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CCBAR Newsletter – November - December, 2009

Editors:  Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau

CCBAR News

Natalia Gavrilova took part in the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in Atlanta, GA (November 18-22, 2009) where she received her GSA Fellow certificate. The GSA meeting had several interesting sessions related to biomarkers and aging. First, a pre-conference workshop "Introduction to the Health and Retirement Study (HRS)" featured presentation by Eileen Crimmins on biomarkers collected by HRS.  Another session, "Biosocial Studies of Health and Aging in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study" (chair: R. M. Hauser), discussed relationships between health and other biosocial characteristics using Wisconsin Longitudinal Study data. Various aspects of disability research were covered in a session "New Research Directions in the Study of Disability and the Aging Life Course: The National Long Term Care Survey and Beyond" (chair: J. McNally). One session was specifically devoted to biomarkers: "Biomarkers and Cognitive Functioning" (chair: Kristen E. Brueck) where researchers considered effects of obesity, oxidative stress and CRP on cognition. Another session "Women's Health" (chair: Yvonne L. Michael) discussed effects of steroid hormones on various aspects of women's health.  A more detailed program of the GSA 2010 meeting (including abstracts) can be found at the GSA website: http://www.geron.org/Annual%20Meeting/Meeting%20Program

News from the NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ, PNAS and JAMA

Long-term economic growth stimulus of human capital preservation in the elder...
Health care is a crucial factor in US economic growth, because growing health care costs have made US corporations less...

Oxytocin receptor genetic variation relates to empathy and stress reactivity ...
Oxytocin, a peptide that functions as both a hormone and neurotransmitter, has broad influences on social and emotional processing throughout...

Competition between collective and individual dynamics [Economic_Sciences]
Linking microscopic and macroscopic behavior is at the heart of many natural and social sciences. This apparent similarity conceals essential...

[News Focus] Human Evolution: What's for Dinner? Researchers Seek Our Ancesto...
To help prevent diseases like diabetes and heart disease today, evolutionary biologists are seeking to understand the tastes of our diverse ancestors.

Longevity: Sweet food, short life
Nematode worms fed on a diet spiked with glucose die about 20% earlier than those consuming just the bacterium Escherichia coli.Cynthia Kenyon and her colleagues at the University of California, San

Nanotechnology: Take a deep breath
The early detection of cancer is a priority for ensuring the best outcome for patients and reducing health care costs. The hunt is on for biomarkers that can identify individuals who are likely to have cancer, but inexpensive, simple and preferably minimally invasive methods of

The CVD paradox: mortality vs prevalence
All-cause mortality is in decline? indeed, worldwide, life expectancy increased by 9 years between 1979 and 2004

Socioeconomic status and cardiovascular disease: risks and implications for care
Socioeconomic status (SES) refers to an individual's social position relative to other members of a society. Low SES is associated with large increases in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in men and women. The inverse association between SES and CVD risk in high-income countries is the

Cultural evolution and individual development of openness and conservatism [S...
We present a model of cultural evolution in which an individual's propensity to engage in social learning is affected by...

Trends in High Levels of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in the United St...
Context  Studies show that a large proportion of adults with high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) remain untreated or undertreated despite growing use of lipid-lowering medications.
Objective  To investigate trends in screening prevalence, use of cholesterol-lowering ...

Major Lipids, Apolipoproteins, and Risk of Vascular Disease [Original Contrib...
Context  Associations of major lipids and apolipoproteins with the risk of vascular disease have not been reliably quantified.
Objective  To assess major lipids and apolipoproteins in vascular risk.
Design, Setting, and Participants  Individual records were supplied on 302 430 pe...

Biomarkers for Prediction of Cardiovascular Events [Letters]

Biomarkers for Prediction of Cardiovascular Events--Reply [Letters]

Evidence for a common pathway linking neurodegenerative diseases
In the largest Parkinson's disease genome-wide association studies to date, common variants in three familiar genes SNCA, MAPT and LRRK2 and two new loci are found to increase disease susceptibility. The studies suggest genetic heterogeneity for Parkinson's disease risk in different human population...

