Benefits from one session of deep and slow breathing on vagal tone and anxiety in young and older adults

AbstractAnxiety is recognized as a major health issue and is quite prevalent among older adults. An efficient way to manage anxiety is abdominal breathing. Breathing exercises seem to reduce anxiety and to increase parasympathetic activity assessed by HRV indexes. Yet, the effect of abdominal breathing on physiological stress (HRV) and anxiety in older adults remains poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test the effects of deep and slow breathing (DSB, low inhale/exhale ratio) on physiological stress and anxiety in older adults (n = 22) in comparison with younger ones (n = 25). DSB increased significantly HFpower and reduced state anxiety in both younger and older adults. Interestingly, the increased in HF power was significantly higher among older adults than younger ones. As expected, the ratio inhale/exhale being not equal, RMSSD did not increase following DSB. Thus, we provide evidence suggesting that DSB is more beneficial to older adults than younger ones to restore vagal outflow. Despite future work being required, those results provide relevant clinical application leads to manage state anxiety among older adults and to promote successfull aging.

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Exciting Potential of Nanoparticlized Lipidic System for Effective Treatment of Breast Cancer and Clinical Updates: A Translational Prospective

Current Pharmaceutical Design ◽

10.2174/1381612826666200131101156 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (11) ◽

pp. 1191-1205 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ranjit K. Harwansh ◽

Shiv Bahadur ◽

Rohitas Deshmukh ◽

Md. A. Rahman

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Major Health ◽

Traditional Drug ◽

Present Context ◽

Exciting Potential ◽

Transcriptional Changes ◽

Deadly Disease ◽

Targeted Approach ◽

Major Health Issue

: Breast cancer (BC) is a multifactorial disease and becoming a major health issue in women throughout the globe. BC is a malignant type of cancer which results from transcriptional changes in proteins and genes. Besides the availability of modern medicines and detection tools, BC has become a topmost deadly disease and its cure still remains challenging. Nanotechnology based approaches are being employed for the diagnosis and treatment of BC at clinical stages. Nanosystems have a significant role in the study of the interaction of malignant cells with their microenvironment through receptor-based targeted approach. Nowadays, lipid-based nanocarriers are being popularized in the domain of pharmaceutical and medical biology for cancer therapy. Lipidic nanoparticlized systems (LNPs) have proven to have high loading efficiency, less toxicity, improved therapeutic efficacy, enhanced bioavailability and stability of the bioactive compounds compared to traditional drug delivery systems. In the present context, several LNPs based formulations have been undertaken in various phases of clinical trials in different countries. This review highlights the importance of chemotherapeutics based lipidic nanocarriers and their anticipated use for the treatment of BC. Furthermore, the clinical trials and future prospective of LNPs have been widely elaborated.

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Technology Used to Recognize Activities of Daily Living in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18010163 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 163

Author(s):

Nicola Camp ◽

Martin Lewis ◽

Kirsty Hunter ◽

Julie Johnston ◽

Massimiliano Zecca ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Activities Of Daily Living ◽

Daily Living ◽

Wearable Technology ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Environmental Technologies ◽

Current Monitoring ◽

Future Work

The use of technology has been suggested as a means of allowing continued autonomous living for older adults, while reducing the burden on caregivers and aiding decision-making relating to healthcare. However, more clarity is needed relating to the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) recognised, and the types of technology included within current monitoring approaches. This review aims to identify these differences and highlight the current gaps in these systems. A scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR, drawing on PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Articles and commercially available systems were selected if they focused on ADL recognition of older adults within their home environment. Thirty-nine ADL recognition systems were identified, nine of which were commercially available. One system incorporated environmental and wearable technology, two used only wearable technology, and 34 used only environmental technologies. Overall, 14 ADL were identified but there was variation in the specific ADL recognised by each system. Although the use of technology to monitor ADL of older adults is becoming more prevalent, there is a large variation in the ADL recognised, how ADL are defined, and the types of technology used within monitoring systems. Key stakeholders, such as older adults and healthcare workers, should be consulted in future work to ensure that future developments are functional and useable.

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Self-Reported Energy Trajectories Predict Adverse Health Outcomes in Older Adults

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2880 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 794-795

Author(s):

Briana Sprague ◽

Xiaonan Zhu ◽

Rebecca Ehrenkranz ◽

Qu Tian ◽

Theresa Gmelin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Mixed Models ◽

Single Item ◽

Adverse Health ◽

Adverse Health Outcomes ◽

Observational Cohort ◽

Outcome Performance ◽

Future Work ◽

Mortality Hazard Ratio

Abstract Declining energy may indicate homeostatic dysregulation and predict adverse health outcomes. We hypothesized that declining energy would predict greater frailty (1-10), greater mortality, and faster mood (CES-D) and cognition (3MS) decline over time. This observational cohort studies included 2,443 older adults (mean age=74.6, 62.5% White, 47.8% men) from the Health ABC Study with up to eight years of data. Energy was assessed using a single-item question about prior month’s energy (baseline mean=6.7, SD=1.7, range=0–10, lower=less energy). We used linear mixed models to create energy change scores (mean=-.07 points/year, SD=.05, range=-0.32-0.21, negative=decreased energy). In regression models adjusting for baseline outcome performance and energy and demographics, declining energy predicted greater frailty (β=-2.72, 95%CI = -3.39,-2.06), greater mortality (hazard ratio=.07, p<.001), and faster CES-D (β=-.93, 95%CI=-1.10,-0.75) but not 3MS decline. Energy changes are easy to assess and predict clinically-relevant outcomes. Future work should consider mechanisms of declining energy on disability-related outcomes. Part of a symposium sponsored by Brain Interest Group.

