Protein intake, muscle mass, ageing

A March 2020 study by the University of Birmingham said,

• "We know that older people show a blunted response to muscle building when consuming a certain amount of protein. Therefore, older individuals need to eat more protein to get the same muscle building response as younger and middle-aged people."

• "Another way to help muscles make better use of dietary protein is to perform regular exercise".

• "Most people are reaching the Recommended Daily Allowance of protein, but our results show that a one-size-fits-all guideline for protein intake isn't appropriate across all age groups. Simply saying older people should eat more protein isn't really enough either. We need a more sophisticated and individualised approach that can help people understand when and how much protein to consume to support muscle mass."

Mediterranean diet, gut bacteria and healthy ageing

A February 2020 study said, “The interplay of diet, microbiome and host health is a complex phenomenon influenced by several factors … While the results of this study [how the Mediterranean diet affects gut bacteria and ageing] shed light on some of the rules of this three-way interplay, several factors such as age, body mass index, disease status and initial dietary patterns may play a key role in determining the extent of success of these interactions," 

Exercise for Older People

Dr Conor Cunningham, IPH Public Health Interventions Officer said, in a February 2020 review in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 

"This research highlights the benefits of physical activity to our physical and mental health in older age. For some time, we have known of the benefits of physical activity for our physical health; however, what is important about this research is that it highlights compelling emerging evidence of the positive effects of being physically active on our mental health--including depression, cognition, and dementia and Alzheimer's disease,"

Ginseng

Radix Ginseng (the root) is Ren Shen in Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM).

Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble in “Materia Medica” in an extensive listing, say it is,

“sweet, slightly bitter, slightly warm” and is one of the “herbs that tonify the Qi”.  It is contraindicated “in cases of yin deficiency with heat signs, heat excess, or in the absence of significant qi deficiency … also contraindicated for hypertensive patients with ascendant liver yang and in cases of very high blood pressure.”

Siberian ginseng is classified as an “Adaptogen and Tonic”(Menzies-Trull in "The Herbalist's Prescriber").

“Anti-depressive, increases resistance and improves both physical and mental performance… it will raise lowered blood pressure to a normal level… it can be used in general for exhaustion states and weakness.” (David Hoffman in “The New Holistic Herbal”).

Unani Tibb: For, amongst other things, “digestion, stimulate malfunctioning endocrine glands and is a powerful antispasmodic in diseases such as asthma” (Robert Thomson, in “The Grosset Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine” (1980).

Fluid Intelligence, Age, Fat & Muscle

A December 2017 study by Iowa State University said,

"Chronological age doesn't seem to be a factor in fluid intelligence decreasing over time … It appears to be biological age, which here is the amount of fat and muscle."

"Further studies would be needed to see if people with less muscle mass and more fat mass are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, and what the role of the immune system is,"

."If you eat alright and do at least brisk walking some of the time, it might help you with mentally staying quick on your feet,"

Training for Bone Health in Older Adults with Obesity

In a November 2017 study by the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research it was said,

"It is never too late to practice a healthy lifestyle through diet and regular exercise, especially that which includes resistance exercise to improve physical function and preserve bone health during aging," 

Overprescribing, Polypharmacy and Deprescribing

Overprescribing and polypharmacy” (if four or more medications are prescribed), can be the result of a combination of prescribed medications, over-the-counter drugs and herbal supplements and is especially prevalent in older sections of the population.

Deprescribing is part of a process of reviewing the risk-benefit of medications.

According to Eureka, a November 2019 study by the American Geriatrics Society said, “Geriatricians, general internists, and cardiologists frequently consider deprescribing cardiovascular medications. They noted that successfully implementing patient-centric deprescribing will require improved communication between all physicians and their patients…We hope our study will contribute to advancing deprescribing as a patient-centered strategy that can improve the safety of medication prescribing practice and improve the wellbeing of older adults," 

Cholesterol and the Elderly

A June 2016 study by the University of South Florida found that, “several studies reported not only a lack of association between low LDL-C, but most people in these studies exhibited an inverse relationship, which means that higher LDL-C among the elderly is often associated with longer life,"

Frailty, Antioxidants & Vitamins

An August 2019 study by Trinity College Dublin found,

• “…lower levels of specific vitamins and antioxidants - and having low levels of more than one micronutrient - is consistently and progressively associated with the most commonly used methods for measuring frailty.”

• “…low micronutrient status may act as an easily modified marker and intervention target for frailty among adults aged 50 years and over".

• "Frailty occurs when a number of systems in the body lose reserve capacity and therefore the ability to 'bounce back' after even trivial illnesses.”

• “[Frailty] is an important and challenging state; commonly associated with ageing but also common in patients of any age who have major surgery, cancer treatments and severe infections.”

• “The hall mark of frailty is muscle weakness. If it is recognised in its early stages, it can be reversed. However, the longer it is present, the more difficult is it to 'bounce back' and generalised weakness and fatigue become progressively worse."