Dynamic DNA methylation programs persistent adverse effects of early-life stress
Severe stress in early childhood can increase an individual's vulnerability to depression later in life. This study found that early-life stress in mice resulted in persistent elevation of the stress hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP), which was caused by persistent hypomethylation of CpG islands in...

Ageing: The impact of shrinking telomeres
Shortening of telomeres to a critical length triggers a DNA-damage response that contributes to ageing. A new study using a mouse model of accelerated telomere shortening reveals specific transcriptomic and epigenetic changes that provide clues to how telomere shortening is linked to ageing.The Terc

Alzheimer disease: Validating biomarkers for cognitive decline in AD is not a...

Subregional neuroanatomical change as a biomarker for Alzheimer's disease [Ne...
Regions of the temporal and parietal lobes are particularly damaged in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and this leads to a predictable...

[News Focus] Neurodegeneration: Acting Like a Prion Isn't Always Bad
If misfolded proteins are so dangerous, why hasn't evolution selected against them? One possibility is that it hasn't had to: Many of the diseases caused by protein misfolding strike late in life, after the reproductive years are over. It's also possible that this type of protein folding isn't alway...

Retrospective analysis of attitudes to ageing in the Economist: apocalyptic d...
Objective To investigate the description of older people and ageing in a major weekly newspaper, influential in political and financial circles, to see whether it reflected ageing in a balanced...

Forecasting the Effects of Obesity and Smoking on U.S. Life Expectancy
Using data from U.S. national surveys, the authors forecast that the adverse effect of increases in obesity on the nation's health over the next decade will exceed the benefits of declines in smoking. They estimate that the elimination of smoking and obesity by 2020 would increase the average life e...


Biomarkers and Aging in the News Media

Mutant genes 'key to long life'
US scientists link long life with those people who have inherited a particular enzyme which prevents cells from ageing.
Researchers Find Mummies Had Heart Disease
Fast Food, Smoking and Lack of Exercise Contribute to Risk, but Findings Show Other Reasons why Arteries Clog
Federal panel recommends reducing number of mammograms
Women in their 40s should stop routinely having annual mammograms and older women should cut back to one scheduled exam every other year, an influential federal task force has concluded, challenging the use of one of the most common medical tests.
Slow walkers more likely to die of heart disease
Older people who walk slowly are almost three times more likely to die of heart disease and related causes than older people who walk faster, according to a new study by French scientists.
Men Face Higher Odds of Sudden Cardiac Death
Men age 40 and over have a one in eight chance of suffering sudden cardiac death, and the risk is even higher for African-American men, a study shows.
Low Vitamin D Levels May Raise Heart Risk
Some men with low levels of vitamin D in their blood are at particularly high risk of developing heart disease and weakened bones that can lead to osteoporosis, researchers report.
Genetic Tests Check Risk for Sudden Death
If you have a relative who has suffered sudden unexplained death, postmortem genetic testing is a cost-effective way of identifying genetic mutations that may place you and other surviving family members at increased risk for potentially fatal heart rhythm disturbances, a study shows.
Genetic variation linked to individual empathy, stress levels
Researchers have discovered a genetic variation that may contribute to how empathetic a human is, and how that person reacts to stress. In the first study of its kind, a variation in the hormone/neurotransmitter oxytocin's receptor was linked to a person's ability to infer the mental state of others.
Loneliness 'raises cancer risk'
Loneliness could make cancer more likely, say researchers who found rodents kept alone developed more tumours.
Coffee 'might cut prostate risk'
Drinking coffee could help cut the risk of advanced prostate cancer, a Harvard Medical School study suggests.
Antidepressants change personality, study suggests
People who take antidepressants such as Paxil often say they feel less stressed and more outgoing, lively, and confident. Now a new study suggests it's not just because they're less depressed.
U.S. cancer cases, deaths continue to decline
New cancer cases and mortality rates linked to the disease have fallen significantly in recent years for almost all gender and ethnic groups in the United States, researchers said Monday.
Vital Signs: Risks: Leaving 'Stroke Belt' but Not the Dangers
A study suggested that the risk for the disease might be established early in life.
Body mass, waist size can predict heart disease
Measuring body mass index or waist size in overweight people can accurately predict the risk of heart disease, Dutch scientists said on Monday.
Why Your Older Brother Didn't Share
Sibling pecking order makes firstborns less cooperative than their siblings [Read more]
New technology could boost disease detection tests' speed and sensitivity
Scientists have developed a way to rapidly manipulate and sort different cells in the blood using magnetizable liquids. The findings could dramatically improve the speed and sensitivity of tests used to detect cancer biomarkers, blood disorders, viruses and other diseases.
Ginkgo Biloba Doesn't Prevent Heart Attack, Stroke
Ginkgo biloba, a popular herbal supplement, doesn't prevent cardiovascular death or major events such as stroke and heart attack in people 75 and older, a new study says.
Women's Secret to Longevity?
Sperm genes may shorten the lifespan of males compared to females, at least in animals, according to Japanese researchers.
Link between sirtuins and life extension strengthened
New research strengthens the link between longevity proteins called sirtuins and the lifespan-extending effects of calorie restriction.
Okinawa: Land of the Rising Lifespan
CBS News Science and Technology Correspondent Daniel Sieberg Goes to Okinawa to Try Decode Secrets of Long Life
Delinquent boys at increased risk of premature death and disability by middle...
Men who have a history of delinquency in childhood are more likely to die or become disabled by the time they are 48, and not just from the obvious consequences of antisocial behavior, new research indicates. The UK study is the first to examine how a wide range of early antisocial behaviours, as well as parental factors, affect various health outcomes 40 years later.
Difficult childhood may increase disease risk in adulthood
Individuals who experience psychological or social adversity in childhood may have lasting emotional, immune and metabolic abnormalities that help explain why they develop more age-related diseases in adulthood, according to a new report.
Mothers' exposure to common chemicals may affect boys
Elevated levels of two plastic-softening chemicals in pregnant women's urine are linked to less-masculine play behavior by their sons several years later, according to a study published last week in the International Journal of Andrology.
Coffee and tea 'prevent diabetes'
Drinking tea and coffee, whether decaffeinated or not, lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes, a large body of evidence shows.
Anti-depressants 'up stroke risk'
Post menopausal women who take anti-depressants face an increased risk of a stroke, research suggests.
LDL Rises Around Time of Menopause
Blood levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol increase dramatically in women around the time of menopause, and the rise is not related to aging, new research confirms.
1 in 3 Adults in U.S. Is a Caregiver
About one in three adults in the United States cares for a loved one who is elderly, sick or has special needs, and two out of three unpaid caregivers are women, a new report finds.
We Will Live Longer in 2050, Study Predicts
Experts say the government has got it wrong on life expectancy in the future.

