Influence of Physical Activity Levels and Functional Capacity on Brain β-Amyloid Deposition in Older Women.

Physical activity (PA) and Alzheimer's disease are associated. However, how PA influences the cerebral β-amyloid (Aβ) burden remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine if PA levels and/or functional capacity (FC) are associated with Aβ plaque deposition, and whether these associations differed according to APOE-ε4 genotype.

Mid-life predictors of late-life depressive symptoms; determining risk factors spanning two decades in the Women's Heathy Ageing Project.

Background: Data available from longitudinal studies of adequate duration to explore midlife risk factors for late life higher depressive symptom scores in women is lacking. This study examines midlife (mean ages 50 years and 60 years) predictors of late life (mean age 70 years) depressive symptom scores to enrich our understanding of the role of changing risk factors across the lifespan.

Methods: This investigation was an assessment of the long-term impact of lifestyle and health variables on depressive symptoms.

Longitudinal nutritional changes in aging Australian women.

Background And Objectives: The importance of diet for the maintenance of health during aging is attracting a growing body of research interest. Given dietary intakes, along with BMI, are substantial contributors to disease burden, this study aimed to investigate prospective changes in dietary patterns and nutrient intakes in a sample of mid to late-life women over 14 years.

Methods And Study Design: Participants were from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project (WHAP); a longitudinal cohort of Australian-born women within the Melbourne metropolitan area.

Robust norms for neuropsychological tests of verbal episodic memory in Australian women.

Objective: Robust norms for neuropsychological tests may offer superior clinical utility to conventional norms, in their ability to distinguish normal cognitive aging from prodromal dementia. However, the availability of robust norms from midlife, where cognitive changes in those at risk of disease may arise, is limited. This study presents demographically stratified robust norms for tests of verbal memory in Australian women.

Apolipoprotein E4 Mediates the Association Between Midlife Dyslipidemia and Cerebral Amyloid in Aging Women.

Cerebral amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques are the hallmark biomarker of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and are detectable decades before clinical symptoms. Modifying risk factors associated with Aβ accrual offers an opportunity for AD prevention. While midlife vascular health is linked to AD; there is minimal longitudinal evidence regarding the effect of midlife lipids on Aβ.

Dietary patterns and β-amyloid deposition in aging Australian women.

Introduction: Evidence indicates that associations between diet and Alzheimer's disease may occur through biomarker pathways such as amyloid-β (Aβ); however, few studies have investigated dietary/Aβ relationships, and no study has investigated this relationship in women.

Methods: Dietary patterns were extrapolated for 115 participants from the Women's Health Aging Project. Aβ deposition was measured via F-18 florbetaben positron emission tomography scanning.

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Is not Related to Beta-Amyloid Deposition: Data from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project.

Background: Research has indicated the neuroprotective potential of the Mediterranean diet. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet has shown preventative potential for Alzheimer's disease incidence and prevalence, yet few studies have investigated the impact of Mediterranean diet adherence on the hallmark protein; beta-amyloid.

Objectives: To investigate the association between Mediterranean diet adherence and beta-amyloid deposition in a cohort of healthy older Australian women.

Vitamin D status is associated with executive function a decade later: Data from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project.

Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with cognitive decline and dementia in older adults. However, there is a paucity of studies assessing whether this association manifests from midlife. Given the long prodromal stage of dementia, we investigated the association between midlife vitamin D and cognition 10 years later.

Correction: Unhealthy habits persist: The ongoing presence of modifiable risk factors for disease in women.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Unhealthy habits persist: The ongoing presence of modifiable risk factors for disease in women.

Objectives: Vascular disease remains a leading cause of death. There are several vascular risk factors identified that can mitigate development of disease in ageing. We examine reported rates of modifiable risk factors in women responding to an online health questionnaire advertised by popular media.

Impact of menopausal status on negative mood and depressive symptoms in a longitudinal sample spanning 20 years.

Objective: Studies examining depressive symptoms and negative mood across the postmenopause are lacking, particularly those that examine prevalence in early and late postmenopause. This study examines negative mood and depressive occurrence in the menopausal stages to provide a better understanding of prevalence of mood disturbance during this period.

Methods: This study was a longitudinal assessment of variables drawn from an epidemiological prospective study of women's healthy aging.

The trajectory of negative mood and depressive symptoms over two decades.

Objective: Research aimed at understanding the temporal characteristics of depressive symptoms and negative mood in an older female population is lacking, despite the relationship between the two factors being well established. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of negative mood scores and depressive symptom scores in a longitudinal sample of women transitioning from mid-life to late life.

Study Design: This study was a longitudinal assessment of variables drawn from an epidemiological prospective study of women's healthy ageing.

Cohort profile: Women's Healthy Ageing Project (WHAP) - a longitudinal prospective study of Australian women since 1990.

Background: The cohort was commenced to examine women's health from midlife (45-55 years) before the menopausal transition and into ageing.

Methods: Randomised selection and assessment of 2,001 women living in the Melbourne metropolitan area was conducted by the Roy Morgan Centre in 1990/91. Of the 779 women who met the entry criteria for the longitudinal follow-up (aged 45-55 years, menstruating, having a uterus and at least one ovary and not taking hormone therapy) 438 agreed to be seen annually across the menopausal transition from 1992 to 1999.

Predictive Factors for Verbal Memory Performance Over Decades of Aging: Data from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project.

