CCBAR
Newsletter – February, 2009
Editors:
Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau
CCBAR
News
Oxford Journals has
published articles in The Journals of Gerontology Series B:
Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences authored by CCBAR
members. These articles
cover the vaginal self-swab and salivary specimen
collection in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project:
Stacy T. Lindau,
Joscelyn N. Hoffmann, Katie Lundeen, Angela Jaszczak, Martha K.
McClintock, and Jeanne A. Jordan
Vaginal
Self-Swab Specimen Collection in a Home-Based Survey of Older Women:
Methods and Applications.
Natalia Gavrilova and
Stacy Tessler Lindau
Salivary
Sex Hormone Measurement in a National, Population-Based Study of Older
Adults.
Melinda L. Drum,
Sharon Shiovitz-Ezra, Elyzabeth Gaumer, and Stacy T. Lindau
Assessment
of Smoking Behaviors and Alcohol Use in the National Social Life,
Health, and Aging Project.
News
From the NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ and PNAS
BIOMARKERS:
Metabolite in Urine May Point To High-Risk Prostate Cancer
Researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, have identified a
metabolite in urine that they hope can be used to identify invasive
prostate cancer at an early stage.
Mechanisms of
disease:
How stress affects fat
Although the mechanism by which obesity triggers insulin resistance is
not fully understood, recent evidence suggests that inflammation in
adipose tissue - triggered by macrophages that have infiltrated this
tissue - contributes to this process. Roger Davis and colleagues now
reveal that an inflammatory response
Birth
characteristics and risk of colorectal cancer: a study among Swedish
twins
[Evolution]
Quantifying dominance and deleterious effect on human disease genes
Human genes responsible for inherited diseases are important for the
understanding of human disease. We investigated the degree of
polymorphism...
[Economic_Sciences]
Behavioral experiments on biased voting in networks
Many distributed collective decision-making processes must balance
diverse individual preferences with a desire for collective unity. We
report here on...
[Genetics]
A network biology approach to aging in yeast
In this study, a reverse-engineering strategy was used to infer and
analyze the structure and function of an aging and...
[Medical_Sciences]
Aging-related loss of the chromatin protein HMGB2 in artic...
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease and typically
begins with an aging-related disruption of the articular cartilage
surface....
[Neuroscience]
From the Cover: Caloric restriction improves memory in elderly...
Animal studies suggest that diets low in calories and rich in
unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) are beneficial for cognitive function...
[NEWS
FOCUS] SOCIAL SCIENCE: With Isolation Comes Ill Health
Social isolation, the flip side of social networks, is believed to have
dire consequences, increasing the risk of certain diseases and earlier
death. But attempts to transform this knowledge into action have had
discouraging results.
SPECIAL
ARTICLE: Fine-Particulate Air Pollution and Life Expectancy in the Un...
Particulate air pollution has been implicated as being
responsible for
deaths from any cause. This epidemiologic study examined the change in
fine-particulate air pollution in 51 U.S. metropolitan areas between
the late 1970s and the late 1990s. A decrease in fine-particulate air
pollution was associated with increased life expectancy.
ORIGINAL
ARTICLE: Long-Term Consequences of Kidney Donation
This study examined the vital status and lifetime risk of
end-stage
renal disease in 3698 persons who donated a kidney between 1963 and
2007. The results indicate that survival and the risk of end-stage
renal disease among carefully screened kidney donors appear to be
similar to those in the general population. Most donors who were
studied had a preserved glomerular filtration rate, normal albumin
excretion, and an excellent quality of life.
ORIGINAL
ARTICLE: Breast Cancer after Use of Estrogen plus Progestin in Postm...
The Women's Health Initiative trial of estrogen plus progestin,
compared with a placebo, in postmenopausal women was stopped in 2002
because the health risks exceeded the benefits of hormone therapy.
Within the first year of follow-up after discontinuation of hormonal
therapy, the risk of breast cancer declined sharply.
Biomarkers
and Aging in the News Media
• Sex
drive link to prostate cancer
Men who are more
sexually active in their 20s and 30s may run a higher
risk of prostate cancer, research suggests.
• New
Biomarker For Fatal Prostate Cancer Found
New research
findings may help provide some direction for men diagnosed
with prostate cancer about whether their cancer is likely to be
life-threatening.
• Shortening
Telomeres Linked To Aging In Population Studies, But Original Telo...
Researchers have
shown that the shortening of telomeres in pace with
increasing age, as demonstrated in population studies, does not apply
at the individual level. The attrition rate seems to mainly depend on
the original length of the telomeres, which indicates that some
individuals can even have longer telomeres over time.
• Calm
people may have lower dementia risk
People with a
stable mood and better capacity to handle stressful
situations without anxiety have a reduced risk of developing dementia,
according to a study published this week in the journal Neurology.
• Coffee
Linked to Lower Dementia Risk
A 21-year study
finds that moderate coffee drinkers are much less
likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
• Coffee
Cuts Stroke Risk in Women
Regular coffee
consumption reduces the risk of stroke in women,
according to a new study.
