older age

Protein Blobs!

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

The African turquoise killifish lives in transitory ponds in East Africa that form during the rainy season. As the fish nears the end of its 4- to 6-month life, it develops a range of age-related diseases, including cataracts and brain-related changes that resemble neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s in humans. Its brief life span — much shorter than that of a lab mouse, for example — and rapid natural aging make it an ideal model for studying aging in vertebrates. The Stanford team conducted an extensive analysis of the proteins in killifish at various stages of youth and maturity. In the aging killifish, they discovered protein aggregates in all the tissues that they looked at: not only the brain but also the heart, gut, liver, muscle, skin and testis. More than half of the aggregating proteins seemed to show an intrinsic tendency to aggregate in further experiments.

Protein Blobs Linked to Alzheimer’s Affect Aging in All Cells — https://www.quantamagazine.org/protein-blobs-linked-to-alzheimers-affect-aging-in-all-cells-20220628
Photo Credit: MDI Biological Laboratory; Itamar Harel

Fascinating article. And regarding the video clip, sorry I couldn’t resist.

The Labor Force Refuses to Grow – Age Discrimination?

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Ageism?

Ageism is a real problem. And it could also be responsible for the low labor force getting stuck at this level. Boomers are now between around 56 and 76. This is a huge generation. And in tech, when the hiring manager is 32, and you’re 56, it’s tough getting that job. And when you’re 62, it’s even tougher just to get anyone’s attention. Some succeed. But many don’t.

Many of these people, often with a superb job history, may never get a job in their field again. Many of them made enough money to where they don’t have to work. They’d like to work, but it’s tough getting ignored or rejected time after time because of age.

And they give up “actively” looking for a job, and thereby they’re removed from the labor force. They were dropped from the labor force due to ageism, not because they wanted to retire. And they might tell everyone, after they give up looking, that they’re “retired,” when in fact, they’d love to work in their field but are locked out.

I Want to Add a Word about Ageism in this Bizarre Labor Market and How it Hits Labor Force & Unemployment Numbers — https://wolfstreet.com/2022/07/08/i-want-to-add-a-word-about-ageism-in-this-bizarre-labor-market-and-how-it-hits-labor-force-unemployment-numbers/

The entire post from Mr. Wolf is worth reading. Obviously there is no data to support ageism as one of the causes for the lack of labor force growth. But it certainly is an interesting hunch.

At last count there were 240 comments on this article.

Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-houston-we-ve-had-a-problem

I Have Contracted COVID: Details of My Date with SARS-CoV2 — The Skeptical Cardiologist

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The skeptical cardiologist has contracted what the CDC would define as a “mild” case of COVID-19. Had I not received my second COVID vaccine booster recently my condition likely would be worse. With the emergence of the more highly transmissible omicron variant it became clear in December (as noted by the AP) that all of…

I Have Contracted COVID: Details of My Date with SARS-CoV2 — The Skeptical Cardiologist

Thank you Dr. Pearson for sharing your story. I absolutely hated clicking the “like” button and to be clear, I liked your article and did not like the fact you fell ill. Get well soon.

Thinking About Retirement (or just another fine Saturday Morning)

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Andel’s suggestion to anyone contemplating retirement: “Find a new routine that’s meaningful.” He points to people living in the Blue Zones, regions of the world that have been identified to be home to a greater number of residents who’ve reached the age of 100 and beyond. One of the common characteristics among Blue Zone inhabitants is, says Andel, “these people all have purpose.”

Think Retirement Is Smooth Sailing? A Look at Its Potential Effects on the Brain — https://getpocket.com/read/2840794990

The funny thing about life at “retirement age” and still working is you think about retirement a lot.

Since I still work a full time job I have a lot of trouble envisioning what my retirement will look like.

After reading this article and listening to Andel’s short talk I am now scared of retirement.

I need to figure out how to avoid brain rot. But my journal tells me I already have.

My Purpose is to educate others on diet and disease, weight loss and weight management by sharing my personal journey through writing and other teaching activities.

Combination of biomarkers can identify common cognitive disease — Health Secrets of a SuperAger

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In recent years, subcortical small-vessel disease has become an increasingly common cognitive diagnosis. Researchers at University of Gothenburg have now shown that it is possible to identify patients with the disease by combining two biomarkers that are measured in spinal fluid and blood, increasing the potential for both treatment and development of medication. Photo by […]

Combination of biomarkers can identify common cognitive disease — Health Secrets of a SuperAger

I found a blogger who is older than me.

Hell yeah I’m gonna follow him.

Cluttered Memories From a Lifetime of Knowledge

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As we age, many of us have difficulty retrieving memories. Researchers propose an explanation for why this might be happening: the brains of older adults allocate more space to accumulated knowledge and have more material to navigate when attempting to access memories.

Cell Press. “Lifetime of knowledge can clutter memories of older adults.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220211111852.htm (accessed February 11, 2022).

But this still doesn’t explain why I can’t remember where I put my coffee cup.

Fatigue and Higher Mortality

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Glynn and her colleagues administered the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale to 2,906 participants aged 60 or older in the Long Life Family Study, an international study that follows family members across two generations. Participants ranked from 0 to 5 how tired they thought or imagined that certain activities — such as a leisurely 30-minute walk, light housework or heavy gardening — would make them. Follow-up for this work concluded at the end of 2019, to avoid any increased mortality impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, which gave the team an average of 2.7 years of data on each participant. After accounting for a variety of factors that influence mortality, such as depression, pre-existing or underlying terminal illness, age and gender, the team found that participants who scored 25 points or higher on the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale were 2.3 times more likely to die in the 2.7 years after completing the scale, compared to their counterparts who scored below 25.

University of Pittsburgh. “Feelings of fatigue predict early death in older adults.” ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220124084616.htm (accessed January 27, 2022).

The App That Helps Me Be a More Patient Centered Physician — A Country Doctor Writes:

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One of the most rewarding things I do in my clinic happens on my iPhone. When I sit down with a middle aged patient to talk about their cardiovascular risk, I open the risk calculator created by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. I talk my way through as I enter […]

The App That Helps Me Be a More Patient Centered Physician — A Country Doctor Writes:

The risk calculator is quite useful but I re-blogged this post for its link to the Hale study, which was news to me. This study published in 2004 showed older people between the ages of 70 and 90 who followed a Mediterranean diet have 50% lower rate of all-cause and cause-specific mortality than people who dine on the SAD Western diet. The four primary risk factors were diet, moderate alcohol intake, physical activity, and non-smoking.

Lifestyle matters.