NIH Press Releases

Amyloid Deposits in Cognitively Normal People May Predict Risk for Alzheimer'...
For people free of dementia, abnormal deposits of a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease are associated with increased risk of developing the symptoms of the progressive brain disorder, according to two studies from researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. The studies, primarily funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, linked higher amounts of the protein deposits in dementia-free people with greater risk for developing the disease, and with loss of brain volume and subtle declines in cognitive abilities.

Blood Stem-Cell Transplant Regimen Reverses Sickle Cell Disease in Adults
A modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen has effectively reversed sickle cell disease in 9 of 10 adults who had been severely affected by the disease, according to results of a National Institutes of Health study in the Dec. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial was conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by NIH researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

NIH Launches Program to Develop Innovative Approaches to Combat Obesity
The National Institutes of Health is launching a $37 million program that will use findings from basic research on human behavior to develop more effective interventions to reduce obesity. The program, Translating Basic Behavioral and Social Science Discoveries into Interventions to Reduce Obesity, will fund interdisciplinary teams of researchers at seven research sites. Investigators will conduct experimental research, formative research to increase understanding of populations being studied, small studies known as proof of concept trials, and pilot and feasibility studies to identify promising new avenues for encouraging behaviors that prevent or treat obesity.

Non-Invasive Technique Blocks a Conditioned Fear in Humans
Scientists have for the first time selectively blocked a conditioned fear memory in humans with a behavioral manipulation. Participants remained free of the fear memory for at least a year. The research builds on emerging evidence from animal studies that reactivating an emotional memory opens a 6-hour window of opportunity in which a training procedure can alter it.

