Aging

This article presents an up-to-date review of the literature on hormone augmentation in the elderly to help primary care physicians better evaluate and utilize hormone replacement and optimization strategies to benefit their patients. The scientific literature suggests that hormone supplementation with estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, growth hormone, and thyroid hormone has the potential to improve quality of life and to prevent, or reverse, the many symptoms and conditions associated with aging, including fatigue, depression, weight gain,frailty, osteoporosis, loss of libido, and heart disease. Possible long-term side effects are also considered.

Decline in episodic memory is one of the most prominent cognitive deficits seen in late adulthood. It is therefore surprising that few studies have examined how the related capacity for episodic foresight might also be affected in this age group. Preliminary evidence suggests that older adults show deficits in generating phenomenological characteristics of future events, but the critical question of whether such deficits extend to generating and executing appropriate future intentions remains to be addressed. Here, we present 2 studies. In Study 1, we report the results of our pilot testing, which was used to develop and validate stimuli for the first measure of this construct that is appropriate for use in adult populations. In Study 2, we administer this measure to 40 older and 40 younger adults. The results indicate that, relative to their younger counterparts, older adults are less likely to spontaneously acquire items that would later allow a problem to be solved, and are also ...

A lot of later life care is centred on the family. A member of a family, usually an adult daughter or son, informally care for an older parent. Families often include people who are biological kin but who hold a similar status – ‘fictive kin’. For example, a long-term neighbour or friend from school might be known as an Aunty or Uncle. Often the biological child or ‘fictive kin’ is the ‘go-between’ between older parent(s) and formal care services. They perform an essential role in maintaining the dignity and independence of the older person(s) and facilitate access into and out of care services. However, over the last few decades there has been a change in the shape of families. This change is linked to long-term decline in fertility rate, the rise in the age of mortality, economics, increase in divorce rate and stepfamilies. Not only are families smaller than they once were but there is an increase in number of people ageing without children.

Numerose ambivalenze, conflitti interpretativi e problemi di traduzione culturale sorgono
quando si usa il concetto di care. Per l’antropologia medica, esso ha offerto la
possibilità di criticare forme di riduzionismo bio-medico della cura. Allo sviluppo di
questa visione morale ha contribuito l’aumento di malattie croniche per cui non esiste
“cura”, nel senso di guarigione – cure. Allo stesso tempo, il lavoro di cura informale ha
assunto un’importanza strategica nello scenario di ristrutturazione dei servizi pubblici
di assistenza. In questo senso, la visione morale del “prendersi cura” è stata accusata
di distogliere l’attenzione dalle forme di diseguaglianza sociale che si riproducono
nell’ambiente domestico e familiare attraverso la cura stessa.
Attraverso il racconto etnografico di un convegno di antropologia medica a Edimburgo e un’ulteriore riflessione su una ricerca fra un servizio territoriale di assistenza ad anziani e caregiver in Emilia-Romagna, questo articolo offre alcune indicazioni analitiche sull’antropologia del prendersi cura. Sostengo che la distinzione fra “cura” e “prendersi
cura” non rispecchi fino in fondo ciò che c’è davvero in gioco nelle pratiche di assistenza.
Per superare le ambivalenze che derivano dallo stesso linguaggio morale che adotta, è necessario che l’antropologia del prendersi cura sposti l’attenzione sui modi in cui è classificata la relazione fra l’accudimento nella sfera domestica e il sistema istituzionale dei servizi di assistenza. Altrimenti, il rischio è quello di perdere di vista la questione di come, in quali circostanze e con quale sostegno pubblico, vengono assegnate le responsabilità di assistenza.
Parole chiave: caregiving, ambivalenza, morale, assistenza, invecchiamento

Leading biologists and clinicians interested in aging convened to discuss biomarkers of aging. The goals were to come to a consensus, construct an agenda for future research, and make appropriate recommendations to policy makers and the public-at-large. While there was not total agreement on all issues, they addressed a number of questions, among them whether biomarkers can be identified and used to measure the physiological age of any individual within a population, given emerging information about aging and new technological advances. The hurdles to establishing informative biomarkers include the biological variation between individuals that makes generalizations difficult; the overlapping of aging and disease processes; uncertainty regarding benign versus pathogenic age-related changes; the point at which a process begins to do damage to the organism, and, if so, when does it occur; and when to distinguish critical damage from noncritical damage. Finally, and significantly, it is...