• Fountain
Of Youth In A Wine Rx?
Scientists have
found a substance called resveratrol in red wine that
slows down the aging process in mice. Will it someday lengthen the
lives of humans, too? Morley Safer reports.
• 'Longevity
Gene' Common Among People Living To 100 Years Old And Beyond
Kiel scientists
show that 100-year-old Europeans carry a special
sequence variation of the FOXO3A gene. A variation in the gene FOXO3A
has a positive effect on the life expectancy of humans, and is found
much more often in people living to 100 and beyond -- moreover, this
appears to be true worldwide. Scientist have now confirmed this
assumption by comparing DNA samples taken from 388 German centenarians
with those from 731 younger people.
• Hunger
Control: Women The Weaker Sex?
Hungry women
can't control their desire for food as well as hungry men
can, a brain-imaging study suggests.
• High
Blood Pressure Climbs In Winter
Dropping
temperatures in winter may cause an unhealthy rise in high
blood pressure among the elderly, according to a new study linking
cooler temperatures with higher blood pressure.
• Feeling
Old? Blame Your Nuclear Pores
Leaking nuclei
may contribute to aging
• Eating
Less May Not Extend Human Life: Caloric Restriction May Benefit Only
O...
Caloric
restriction only benefits obese mice, according to a new study
in the Journal of Nutrition. The results suggest that caloric
restriction may not be a universally beneficial anti-aging strategy, as
commonly believed.
• Obese
cancer 'explosion' warning
The current
generation of children faces a far higher risk of cancer
later in life due to their unhealthy habits, a specialist has warned.
• Active
Life May Cut Colon Cancer Risk
People who are
physically active are less likely to develop colon
cancer, a new research review confirms.
• Study
Finds That for Women Over 40, In Vitro Fertilization Doesn't Restore
Yo...
In vitro
fertilization, which thousands of women undergo each year in
the hope that it will give them the same odds of having a baby as when
they were younger, cannot fully turn back the biological clock,
researchers are reporting today.
• Test
Tube Babies Shed Light on Nature Versus Nurture
Children born to
genetically unrelated mothers provide clues to origins
of antisocial behavior
• Heart
Rate Predicts Women's Heart Risk
A woman's heart
rate taken when at rest is a good predictor of her
heart attack risk, a new study shows.
• Menopause
Hormone Therapy: 'Safe' Time?
Two new studies
gauge breast cancer risk from hormone replacement
therapy.
• Higher
Education, Lower Alzheimer's Risk
Having more
education reduces risk of Alzheimer's disease but doesn't
slow memory loss once it starts, says a new study.
• Diabetes
Can Double Odds of Alzheimer's
Diabetes increases the risk of Alzheimer's and other kinds of dementia,
according to a new report.
• Insulin
may help treat Alzheimer's
Scientists are reporting that a substance commonly used to treat
diabetes may also protect against the devastating memory-robbing
illness.
• Study
Suggests Preemie, Autism Link
There is growing
evidence linking very premature birth to a dramatic
increase in autism risk, but more study is needed to confirm the
association.
• Artificial
Light At Night: Higher Risk Of Prostate Cancer, Study Suggests
Worldwide,
countries with the highest levels of artificial light at
night also have the highest rates of prostate cancer.
• Time
to 'reclaim the night' for sleep
We all know the health risks of smoking, drinking and eating too much.
But in this week's Scrubbing Up, Neil Stanley says we don't pay
attention to the risks of having too little sleep - and says it's time
to 'reclaim the night'.
• Expert
Panel: Omega-6 Won't Hurt Heart
In a scientific
advisory, an American Heart Association panel notes
that there is little credible evidence that omega-6 fatty acids promote
inflammation and increase cardiovascular risk.
• Salt
May Restrict Blood Flow to Heart
Reducing the
salt in your diet can help lower your blood pressure, but
it may also lower your risk for having a heart attack or stroke in
another important way.
• Tobacco
Smoke And Alcohol Harm Liver Worse As Combo
Mice exposed to
secondhand smoke and who drank ethanol had 110 percent
more liver fibrosis proteins than mice who breathed filtered air,
according to the findings of a new study. Elevated risk of liver
disease is now added to mounting evidence that tobacco smoke and
alcohol are worse for health as a combination, beyond the individual
exposure risks, researchers said.
• Vital
Signs: Regimens: Multivitamins Not Found to Reduce Risks
Many
postmenopausal women take multivitamins in the belief that they
help prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer, but a large study has
found that they do neither.
• Vitamin
D May Cut Multiple Sclerosis Risk
Not getting
enough vitamin D may increase multiple sclerosis risk in
people with a certain gene variant, researchers report.
• Vitamin
E May Decrease Mortality Of Elderly Male Smokers, Yet Increase Mortal...