Annual Report to the Nation Finds Continued Declines in Overall Cancer Rates;...
Rates of new diagnoses and rates of death from all cancers combined declined significantly in the most recent time period for men and women overall and for most racial and ethnic populations in the United States, according to a report from leading health and cancer organizations.

Gene's Position in the Nucleus Can be Used to Distinguish Cancerous from Norm...
Researchers have identified several genes whose spatial position inside the cell nucleus is altered in invasive breast cancer when compared to normal breast tissue. The findings suggest that cancer cells may have disease-specific, three-dimensional gene arrangements and raise the possibility that such gene positioning patterns could be used as a new diagnostic strategy to distinguish cancer tissue from normal tissue. The study, by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appeared online Dec. 7, 2009, and will appear in print on Dec. 14, 2009 in the Journal of Cell Biology.

NIH Appoints Alan Guttmacher Acting Director of NICHD
Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., is the new acting director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the 27 institutes and centers that comprise the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers Identify Gene Mutations Underlying Risk for Most Common Form of P...
Two genes containing mutations known to cause rare familial forms of parkinsonism are also associated with the more common, sporadic form of the disease where there is no family history, researchers have found. The findings presented in the Nov. 15, 2009, online issue of Nature Genetics were supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, all components of the National Institutes of Health.

NIAID Announces New Award to Study the Effects of Radiation and Aging on the ...
"The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded nearly $9.7 million over five years to the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), Japan, to study the effects of atomic bomb radiation and aging on the human immune system. For the first time, experts in both the United States and Japan will systematically analyze biological samples from the unique population of elderly Japanese atomic bomb survivors to better understand the health consequences of exposure to ionizing radiation on the natural aging process.

NIH Announces First National Research Study Recruitment Registry
Individuals who want to participate in research studies now can connect online with researchers nationwide through the first disease-neutral, volunteer recruitment registry. ResearchMatch.org is a not-for-profit secure Web site, designed to provide people who are interested in participating in research the opportunity to be matched with studies that may be the right fit for them.

Words, Gestures Are Translated by Same Brain Regions, Says New Research: Find...
Your ability to make sense of Groucho's words and Harpo's pantomimes in an old Marx Brothers movie takes place in the same regions of your brain, says new research funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health.

What Can Prevent Walking Disability in Older People?
The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced the award of $29.5 million in grant support over the next two years to determine whether a specific physical activity program can stave off disability in older people. The funding will begin the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders  LIFE  trial, the largest ever undertaken to prevent mobility disability among older people who are at risk of losing their ability to walk and to live independently in the community. The grant is being awarded to the University of Florida's Institute on Aging in Gainesville.


NIH Announcements

Restructured Application Forms and Instructions for Submissions for FY2011 Fu...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Blueprint Program for Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education Experiences (R25)
Expires: 2010/03/25
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grants (T32)
Expires: 2013/01/08

NIA Request for information and comments on possibility of using domesticated dogs to advance the study of aging
Paul B. Beeson Clinical Scientist Development Award in Aging (K08)
Expires: 2010/01/15
Development, Application, and Evaluation of Prediction Models for Cancer Risk...
Program Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Development, Application, and Evaluation of Prediction Models for Cancer Risk...
Program Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R01)
Program Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R21)
Program Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Obesity Policy Research: Evaluation and Measures (R03)
Program Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts



Events

NIH videocasts:

Memory and the Aging Brain
The NIH Director's Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series includes weekly scientific talks by some of the top researchers in the biomedical sciences worldwide.
Air date: 3/17/2010 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time
New Models for Large Prospective Studies
Large prospective, population-based cohorts are the optimal design for defining disease burden and studying the many genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors that underlie human disease. Leveraging or expanding existing efforts to establish a large-scale population cohort may serve to create a much needed national research resource with which to examine genetic and environmental contributions to disease and advance personalized medicine. The symposium, organized by the NIH Office of the ...

Conferences:

2010 Population Association of America Annual meeting will be held April 15-17 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas, TX

The 22nd REVES meeting on health expectancy will be held in La Habana, Cuba, from May 19th to May 21st 2010

Gerontological Society of America's 63rd Annual Scientific Meeting, November 19-23, 2010, Hilton, New Orleans Riverside, New Orleans, LA.
Abstracts Deadline: March 15, 2010

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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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