Effect of an eLearning Memory Program on Reducing Negative Impact of Age-Related Memory Changes

Age-related memory changes pose considerable concerns for aging adults, and can adversely affect their daily living and cause worry even when changes experienced are not clinically significant. The Memory and Aging Program® is a validated psychoeducation and memory strategy-training program that teaches the public about memory changes during aging and trains them to use evidence-based strategies to support brain health. The program has been offered in-person for over 20 years, and a self-guided eLearning version was recently developed to improve program accessibility. This study evaluated the self-reported impacts of memory changes in older adults who completed this eLearning against a control group. We randomized 202 older adults, without neurological or psychiatric diagnoses (71.6 years; 69 % female; 15.6 years of education), into the eLearning program or a control group that received no intervention. All participants reported their perceived impact of memory changes using the Memory Impact Questionnaire at pre-, post-, and 6-8 weeks follow-up. A significant reduction in negative impact of memory changes on daily living and a significant improvement in positive coping with memory changes relative to controls was observed at post-test (13.4 versus 2.5 points reduction and 7.4 versus 0.1 point improvement, respectively, both p < 0.05), but these did not persist at follow-up. The adoption of digital tools has hastened across all ages. Our study showed that self-guided digital tools, such as the eLearning Memory and Aging Program®, may be a promising avenue to help aging individuals reduce the impact of memory changes on daily living.

Drosophila larval epidermal cells only exhibit epidermal aging when they persist to the adult stage

Holometabolous insects undergo a complete transformation of the body plan from the larval to the adult stage. In Drosophila, this transformation includes replacement of larval epidermal cells (LECs) by adult epidermal cells (AECs). AECs in Drosophila undergo a rapid and stereotyped aging program where they lose both cell membranes and nuclei. Whether LECs are capable of undergoing aging in a manner similar to AECs remains unknown. Here, we address this question in two ways. First, we looked for hallmarks of epidermal aging in larvae that have a greatly extended third instar and/or carry mutations that would cause premature epidermal aging at the adult stage. Such larvae, irrespective of genotype, did not show any of the signs of epidermal aging observed in the adult. Second, we developed a procedure to effect a heterochronic persistence of LECs into the adult epidermal sheet. Lineage tracing verified that presumptive LECs in the adult epidermis are not derived from imaginal epidermal histoblasts. LECs embedded within the adult epidermal sheet undergo clear signs of epidermal aging; they form multinucleate cells with each other and with the surrounding AECs. The incidence of adult cells with mixed AEC nuclei (small) and persistent LEC nuclei (large) increased with age. Our data reveals that epidermal aging in holometabolous Drosophila is a stage-specific phenomenon and that the capacity of LECs to respond to aging signals does exist.

A Feasibility Study of a Chinese Qigong Mind-Body Exercise Program for Healthy Aging in Older Community-dwelling Low-income Latino Adults (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Research is sparse in translating the evidence of mind-body exercise to benefit older Latinx with limited access to quality healthy aging program. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the feasibility of Function Improvement Exercises for Older Sedentary Community-Dwelling Latino Residents (FE-SaLiR), a Community Health Worker (CHW)-led, mobile health technology-facilitated Chinese Qigong mind-body exercise program for healthy aging, and to measure its impact on physical and cognitive function and quality of life in older Latinx adults in a 2-phased study. METHODS In phase 1, a working group of seniors, CHWs, and senior center staff guided the design of a culturally tailored program. In phase 2, 49 older Latinx adults participated in a 3-arm controlled study to test the feasibility and preliminary effect of FE-SaLiR over 16 weeks. RESULTS We found favorable results in participant’s recruitment, retention, and fidelity of implementation, and preliminary effect on intervention outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS FE-SaLiR is feasible for promoting healthy aging in older Latinx adults; future research needs to compare its feasibility with low-impact exercise programs for healthy aging. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04284137

ЭФФЕКТИВНАЯ ДИСПАНСЕРИЗАЦИЯ И АДЕКВАТНАЯ ФИЗИЧЕСКАЯ АКТИВНОСТЬ КАК СОСТАВЛЯЮЩИЕ АНТИ-ЭЙДЖИНГОВОЙ ПРОГРАММЫ НА ПРЕДПРИЯТИИ БЕЛГОРОДСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ

