scholarly journals Biomarkers of ageing in the study of occupational harm impacts (literature review)

2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (11) ◽  
pp. 1328-1332
Author(s):  
Denis D. Karimov ◽  
Eldar R. Kudoyarov ◽  
Guzel F. Mukhammadiyeva ◽  
Munira M. Ziatdinova ◽  
Samat S. Baigildin ◽  
...  

Aging is an individual, complex biological process, modulated by internal and external factors, characterized by a progressive loss of biological / physiological integrity, which leads to body dysfunction, increases vulnerability and death. Influence of activity type on aging rate has been convincingly shown in many studies, which makes it possible assess differences in aging rate of workers, exposed various occupational factors, conditions, work nature and intensity in certain professional and seniority groups, adequately reflects health state and can predict effectiveness of human labor activity. As integral indicator, it can help identify individuals at risk of age-related disorders, serving as a measure of relative fitness and predicting later life disability and mortality, regardless of chronological age. The article provides an overview of the main measuring ageing rate methods based on biomarkers, such as functional (“Kiev model”, WAI) and molecular genetic biomarkers (determination of telomere length, β-galactosidase enzyme activity) of human ageing, applicable in occupational medicine. The review discusses the main requirements for biomarker sets compilation, methods applicability and reliability, mathematical approaches to biological age calculating, and some workers biological age calculating problems. This allows assuming the great potential for using biological age to assess the impact of working conditions and work nature on workers’ ageing rate to prevent disability and improve quality of life.

Stroke ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Jimenez-Conde ◽  
Carolina Soriano-Tarraga ◽  
Eva Giralt-Steinhauer ◽  
Marina Mola ◽  
Rosa Vivanco-Hidalgo ◽  
...  

Background: Stroke has a great impact in functional status of patients, although there are substantial interindividual differences in recovery capacity. Apart from stroke severity, age is considered an important predictor of outcome after stroke, but aging is not only due to chronological age. There are age-related DNA-methylation changes in multiple CpG sites across the genome that can be used to estimate the biological age (b-Age), and we seek to analyze the impact of this b-Age in recovery after an ischemic stroke. Methods: We include 600 individuals with acute ischemic stroke assessed in Hospital del Mar (Barcelona). Demographic and clinical data such as chronological age (c-Age), vascular risk factors, NIHSS at admission, recanalization treatment (rtPA or endovascular treatment), previous modified Rankin scale (p-mRS) and 3 months post stroke functional status (3-mRS) were registered. Biological age (b-Age) was estimated with Hannumm algorithm, based on DNA methylation in 71 CpGs. Results: The bivariate analyses for association with 3-mRS showed a significant results of NIHSS, c-Age, b-Age, p-mRS, and current smoking (all with p<0.001). Recanalization treatment showed no significant differences in bivariate analysis. In multivariate ordinal models, b-Age kept its significance (p=0.025) nullifying c-Age (p=0.84). Initial NIHSS, p-mRS and recanalization treatment kept also significant results (p<0.001). Conclusions: Biological Age, estimated by DNA methylation, is an independent predictor of stroke prognosis, irrespective to chronological age. "Healthy aging” affects the capacity of recovering after an ischemic stroke.


Author(s):  
Alisoun Milne

Chapter 5 is the first of three chapters exploring the impact of age related risks affecting particular sub populations of older people. Socioeconomic disadvantage in later life tends to reflect a lifecourse status. It amplifies what is already present. In 2016/17 one million older people were living in poverty; an additional 1.2 million were living just above the poverty line. These numbers are rising. Those aged 85 years or over, frail older people, older women and single older people are particularly at risk. Poor older people are also more likely to live in poor housing and be exposed to fuel poverty. Being poor - and its concomitants - compromises mental health in a number of profound ways. It undermines an older person’s capacity to make choices, retain independence, save for a crisis, maintain social contacts and be digitally included. It is linked with worry, loss of control over life and shame. Poor older people are at heightened risk of isolation and loneliness, stress, anxiety and depression. The UK has a weak policy record, compared with other developed countries, of sustainably and coherently addressing poverty in later life. One of the cornerstones of doing so is a continued commitment to the basic state pension as a fundamental building block of a secure old age. Addressing poor housing is also pivotal.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna M Blodgett ◽  
Diana Kuh ◽  
Rebecca Hardy ◽  
Daniel H J Davis ◽  
Rachel Cooper

