Healthy Aging | ScienceDaily

Good news for those of us who can't face the day without their morning flat white: a long-term study has revealed drinking higher amounts of coffee may make you less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

A team of evolutionary biologists and biomedical researchers lay out evolutionary and biomedical evidence showing that humans, who evolved to live many decades after they stopped reproducing, also evolved to be relatively active in their later years. The researchers say that physical activity later in life shifts energy away from processes that can compromise health and toward mechanisms in the body that extend it. They hypothesize that humans evolved to remain physically active as they age -- and in doing so to allocate energy to physiological processes that slow the body's gradual deterioration over the years. This guards against chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and even some cancers.

Eliminating old, dysfunctional cells in human fat also alleviates signs of diabetes, researchers report. The discovery could lead to new treatments for Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

Researchers presented new insights for improving the health span by just regulating the activity of a protein. A research group has identified a single amino acid change in the tumor suppressor protein phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) that dramatically extends healthy periods while maintaining longevity.

Molecular changes within the aging brains of individuals with Down syndrome could help explain why these individuals tend to develop Alzheimer's later in life, says new research.

Investigators found elevated levels of tau and a phosphorylated form of the tau protein in brain tissue from deceased people who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and carried a mutation in the C9orf72 gene. The team also identified new genetic mutations in the tau gene that may exacerbate ALS onset or progression. Tau in the cerebrospinal fluid may be a viable biomarker for ALS because levels correlate with disease progression.

New research has shown the drug losartan, normally used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension), is not effective in slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in people with mild-to-moderate disease after 12 months of treatment. However, the drug could still be of benefit if prescribed for longer and if given to people with very early disease.

The researchers are now calling for these long-term health effects to be considered when young people and their families discuss treatment options with their healthcare team initially. The study found that people who survived cancer had five times as many GP or hospital visits relating to cardiovascular disease by age 45, as a matched control group of people who had not had cancer early in life. They also had much higher numbers of healthcare visits relating to infections, disorders of the immune system, and subsequent cancers.

A new study suggests that enlargement of stem cells contributes to age-related decline in function. The researchers found that blood stem cells, which are among the smallest cells in the body, lose their ability to perform their normal function -- replenishing the body's blood cells -- as they grow larger. When the cells were restored to their usual size, they behaved normally again.

In a groundbreaking study of people living with HIV, researchers found that elusive white blood cells called neutrophils play a role in impaired T cell functions and counts, as well as the associated chronic inflammation that is common with the virus.

New research suggests there may someday be a role for ibuprofen in providing older adults with lasting immunity against RSV, a virus commonly associated with infants and young kids that also rivals the flu as a dangerous wintertime infection for the elderly.

Researchers have demonstrated that repeated listening to personally meaningful music induces beneficial brain plasticity in patients with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease.

Despite the belief that early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias is crucial, a new study found that the diagnosis may unintentionally impact social relationships and activity.

Cancer researchers show for the first time that cellular senescence, which occurs when aging cells stop dividing, is caused by irreversible damage to the genome rather than simply by telomere erosion.

Dasatinib, a drug that often is used to treat certain types of leukemia, may have antidiabetic effects comparable to medications used to treat diabetes, and with more research may become a novel therapy for diabetic patients, according to new research.

In just a few weeks a completely new organism develops from a fertilized egg cell. The real miracle is that a bunch of identical stem cells turns into completely different, specialized cell types. A team has now been able to show that the specialization of individual cells during embryonic development is not, as previously assumed, exclusively left to chance but is rather determined by cell communication.

When immune cells move throughout the brain, they act as the first line of defense against viruses, toxic materials and damaged neurons, rushing over to clear out them. Researchers have been investigating how these immune cells in the brain -- microglia -- relate to a gene mutation recently found in Alzheimer's disease patients.

Researchers found that glatiramer acetate, a prescription drug currently used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis, improved memory in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

A landmark study of more than 18,000 Americans and Australians over 70 years of age reveals that 3.5 to 7 average drinks of alcohol a week is more protective against heart disease and in fact all-cause mortality - compared to those who drank no alcohol.

The drop in estrogen levels that occurs with menopause brings declines in the volumes of 'gray matter,' the cellular matter of the brain, in key brain regions that are also affected in Alzheimer's disease. But a new study suggests that greater cumulative exposure to estrogen in life, for example from having had more children or from having taken menopause hormone therapy, may counter this brain-shrinking effect.