Editors: Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau
The
Network on Measurement of Biological Risk in Populations would like to
announce that the next meeting of the network members will take place
from 9 AM to 4 PM the day before PAA, May 2nd, at the San
Francisco Hilton (the PAA meeting location). Two general topics for
discussion are proposed: genetics (including issues of RNA collection
and assay, measuring telomeres, and using GWAS) and developments in the
use of dried blood spots. Before finalizing the agenda, input from
network members on topics and presentations is welcome. Please send an
email with your input and indicating whether you wish to attend the
meeting to Eileen Crimmins (crimmin@usc.edu) by March 30th.
News
from
the NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ, PNAS, Lancet and JAMA
Sugar:
a
problem
of
developed countries
The contribution of sugar towards chronic disease is more
relevant to
developed countries than to the developing world (Nature 482, 27-29;
2012). In Asia, for example, up to 10% of the population is obese
and/or diabetic (see go.nature.com/qmmoha), even
Sugar:
other
'toxic'
factors
play a part
Regulating products based on a scientific risk analysis is a
worthy
goal, but I contend that Robert Lustig and colleagues oversimplify the
'toxic' truth about refined carbohydrates (Nature 482, 27-29; 2012).
Rather than demonizing sugar, the authors would have
Evolution:
Adapted
to
culture
Mark Pagel proposes that our ability to share and build on ideas
is what made us human.
Sexually
dimorphic
behavior
genes
Recruiting
adaptive
cellular
stress
responses for successful brain ageing
Successful ageing is determined in part by genetic background,
but also
by experiential factors associated with lifestyle and culture. Dietary,
behavioural and pharmacological interventions have been identified as
potential means to slow brain ageing and forestall neurodegenerative
disease. Many of ...
Risk
factors:
First
statement
on sexual activity in patients with
cardiovascu...
The AHA has released a Scientific Statement, endorsed by
professional
bodies from various clinical specialties, that contains recommendations
regarding sexual activity in patients with cardiovascular disease.
'This is the first time that this topic has been comprehensively
reviewed by a multidiscipl...
Nutrition:
Calcium
and
vitamin
D for extraskeletal health - jury is out
The extraskeletal benefits and harms of supplementation with
calcium
and vitamin D are unknown. The RECORD trial compared overall, vascular
and cancer mortality and cancer incidence by supplement use and found
no evidence of any harm or benefit. However, compliance was poor and
serum 25-hydroxyvitam...
Pharmacotherapy:
Statins
and
new-onset
diabetes mellitus - a matter for debate
Statins are effective for cardiovascular disease prevention but
have
recently been associated with an increased risk of new-onset diabetes
mellitus. However, until this association is confirmed, treatment
discontinuation is not advisable. Lifestyle measures and treatment of
risk factors that often c...
AgRP
neurons:
The
foes
of reproduction in leptin-deficient obese subjects
[Co...
Evolutionarily, the ability to regulate energy balance and
reproduction
in parallel is critical, because reproductive success will only occur
when sufficient energy supplies are available. In periods when energy
stores are depleted, reproduction is switched off in an attempt to save
energy to optimi...
Maternal
support
in
early
childhood predicts larger hippocampal volumes at sc...
Early maternal support has been shown to promote specific gene
expression, neurogenesis, adaptive stress responses, and larger
hippocampal volumes in developing animals. In humans, a relationship
between psychosocial factors in early childhood and later amygdala
volumes based on prospective data has...
Happiness
is
a
U
shaped curve, highest in the teens and 70s, shows survey
Northern Ireland is the happiest part of the United Kingdom,
concludes
the Office for National Statistics (ONS) after questioning 80?000
adults between April and September last year. People from...
Vitamin
D
Therapy
and
Cardiac Structure and Function in Patients With Chronic...
Vitamin D is associated with decreased
cardiovascular-related morbidity and mortality, possibly by modifying
cardiac structure and function, yet firm evidence for either remains
lacking.
Objective - To determine the effects of an active vitamin D
compound, paricalcitol, on left ventricular mas...
Congressmen
demand
faster
publication
of trial data after BMJ revealed long d...
