Healthy Aging

One of the largest and longest-running studies of its kind reports that older adults can improve their chances of being able to keep moving later in life by getting going now. The Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) trial involved 1,635 sedentary men and women, ages 70 to 89, at eight universities and research centers across the country, including Tufts. Those randomly assigned to an exercise program were significantly less likely to become disabled over 2.6 years than those in a control group. The difference was observed in both short-term, acute disability risk and in long-term, chronic disability.

In women over age 30, a new Australian study reports, physical inactivity is the single biggest contributor to heart-disease risk. Researchers followed 32,154 women in three age groups, calculating how smoking, high blood pressure, physical inactivity and excess weight contributed to their heart risk. In younger women, smoking status was the most important factor in heart disease risk. But for women in their 70s, for example, being physically active would lower the risk almost three times as much as quitting smoking, and significantly more than losing weight or reducing blood pressure.

Another study has shown that aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, boosts your brain-actually increasing the size of the hippocampus, a key part of the inner brain involved in forming, storing and processing memory. When compared to an earlier study of cognitively healthy older adults, moreover, the findings suggest that aerobic exercise offers greatest benefits to those who need it most: people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), often a precursor to Alzheimers disease.

If youve been trying to follow the advice to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, two new studies might inspire you to try harder-and to aim for even more daily produce. Both studies found even greater benefits from consuming more than five daily servings of fruits and vegetables.

Arthritis sufferers worldwide spend more than $2 billion a year on glucosamine, and more than 1 in 10 US adults use the supplement. But the latest clinical trial of glucosamine has once again failed to find evidence that it does any good.

Most Americans get plenty of protein-in fact, their problem isnt too little protein but too much of the calories and saturated fat that accompany such popular protein sources as cheeseburgers or fried chicken. But people over age 50 might need to pay attention to getting adequate protein, not just at dinner time but throughout the day. Tufts researchers are finding that a steady intake of protein from healthy sources, combined with aerobic activity and weight-training exercises, can help counter the loss of muscle mass often associated with aging.

An estimated 5 million Americans age 65 and older have Alzheimers disease-a figure expected to increase 40% by 2025 and to nearly triple by mid-century, according to the Alzheimers Association . Many more suffer from other forms of dementia and from cognitive decline. Science is making unprecedented strides toward preventing and slowing such conditions, however. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Scientists have learned more about the brain in the last 10 years than in all previous centuries, because of the accelerating pace of research in neurological and behavioral science and the development of new research techniques.

Eating a daily handful of nuts-about one ounce or three tablespoons-could reduce your risk of dying from the most common causes of death. Results from the largest study of its kind, following nearly 119,000 men and women for up to 24 years, show that regular consumers of any type of nuts were less likely to die from heart disease, cancer and lung disease or from all causes than non-nut eaters. As frequency of nut consumption went up, mortality risk dropped.

A potentially life-saving prescription for fighting heart disease, diabetes and stroke could be as close as those walking shoes gathering dust in your closet. According to an unusual new study, the benefits of exercise in reducing mortality from those leading causes of death match or even exceed the effects of prescription drugs for the same conditions. Patients with heart disease who exercised, for instance, had the same odds of surviving the condition as those given medications such as statins or antiplatelet drugs.

Unhealthy behaviors such as inactivity, poor diet and smoking have long been associated with a wide range of chronic diseases and risk of death. But a new study reveals that such lifestyle factors can also affect older adults' risk of disability and loss of independence.