Abstract Background Cognitive processing plays a crucial role in the integration of sensory input and motor output that facilitates balance. However, whether balance ability in adulthood is influenced by cognitive pathways established in childhood is unclear, especially as no study has examined if these relationships change with age. We aimed to investigate associations between childhood cognition and age-related change in standing balance between mid and later life. Methods Data on 2,380 participants from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development were included in analyses. Repeated measures multilevel models estimated the association between childhood cognition, assessed at age 15, and log-transformed balance time, assessed at ages 53, 60–64, and 69 using the one-legged stand with eyes closed. Adjustments were made for sex, death, attrition, anthropometric measures, health conditions, health behaviors, education, other indicators of socioeconomic position (SEP), and adult verbal memory. Results In a sex-adjusted model, 1 standard deviation increase in childhood cognition was associated with a 13% (95% confidence interval: 10, 16; p &lt; .001) increase in balance time at age 53, and this association got smaller with age (cognition × age interaction: p &lt; .001). Adjustments for education, adult verbal memory, and SEP largely explained these associations. Conclusions Higher childhood cognition was associated with better balance performance in midlife, with diminishing associations with increasing age. The impact of adjustment for education, cognition and other indicators of SEP suggested a common pathway through which cognition is associated with balance across life. Further research is needed to understand underlying mechanisms, which may have important implications for falls risk and maintenance of physical capability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S706-S707
Author(s):  
Sarah Jen ◽  
Yuanjin Zhou ◽  
Mijin Jeong

Abstract In qualitative research, similarities and differences between the participant and researcher influence the research process and dynamics. Specifically, the age difference between older participants and relatively younger qualitative researchers is a common, but under-examined dynamic requiring nuanced, reflexive analysis. Using a life course conceptual framing, this study explored age-related participant-researcher dynamics in interviews from two qualitative studies of older women’s sexual experiences in later life. Participants included 25 women whose ages ranged from 55 to 93 and both studies were completed by the same researcher, a relatively younger woman (age 23 and 28 at times of data collection). A thematic analysis revealed three primary themes: 1) taking care - participants took care of the researcher by offering advice, asking about the researcher’s life, and expressing hopes for a positive future, 2) expertise – varied expertise was demonstrated by the researcher (e.g. substantive and scholarly) and participants (e.g. life experience), and 3) researcher growth - the researcher’s interviewing tactics shifted between the two studies (e.g. use of validation rather than consolation in response to aging-related concerns), indicating a shift in perceptions of aging and later life. Findings indicate that older women participants and younger women researchers are bound together through the life course, by shared gendered experiences, the fact that one will eventually become the other, and the mutual sharing of expertise and caring. Gerontology researchers must actively reflect on the impact of their own identities and aging perceptions on the interviewing process in order to enhance rigor in qualitative research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 394-395
Author(s):  
Peter Öberg ◽  
Torbjorn Bildtgard

Abstract Divorce rates for people 60+ has increased in many parts of the Western world in what has been described as a “grey divorce revolution”. In Sweden these divorce rates have more than doubled since the millennium. But why do people choose to divorce late in life and what is the impact of life phase typical transitions? Qualitative interviews with 37 Swedish men and women (aged 62-81) divorced after the age of 60 were collected, covering themes regarding the divorce process: motives for and experiences of divorce, and life as grey divorcee. The results by thematic analysis show that motives for divorcing earlier in the life-course, such as abuse, unfaithfulness and addiction are prevalent also among older people. However, they tend to be framed differently in later life and be integrated into divorce narratives informed by age. We identified four life phase typical narratives for divorce: 1) Lack of a common project for the third age. 2) Partners personality change due to age related disease. 3) Increased freedom after empty-nest allowing emancipation from a dominant partner. 4) A final romantic adventure as a form of rejuvenation. All these life-phase typical narratives are related to the third age as a time of self-fulfillment, where the partner can either be part of or an obstacle to that project. The results will be used to discuss current older cohorts’ views of family norms and later life from the perspective that current older cohorts participated in the divorce revolution in the 1970s as young adults.