Three members of the US House of Representatives have written to
the
National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration
expressing concern that the results of clinical studies are not...
Influence
of
definition
based
versus pragmatic birth registration on internat...
Objectives - To examine variations in the registration of
extremely low
birthweight and early gestation births and to assess their effect on
perinatal and infant mortality rankings of industrialised...
But some
things improve with age
In their study of the timing of the onset of cognitive decline
in the
Whitehall II cohort, Singh-Manoux and colleagues emphasise decline and
ignore the gains that occur with ageing.1 They do not mention that
vocabulary increases in most of the analyses reported. Three of the
four analyses that contr...
Intellectual
functions
may
be
slower but no worse with age
The research article by Singh-Manoux and colleagues has widely
been
reported as providing evidence for rapid decline in cognitive ability
from age 45 years.1 However, all tasks were administered with very
tight time limits (and often required writing responses), except for
the vocabulary test, which...
Cognitive
decline
may
be
invariable with ageing
Singh-Manoux and colleagues state, although they did not provide
the
results in the supplementary material, that education had no influence
on the rate of decline of executive function?about 3% per decade.1
Given that, as a risk factor, level of education has the greatest
influence on all cause mort...
Authors'
reply to Harwood, McCarthy, and Franke
The over-riding concern about our paper is that it propagates
the
tradition of emphasising decline and ignoring gains that occur with
ageing.1 2 3 4 This was not our intention. We wanted to answer an
important research question of whether cognitive decline occurs before
the age of 60, and we had the...
Bans and
labelling helped to reduce Americans' trans fat levels by 58%
Concentrations of trans fats in the blood of US citizens have
plummeted
in the past decade as local bans and a national labelling requirement
have largely driven the unhealthy ingredient from food in restaurants
and on supermarket shelves, shows a study.Researchers from the Centers
for Disease Contr...
• Sleeping
pills
pose
'death
risk'
Commonly prescribed sleeping pills appear to be linked with an
increased risk of death among users, researchers have found.
• Alzheimer's:
Trouble
sleeping
could
affect memory later on
People who have trouble sleeping may be at higher risk of developing
memory problems, new research shows. Also, those who woke frequently in
the night had a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
• Nearly
1
in
20
US adults over 50 have fake knees
Nearly 1 in 20 Americans older than 50 have artificial
knees, or more than 4 million people, according to the first national
estimate showing how common these replacement joints have become in an
aging population....
• Seniors
show
greater
life
satisfaction than young people, study suggests
Healthy older adults reported less negative thinking compared to other
age groups, leading to greater life satisfaction in seniors. The study
examined the complex relationship between aging and factors leading to
depression. Research suggests differences in the way age groups think
can influence the onset of depression. Sufferers of negative thinking,
or brooding, tend to fixate on their problems and feelings without
taking action, which can intensify depressive moods and lead to the
onset of de...
• Finding
love
has
no
expiration date: People over 60 are fastest growing demog...
People may think that online dating is only for the young, but
individuals over the age of 60 are the fastest growing demographic in
online dating. However, they may be looking for different qualities in
their relationships than their younger counterparts.
• Are
rich
people
more
unethical?
Since the economic implosion of 2008, the news has been littered with
accounts of questionable behavior in boardrooms and corner offices. But
are white-collar criminals simply examples of a bigger trend?
• Study:
Colonoscopy
cuts
colon
cancer death risk
Millions of people have endured a colonoscopy,
believing the dreaded exam may help keep them from dying of colon
cancer. For the first time, a major study offers clear evidence that it
does....
• Omega-3
Fatty
Acid
Levels
Linked to Brain Performance
A study of older adults finds that those with higher omega-3 fatty acid
levels had larger brain volume and performed better in tests of mental
acuity.
• Diet
Soft
Drinks
Linked
to Risk of Heart Disease
A study of 2,564 adults found a link, even when controlling for other
variables. But researchers caution against alarm, saying the reason for
the link is not clear.
• Food
Dyes
Suspected
Of
Causing Behavioral Problems In Kids
Concerns about synthetic food dyes led many manufacturers in Europe to
stop using then. But as CBS 2's Mary Kay Kleist reports, the dyes are
used here in everything from cereal to crackers to toothpaste.