• "… micronutrients (including vitamin D) are associated with better health outcomes in older adults.”

Blood Pressure and Dementia

An August 2019 study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine suggests that, "one's blood pressure during midlife may influence how blood pressure later in life relates to dementia risk … [and] individuals with high blood pressure in midlife may benefit from targeting their blood pressure to normal levels in later life, as having blood pressure that is too high or too low in late life may further increase dementia risk."

Health for Over 55s

A July 2019 study by University East Anglia found that,

• “In England, participation in physical activity tends to decrease around the age of 55.”

• "Frailty and pre-frailty - the decline in health, resilience and mobility often associated with ageing - are conditions previously expected to be found in people at retirement age and over. But now these conditions affect a third of British adults aged 50-65.”

• "Adults are spending more years of their life working than ever before. Retiring is a life-changing event which provides all sorts of opportunities - but it coincides with declining physical activity, health and wellbeing.”

• "From the age of around 55, people begin thinking about retirement and making plans for their future.”

• "In order to enjoy a fit and healthy retirement, a really key thing is that people need to maintain their physical fitness through their fifties and beyond.”

• "But we found that there are many barriers to this - from poor health, lack of motivation, and the cost and availability of sports, activities and fitness classes, to not having enough time - due to work or in many cases because of caring responsibilities.”

• "Many respondents also felt excluded and said that sports facilities and fitness classes tended to appeal to a much younger market.”

• "While retirement can free up time, deteriorating health and wellbeing often become a new barrier.”

• "That's why it's so important to maintain fitness in the lead up to retirement.”

• "Supporting older adults to lead active lifestyles ahead of and at retirement could ensure people are more mobile, capable and healthier once retired.”

• "There is no one-size-fits all approach. But we found that activity that is combined with socialising, or other purposeful actions such as dog walking, gardening, housework, childcare or volunteering, were all good ways for over-55s to remain active.”

• "With an ageing population there is also an ageing workforce who need support to age, work and retire actively,"

Exercise and Alzheimer’s

A July 2019 study by University of Wisconsin School of Medicine found that, “in a late-middle-age population at risk for Alzheimer's disease, physically active individuals experience fewer age-related alterations in biomarkers associated with the disease, as well as memory and cognitive functioning … [showing] evidence that lifestyle habits - in this case regular, moderate exercise - can modify the effect of what is commonly considered a non-modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer's, in this case aging"

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-08/apa-rem080119.php

Ageing: Frailty Not Inevitable

The British Geriatrics Society (BGS) defines frailty as, “a distinctive health state related to the ageing process in which multiple body systems gradually lose their in-built reserves.”

BGS state, “There are two broad models of frailty. The first, known as the Phenotype model, describes a group of patient characteristics…”

• unintentional weight loss

• reduced muscle strength

• reduced gait speed

• self-reported exhaustion

• low energy expenditure

“…which, if present, can predict poorer outcomes. Generally individuals with three or more of the characteristics are said to have frailty (although this model also allows for the possibility of fewer characteristics being present and thus pre-frailty is possible).”

BGS state, “The second model of frailty is known as the Cumulative Deficit model. Described by Rockwood in Canada, it assumes an accumulation of deficits (ranging from symptoms e.g. loss of hearing or low mood, through signs such as tremor, through to various diseases such as dementia) which can occur with ageing and which combine to increase the ‘frailty index’ which in turn will increase the risk of an adverse outcome.”

 A large systematic review published in July 2019 by Monash University in Australia found, amongst other things:

1. “Frailty, a clinical syndrome characterized by marked vulnerability due to decline in reserve and function across multiple physiologic systems, is common among older people.”

2. “Frailty manifests as the inability to tolerate stressful events and has been associated with adverse outcomes, such as falls, delirium, institutionalization, incident disability, and mortality.”

3. “Frailty is also an independent risk factor for poor outcomes after surgery (e.g., prolonged hospitalizations, increased susceptibility to deconditioning, and faster functional decline)”

4. “Although not necessarily synonymous with aging, frailty is highly prevalent among older people.”

5. “However, a recent systematic review reported that, among the available primary care interventions to delay or reverse frailty, strength training and protein supplementation ranked highest in terms of relative effectiveness and ease of implementation.”

6. “People who develop frailty or prefrailty may regress…” (you can get stronger)

7. “…not all older people develop frailty…”

Health Checklist for Men 40+

Here’s a great health checklist for men over 40.  You can download a Pdf version of the checklist and work through it.  As I will try to do.

The Ear: Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Ageing

A July 2019 study by the University of Leeds found that transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation, “may slow down an important effect associated with ageing.”

Dr Beatrice Bretherton said, "The ear is like a gateway through which we can tinker with the body's metabolic balance, without the need for medication or invasive procedures. We believe these results are just the tip of the iceberg.

"We are excited to investigate further into the effects and potential long-term benefits of daily ear stimulation, as we have seen a great response to the treatment so far."