Background: Abnormalities in brain structure and function can occur several decades prior to the onset of cognitive decline. It is in the preceding decades that an intervention is most likely to be effective, when informed by an understanding of factors contributing to the disease prodrome. Few studies, however, have sufficient longitudinal data on relevant risks to determine the optimum targets for interventions to improve cognition in aging.

Diagnosing Sexual Dysfunction in Men and Women: Sexual History Taking and the Role of Symptom Scales and Questionnaires.

Introduction: A detailed sexual history is the cornerstone for all sexual problem assessments and sexual dysfunction diagnoses. Diagnostic evaluation is based on an in-depth sexual history, including sexual and gender identity and orientation, sexual activity and function, current level of sexual function, overall health and comorbidities, partner relationship and interpersonal factors, and the role of cultural and personal expectations and attitudes.

Aim: To propose key steps in the diagnostic evaluation of sexual dysfunctions, with special focus on the use of symptom scales and questionnaires.

Fourth consensus of the International Society for Premenstrual Disorders (ISPMD): auditable standards for diagnosis and management of premenstrual disorder.

Whilst professional bodies such as the Royal College and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have well-established standards for audit of management for most gynaecology disorders, such standards for premenstrual disorders (PMDs) have yet to be developed. The International Society of Premenstrual Disorders (ISPMD) has already published three consensus papers on PMDs covering areas that include definition, classification/quantification, clinical trial design and management (American College Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2011; Brown et al. in Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2:CD001396, 2009; Dickerson et al.

Patterns of social engagement in the transition to later life.

Unlabelled: As social roles in later life are shaped by significant life events and changes occurring in the late-life transition, examining social engagement in midlife may provide a context for interpreting the ageing social identity. This is particularly important for women, who are heavily dependent on social relationships and are more influenced by social losses and change.

Objective: To examine major social changes occurring in the decade prior to late-life, starting from approximately 45-55 years of age.

A comparison of Geriatric Depression Scale scores in older Australian and Japanese women.

Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Australian and Japanese populations of community-dwelling older women using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). In addition, the relationship between lifestyle and health factors and higher ratings of depressive symptoms was also examined to determine if there were culturally consistent risk factors associated with higher depressive symptom scores.

Methods: A total of 444 community based women aged between 65 and 77 years completed a depressive symptom measure (GDS-15) and provided information on common lifestyle factors.

The course of depressive symptoms during the postmenopause: a review.

As the Australian population ages, significantly more women are entering the postmenopausal stage of the climacteric, yet research focusing on the prevalence of depressive symptoms in this stage of ovarian ageing is scarce. This review will examine the information provided by studies that have a cohort with data of adequate duration to explore depressive symptom prevalence in the early and late postmenopause. Longitudinal epidemiological studies of women transitioning through the postmenopause that included measures of mood and/or depressive symptoms were identified through searches of MEDLINE (1980-2014) and PsycINFO (1980-2014) databases.

Prehypertension in midlife is associated with worse cognition a decade later in middle-aged and older women.

Background: previous studies raised the possibility that adverse health effects associated with elevated blood pressure (BP) begin at prehypertension levels (BP = 120-139/80-89 mmHg), yet few studies have examined the effects of prehypertension on cognitive functioning.

Objective: to examine the relationship between BP categories and cognitive functions in middle-aged and older women.

Subjects And Methods: two hundred and forty-seven women from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project had their BP measured twice, at mean ages 50 and 60 years.

Qualitative cross-cultural exploration of breast symptoms and impacts associated with hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms to inform the development of new patient-reported measurement tools.

To explore cross-cultural experiences of women taking estrogen plus progestin therapies (EPT) and develop a symptom-based electronic diary and impact questionnaire for EPT-related breast symptoms. (1) Concept elicitation interviews were conducted with women in the US (n=14), Italy (n=15), Mexico (n=15) and China (n=15) to explore breast symptoms associated with EPT. Patients completed the Breast Sensitivity Questionnaire (BSQ) to evaluate understanding and comprehensiveness.

Sexual function in the late postmenopause: a decade of follow-up in a population-based cohort of Australian women.

Introduction: There is a paucity of longitudinal studies assessing sexual function of women in the late postmenopause.

Aim: This study aims to describe sexual function of women in the late postmenopause and to investigate change from early postmenopause.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 2012/13 and longitudinal analysis from 2002/04 of the population based, Australian cohort of the Women's Healthy Ageing Project, applying validated instruments: Short Personal Experience Questionnaire (SPEQ), Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, and California Verbal Learning Test.

Qualitative cross-cultural exploration of vaginal bleeding/spotting symptoms and impacts associated with hormone therapy in post-menopausal women to inform the development of new patient-reported measurement tools.

Objectives: To understand the vaginal bleeding/spotting experiences of postmenopausal (PM) women taking estrogen plus progestin therapies (EPT) and develop measures to assess these symptoms and their impact on women's daily lives in four countries.

Design: (1) Concept elicitation interviews were conducted with PM women in the US (n=14), Italy (n=15), Mexico (n=15) and China (n=15) to explore vaginal bleeding/spotting symptoms associated with EPT. The Post-Menopausal Bleeding Questionnaire (PMBQ) was also debriefed to evaluate understanding and comprehensiveness.

Role of grandparenting in postmenopausal women's cognitive health: results from the Women's Healthy Aging Project.

Objective: Preserving aging cognition improves quality of life and delays dementia onset. Previous studies have shown that social engagement can maintain cognition; however, none has examined the effects of grandparenting, an important role among postmenopausal women. This study aims to examine the role of grandparenting in cognition among postmenopausal women.