Good Stuff To Know February 2017

* ** Highlights * * * 

Out in the cold: Why are the oldest people the most excluded?  *** Acid suppression medications linked to serious gastrointestinal infections  *** Older adults with arthritis need just 45 minutes of activity per week  *** Why high-dose vitamin C kills cancer cells  *** Older, fitter adults experience greater brain activity while learning  *** Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging -Older women with low physical activity and 10 hours of daily sit time had even ‘older’ cells *** When The Brain Scrambles Names, It’s Because You Love Them *** Financial ties of principal investigators and randomized controlled trial outcomes *** Direct link between sexual objectification of girls, aggression towards them

 

Out in the cold: Why are the oldest people the most excluded?

People over the age of 85 are significantly more likely to suffer social exclusion than those in the 65 to 84-year-old bracket, according to new research. In a study of 10,000 people aged over 65, social policy researchers found the ‘oldest old’ — those 85 and over — have more trouble accessing services such as healthcare and food shops, with 16 percent reporting ‘significant’ problems, compared with only four percent of their younger counterparts.

Acid suppression medications linked to serious gastrointestinal infections

In a population-based study from Scotland, use of commonly-prescribed acid suppression medications such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) (Prilosec, Prevacid)  was linked with an increased risk of intestinal infections with C. difficile and Campylobacter bacteria, which can cause considerable illness.

Older adults with arthritis need just 45 minutes of activity per week

Older adults who suffer from arthritis need to keep moving to be functionally independent. But in an examination of a goal that is daunting for most of this aging population, a new study found that performing even a third (45 minutes) of the recommended activity is beneficial, and those who did improved function in their lower arthritic limbs by 80 percent.

Why high-dose vitamin C kills cancer cells

Cancer researchers have homed in on how high-dose vitamin C kills cancer cells. Vitamin C breaks down to generate hydrogen peroxide, which can damage tissue and DNA. The new study shows that tumor cells with low levels of catalase enzyme activity are much less capable of removing hydrogen peroxide than normal cells, and are more susceptible to damage and death when they are exposed to high doses of vitamin C.

Older, fitter adults experience greater brain activity while learning

Older adults who experience good cardiac fitness may be also keeping their brains in good shape as well. In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, older adults who scored high on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) tests performed better on memory tasks than those who had low CRF. Further, the more fit older adults were, the more active their brain was during learning.

Too much sitting, too little exercise may accelerate biological aging -Older women with low physical activity and 10 hours of daily sit time had even ‘older’ cells

Elderly women who sit for more than 10 hours a day with low physical activity have cells that are biologically older than their chronological age by eight years compared to women who are less sedentary, research shows.

When The Brain Scrambles Names, It’s Because You Love Them

Most everyone sometimes mixes up the names of family and friends. Their findings were published in the journal Memory & Cognition. “It’s a normal cognitive glitch,”

Financial ties of principal investigators and randomized controlled trial outcomes

Financial ties of principal investigators were independently associated with positive clinical trial results. These findings may be suggestive of bias in the evidence base.

(Editor note: There has always been talk of financial influence in the approval process of drugs and this piece supports the contention that financial influence exists. Not a consumer benefit!)

Direct link between sexual objectification of girls, aggression towards them

There is a direct relation between the sexual objectification of girls and aggression towards them, research by psychologists at the University of Kent has shown.

The findings showed that the objectification-aggression link manifests itself at least as early as the teenage years, leading to the suggestion that the detrimental effects of perceiving females as objects begin at an early stage of development. The study also suggests that the factors that might allow objectification to influence children — such as violent video games or sexist media — poses a potentially serious risk of increasing anti-social acts towards girls.