• Fructose
Consumption
Increases
Visceral
Fat, Study Reports
Fructose consumption may increase cardiovascular risk factors because
it increases visceral fat, the kind that accumulates around internal
organs.
• Overeating
may
double
odds
of memory loss in elderly
Those who consumed most calories had highest risk for memory loss,
study found
• In
Theory:
Aging
of
Eyes Is Blamed in Circadian Rhythm Disturbances
New research supports a largely unrecognized culprit in circadian
rhythm disturbances: the gradual yellowing of the lens and the
narrowing of the pupil that come with age.
• Air
pollution
linked
to
cognitive decline in women
A large, prospective study indicates that chronic exposure to
particulate air pollution may accelerate cognitive decline in older
adults.
• Teenage
brains
most
vulnerable
to concussions
Teens may be more vulnerable to the effects of concussions than either
adults or younger children, a new study says.
• Overly
Strict,
Controlling
Parents
Risk Raising Delinquent Kids
Many parents may think that taking a hard line with their kids will
keep them on the straight and narrow, but a new study suggests this is
not always the case.
• Both
maternal
and
paternal
age linked to autism
Older maternal and paternal age are jointly associated with having a
child with autism, according to a recent study.
• Pregnancy-related
complications
predict
CVD
in middle age
Women who developed pregnancy-related hypertension (preeclampsia) or
diabetes were at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) later
in life. Preeclampsia was associated with a wider range of CVD risk
factors and may be a better predictor of CVD in middle age than other
pregnancy-related complications. Pregnancy may provide an opportunity
to identify women at increased risk of CVD when they're relatively
young -- allowing them to make lifestyle changes and get medical
intervention earlier ...
• Stress
changes
how
people
make decisions
Trying to make a big decision while you're also preparing for a scary
presentation? You might want to hold off on that. Feeling stressed
changes how people weigh risk and reward. A new article published in
Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the
Association for Psychological Science, reviews how, under stress,
people pay more attention to the upside of a possible outcome.
• Deaths
triple
among
football
players, morning temperatures thought to play a
...
Heat-related deaths among football players across the country tripled
to nearly three per year between 1994 and 2009 after averaging about
one per year the previous 15 years, according to an analysis of weather
conditions and high school and college sports data. The study found for
the eastern US, where most deaths occurred, morning heat index values
were consistently higher in the latter half of the 30-year study period.
• Mentally
ill
'face
violence
risk'
Mentally ill people are four times more likely to be a victim of
violence, according to an international study.
• Disabled
Adults
at
Higher
Risk for Violence
Adults with disabilities are more likely to be victims of violence than
adults who are not disabled, according to a new study published online
in The Lancet.
• Immortal
worms
defy
ageing
Researchers have demonstrated how a species of flatworm overcomes the
ageing process to be potentially immortal.
• Human
Lifespans
Lengthening,
But
How Long Is Too Long?
Scientists are making huge advances in the lab. But work like that
isn't considered mainstream. And not everyone believes science should
control our destiny or that living past 100 is a good idea.
• Living
to
age
100
may not be as easy as once believed
Decades-old assumptions about the odds of reaching very old age may be
wrong, which could put 100 out of reach for many seniors, a new study
finds.
• Heart
Disease
Risk
May
Be Tied to Y Chromosome
Men's higher risk for heart disease may result in part from genetic
variants on the one chromosome unique to men, researchers have found.
Variation
in brain development seen in infants with autism
Patterns of brain development in the first two years of life are
distinct in children who are later diagnosed with autism spectrum
disorders (ASDs), according to researchers in a network funded by the
National Institutes of Health. The study results show differences in
brain structure at 6 months of age, the earliest such structural
changes have been recorded in ASDs.
NIDA
creates easy-to-read website on drug abuse
A new, easy-to-read website on drug abuse designed for adults
with a
low reading literacy level (eighth grade or below) was launched today
by the National Institute on Drug Abuse(NIDA), part of the National
Institutes of Health.