Author(s):  
Bethany R Wilton-Harding ◽  
Tim D Windsor

Abstract Objectives How people experience their own aging is more strongly linked to well-being than chronological age. This study examined associations of awareness of age-related change (AARC) with between-person differences and longitudinal changes in psychological well-being (PWB). We expected that higher AARC-gains would be associated with higher PWB and increases in PWB over time. Conversely, we expected higher AARC-losses would be associated with lower PWB, and steeper decline in PWB over time. Furthermore, we tested the interaction of AARC-gains and AARC-losses to examine whether negative associations between AARC-losses and PWB would be weaker among those reporting higher AARC-gains. Method Data were collected in three waves from a 12-month longitudinal study of 408 community-dwelling older adults (aged 60+). Multilevel growth models were used to analyze associations between AARC and a composite measure of PWB which included key components of PWB identified in self-determination theory (satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs), as well as vitality, and life engagement. Results At the between-person level, higher AARC-gains and lower AARC-losses were consistently associated with higher PWB. Furthermore, associations between AARC-losses and lower PWB were weaker among those with higher AARC-gains. There was no evidence to suggest the interplay of AARC-gains and AARC-losses had implications for change in PWB over time. Discussion Appreciation of age-related gains may buffer the impact of AARC-losses on PWB. However, longitudinal studies conducted over varying macro- and micro-time scales are needed to better understand the developmental significance of AARC for later life.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
J. Young

According to the Worldometers website (1), the world population is approaching 7.5 billion and annual births are exceeding deaths by about two to one. This expansion in population has been dramatic. The global population grew from 1.65 to 6 billion during the 20th century. Population changes on this scale, coupled with similarly dramatic changes in longevity, have profound implications for individuals, societies and our world. It represents a wonderful achievement by past generations, gifted to both ours and future generations as new challenges and opportunities. There is no doubt that there is much to do – and no easy or quick fixes – as we transition to larger and older populations. Healthcare is but one issue. High income countries are seeking solutions to largely fixed retirement ages and to health and social care systems that are currently inefficiently and ineffectively configured. The impact of population aging on healthcare expenditure varies between countries: age-related increases are much higher in Canada and the United States, much lower in Spain and Sweden (2). These variations reflect different provider systems and incentives but give confidence that some traction might be possible through an age-focused strategic response. A largely unacknowledged consequence of existing service configurations in high income countries is the considerable and widening inequality in health experience in later life (3). There is, in effect, a structural conveyor that produces unhealthy aging, causes unnecessary distress for individuals and families and causes excessive expenditure for healthcare funders.


Author(s):  
Alisoun Milne

In broad terms there are two sets of age-related risks to mental health. The first set are those arising directly from experiences and losses common to later life, including physical ill health and/or disability, being a carer, retirement, and bereavement. These are associated with impaired psychological wellbeing and heightened risk of depression, particularly amongst older people with few economic or social resources. The second set of risks arise from ageism and age discrimination, and their intersection with other types of discrimination such as sexism for older women. Direct and indirect discrimination is widespread; it is located in all areas of society including health and social care services. It is profoundly damaging to older peoples’ psychological wellbeing and is associated with fear, helplessness, low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. It is also linked to exclusion, marginalisation and abuse. In recent years there have been efforts to ensure that older people are overtly included in policies intended to improve the population’s physical and mental health; this includes access to treatments e.g. for depression. There has also been a focus on addressing age discrimination in specific arenas e.g. in employment and mental health services. These initiatives have had mixed success.


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