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Gait Disorder among Elderly People, Psychomotor Disadaptation Syndrome: Post-Fall Syndrome, Risk Factors and Follow-Up – A Cohort Study of 70 Patients

Gerontology ◽

10.1159/000511356 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Maxence Meyer ◽

Florentin Constancias ◽

Thomas Vogel ◽

Georges Kaltenbach ◽

Elise Schmitt

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Fear Of Falling ◽

Functional Mobility ◽

General Physician ◽

Major Health ◽

Mobility Assessment ◽

Control Study ◽

Major Health Issue

Introduction: Falls among older people are a major health issue and the first cause of accidental death after 75 years of age. Post-fall syndrome (PFS) is commonly known and yet poorly studied. Objective: Identify risk factors for PFS and do a follow-up 1 year later. Methods: We included all patients over 70 years of age hospitalized after suffering a fall in a case-control study, and then followed them in a cohort study. PFS was retained in case of functional mobility decline (transferring, walking) occurring following a fall in the absence of an acute neurological, orthopedic or rheumatic pathology directly responsible for the decline. The data initially collected were: clinical (anamnestic, emergency and departmental/ward evolution, medical history, lifestyle, treatments, clinical examination items); and imaging if the patient had been subjected to brain imaging in the last 3 years prior to inclusion. Regarding the follow-up at 1 year, we collected from the general physician the occurrence and the characteristics of new falls, functional mobility assessment, hospitalization and death. Results: Inclusion took place from March 29, 2016 to June 7, 2016 and follow-up until June 30, 2017. We included 70 patients. A total of 29 patients exhibited a PFS (41.4 %). Risk factors for PFS included age, walking disorder prior to the fall, the use of a walking aid prior to the fall, no unaccompanied outdoor walk in the week before the fall, visual impairment making close reading impossible, stiffness in ankle dorsiflexion, grip strength and the fear of falling. Among patients with PFS, 52.9% could still perform a transfer at 1 year and 64.7% could still walk against 80.7% and 85.2%, respectively, for patients without PFS. Conclusion: The study showed the existence of body functions/structure impairments and activity limitations prior to the fall among patients exhibiting a PFS. This suggests the existence of a pre-fall syndrome, i.e., a psychomotor disadaptation syndrome existing prior to the fall. Among the 8 risk factors, fear of falling, vision impairment and muscle strength could be targeted for improvement. The diagnosis of PFS could be a marker of loss of functional mobility at 1 year.

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Carebots

Mechanical Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.2016-sep-5 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 138 (09) ◽

pp. S8-S13 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Thiago Marinho ◽

Christopher Widdowson ◽

Amy Oetting ◽

Arun Lakshmanan ◽

Hang Cui ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Multidisciplinary Approach ◽

Human Perception ◽

The Elderly ◽

Comfort Level ◽

Robot System ◽

Perceived Safety ◽

High Level ◽

Future Work ◽

Flying Robots

This article demonstrates a multidisciplinary approach that proposes to augment future caregiving by prolonged independence of older adults. The human–robot system allows the elderly to cooperate with small flying robots through an appropriate interface. ASPIRE provides a platform where high-level controllers can be designed to provide a layer of abstraction between the high-level task requests, the perceptual needs of the users, and the physical demands of the robotic platforms. With a robust framework that has the capability to account for human perception and comfort level, one can provide perceived safety for older adults, and further, add expressively that facilitates communication and interaction continuously throughout the stimulation. The proposed framework relies on an iterative process of low-level controllers design through experimental data collected from psychological trials. Future work includes the exploration of multiple carebots to cooperatively assist in caregiving tasks based on human-centered design approach.

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Zinc and Sepsis

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu10080976 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 976 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Wiebke Alker ◽

Hajo Haase

Keyword(s):

Defense Mechanism ◽

Acute Phase Proteins ◽

Innate Immune ◽

Zinc Homeostasis ◽

Major Health ◽

Nutritional Immunity ◽

Life Threatening ◽

Zinc Concentrations ◽

Severity Of The Disease ◽

Major Health Issue

Sepsis, defined as a “life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host-response to infection” is a major health issue worldwide and still lacks a fully elucidated pathobiology and uniform diagnostic tests. The trace element zinc is known to be crucial to ensure an appropriate immune response. During sepsis a redistribution of zinc from serum into the liver has been observed and several studies imply a correlation between zinc and sepsis outcome. Therefore the alterations of zinc concentrations in different tissues might serve as one part of the host’s defense mechanism against pathogens during sepsis by diverse mechanisms. It has been suggested that zinc is involved in nutritional immunity, acts as a hepatoprotective agent, or a differentiation signal for innate immune cells, or supports the synthesis of acute phase proteins. Further knowledge about these events could help in the evaluation of how zinc could be optimally applied to improve treatment of septic patients. Moreover, the changes in zinc homeostasis are substantial and correlate with the severity of the disease, suggesting that zinc might also be useful as a diagnostic marker for evaluating the severity and predicting the outcome of sepsis.

