Populuaton Studies

The Health of Millennials

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The Health of Millennials — https://www.bcbs.com/the-health-of-america/reports/the-health-of-millennials

YIKES!

Social Isolation and Dementia Risk

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A study by Huang and colleagues is the first nationally representative cohort study examining the association between social isolation and incident dementia for older adults in community dwelling settings. A cohort of 5,022 older adults participating in the National Health and Aging Trends Study was followed from 2011 to 2020. When adjusting for demographic and health factors, including race, level of education, and number of chronic health conditions, socially isolated adults had a greater risk of developing dementia, compared with adults who were not socially isolated (hazard ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.08 – 1.49). Potential mechanisms to explain this association include the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and depression in older adults who are socially isolated, thereby increasing dementia risk.

Mengru Wang. Geriatrician Advises on Use of Vitamin D Supplementation, Lecanemab, and Social Media for Her Patients – Medscape – Jan 20, 2023 — https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/987285?src=rss#vp_2

One week ago we had our older adult friends over for dinner. Midweek my wife went out with her friends while I gathered with my friends. Last night was date night and we got out of the house. This evening we’re having dinner at a friend’s house.

Dementia risk reduction activities!

Variation in cardiovascular disease risk factors among older adults in the Hunter Community Study cohort: A comparison of diet quality versus polygenic risk score — Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Notes

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The study of Reay and colleagues was an analysis of data from a subset (n=1703) of the Hunter Community Study cohort, comprising 3253 Australian men and women aged 55-85 at recruitment (between 2004 and 2007). Across the cohort there were 138 participants self-reporting that they suffered angina, 176 atrial fibrillation, 689 high cholesterol, 758 hypertension, 129 a heart attack and 164 an arterial bypass surgery. The CVD phenotypes data had a large number of missing data points (only 1678 subjects responding).

…the ARFS (Australian Recommended Food Score) data suggest that dietary quality was poor across the whole cohort. In the absence of a wide distribution of diet quality it is difficult to evaluate the relationship of diet with disease endpoints (i.e. without a lot of participants consuming a healthy diet it is impossible to detect the effects of a healthy diet on lipids and CVD outcomes)

Variation in cardiovascular disease risk factors among older adults in the Hunter Community Study cohort: A comparison of diet quality versus polygenic risk score — Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Notes

Study shortcomings noted. I am still planning on stir fried veggies with brown rice and Thai sauce for dinner tonight despite not knowing my exact CVD genetic risk.

Dinner. (There’s a fried egg hiding on the bottom of the bowl).

Thinking About a Booster Shot?

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Waning Immunity after the BNT162b2 Vaccine in Israel – https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2114228?af=R&rss=currentIssue

The graph shows increases in the numbers of daily severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and new cases of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), on different scales, during the delta variant wave among persons who had received two doses of vaccine.

Waning Immunity after the BNT162b2 Vaccine in Israel – https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2114228?af=R&rss=currentIssue

It may be real nerdy but I like to do my research.

Africa’s Covid-19 Death Rate

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The most widely accepted factor is Africa’s youthful population. Only about 3 per cent of Africans are over the age of 65, the age group in which illness and death from the coronavirus are most common. (By comparison, about 18 per cent of Canada’s population is over the age of 65.)

Africa’s low COVID-19 death rate has multiple causes, WHO says — https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-africas-low-covid-19-death-rate-has-multiple-causes-who-says/
  • Case fatality rate of 2.4
  • lower testing rates
  • youthful population
  • 90% of cases in people <65 years of age
  • more rural areas, more time outdoors
  • strict lock downs early
  • poor road network, limited international flights

Trends in excess mortality associated with atrial fibrillation over 45 years (Framingham Heart Study)

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Conclusions

We found no evidence of a temporal trend in hazard ratios between newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation and all cause mortality. The hazard ratios for non-cardiovascular death declined over time but no evidence of a temporal trend for cardiovascular death was found. Mortality associated with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation remained high compared with individuals without atrial fibrillation, despite showing some improvements over the past 45 years. More than 10 years after a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, individuals with atrial fibrillation lose about two years of life compared with matched referents.

BMJ 2020; 370 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2724 (Published 11 August 2020)

Cite this as: BMJ 2020;370:m2724

Happy Older Asians Live Longer

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Happy older people live longer, according to researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. In a study published today in Age and Ageing, the scientific journal of the British Geriatrics Society, the authors found that an increase in happiness is directly proportional with a reduction in mortality.

This is one of the few Asian studies to have assessed the association between happiness and mortality among older people, while accounting for several social factors, such as loneliness and social network, therefore extending the generalisability of the findings to non-Western populations.

Stay happy my friends.  Check out the entire article here.

Healthy Lifestyle May Increase Lifespan by 7 Years

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Current US life expectancy is 78 years for men and 82 years for women, but for the low-risk group in this study, life expectancies were 85 and 89 years, respectively.

Source: Healthy Lifestyle May Increase Lifespan by 7 Years

Source: A healthy lifestyle increases life expectancy by up to seven years: Maintaining a normal weight, not smoking, and drinking alcohol at moderate levels are factors that add healthy years to life — ScienceDaily

I should have saved more, invested better, and not spent so much money on the kids.