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Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month: How visual impairment affects older adults

As Age-Related Macular Degeneration/Low Vision Awareness Month comes to a close, we’re sharing three stories by Bonnielin Swenor, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

5 Mar 2019

Sleep apnea may be linked to higher tau accumulations in the brain, study finds

People who stop breathing during sleep may have higher accumulations of the toxic protein tau, a biological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, in part of the brain that manages memory, navigation and perception of time.

5 Mar 2019

Sleep apnea linked to Alzheimer’s disease

A new study has revealed that people with obstructive sleep apnoea or those who snore at night are more at risk of dementias and Alzheimer’s disease.

4 Mar 2019

The term “elderly” must be avoided in medicine

According to Dr Javad Hekmat-Panah, a neurologist from University of Chicago, doctors may soon need to watch when they term a patient “elderly”.

4 Mar 2019

New poll: Many older adults feel lonely, especially those with health issues

One in four older adults say they feel isolated from other people at least some of the time, and one in three say they lack regular companionship, according to a new national poll.

4 Mar 2019

Increasing parent's lifespan improves fitness of offspring

Genetic manipulation that more than doubles lifespan also leads to better offspring - according to new collaborative research from the University of East Anglia and Uppsala University.

4 Mar 2019

More support needed for caregivers in Canada

It's time to strengthen support for the 28% of people who provide care for an ageing family member, friend or neighbor in Canada, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

4 Mar 2019

Aging and high-fat diet disrupt gut microbiome to cause inflammation in heart failure

Growing older and a high-fat diet enriched with omega 6 fatty acids are major contributors to health risks ranging from diabetes to heart failure. How these two factors regulate the immune response is not well-understood.

1 Mar 2019

Novel cell rejuvenation approach may open new avenues for regenerative medicine

Scientists from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine of the University of Luxembourg and from the German Cancer Research Center have been able to rejuvenate stem cells in the brain of aging mice.

1 Mar 2019

BMA highlights the need to address underlying issues that cause GP workforce crisis

Responding to a survey published by the University of Warwick which found that 40 percent of GPs intend to quit general practice in the next five years amid growing workload pressures, BMA GP committee chair, Dr Richard Vautrey, said: This is yet another worrying report about the state of the GP workforce crisis and these findings are consistent with other surveys which give rise to growing concerns for practices and their patients.

28 Feb 2019

Breakthrough chromosome imaging could aid in development of new treatments

Chromosomes, each containing hundreds or thousands of genes, act like a detailed instruction manual for how cells should develop and behave.

28 Feb 2019

Latest anti-retroviral drug therapies offer powerful solution for HIV infection-associated frailty

Treatment of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has seen remarkable advancements with the advent of the latest anti-retroviral drug therapy and powerful tools to test for drug resistance, making the infection almost "undetectable" in patients who strictly comply with their medication therapy, a just-published perspective article by a clinical team at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson points out.

27 Feb 2019

Study explores experience of pain during non-suicidal self-injury

Teen-agers and young adults who intentionally hurt themselves engage in such behavior based, in part, on how they experience pain and their emotional distress, according to a Rutgers study.

27 Feb 2019

Researchers find how bats remain immune to various infections

An international research team led by Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, has identified molecular and genetic mechanisms that allow bats to stay healthy while hosting viruses that kill other animals, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

27 Feb 2019

$Hip fractures may serve as first sign of undiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease$

Hip fractures may serve as first sign of undiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease

In a study of older people with no clinical diagnosis or signs of dementia when hospitalized to repair hip fractures, Johns Hopkins researchers say they found biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in most of the patients’ spinal fluid samples.

26 Feb 2019

Newly developed probe looks, acts, and feels so much like real neuron

Like a well-guarded fortress, the human brain attacks intruders on sight. Foreign objects, including neural probes used to study and treat the brain, do not last long.

26 Feb 2019

Urban park visit improves emotional well-being

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Occupational Therapy have published new findings that suggest spending 20 minutes in an urban park will make someone happier regardless of whether they are engaging in exercise or not during the visit.

26 Feb 2019

Older people with high health literacy have better physical functioning, fewer illnesses

How easy is it for older individuals to understand what their doctor tells them or to evaluate whether health information in the media is reliable? A new study on older Finnish people's health literacy found that one third of 75-year-old Finns find it difficult to understand and use health-related information.

25 Feb 2019

Neuron-derived estrogen key to making memories

Estrogen in the brain is important to keep neurons communicating and memories being made, scientists report.

25 Feb 2019

Older biologic age associated with increased risk of developing breast cancer

Biologic age, a DNA-based estimate of a person's age, is associated with future development of breast cancer, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health.

23 Feb 2019