, or that other non-drug options could help them, a new poll suggests.
Ochsner Accountable Care Network announces sixth straight year of exceptional quality outcomes and multi-million-dollar healthcare savings
OACN’s 2021 clinical successes, highlighted by a 100% quality score, can be attributed to increasing primary care physician visits, focusing on high-risk patient care coordination and support, reducing unnecessary hospitalizations through ambulatory care coordination, and improving patient satisfaction.
Excessive blue light from our gadgets may accelerate the aging process
Excessive exposure to blue light, for example through TVs, laptops, and phones, may have an aging effect on our body, suggests a new study. It shows that the levels of specific metabolites – chemicals that are essential for cells to work correctly – are altered in the cells of fruit flies exposed to blue light.
Who’s looking out for aging doctors susceptible to cognitive decline?
Older physicians benefit from their many years of experience and the skills they have developed over decades of practice. At the same time, they may be at risk of cognitive decline, raising concerns about job performance deficits.

Peter Adams and Bing Ren awarded $10.6M to create atlas of aging cells
Peter Adams, Ph.D., and Bing Ren, Ph.D., have been awarded a new grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to join a multi-institution initiative studying the process of aging.

Having a partner more important than children to staving off loneliness during pandemic, new study finds
A new study released in the European Journal of Ageing found that having a partner had a greater impact than having children in helping to stave off loneliness among older adults during the pandemic’s first wave. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island, University of Florence, University of Maryland Baltimore County and the SGH Warsaw School of Economics analyzed data on more than 35,000 adults aged 50 and older from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to examine if unpartnered and childless older adults reported more loneliness and how that changed over the course of the pandemic.
Research links red meat intake, gut microbiome, and cardiovascular disease in older adults
A new study shows older adults who ate about a serving of meat daily had a 22 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those who didn’t eat meat, and identifies biologic pathways that help explain the risk. Higher risk and links to gut bacteria were found for red meat, not poultry, eggs, or fish.
Biological Age, Not Birthdate May Reveal Healthy Longevity
UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Study reports that epigenetic age acceleration is associated with lower odds of living to be 90 years old and could be used as a biomarker for healthy longevity and to estimate functional and cognitive aging.
With NIH funding, University of Oregon professor dives deeper into aging research
A look into how environmental variables accelerate, slow or even reverse the aging process is the focus of a University of Oregon anthropologist whose research was recently funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Did Gonorrhea Give Us Grandparents?
UC San Diego researchers tracked the evolution of a gene variant that supports cognitive health in older humans, but may have first emerged to protect against bacteria.
Research reveals how brain inflammation may link Alzheimer’s risk, sleep disturbance
A multisite research team from the University of California, Irvine, the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Wake Forest University has discovered that brain inflammation may link Alzheimer’s disease risk with sleep disturbance, which may aid early detection and prevention efforts by identifying novel treatment targets at preclinical stages.
John P. Hussman Institute to Lead International Genetic Study of Alzheimer’s Disease in People of Hispanic and African Ancestry
To build a resource that greatly expands Alzheimer’s disease genetic studies in the currently underrepresented African ancestry populations and Hispanic/Latinx groups, the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics (HIHG) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine will lead a major five-year, international, multi-site initiative with Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University, Wake Forest University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Ibadan, which is the lead institution for the African Dementia Consortium (AfDC).
Study shows HIV speeds up body’s aging processes soon after infection
HIV has an “early and substantial” impact on aging in infected people, accelerating biological changes in the body associated with normal aging within just two to three years of infection.
Revealing ‘evolution’s solutions’ to aging
An international team of 114 scientists has performed the most comprehensive study of aging and longevity to date with data collected in the wild from 107 populations of 77 species of reptiles and amphibians worldwide.
Many pain medications can be used for spine-related pain in older adults
Medications should be coupled with physical therapy, exercise programs and treatment of the underlying degenerative disease process and medical illness.
Aging in place? Factors to consider when deciding whether it’s safe to continue living at home
Four out of five Americans 65 and older want to stay in their homes as they age, according to a recent Associated Press poll. But deciding how long an elderly relative should live alone and when they should move to an environment with more support – such as assisted living or a nursing home – can be difficult.
Ageism and health: Study shows close links
Nearly all older adults have experienced some form of ageism in their everyday lives, a new study finds — whether it’s seeing ageist messages and images on television or the internet, encountering people who imply that they’re less capable just because they’re older, or believing stereotypes about aging.
Chula’s Innovations for the Aging Society
As one of the countries with a rapidly increasing aging population, especially this 2022, Thailand is now becoming an ‘aging’ society and will likely become a ‘super-aging society’ by 2031. To better meet the needs and provide services to the nation’s aging society, experts from various fields at Chulalongkorn University have conducted research to produce and develop innovations for the elderly.
New Exercise Technique Improves Muscle Responsiveness in Aging Mice
Rockville, Md. (June 1, 2022)—Combined modality exercise such as aerobic and resistance exercise is highly beneficial for an aging population, according to a new mouse study published ahead of print in the journal Function. Researchers also discovered the calf muscle…
Drug That Lowers Blood Sugar Also Reduces Blood Vessel Dysfunction Caused by Aging
An FDA-approved drug to lower blood sugar in adults with Type 2 diabetes also may decrease blood vessel dysfunction associated with aging, according to a new study from the University of Missouri School of Medicine.
Listening Can Be Exhausting for Older Cochlear Implant Users #ASA182
In her presentation, “Aging effects on listening effort in cochlear-implant users,” Kristina DeRoy Milvae will discuss the results of two experiments that examined impacts on listening effort. The session will take place May 24 at 12:50 p.m. Eastern U.S. at the 182nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.
Meeting Preview: Hot Topics at NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE
Join top nutrition researchers and practitioners for a dynamic virtual program at NUTRITION 2022 LIVE ONLINE. The flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition features research announcements, expert discussions and more.
Aging and fake news: It’s not the story you think it is
A new study has found that older adults are no more likely to fall for fake news than younger adults, with age-related susceptibility to deceptive news evident only among those categorized as the “oldest old.”