Com o fenômeno global do envelhecimento populacional, as atenções recaem na busca da melhoria de qualidade de vida para idosos. A Organização Mundial da Saúde [1] destaca aspectos como transporte, habitação, trabalho, proteção social, serviços de saúde e cuidados de longo prazo. Assim, o conceito Cohousing vem ao encontro do Envelhecimento Saudável, otimizando a capacidade funcional do idoso, permitindo-o realizar tarefas que lhe sejam importantes [1]. As Cohousings são comunidades intencionais surgidas em 1972 na Dinamarca [2], resgatando valores de comunidade e estilos de vida saudáveis. As Senior Cohousings, destinadas a maiores de 50 anos, favorecem o acesso a cuidados intensivos de saúde, autonomia e convivência social, representando diferentes significados e experiências nos campos físico, psicológico e social [3]. No Brasil, a internet vem auxiliando na informação e na organização social de grupos com afinidades e objetivos comuns [4]. De 2011 a 2013, o número de idosos brasileiros utilizando redes sociais, especialmente sites de relacionamento, aumentou 39,3% [5]. Esse perfil do “novo idoso” integra o conceito do Envelhecimento Ativo, um processo de otimização das oportunidades de saúde, participação e segurança. Estudos anteriores revelam traços do perfil dos moradores mais velhos das cohousings na Suécia [6] e identificam diretrizes projetuais através do processo participativo com futuros moradores no Brasil, porém sem foco etário [2]. O artigo objetiva traçar um perfil dos possíveis futuros usuários idosos dessas comunidades, pelo acompanhamento de postagens e comentários espontâneos em redes sociais e sites, buscando (i) identificar as razões que levariam adultos mais velhos a viver em cohousings no Brasil e (ii) avaliar a importância de fatores físicos, psicológicos e sociais nesta escolha. Para isso, realizou-se uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre cohousing, psicologia ambiental e idosos e análise de conteúdo [7] em sites com grupos brasileiros da rede social Facebook que tenham como tema cohousing e participantes idosos interessados em adotar este modo de habitação. A análise, feita a partir de palavras-chave, identifica aspectos do significado da casa: Psicológica, Social, Econômica, Material, Temporal e Tempo- Espaço [3]. Partindo dos resultados obtidos através da categorização das palavras chaves dentro das 6 dimensões analisadas conclui-se que existe uma maior ocorrência de intensões a respeito de moradias compartilhadas dentro de duas categorias em especial: material e psicológica. As expectativas por parte dos relatos dentro da dimensão psicológica são quase tão importantes quanto as expectativas na material. Essa busca por amparo psicológico em seu ambiente de moradia, pode ser creditada a perdas nas capacidades físicas, cognitivas e sociais, levando a um estreitamento da inserção social dos idosos e um consequente sentimento de abandono e solidão [8]. Também relevante, é a presença maior de depoimentos femininos, totalizando 90,47% dentre os coletados. Uma das hipóteses para essa ocorrência maior entre mulheres é a busca por afirmação de independência [6]. O perfil do novo idoso dentro do conceito de Envelhecimento Ativo, auxilia na compreensão do aumento da procura por moradias alternativas, especialmente pelas cohousing, pois a organização deste tipo de comunidade, reforça os valores buscados por este novo perfil, presentes nos depoimentos dos idosos analisados.

La loi sur l'adaptation de la société française au vieillissement de 2015  se veut porteuse d’un changement de regard sur la vieillesse. La loi propose d’abord une redéfinition de la population visée : des vieux aux personnes vieillissantes. Ce n’est plus la vieillesse, fraction des classes d’âge élevés, paupérisée, féminisée, mal logée, en mauvaise santé, désocialisée et à la citoyenneté palliative qu’il s’agit prendre en charge économiquement, socialement et médicalement et d’accompagner jusqu’à la mort dans la dignité par des politiques spécifiques. À présent le gouvernement du grand âge concerne tous les secteurs d’action publique et toute la population. Le secteur associatif à but lucratif ou non et les entreprises qui commercialisent des produits issus des biotechnologies sont invitées à développer de nouveaux services et produits marchands en direction des âgées. Le nouveau référentiel entend s’adresser aux personnes âgées d’aujourd’hui et surtout à celles de demain. Ce n’est pas tant un groupe d’âge qu’une collection d’individus asexués et sans condition socio-économico-culturelle définie, présentée comme des personnes aux parcours de vie différenciés qu’il vise. La nouvelle politique de la vieillesse leur demande d’adapter, leurs conduites, celles de leur entourage, leurs logements, à leur condition de minoritaires inhérente à l’âge et à préparer leur fin de vie, en les accompagnant dans ce processus. Le nouveau dispositif entend infléchir le référentiel des politiques socio-sanitaires de lutte contre la perte d’autonomie/dépendance pour amplifier les retombées du modèle bio-médico-technique économiquement porteur du « bien vieillir » qui s’est progressivement instauré depuis la fin des années 1990. Il s’agit désormais non seulement de mieux compenser les incapacités mais surtout de repousser le moment de leur apparition.