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I’m Not Creative in That Way: Older Adults’ Differential Experiences of an Arts-Based Intervention

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.3058 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 835-835

Author(s):

Colette Brown ◽

Andrea Chirino ◽

Cristina Cortez ◽

Cassandra Gearhart

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Conceptual Art ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Cognitively Normal ◽

Cognitive Improvement ◽

Adult Participants ◽

Art Activities ◽

Future Work ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract A recent 12-week intervention study revealed that making conceptual art is linked to improved cognitive health among community-dwelling older adults (Brown et al., 2020). Unknown, however, is whether the intervention experience differed for participants who exhibited more versus less improvement. This pilot study examined 163 excerpts from semi-structured interviews with cognitively normal, older adult participants (N = 11, Mean age = 72.82). Using thematic analysis and data displays on Dedoose, key themes were distilled regarding intervention acceptability. Participants exhibiting less cognitive improvement more often mentioned personally connecting to topics of dementia and aging through art, but more often mentioned scheduling conflicts. Conversely, participants exhibiting greater cognitive improvement more often mentioned experiencing intellectual enrichment, but feeling insecure about their art capabilities. Novel art activities may be personally meaningful and cognitively stimulating for some participants, but emotionally frustrating for others. Future work should explore ways to optimize arts-based interventions for older participants.

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Exercise Impacts Age-Related Changes in Cognitive Function and Neural Complexity

Kinesiology Review ◽

10.1123/kr.2015-0050 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 30-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jennifer J. Heisz ◽

Ana Kovacevic

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Cognitive Outcomes ◽

Physically Active ◽

Age Related ◽

The Neural Network ◽

Future Work ◽

The Brain ◽

Age Related Changes

Age-related changes in the brain can compromise cognitive function. However, in some cases, the brain is able to functionally reorganize to compensate for some of this loss. The present paper reviews the benefits of exercise on executive functions in older adults and discusses a potential mechanism through which exercise may change the way the brain processes information for better cognitive outcomes. Specifically, older adults who are more physically active demonstrate a shift toward local neural processing that is associated with better executive functions. We discuss the use of neural complexity as a sensitive measure of the neural network plasticity that is enhanced through exercise. We conclude by highlighting the future work needed to improve exercise prescriptions that help older adults maintain their cognitive and physical functions for longer into their lifespan.

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Cardiovascular Responses During Downhill Treadmill Walking at Self-Selected Intensity in Older Adults

Journal of Aging and Physical Activity ◽

10.1123/japa.21.3.335 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 335-347 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Mandy L. Gault ◽

Richard E. Clements ◽

Mark E.T. Willems

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Older Adults ◽

Peripheral Resistance ◽

Cardiovascular Responses ◽

Treadmill Walking ◽

Metabolic Demand ◽

Arterial Blood ◽

Cardiac Strain ◽

Downhill Walking ◽

Future Work

Cardiovascular responses of older adults to downhill (DTW, –10% incline) and level treadmill walking (0%) at self-selected walking speed (SSWS) were examined. Fifteen participants (age 68 ± 4 yr, height 1.69 ± 0.08 m, body mass 74.7 ± 8.1 kg) completed two 15-min walks at their SSWS (4.6 ± 0.6 km/hr). Cardiovascular responses were estimated using an arterial-volume finger clamp and infrared plethysmography. Oxygen consumption was 25% lower during DTW and associated with lower values for stroke volume (9.9 ml/beat), cardiac output (1.0 L/min), arteriovenous oxygen difference (a-v O2 diff, 2.4 ml/L), and systolic blood pressure (10 mmHg), with no differences in heart rate or diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure. Total peripheral resistance (TPR) was higher (2.11 mmHg) during DTW. During downhill walking, an exercise performed with reduced cardiac strain, endothelial changes, and reduced metabolic demand may be responsible for the different responses in TPR and a-v O2 diff. Future work is warranted on whether downhill walking is suitable for higher risk populations.

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Prevention effects of black soybean polyphenols on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in three different model mice

Food & Function ◽

10.1039/d1fo03541j ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Mio Yamamoto ◽

Yasukiyo Yoshioka ◽

Tomoya Kitakaze ◽

Yoko Yamashita ◽

Hitoshi Ashida

Keyword(s):

Liver Disease ◽

Fatty Liver ◽

Fatty Liver Disease ◽

Alcoholic Fatty Liver ◽

Major Health ◽

Black Soybean ◽

Food Components ◽

The World ◽

Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ◽

Major Health Issue

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its advanced stage, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are a major health issue throughout the world. Certain food components such as polyphenols are expected to possess...

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