Six-year vitamin
E supplementation decreased mortality by 41% in
elderly male smokers who had high dietary vitamin C intake, but
increased mortality by 19% in middle-aged smokers who had high vitamin
C intake.
• Genes
Vs. Behavior: What Makes Us Age?
Genes play a
role in your appearance as you get older, but the real
villains of the wrinkles of aging involve behavioral choices such as
smoking, eating, and sun exposure, a new study shows.
• Mwah! Kissing eases
stress, study finds
Kissing, it
turns out, unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones
in both sexes and encourage bonding in men, though not so much in women.
NIH
Press Releases
New Survey
Results Show Huge Burden of Diabetes
In the United
States, nearly 13 percent of adults age 20 and older have
diabetes, but 40 percent of them have not been diagnosed, according to
epidemiologists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose study includes
newly available data from an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).
NIDA
Study Shows That Methylphenidate (Ritalin) Causes Neuronal Changes in
B...
Investigators
funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse have shown
that the medication methylphenidate (Ritalin), which is commonly
prescribed to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
can cause physical changes in neurons in reward regions of mouse brains
-- in some cases, these effects overlapped with those of cocaine.
Weight Loss
in Overweight and Obese Women Reduces Urinary Incontinence
Reducing urinary
incontinence can now be added to the extensive list of
health benefits of weight loss, according to a clinical trial funded by
the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK) and the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), both part
of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Support
Cells, Not Neurons, Lull the Brain to Sleep
Brain cells
called astrocytes help to cause the urge to sleep that
comes with prolonged wakefulness, according to a study in mice, funded
by the National Institutes of Health. The cells release adenosine, a
chemical known to have sleep-inducing effects that are inhibited by
caffeine.
Researchers
Find Abnormal Cells in the Blood Years before Leukemia is Diagnosed
Researchers have
shown that abnormal white blood cells can be present
in patients' blood more than six years prior to the diagnosis of a
chronic form of lymphocytic leukemia. This finding may lead to a better
understanding of the cellular changes that characterize the earliest
stages of the disease and how it progresses. The study, led by
researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the
National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, was published in the Feb. 12, 2009, issue of the New
England Journal of Medicine.
Anti-HIV
Gel Shows Promise in Large-scale Study in Women
An
investigational vaginal gel intended to prevent HIV infection in
women has demonstrated encouraging signs of success in a clinical trial
conducted in Africa and the United States. Findings of the recently
concluded study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, were presented today at
the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Montreal.
Scientists
Discover Key Factor in Controlling the Breakdown of Bone
A new study
demonstrates that a chemical mediator in the blood that
influences immune cell migration also plays a key role in maintaining
the balance between the build-up and breakdown of bones in the body.
The study comes from the laboratory of immunologist Ronald Germain,
M.D., Ph.D., at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
NIH
Announcements
Request
for Information (RFI): Priorities for Biomarkers For Cancer Detection...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Childhood
Obesity Prevention and Treatment Research Coordinating Unit (U01)
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Claude
D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (OAICs)(P30),
RFA-AG-10-003
Expiration Date: March 25, 2009
Independent
Scientist Award (K02) PA-09-038
NIH
Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) PA-09-036
Academic
Career Award (K07) PA-09-041
Mentored
Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08) PA-09-042
Mentored
Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) PA-09-043
Mentored
Research Scientist Development Award (K01) PA-09-040
Midcareer
Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24) PA-09-037
Notice
of NIA Participation in PAR-07-018, "Understanding and Promoting Health
Literacy (R21)"
New
NIH Policy on Resubmission (Amended) Applications
Updates
and Reminders on NIH Policy Pertaining to Grants to Foreign
Institutions, International Organizations and Domestic Grants with
Foreign Components
Using
Systems Science Methodologies to Protect and Improve Population Health
(R21)
Methodology
and Measurement in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (R01)
Archiving
and Development of Socialbehavioral Datasets in Aging Related Studies,
(R03)
PAR-08-250
Translational
Research at the Aging/Cancer Interface (TRACI) (R01)
Program Announcement: PA-08-230
Events
Population
Association of America Annual Meeting. April 30-May 2,
2009. Detroit, Michigan Marriott Renaissance Center.
REVES
2009. Copenhagen, Denmark, 27-29 May 2009. "Reducing gaps in health
expectancy"
The 19th IAGG World
Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics. July 5-10, 2009.
Paris, France
RAND Summer Institute
(RSI). RSI consists of two annual conferences that address critical
issues facing our aging population. The MiniMedical School for Social
Scientists will be held on July 6-7, and the Demography, Economics, and
Epidemiology of Aging conference on July 8-9, 2009 in Santa Monica, CA.
RSI is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the Office of
Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of
Health.
ICPSR
Summer Program Workshop In Longitudinal Analysis Of Historical
Demographic Data. July 20 - August 14, 2009. Ann Arbor, Michigan
Gerontological Society of America Annual
meeting will
be held November 18-22, 2009 in Hilton and Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This
Newsletter is
supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, National
Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5 P30 AG012857)
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