Sažetak Proces starenja sa sobom nosi niz promjena, a sve veća pozornost pridodaje se aspektima koji utječu na unutarnju ravnotežu pojedinca. Okolinski čimbenici, kvaliteta života, socijalna podrška i stupanj zadovoljstva životom imaju značajan utjecaj na razinu doživljenog stresa. Istraživanja su pokazala da stariji ljudi ne reagiraju bitno drugačije na stresne situacije od mlađih ljudi. Otežana prilagodba na nove osobito teže uvjete života može dovesti do gubitka osjećaja kontorole, a sekundarno i samopoštovanja. Najznačajniji ovakav događaj je umirovljenje koje za većinu predstavlja stresan period ponajviše zbog promjena u financijskom statusu. Starije osobe često osjećaju tjeskobu zbog nesigurne budućnosti, napetost, nervozu, zbunjenost, preosjetljivost, nepovjerenje u druge osobe i slično. Ovdje je uočena velika uloga socijalne podrške koja pruža oslonac tijekom stresnog perioda no ima i ključnu ulogu u sprječavanju nastajanja istog. Problemi prilagodbe na nove životne situacije su izraženiji zbog narušenih tjelesnih i psihičkih sposobnosti. Istraživanja pokazuju da 11% muškaraca i 25% žena u dobi od 60 do 75 godina uzima neki od benzodijazepina. Utvrđeni su brojni izravni mehanizmi djelovanja stresa na pojedine organske funkcije i sustave, kao i indirektni utjecaji stresa na zdravlje putem djelovanja stresa na povećanje rizičnog ponašanja. Metode i ispitanici Interno izrađenim upitnikom ispitano je 94 starijih osoba, od toga 39 muškaraca i 55 žena. Prosječa dob bila je 67.3 godine. Upitnik je bio u potpunosti anoniman i sastojao se od deset specifičnih pitanja zatvorenog tipa te je ukupan rezultat izražen u postotcima. Cilj istraživanja Cilj ovog istraživačkog rada bio je procjeniti učestalost pojave stresa kod starijih osoba te procjeniti koje su to za njih najstresnije situacije. Rezultati Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da ispitanici osjećaju znatnu razinu stresa koja se odražava na njihovo psihičko i fizičko stanje. 53% ispitanika muške populacije redovito se nalazi u nekoj stresnoj situaciji dok je udio svakodnevnog stesa kod ispitanica čak 75%. Kao najveća stresna situacija za ispitanike oba spola predstavlja gubitak voljene osobe (67%), a druga najčešća stresna situacija je bolest ili bespomoćnost. Podršku obitelji u bilo kojem trenutku ima njih samo 38%.

Methylphenidate (MPH), a stimulant drug with dopamine and noradrenaline reuptake inhibition properties, is mainly prescribed in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is increasingly used by the general population, intending to enhance their cognitive function. In this literature review, we aim to answer whether this is effective. We present a novel way to determine the extent to which MPH enhances cognitive performance in a certain domain. Namely, we quantify this by a percentage that reflects the number of studies showing performance enhancing effects of MPH. To evaluate whether the dose-response relationship follows an inverted-U-shaped curve, MPH effects on cognition are also quantified for low, medium and high doses, respectively. The studies reviewed here show that single doses of MPH improve cognitive performance in the healthy population in the domains of working memory (65% of included studies) and speed of processing (48%), and to a lesser extent may also improve verbal...

ABSTRACT. Systems theory has been extensively used by social work practitioners to conceptualize an array of social and psychological problems at the level of clinical practice. Systems theory is complex and this complexity is believed to be advantageous for investigating the roots ...

Impaired endogenous stem cell repair capacity is hypothesized to be a biologic basis of frailty. Therapies that restore regenerative capacity may therefore be beneficial. This Phase 1 study evaluated the safety and potential efficacy of intravenous, allogeneic, human mesenchymal stem cell (allo-hMSC)-based therapy in patients with aging frailty. In this nonrandomized, dose-escalation study, patients received a single intravenous infusion of allo-hMSCs: 20-million (n = 5), 100-million (n = 5), or 200-million cells (n = 5). The primary endpoint was incidence of any treatment-emergent serious adverse events measured at 1 month postinfusion. The secondary endpoints were functional efficacy domains and inflammatory biomarkers, measured at 3 and 6 months, respectively. There were no treatment-emergent serious adverse events at 1-month postinfusion or significant donor-specific immune reactions during the first 6 months. There was one death at 258 days postinfusion in the 200-million group...

Senescence marker protein-30/gluconolactonase knockout mice (SMP-30/GNL-KO) are a very useful model for clarifying the involvement of vitamin C (VC) in aging-related diseases. In this study, the effects of VC deficiency on skin and hair growth were investigated using SMP-30/GNL-KO mice by RNA sequencing. SMP-30/GNL-KO mice were given water containing 1.5 g/l VC until up to 8 weeks after birth to maintain a VC concentration in their organs and plasma equivalent to that in wild-type mice. The mice were then divided into two groups: a VC(+) group, where VC was administered, and a VC(-) group, where VC was not administered. Skin samples were collected at 4 and 8 weeks after the treatment. RNA was extracted from each skin sample, followed by cDNA synthesis and RNA-seq. In addition, hair growth was compared between the VC(-) and VC(+) groups after shaving. Skin samples were collected from the shaved area for histological examination by hematoxylin & eosin (HE) staining. RNA-seq revealed t...

SUMMARY The duration of electrocardiograph wave forms and intervals were determined in 179 Spanish-bred (Andalusian) horses aged from 1 month to 17 years. The values were compared with those of other breeds, and the relationship between electrocardiographic data and age was examined. High correlation coefficients were found between PR, ST and QT intervals and the age of the horses, and an inverted relation between heart rate and age was found. A multiple range analysis was made and the results suggest that significant changes in duration values and heart rate ocurred at the age of 6 months and in the second year of life.