The article presents the results of a study to assess the effectiveness of clinical examination carried out at an enterprise in the Belgorod region, and the results of a survey of employees of this enterprise on the question of whether they have chronic non-infectious diseases and the frequency of physical education. The obtained data will be used for the development and implementation of an anti-aging program at the enterprise of the Belgorod region, which in turn will be one of the measures to prevent aging. According to the results of the study, it can be concluded that the effectiveness of the ongoing medical examination among employees of the enterprise in the Belgorod region can be concluded. It should also be noted that the majority of respondents note that they have chronic non-communicable diseases. As for the frequency of physical education, the main component of the respondents do physical exercises on average once a week, but the share of employees who answered that they do not do it at all is quite large. In the future, we will develop a corporate anti-aging program for an enterprise in the Belgorod region.

Risk factors associated with the development of interstitial lung abnormalities

BackgroundAround 8–10% of individuals over 50 years, present interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA), but their risk factors are uncertain.MethodsFrom 817 individuals recruited in our “Lung Aging Program”, 80 (9.7%) showed ILA and were compared with 564 individuals of the same cohort with normal HRCT to evaluate demographic and functional differences, and with 80 individuals, randomly selected from the same cohort for biomarkers. We evaluated MUC5B (rs35705950) variant, telomere length, and serum levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-1, -2, -3, -7, -8, -9, -12, -13, interleukin (IL)-6, surfactant protein (SP)-D, alpha-Klotho and resistin.ResultsIndividuals with ILA were usually males (p<0.005), older than controls (<0.0001), smokers (p=0.01), with greater frequency of MUC5B rs35705950 (OR 3.5; CI 95% 1.29–9.44, p=0.01), and reduced DLCO and oxygen saturation. Resistin, IL-6, SP-D, MMP-1, MMP-7, and MMP-13 were significantly increased in individuals with ILA. Resistin (12±5 ng mL−1versus 9±4 ng·mL−1; p=0.0005) and MMP-13 (357±143 versus 298±116, p=0.004 pg·mL−1), were the most increased biomarkers. On follow-up (24±18 months), 18 individuals showed progression which was associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (OR 4.1 CI 95% 1.2–12.9, p=0.02), and in females with diabetes mellitus (OR 5.3, CI 95% 1.03–27.4, p=0.01).ConclusionsAround 10% of asymptomatic respiratory individuals enrolled in our lung aging program show interstitial lung abnormalities. Increased serum concentrations of pro-inflammatory molecules and MMPs are associated with ILA.

SHAPE: A Healthy Aging Community Project Designed Based on the Salutogenic Theory

Salutogenesis introduces a paradigm that requires a perceptual change towards what creates health and how health can be facilitated. Removing the lens of pathogenesis, aging is an achievement to be embraced and older people are valued as assets for their wealth of experiences, resources, skills and knowledge. From the perspectives of older adults, the concept of healthy aging is multidimensional, comprising bio-psycho-social-spiritual health. Evidence shows that sense of coherence via resistance resources promotes health outcomes among older adults. However, very few works have attempted to operationalise the salutogenic theory to promote healthy aging among older community dwellers. This chapter provides a detailed description of the Salutogenic Healthy Aging Program Embracement (SHAPE) intervention for senior-only household dwellers. SHAPE represents an application of the salutogenic concepts: sense of coherence and resistance resources. SHAPE is an integrative person-centric multi-dimensional health resource program that employs an asset-based insight-oriented approach. Illustration of examples in which how the salutogenic concepts were operationalised in developing the SHAPE intervention approach, its content, activities and the conduction of the intervention are presented.

Cognitive Functioning, Life Satisfaction, and Their Relationship with the Financial Attitudes of Older Individuals Who Participate in an Active Aging Program

Life expectancy has increased in many countries throughout the world over recent years, leading to new challenges related to aging. A large part of the population is over 60 years old, and therefore studies that focus on financial autonomy and active aging are necessary. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between cognitive functioning and life satisfaction in relation to financial attitudes in a sample of 251 elderly adults (71% women) participating in an active aging program (M = 67.5, SD = 4.5). We used the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Satisfaction with Life scale, and a questionnaire about financial attitudes to gather data. Our results show that cognitive functioning and life satisfaction are related to certain financial attitudes. We also observed differences associated with gender, education level, and financial independence. According to our findings, life satisfaction should be taken into account when the financial attitudes of older adults are evaluated. The importance of support groups for the elderly is highlighted as well as of all those recreation and health programs, since they constitute a means of promoting well-being.