PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Yale study tracks factors leading to physical decline in older adults

2010-11-03
(Press-News.org) A study by Yale School of Medicine researchers reveals that the illnesses and injuries that can restrict the activity of older adults or land them in the hospital are linked to worsening functional ability, especially among those who are physically frail. The report appears in JAMA's November 3 theme issue on aging.

Thomas M. Gill, M.D., the Humana Foundation Professor of internal medicine (geriatrics), investigative medicine and epidemiology and public health at Yale, will present the findings at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club November 2 at 10 a.m.

"We now have a much better understanding of the complex and highly dynamic disabling process," said Gill, who is also an attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Among older adults, disability in essential activities of daily living, such as bathing, and dressing, is common and associated with an increased rate of death, institutionalization, and greater use of formal and informal home services. But many older adults also recover from disabilities. Gill points to high rates of recovery and frequent transitions between states of disability, but he said the role of intervening illnesses and injuries on these transitions was little understood until this study shed some light on it.

Gill and his co-authors followed 754 adults age 70 and older living in the Greater New Haven area, with monthly phone interviews for over 10 years starting in 1998. The team assessed disability and ascertained exposure to intervening illnesses and injuries. Physical frailty—slow walking speed—was assessed every 18 months for nine years. The team evaluated the relationship between two types of intervening events—hospitalization and restricted activity, and transitions between no disability, mild disability, severe disability and death.

The team found that among the 637 participants, who had at least one functional transition, 90.7 percent had at least one hospital admission and 94.3 percent had at least one month of restricted activity. Hospitalization was associated with disability for eight of the nine transitions.

Among the possible reasons for hospitalization or restricted activity, fall-related injury led to the highest likelihood of developing new or worsening disability.

Gill notes that despite the reductions observed in the prevalence of disability over the past two decades, the number of disabled older Americans could increase substantially in the coming years with the aging of the baby boom generation. "To address this increase, more aggressive efforts will be needed to prevent and manage intervening illnesses and injuries, given their apparent role in precipitating and perpetuating the disabling process," said Gill.

### Co-authors on the study include Heather G. Allore, Evelyne A. Gahbauer, M.D. and Terrence E. Murphy.

The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging and was conducted at the Yale Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center.

Citation: JAMA Vol. 304 No. 17 (November 3, 2010)

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Macrophage protein has major role in inflammation

2010-11-03
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a multi-tasking protein called FoxO1 has another important but previously unknown function: It directly interacts with macrophages, promoting an inflammatory response that can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes. Contrarily, it also generates a negative feedback loop that can limit damage from excessive inflammation. The findings by Jerrold M. Olefsky, MD, Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs and professor of Medicine, and colleagues are published in the November 2 issue ...

Study provides treatment hope for long term effects of brain trauma

2010-11-03
Brain damage continues to develop and evolve for months after a traumatic brain injury (TBI), revealing a potential target for treatments to improve brain trauma, new research led by the University of Melbourne, Australia has found. The study funded by the Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative is published in the latest issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM). Around 400,000 Australians have a disability related to traumatic brain injury with cognitive, psychiatric and epileptic problems the most common symptoms. The major cause of TBI is motor vehicle accidents. ...

Could 'low risk' pregnancies in the Netherlands be more dangerous for newborn babies?

2010-11-03
While the risk remains low the authors are surprised at the results and say "a critical evaluation of the obstetrical care system in the Netherlands is urgently required." Despite the high level of medical care in the Netherlands, the perinatal mortality rate (death of fetus or new born baby) is one of the highest in Europe, says the study. The management of childbirth delivery in the Netherlands is divided into two independent systems – midwife-led care for low risk pregnancies and obstetrician-led care for high-risk pregnancies. This differs to all other obstetric ...

Do holes make moles?

2010-11-03
The mysterious origins of Australia's bizarre and secretive marsupial moles have been cast in a whole new and unexpected light with the first discovery in the fossil record of one of their ancestors. The find reveals a remarkable journey through time, place and lifestyle: living marsupial moles are blind, earless and live underground in the deserts of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia, yet their ancestors lived in lush rainforest far away in north Queensland. In the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a team led by Professor Mike ...

Lactate in the brain reveals aging process

2010-11-03
Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have shown that they may be able to monitor the aging process in the brain, by using MRI technique to measure the brain lactic acid levels. Their findings suggest that the lactate levels increase in advance of other aging symptoms, and therefore could be used as an indicator of aging and age-related diseases of the CNS. "It's exciting to think that we are one step closer to understanding what happens as the brain ages, and how a change of brain metabolism may be important during the onset of age-related ...

