Editors:
Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau
An
updated version of the Proceedings of the 2008 CCBAR, NIA, and Centers
on Aging Biomarker Network Biodemography Focus Session are available
online. Please visit CCBAR website at http://biomarkers.uchicago.edu/workshopproceedings.htm
A
member of CCBAR, Dr. Natalia Gavrilova, participated in the 2009 REVES
meeting "Reducing the gaps in health expectancy" (May 26-29, 2009,
News
From the NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ and PNAS
EDITORIAL:
Diabetes with Coronary Disease -- A Moving Target amid Evolving Th...
The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is rising at an alarming rate and
is projected to more than double by 2030.1 The disease currently
afflicts 171 million people worldwide, with 23.6 ...
ORIGINAL
ARTICLE: Age, Neuropathology, and Dementia
In this longitudinal
study of cognitive function and aging, which included 456 participants
who agreed to post-mortem brain examination and died between 69 and 103
years of age, the relationship between the pathological features of
Alzheimer's disease and clinical dementia at the time of death was
attenuated in the oldest old persons. For example, the odds ratio for
the association between dementia and neocortical neuritic plaques was
8.6 at 75 years of age but only 2.5 at 95 years of age.
EDITORIAL:
Cool with Plaques and Tangles
Survivors to the age
of 95 years are a select and hardy few. At current mortality rates,
only about 8% of persons will live to the age of 95, and ...
Coordinating
Response to Stress
Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) (a protein deacetylase implicated in aging), senses
the metabolic state of the cell and modulates the activity of substrate
proteins that in turn regulate cellular transcriptional responses.
[Perspective]
Anthropology: On Becoming Modern
Human social evolution is determined by demography.
[Report]
Late Pleistocene Demography and the Appearance of Modern Human Behavior
Population size and migration account for modern human behavior
appearing in Africa about 90,000 years ago but much later across
[Neuroscience] Anterior cingulate cortex hypoactivations to an
emotionally sa...
Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) hypoactivations during cognitive
processing characterize drug addicted individuals as compared with
healthy controls. However, impaired behavioral...
[Economic_Sciences]
A randomized trial of the effect of estrogen and testoste...
Existing correlative evidence suggests that sex hormones may affect
economic behavior such as risk taking and reciprocal fairness. To
test...
[Neuroscience]
Distinct patterns of brain activity in young carriers of the A...
The APOE 4 allele is a
risk factor for late-life pathological changes that is also associated
with anatomical and functional...
[Psychology]
Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory
The income–achievement gap is a formidable societal problem, but little
is known about either neurocognitive or biological mechanisms that
might...
[Neuroscience]
Pupillometric and behavioral markers of a developmental shift ...
The capacity to anticipate and prepare for future events is thought to
be critical for cognitive control. Dominant accounts of...
[Perspective]
Cell Biology: Hypoxic Hookup
The range of protective effects that a sirtuin deacetylase affords to
cells and organisms under stressful conditions continues to grow.
Biomarkers
and Aging in the News Media
• Recession 'keeps smokers puffing'
Many smokers are too stressed by the hard economic times to attempt to
give up their habit, research suggests.
• Vital Signs: Children: Self-Control
Presages Math Gains in Young
A simple behavioral test for children entering kindergarten can predict
future mathematics skills, researchers say.
• Volunteers in a 50-year-long study
provide invaluable data on the aging process
Every year hundreds of people travel to
• Genes Affect Blood Pressure Risk
Genes may help explain why some people are more or less susceptible to
the negative effects of drinking, smoking, or lack of exercise on their
blood pressure.
• Melatonin: The Fountain Of Youth?
Melatonin can slow down the effects of aging. Scientists have found
that a treatment based on melatonin can delay the first signs of aging
in a small mammal.
• Fish oil, vitamin D to be scrutinized
in big study
Two of the most popular supplements, vitamin D and fish oil, will be
tested in a government-sponsored study to see whether either lower the
risk cancer, heart disease or having a stroke.
• 4 Factors That Increase Odds of Heart
Failure
Smoking, high blood pressure, excess weight, and diabetes are major
risk factors for increasing the size of the heart's left ventricle, a
new study shows.
• Lipoprotein(a) Linked to Heart Attacks
Genetic testing confirms that high levels of a type of cholesterol
known as lipoprotein(a) are associated with an increased risk for heart
attacks, but the clinical implications of the finding are unclear.
• Breastfeeding Cuts Metabolic Syndrome
Women who breastfeed their babies may be less likely to develop
metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that makes heart disease
and diabetes more likely, a study shows.
• Ear Wax, Body Odor: Breast Cancer Link?
A variation in a gene already associated with breast cancer risk is
also linked with especially unpleasant underarm body odor and wet ear
wax, according to a team of Japanese scientists.
• Researchers Shed Light On Trading
Behavior In Animals -- And Humans
Scientists conducted a study to see if chimpanzees spontaneously
bartered foods among each other, using tokens which represented those
foods. While results indicated that the animals were cognitively able
to understand trade, without enforcement from human experimenters,
trade disappeared.
• How Obesity Increases The Risk For
Diabetes
Obesity is probably the most important factor in the development of
insulin resistance, but science's understanding of the chain of events
is still spotty. Now, researchers have filled in the gap and identified
the missing link between the two. Their findings explain how obesity
sets the stage for diabetes and why thin people can become insulin
resistant.
