Cross-sectional analysis of speed-up mechanism in normal gait among healthy older adults with and without falls - Results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Background: Falls in older adults increase the risk of mobility loss. Proper understanding of gait mechanisms related to falls may provide novel solutions for maintaining mobility in older adults.

Research Question: Identify fall-related gait patterns through analyzing alterations in gait parameters to walk faster than usual pace in older adults.

Body Mass Index and Diabetes Incidence Across the Adult Lifespan: The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Context: Body composition and glucose metabolism change with aging. Whether different levels of body-mass-index (BMI) are needed to define diabetes risk across the adult lifespan is unknown.

Objective: This work aimed to investigate whether BMI similarly reflects relative fat mass (FM) and diabetes risk across age groups.

A plasma proteomic signature links secretome of senescent monocytes to aging- and obesity-related clinical outcomes in humans.

Cellular senescence increases with age and contributes to age-related declines and pathologies. We identified circulating biomarkers of senescence associated with diverse clinical traits in humans to facilitate future non-invasive assessment of individual senescence burden and efficacy testing of novel senotherapeutics. Using a novel nanoparticle-based proteomic workflow, we profiled the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) in monocytes and examined these proteins in plasma samples (N = 1060) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA).

The inverse association between cancer history and incident cognitive impairment: Addressing attrition bias.

Introduction: Cancer is inversely associated with cognitive impairment. Whether this is due to statistical handling of attrition (death and censoring) is unknown.

Methods: We quantified associations between cancer history and incident cognitive impairment among Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study participants without baseline cognitive impairment or stroke (n = 2604) using multiple competing-risks models and their corresponding estimands: cause-specific, subdistribution, and marginal hazards, plus composite-outcome (cognitive impairment or all-cause mortality) hazards.

Olfactory Impairment and the Risk of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes in Older Adults.

Background: Olfactory impairment is common in older adults and may be associated with adverse cardiovascular health; however, empirical evidence is sparse. We examined olfaction in relation to the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and congestive heart failure (CHF).

Methods And Results: This study included 2537 older adults (aged 75.

Relationship between skeletal mitochondrial function and digital markers of free-living physical activity in older adults.

This study examined the association between in vivo skeletal mitochondrial function and digital free-living physical activity patterns-a measure that summarizes biological, phenotypic, functional, and environmental effects on mobility. Among 459 participants (mean age 68 years; 55% women) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, mitochondrial function was quantified as skeletal muscle oxidative capacity via post-exercise phosphocreatine recovery rate (τ) in the vastus lateralis muscle of the left thigh, using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Accelerometry was collected using a 7-day, 24-h wrist-worn protocol and summarized into activity amount, intensity, endurance, and accumulation patterning metrics.

Differences in Daily Physical Activity by Alzheimer's Risk Markers Among Older Adults.

Background: Daily physical activity patterns differ by Alzheimer's disease (AD) status and might signal cognitive risk. It is critical to understand whether patterns are disrupted early in the AD pathological process. Yet, whether established AD risk markers (β-amyloid [Aβ] or apolipoprotein E-ε4 [APOE-ε4]) are associated with differences in objectively measured activity patterns among cognitively unimpaired older adults is unclear.

Associations of Relative Intensity of Physical Activity With Incident Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality.

Background: The relative intensity of physical activity (PA) can be estimated as the percent of one's maximal effort required.

Methods: We compared associations of relative and absolute intensity PA with incident major cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in 5 633 women from the Objective Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health Study (mean age 78.5 ± 6.

Cross-sectional associations between multisensory impairment and brain volumes in older adults: Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Sensory impairment and brain atrophy is common among older adults, increasing the risk of dementia. Yet, the degree to which multiple co-occurring sensory impairments (MSI across vision, proprioception, vestibular function, olfactory, and hearing) are associated with brain morphometry remain unexplored. Data were from 208 cognitively unimpaired participants (mean age 72 ± 10 years; 59% women) enrolled in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Utricular Dysfunction and Hearing Impairment Affect Spatial Navigation in Community-Dwelling Healthy Adults: Analysis from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Introduction: Spatial navigation, the ability to move through one's environment, is a complex skill utilized in everyday life. The effects of specific vestibular end-organ deficits and hearing impairments on spatial navigation have received little to no attention. We hypothesized that hearing impairment adversely affects spatial navigation and that bimodal impairments (vestibular and hearing) further impair navigation ability.

Development, validation, and transportability of several machine-learned, non-exercise-based VO prediction models for older adults.

Background: There exist few maximal oxygen uptake (VO) non-exercise-based prediction equations, fewer using machine learning (ML), and none specifically for older adults. Since direct measurement of VO is infeasible in large epidemiologic cohort studies, we sought to develop, validate, compare, and assess the transportability of several ML VO prediction algorithms.

Methods: The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) participants with valid VO tests were included (n = 1080).

Evaluating a novel 24-hour rest/activity rhythm marker of preclinical β-amyloid deposition.

Study Objectives: To compare sleep and 24-hour rest/activity rhythms (RARs) between cognitively normal older adults who are β-amyloid-positive (Aβ+) or Aβ- and replicate a novel time-of-day-specific difference between these groups identified in a previous exploratory study.

Methods: We studied 82 cognitively normal participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (aged 75.7 ± 8.

Musculoskeletal Pain Characteristics and Objectively Measured Physical Activity in Older Adults.

Background: Pain is associated with reports of restricted physical activity (PA), yet the association between musculoskeletal pain characteristics and objectively measured PA quantities and patterns in late life is not well understood.

Methods: A total of 553 adults (mean age 75.8 ± 8.

Physical Function Trajectories and Mortality in Older Adults With Multisensory Impairment.

Importance: Single sensory impairment is associated with reduced functional resilience and increased mortality, though the effects of multiple sensory deficits are not known.

Objective: To investigate longitudinal associations of the type, severity, and number of sensory impairments with physical function trajectories and mortality in older adults.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective analysis of a longitudinal cohort study, the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study, incorporated data from April 1997 to July 2013, featuring a 16-year follow-up with annual examinations and questionnaires.

Olfaction and Mobility in Older Adults.

Importance: Decreased mobility is a hallmark of aging. Olfactory dysfunction is common in older adults and may be associated with declines in mobility.

Objective: To determine whether poor olfaction was associated with faster declines in mobility in older adults.