Systolic Blood Pressure and Survival to Very Old Age: Results From the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: The relationship between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and longevity is not fully understood. We aimed to determine which SBP levels in women ≥65 years of age with or without blood pressure medication were associated with the highest probability of surviving to 90 years of age.

Methods: The study population consisted of 16 570 participants enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative who were eligible to survive to 90 years of age by February 28, 2020, without a history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or cancer.

Association Between β-Amyloid Accumulation and Incident Dementia in Individuals 80 Years or Older Without Dementia.

Background And Objectives: While the highest prevalence of dementia occurs in individuals older than 80 years, most imaging studies focused on younger populations. The rates of β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation and the effect of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology on progression to dementia in this age group remain unexplored. In this study, we examined the relationship between changes in Aβ deposition over time and incident dementia in nondemented individuals followed during a period of 11 years.

Association of a Blood-Based Aging Biomarker Index With Death and Chronic Disease: Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background: A goal of gerontology is to discover phenotypes that reflect biological aging distinct from disease pathogenesis. Biomarkers that are strongly associated with mortality could be used to define such a phenotype. However, the relation of such an index with multiple chronic conditions warrants further exploration.

Systolic Blood Pressure and Survival to Very Old Age. Results from the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: The association between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and longevity is not fully understood. We aimed to determine survival probabilities to age 90 for various SBP levels among women aged ≥ 65 years with or without BP medication.

Methods: We analyzed blood pressure data from participants in the Women's Health Initiative (n=16,570) who were aged 65 or older and without history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes or cancer.

Prospective Longitudinal Perfusion in Probable Alzheimer's Disease Correlated with Atrophy in Temporal Lobe.

Reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the temporoparietal region and gray matter volumes (GMVs) in the temporal lobe were previously reported in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the temporal relationship between reductions in CBF and GMVs requires further investigation. This study sought to determine if reduced CBF is associated with reduced GMVs, or vice versa.

Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality in Black Women Carrying the Amyloidogenic V122I Transthyretin Gene Variant.

Background: Long-term data on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality in female carriers of the transthyretin (TTR) V122I (pV142I) variant, one of the most common variants of hereditary transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis, are sparse and the effects of blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index, and physical activity on CVD outcomes remain largely unknown.

Objectives: The aim was to first examine the relationship of TTR V122I (pV142I) carrier status with CVD and mortality and second to investigate the effects of blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index, and physical activity in a large cohort of postmenopausal women.

Methods: The study population consisted of 9,862 non-Hispanic Black/African American women, 9,529 noncarriers and 333 TTR V122I carriers, enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative at 40 centers in the United States.

Joint effect of highly-sensitive cardiac troponin T and ankle-brachial index on incident cardiovascular events: The MESA and CHS.

Background: Elevated highly-sensitive cardiac troponin-T (hs-cTnT≥14 ng/L) and low ankle-brachial index (ABI<0.9) are risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) but their joint effect on the risk of ASCVD events is unknown.

Methods: We used data from the two population-based cohort studies, the Multi-Ethnic study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and Cardiovascular Heart Study (CHS) among 10,897 participants free of CVD events at baseline (mean age 66.

Circulating plasma phospholipid fatty acid levels as a biomarker of habitual dietary fat intake: The INTERMAP/INTERLIPID Study.

Background: Accurate assessment of fat intake is essential to examine relationships between diet and disease risk. However, estimating individual intakes of fat quantity by dietary assessment is difficult.

Objective: We assessed the association of plasma phospholipid fatty acid levels with dietary intake of fatty acids in the INTERMAP/INTERLIPID study, conducted with a standardized protocol.

The Association of Lipids and Lipoproteins with Hip Fracture Risk: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background: It is uncertain if lipids or lipoproteins are associated with osteoporotic fractures. In this study, incident hip fracture risk according to conventional lipid levels and lipoprotein levels and sizes was examined.

Methods: We followed 5832 participants aged ≥65 years from the Cardiovascular Health Study for hip fracture for a mean of 13.

Low Diastolic Blood Pressure and Mortality in Older Women. Results From the Women's Health Initiative Long Life Study.

Background: Recommended systolic blood pressure targets often do not consider the relationship of low diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality risk, which is especially relevant for older people with concurrent comorbidities. We examined the relationship of DBP levels to CVD and all-cause mortality in older women in the Women's Health Initiative Long Life Study (WHI-LLS).

Methods: The study sample included 7,875 women (mean age: 79 years) who underwent a blood pressure measurement at an in-person home visit conducted in 2012-2013.

Longitudinal Changes in Hearing and Visual Impairments and Risk of Dementia in Older Adults in the United States.

Importance: Hearing and vision problems are individually associated with increased dementia risk, but the impact of having concurrent hearing and vision deficits, ie, dual sensory impairment (DSI), on risk of dementia, including its major subtypes Alzheimer disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD), is not well known.

Objective: To evaluate whether DSI is associated with incident dementia in older adults.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective cohort study from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) was conducted between 1992 and 1999, with as many as 8 years of follow-up.

Subjective cognitive decline and total energy intake: Talk too much?

The increasing longevity of the population has resulted in dementia becoming a leading cause of both death and disability. Dementia is not a single disease. Studies of rare Mendelian disorders have documented that Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia, is associated with a long incubation period from amyloid deposition to neurodegeneration to mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Low untreated systolic blood pressure over 18 years is associated with survival free of dementia age 90.