Study shows how ancient plants and soil fungi turned the Earth green

2010-11-03
A new breakthrough by scientists at the University of Sheffield has shed light on how the Earth's first plants began to colonise the land over 470 million years ago by forming a partnership with soil fungi. The research, which was published today (2 November 2010) in Nature Communications, has provided essential missing evidence showing that an ancient plant group worked together with soil-dwelling fungi to 'green' the Earth in the early Palaeozoic era, nearly half a billion years ago. The research, which also involved experts from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Imperial ...

Hostile environments encourage political action in immigrant communities

2010-11-03
A new study from North Carolina State University finds that anti-immigrant practices – such as anti-immigrant legislation or protests – are likely to backfire, and spur increased political action from immigrant communities. The study examined political activity in 52 metropolitan areas across the United States. "U.S. Census data indicate that 60 percent of the foreign-born in the U.S. are not citizens," says Dr. Kim Ebert, an assistant professor of sociology and co-author of a paper describing the research. "Non-citizens can't vote, so we wanted to determine how they ...

Breast cancer survivors often rate post-treatment breast appearance only 'fair'

2010-11-03
SAN DIEGO -- A third of breast cancer survivors who received the breast-conserving treatments lumpectomy and radiation rate the appearance of their post-treatment breast as only "fair" or "poor" in comparison to their untreated breast, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study that will be presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in San Diego. In addition, one fifth of patients report complications including chronic pain in their breast or arm and loss of arm or shoulder flexibility following ...

Language intervention provides educational benefits for preschool children

2010-11-03
A pre-school language intervention programme can significantly improve the educational lives of children with poorly developed speech and language skills, according to new research by psychologists at the University of York. In the Language 4 Reading project, a team from the University's Department of Psychology at the University of York have evaluated the benefits of a pre-school language intervention programme for children who enter school with poorly developed speech and language skills. The project, which involved 15 schools and feeder-nurseries across Yorkshire, ...

BMJ investigation raises concerns about the post-approval surveillance of medical devices

2010-11-03
The report by Jeanne Lenzer, a medical investigative journalist in New York, and Shannon Brownlee from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in New Hampshire, looks at the FDA's approval of a device to prevent or reduce seizures in patients with epilepsy who do not respond to drug treatment. The device, manufactured by Cyberonics, is implanted under the skin and sends electrical impulses to stimulate the vagus nerve in the neck. It was approved by the FDA in 1997 on the condition that Cyberonics carried out a post-approval study to examine the ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Antimicrobial resistance genes hitch rides on imported seafood

New way to find “aged” cells marks fresh approach for research into ageing

From blood sugar to brain relief: GLP-1 therapy slashes migraine frequency

Variability in heart rate during sleep may reveal early signs of stroke, depression or cognitive dysfunction, new study shows

New method to study catalysts could lead to better batteries

Current Molecular Pharmacology impact factor rises to 2.9, achieving Q2 ranking in the Pharmacology & Pharmacy category in 2024 JCR

More time with loved ones for cancer patients spared radiation treatment

New methods speed diagnosis of rare genetic disease

Genetics of cardiomyopathy risk in cancer survivors differ by age of onset

Autism inpatient collection releases genetic, phenotypic data for more than 1,500 children with autism

Targeting fusion protein’s role in childhood leukemia produces striking results

Clear understanding of social connections propels strivers up the social ladder

New research reveals why acute and chronic pain are so different – and what might make pain last

Stable cooling fostered life, rapid warming brought death: scientists use high-resolution fusuline data reveal evolutionary responses to cooling and warming

New research casts doubt on ancient drying of northern Africa’s climate

Study identifies umbilical cord blood biomarkers of early onset sepsis in preterm newborns

AI development: seeking consistency in logical structures

Want better sleep for your tween? Start with their screens

Cancer burden in neighborhoods with greater racial diversity and environmental burden

Alzheimer disease in breast cancer survivors

New method revolutionizes beta-blocker production process

Mechanism behind life-threatening cancer drug side-effect revealed

Weighted vests might help older adults meet weight loss goals, but solution for corresponding bone loss still elusive

Scientists find new way to predict how bowel cancer drugs will stop working – paving the way for smarter treatments

Breast cancer patients’ microbiome may hold key to avoiding damaging heart side-effects of cancer therapies

Exercise-induced protein revives aging muscles and bones

American College of Cardiology issues guidance on weight management drugs

Understanding the effect of bedding on thermal insulation during sleep

Cosmic signal from the very early universe will help astronomers detect the first stars

With AI, researchers find increasing immune evasion in H5N1

[Press-News.org] Yale study tracks factors leading to physical decline in older adults