• Experts reveal best ways to save an
aging brain
Want to keep your wits sharp as the years go by? You're not alone. Most
people are worried about losing their memory as they age, and a new
study shows it's a valid concern: In fact, at 53 percent -- more than
half of all people -- have at least a minor mental decline in their 70s
and 80s, and about 16 percent develop more serious problems with memory
and other mental functions as they age.
• Hormones Raise Risk of Lung Cancer
Death
The hormone replacement therapy taken by millions of women to relieve
hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause may raise the risk of dying
from lung cancer, researchers say.
• Underweight Americans Risk Dementia
Down The Road
New findings suggest there are negative consequences to being
excessively slender -- one of which is dementia. According to Dr.
Michael Freedman of the
NIH
Press Releases
Delay in Diagnosis of Menopause-like
Condition in Young Women Linked to Low B...
Women and young girls who experience delays in diagnosing a premature,
menopause-like condition face increased risk of low bone density,
according to new research by scientists at the National Institutes of
Health. A delay in diagnosing the condition, called primary ovarian
insufficiency, may make women more susceptible to osteoporosis and
fractures later in life, the researchers concluded.
NIDA Study Shows School-Based
Prevention Program Reduces Problem Behaviors in...
A study suggests that school-based prevention programs begun in
elementary school can significantly reduce problem behaviors in
students. Fifth graders who previously participated in a comprehensive
interactive school prevention program for one to four years were about
half as likely to engage in substance abuse, violent behavior, or
sexual activity as those who did not take part in the program. The
study, supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a
component of the National Institutes of Health, will appear in the
August 2009 print issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The
online version of the article is viewable today.
Much Touted "Depression Risk Gene" May
Not Add to Risk After All
Stressful life events are strongly associated with a person's risk for
major depression, but a certain gene variation long thought to increase
risk in conjunction with stressful life events actually may have no
effect, according to researchers funded by the National Institute of
Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. The
study, published in the June 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association, challenges a widely accepted approach to
studying risk factors for depression.
As College
Drinking Problems Rise, New Studies Identify Effective Prevention ...
Alcohol-related deaths among
Cancer
Immunotherapy Can Use Small Numbers of Stem-Like Immune Cells to
Destr...
A new approach to stimulating immune cells enhances their anticancer
activity, resulting in a powerful anti-tumor response in mice,
according to a study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute, a
part of the National Institutes of Health. This work represents an
important advance in the development of immunotherapy for cancer and
appears online June 14, 2009 in Nature Medicine.
NIH
Researchers Discover How Prion Protein Damages Brain Cells
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have gained a major
insight into how the rogue protein responsible for mad cow disease and
related neurological illnesses destroys healthy brain tissue.
NHLBI Funds
Research and Training Centers Aimed at Prevention and Treatment o...
A worldwide network of research and training centers will build
institutional and community capacity to prevent and control chronic
diseases, such as cardiovascular, lung diseases, and diabetes,
announced the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), one of
the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Genetic
Variant Associated with Resistance to Chemotherapy Drug in Women with...
Researchers have found links between an individual's genetics and their
response to treatment with chemotherapy. The findings, by researchers
at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes
of Health, and colleagues, show how a genetic variant, located in the
SOD2 gene, may affect how a person responds to the chemotherapy drug
cyclophosphamide. Cyclophosphamide is used in the treatment of breast
and other cancers.
Optimal Medical Therapy As Beneficial
As Elective Revascularization Procedure...
Optimal medical therapy for patients with diabetes and stable coronary
heart disease is equally effective at lowering the risk of death, heart
attack, and stroke as prompt revascularization procedures with either
coronary bypass surgery or angioplasty, according to results from an
international multicenter clinical trial supported by the National
Institutes of Health. Optimal medical therapy includes intensive drug
therapy and lifestyle interventions, such as dietary changes and
smoking cessation.
NIH
Announcements
Biomarkers
for Early Detection of Hematopoietic Malignancies (R01)
(PA-09-197)
National Cancer Institute
Biomarkers
for Early Detection of Hematopoietic Malignancies (R21)
(PA-09-198)
National Cancer Institute
Development
and Validation of Disease Biomarkers (R01)
(PA-09-204)
National
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National
Office of Dietary Supplements
Identification and Characterization of
Sensitive Periods for Neurodevelopment...
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Recovery
Act Limited Competition: Academic Research Enhancement Award (R15)
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Recovery
Act 2009 Limited Competition: Enabling National Networking of Scient...
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Recovery
Act Limited Competition: Supporting New Faculty Recruitment to Enhan...
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Novel
statistical methods for human gene expression quantitative trait loci
(...
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Clinical
Research Curriculum Award (K30)
Request for Applications from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Exploratory/Developmental
Clinical Research Grants in Obesity (R21)
Program Announcement from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Request
for Information (RFI): Priorities for Biomarkers For Cancer Detection...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Events
The 19th IAGG World Congress of
Gerontology and Geriatrics. July 5-10, 2009.
RAND Summer Institute (RSI).
RSI consists of two annual conferences that address critical issues
facing our aging population. The
ICPSR
Summer Program Workshop In Longitudinal Analysis Of Historical
Demographic Data. July 20 - August 14, 2009.
Gerontological
Society of America Annual meeting will be held
November 18-22, 2009 in Hilton and Marriott Marquis,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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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