Drug
halts organ damage in inflammatory genetic disorder
A new study shows that Kineret (anakinra), a medication approved for
the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, is effective in stopping the
progression of organ damage in people with neonatal-onset multisystem
inflammatory disease (NOMID). This rare and debilitating genetic
disorder causes persistent inflammation and ongoing tissue damage. The
research was performed by scientists at the National Institute of
Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the
National Institutes of Health.
NIH study
links high levels of cadmium, lead in blood to pregnancy delay
Higher blood levels of cadmium in females, and higher blood levels of
lead in males, delayed pregnancy in couples trying to become pregnant,
according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of
Health and other academic research institutions.
Restricting
calories
early
on
does not help acute lung injury patients on ven...
Acute lung injury patients on ventilators who require a feeding
tube
have a similar number of ventilator-free hospital days and similar
mortality rates if they receive a low-calorie feeding program initially
followed by a full-calorie program compared to a full-calorie program
right away. These results are part of a new clinical study funded by
the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National
Institutes of Health.
New website:
NIH Clinical Research Trials and You
The National Institutes of Health has created a new website, NIH
Clinical Research Trials and You to help people learn more about
clinical trials, why they matter, and how to participate.
Gene
regulator in brain's executive hub tracked across lifespan -- NIH study
For the first time, scientists have tracked the activity, across the
lifespan, of an environmentally responsive regulatory mechanism that
turns genes on and off in the brain's executive hub. Among key findings
of the study by National Institutes of Health scientists: genes
implicated in schizophrenia and autism turn out to be members of a
select club of genes in which regulatory activity peaks during an
environmentally-sensitive critical period in development.
NIH study
uncovers probable mechanism underlying resveratrol activity
National Institutes of Health researchers and their colleagues
have
identified how resveratrol, a naturally occurring chemical found in red
wine and other plant products, may confer its health benefits.
NIMHD
Social,
Behavioral,
Health
Services, and Policy Research on Minority
He...
Funding Opportunity RFA-MD-12-003 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)
is to solicit innovative social, behavioral, health services, and
policy research that can directly and demonstrably contribute to the
elimination of health disparities. Projects may involve primary data
collection or secondary analysis of existing datasets. Projects that
examine understudied health conditions; examine the effectiveness of
interventions, services, or policies for multiple health disparity
populations; and/or directly measure the impact of project activities
on levels of health disparities are particularly encouraged.
NIMHD
Basic
and
Applied
Biomedical Research on Minority Health and Health
Dis...
Funding Opportunity RFA-MD-12-004 from the NIH Guide for Grants
and
Contracts. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is issued by the
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) to
solicit innovative grant applications on: 1. Biological and genetic
research to explore disease mechanisms or pathways that influence
health outcomes in minority and health disparity populations. 2.
Clinical and translational research linking basic science discovery
with effective treatment or clinical practice. The overall goal of this
initiative is to enhance our understanding of fundamental biological
mechanisms involved in disease conditions and develop therapies or
interventions that can directly or demonstrably contribute to the
elimination of health disparities. Biological, genetic, clinical and
translational research projects investigating the etiology, physiology,
genetic risk factors, molecular pathways, gene-environmental
interactions, pharmacogenomic and personalized medicine in health
disparity populations are particularly encouraged.
Administrative
Supplements
to
Existing
NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements(...
Funding Opportunity PA-12-100 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) hereby notify
Principal Investigators holding specific types of NIH research grants,
listed in the full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that funds
may be available for administrative supplements to meet increased costs
that are within the scope of the approved award, but that were
unforeseen when the new or renewal application or grant progress report
for non-competing continuation support was submitted.Applications for
administrative supplements are considered prior approval requests (as
described in Section 8.1.2.11 of the NIH Grants Policy Statement) and
will be routed directly to the Grants Management Officer of the parent
award. Although requests for administrative supplements may be
submitted through this FOA, there is no guarantee that funds are
available from the awarding IC or for any specific grant. All
applicants are encouraged to discuss potential requests with the
awarding IC. Additionally, prior to submission, applicants must review
the awarding IC's web site to ensure they meet the IC's requirements.A
list of those web sites is available at
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/admin_supp/index.htm.