Introduction: We hypothesized that lower untreated systolic blood pressure (SBP) would be associated with a lower risk of dementia and death up to age 95.

Methods: SBP measured between 2000 and 2006 was evaluated in relationship to dementia risk and brain biomarkers from 2009-2020 (n = 177) in the Gingko Evaluation of Memory Study (GEMS), mean age 95 in 2020. Participants had measurements of brain amyloid beta (Aβ) and repeat clinical-cognitive evaluations every 6 months.

Association of Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Concentration and MRI Findings in Older Adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background And Objectives: Neurofilament light chain (NfL) in blood is a sensitive but nonspecific marker of brain injury. This study sought to evaluate associations between NfL concentration and MRI findings of vascular brain injury in older adults.

Methods: A longitudinal cohort study included 2 cranial MRI scans performed about 5 years apart and assessed for white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and infarcts.

Comparing Pathological Risk Factors for Dementia between Cognitively Normal Japanese and Americans.

The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative showed that Japanese had significantly lower brain Aβ burden than Americans among a cognitively normal population. This cross-sectional study aimed to compare vascular disease burden, Aβ burden, and neurodegeneration between cognitively normal elderly Japanese and Americans. Japanese and American participants were matched for age (±4-year-old), sex, and Apolipoprotein E () genotype.

Plasma antioxidants and risk of dementia in older adults.

Introduction: Plant-based diets rich in fruits and vegetables have been associated with lower risk of dementia, but the specific role of antioxidants, a key class of bioactive phytochemicals, has not been well ascertained.

Methods: We measured antioxidants in a case-cohort study nested within the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study. We included 996 randomly selected participants and 521 participants who developed dementia, of which 351 were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) during a median of 5.

Association of Thyroid Dysfunction With Cognitive Function: An Individual Participant Data Analysis.

Importance: In clinical guidelines, overt and subclinical thyroid dysfunction are mentioned as causal and treatable factors for cognitive decline. However, the scientific literature on these associations shows inconsistent findings.

Objective: To assess cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of baseline thyroid dysfunction with cognitive function and dementia.

Examining the causal mediating role of brain pathology on the relationship between diabetes and cognitive impairment: the Cardiovascular Health Study.

The paper examines whether leads to incident mild cognitive impairment and dementia through brain hypoperfusion and white matter disease. We performed inverse odds ratio weighted causal mediation analyses to decompose the effect of diabetes on cognitive impairment into direct and indirect effects, and we found that approximately a third of the total effect of diabetes is mediated through vascular-related brain pathology. Our findings lend support for a common aetiological hypothesis regarding incident cognitive impairment, which is that diabetes increases the risk of clinical cognitive impairment in part by impacting the vasculature of the brain.

Cerebral Blood Flow Predicts Conversion of Mild Cognitive Impairment into Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Decline: An Arterial Spin Labeling Follow-up Study.

Background: This is the first longitudinal study to assess regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes during the progression from normal control (NC) through mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objective: We aim to determine if perfusion MRI biomarkers, derived from our prior cross-sectional study, can predict the onset and cognitive decline of AD.

Methods: Perfusion MRIs using arterial spin labeling (ASL) were acquired in 15 stable-NC, 14 NC-to-MCI, 16 stable-MCI, and 18 MCI/AD-to-AD participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) cognition study.

Case-cohort study of plasma phospholipid fatty acid profiles, cognitive function, and risk of dementia: a secondary analysis in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study.

Background: Phospholipids are biomarkers of dietary fat intake and metabolism, linked to several cardiometabolic disorders. Few prospective studies have assessed plasma phospholipids in relation to dementia risk and cognitive function.

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the association between a decrease in linoleic acid accompanied with an increase in other fatty acids and cognitive function and dementia risk.

Ophthalmic conditions associated with dementia risk: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Introduction: Ophthalmic conditions and dementia appear to overlap and may share common pathways, but research has not differentiated dementia subtypes.

Methods: Diagnoses of cataracts, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and glaucoma were based on medical histories and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes for 3375 participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD), was classified using standardized research criteria.

Peripheral inflammatory biomarkers predict the deposition and progression of amyloid-β in cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Introduction: Systemic inflammation has been increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the mechanistic and temporal specificity of this relationship is poorly understood. We aimed to characterize the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between peripheral inflammatory biomarkers, cognition, and Aβ deposition in oldest-old cognitively unimpaired (CU) adults.

Methods: A large sample of 139 CU older adults (mean age (range) = 85.

Discovery and fine-mapping of height loci via high-density imputation of GWASs in individuals of African ancestry.

Although many loci have been associated with height in European ancestry populations, very few have been identified in African ancestry individuals. Furthermore, many of the known loci have yet to be generalized to and fine-mapped within a large-scale African ancestry sample. We performed sex-combined and sex-stratified meta-analyses in up to 52,764 individuals with height and genome-wide genotyping data from the African Ancestry Anthropometry Genetics Consortium (AAAGC).

ENGAGE and EMERGE: Truth and consequences?

The potential benefit of the anti-amyloid drug aducanumab based on results of recent EMERGE and ENGAGE clinical trials has generated great controversy and has very important implications for the future of anti-amyloid drug therapies. The two trials of 18-month duration were done in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early dementia. The ENGAGE trial showed no benefit while the high-dose EMERGE trial initially also showed no benefit but with longer follow-up there was a significant positive benefit.