Biodemography
of
Aging
(R21),
Funding
Number:
PAR-12-079
Expiration Date: March 4, 2014
Biodemography
of
Aging
(R03),
Funding
Number:
PAR-12-080
Expiration Date: March 4, 2014
Biodemography
of
Aging
(R01),
Funding
Number:
PAR-12-078
Expiration Date: March 4, 2014
Small
Grants
Program
for
Cancer
Epidemiology
(R03)
Funding Opportunity PAR-12-039 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA), issued by the
National Cancer Institute (NCI), encourages the submission of Small
Research Grant (R03) applications for research on cancer etiology and
epidemiology. The overarching goal of this FOA is to provide support
for pilot projects, testing of new techniques, secondary analyses of
existing data, development and validation of measurement methods,
linkage of genetic polymorphisms with other variables related to cancer
risk, and development of innovative projects for more comprehensive
research in cancer etiology and epidemiology.
Limited
Competition:
Archiving
and
Dissemination
of
Research
Data
on
Aging
(P30)
Funding Opportunity RFA-AG-12-013 from the NIH Guide for Grants
and
Contracts. The purpose of this FOA is to continue the P30 Center Grant
to 1) maintain the existing collections of the National Archive of
Computerized Data on Aging and develop it further as a user-friendly
data archive to support behavioral and social science research on
aging; 2) advise and assist researchers in documentation and archiving
of data and metadata; 3) advise and assist researchers on methods of
sharing data for secondary analysis while providing adequate
protections for confidentiality; and 4) facilitate secondary analysis
by providing user support, access to data, and training and
consultation.
Announcements:
2012 WLS Pilot
Grant Program
The Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA) at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison will award two to three pilot grants to
investigators using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) data for
scholarly research. Grant application must be received by May 25,
2012. Please contact Carol Roan by e-mail roan@ssc.wisc.edu or by
telephone (608) 265-6196 for more information.
Registration
for
the
2012
International
Conference
on
Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural
Modeling, and Prediction is now open!
SBP12 will be held at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD
April 2 - April 5, 2012.
Early bird registration ends March 16
NIH Videocasts:
• Targeting
Aging to Delay Multiple Chronic Diseases: A New Frontier
Geroscience Interest Group
Air date: Thursday, March 08, 2012, 11:30:00 AM
• Demystifying
Medicine- Aging Gracefully Conferences:
Population
Association
of
America
Annual
meeting, San Francisco, CA.
RAND Summer Institute,
July
9-10,
Santa Monica,
California. 2012 Annual Meeting of
the American Sociological Association, August 17-20, Denver, CO This
Newsletter is supported by a grant from the National
Institute on
Aging, National Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5 P30 AG012857)
The course includes presentation of patients, pathology, diagnosis and
therapy in the context of major disease problems and current research.
Primarily directed toward Ph.D. students, fellows, and staff, it is
also of interest to medical students and clinicians. The course is
designed to help bridge the gap between advances in biology and their
application to major human diseases. Each session includes clinical and
basic science components which are presented by NIH staff and outside
invit...
Air date: Tuesday, March 06, 2012, 4:00:00 PM
The 2012 Annual Meeting will be held May 3-5 at the Hilton San
Francisco Union
Square Hotel.
American Geriatrics
Society
2012 Annual Scientific Meeting, May 2-5, 2012, Seattle, WA
Abstracts
Deadline:
December
5,
2011
Summer
Research
Institute
on
Behavioral
Intervention, June 14-16, 2012
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD
RAND is pleased to announce the 19th annual RAND Summer Institute
(RSI). RSI consists of two annual conferences that address critical
issues facing our aging population. The Mini-Medical School for Social
Scientists will be held on July 9–10, and the Demography, Economics,
Psychology, and Epidemiology of Aging conference on July 11–12, 2012.
Both conferences will convene at the RAND Corporation headquarters in
Santa Monica, California.
The application deadline is March
9, 2012
Abstracts
Deadline:
January
11,
2012
Gerontological
Society
of
America's
65th
Annual
Scientific
Meeting, November 14-18, 2012, San Diego, CA.
Abstracts
Deadline:
March
15,
2012
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