Dietary inflammatory index scores and cognitive aging: results from the Framingham heart Study offspring cohort.

Background: Nutritional factors can abet or protect against systemic chronic inflammation, which plays an important role in the development and progression of dementia. We evaluated whether higher (i.e.

Association between dietary inflammatory index score and incident dementia.

Introduction: We evaluated whether higher Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores were associated with increased incidence of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia over 22.3 years of follow-up in the community-based Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort.

Methods: One thousand four hundred eighty-seven participants (mean ± standard deviation, age in years 69 ± 6) completed food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and had incident all-cause dementia and AD surveillance data available.

Associations of Neurological Biomarkers in Serum With Gait Measures: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background: Gait impairment leads to increased mobility decline and may have neurological contributions. This study explores how neurological biomarkers are related to gait in older adults.

Methods: We studied participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a population-based cohort of older Americans, who underwent a serum biomarker assessment from samples collected in 1996-1997 for neurofilament light chain (NfL), glial fibrillary acidic protein, ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1, and total tau (n = 1 959, mean age = 78.

Association between dietary inflammatory index score and incident dementia: results from the Framingham heart Study offspring cohort.

Background: The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), has been specifically designed to capture the inflammatory content of diet and has shown association with neurodegenerative disease related outcomes. But literature is limited on the role of diet-driven inflammation measured by the DII on incident all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD).

Objective: We evaluated whether higher DII scores were associated with increased incidence of all-cause dementia and AD over 22.

Associations of Modifiable Behavioral Risk Factor Combinations at 65 to 74 Years Old With Cognitive Health Span for 20 Years.

Objective: Behavioral risk factors for dementia tend to co-occur and interrelate, especially poor diet, physical inactivity, sleep disturbances, and depression. Having multiple of these modifiable behavioral risk factors (MBRFs) may predict a particularly shortened cognitive health span and therefore may signal high-risk status/high intervention need.

Methods: These secondary analyses of data from the Cardiovascular Health Study included 3149 participants aged 65 to 74 years (mean [standard deviation {SD}] age = 69.

Higher Dietary Inflammatory Index scores are associated with brain MRI markers of brain aging: Results from the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort.

Introduction: We investigated cross-sectional associations between the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and measures of brain volume and cerebral small vessel disease among participants of the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort.

Methods: A total of 1897 participants (mean ± standard deviation, age 62±9) completed Food Frequency Questionnaires and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Results: Higher (pro-inflammatory) DII scores, averaged across a maximum of three time points, were associated with smaller total brain volume (beta ± standard error: -0.

Tutorials in population neuroimaging: Using epidemiology in neuroimaging research.

Epidemiology is the foundation of all public health research and practice. Epidemiology confers many important uses for the advancement of neuroimaging research. Epidemiology serves as a framework to organize pieces of data and guide critical thinking in the research process from the early stages of study design to the end goal of reaching appropriate inferences.

Herpes Labialis, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, and Cytomegalovirus Infections and Risk of Dementia: The Framingham Heart Study.

Background: An association between chronic infectious diseases and development of dementia has been suspected for decades, based on the finding of pathogens in postmortem brain tissue and on serological evidence. However, questions remain regarding confounders, reverse causality, and how accurate, reproducible and generalizable those findings are.

Objective: Investigate whether exposure to Herpes simplex (manifested as herpes labialis), Chlamydophila pneumoniae (C.

Association of Midlife Depressive Symptoms with Regional Amyloid-β and Tau in the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: Depressive symptoms predict increased risk for dementia decades before the emergence of cognitive symptoms. Studies in older adults provide preliminary evidence for an association between depressive symptoms and amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau accumulation. It is unknown if similar alterations are observed in midlife when preventive strategies may be most effective.

Burden and Patterns of Multimorbidity: Impact on Disablement in Older Adults.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the burden and patterns of multimorbidity on disability domains.

Design: In a cross-sectional study of 425 older adults from the Boston Rehabilitative Impairment Study of the Elderly, participants self-reported 13 chronic conditions and underwent assessment of body function (leg strength, velocity, and power, trunk extensor endurance, leg range of motion, foot sensation), activities (400-m walk test, Short Physical Performance Battery, Late Life Function and Disability Instrument function scores) and participation (Late Life Function and Disability Instrument participation scores). The association between multimorbidity patterns (identified by latent class analysis) and disablement measures, as well as multimorbidity burden (captured by a multimorbidity score) and disablement measures, was tested.

Joint trajectories of cognition and gait speed in Mexican American and European American older adults: The San Antonio longitudinal study of aging.

Objectives: Cognitive decline and gait speed slowing are independent predictors of disability and mortality. While both factors increase in prevalence with advancing age, little is known about their combined patterns of change. The study goal was to identify joint trajectories of cognition and gait speed within an aging bi-ethnic cohort of Mexican Americans and European Americans.

Stroke Happens Suddenly so It Cannot Be Prevented: A Qualitative Study to Understand Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about Stroke in Rural Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, India.

 Strokes have emerged as one of the leading causes of deaths in rural India but people often remain uninformed about it. This study sought to understand knowledge, attitudes, and healthcare-seeking practices about strokes in rural Gadchiroli, India.  A total of 12 focus group discussions were conducted with 34 female and 43 male participants from six villages.

A 3-year retrospective analysis on the prevalence of antileptospiral antibodies among children in Chennai City, India.

Purpose: Leptospirosis is a re-emerging infectious disease that has been reported from all over the world, including South India. Several studies have documented the prevalence of Leptospira in the general population. However, the data on leptospirosis in children were limited.

Neuromuscular Attributes Associated With Lower Extremity Mobility Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Background: The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is advocated as a screening tool in geriatric care for predicting future disability. We aimed to identify the leg neuromuscular attributes to be targeted in rehabilitative care among older adults with poor SPPB scores.

Methods: Boston Rehabilitative Impairment Study of the Elderly (Boston RISE) participants (n = 430) underwent assessment of neuromuscular attributes (leg strength, leg velocity, trunk extensor endurance, knee flexion range of motion [ROM], ankle ROM, and foot sensation).

Association of Biomarker and Physiologic Indices With Mortality in Older Adults: Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background: A goal of gerontology is discovering aging phenotypes that reflect biological aging distinct from disease pathogenesis. Biomarkers that strongly and independently associated with mortality and that statistically attenuated chronologic age could be used to define such a phenotype. We determined the association of a Biomarker Index (BI) with mortality and compared it with a validated Physiologic Index (PI) in older adults.

Age, Race, and Gender Factors in Incident Disability.

Background: Incident disability rates enable the comparison of risk across populations. Understanding these by age, sex, and race is important for planning for the care of older adults and targeting prevention.

Methods: We calculated incident disability rates among older adults in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a study of 5,888 older adults aged ≥ 65 years over 6 years of follow-up.

Prevalence and determinants of end-of-life chemotherapy use in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Cessation of chemotherapy in the last few weeks of life could be an important quality-of-care benchmark. Proportion of metastatic breast cancer patients who receive end-of-life chemotherapy is not well described. We aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of end-of-life chemotherapy use in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Distinct Pattern of Metastases in Patients with Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the Breast.

Background: Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) comprises around 10 - 15% of invasive breast cancers. Few prior studies have demonstrated a unique pattern of metastases between ILC and the more common invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). To our knowledge, such data is limited to first sites of distant recurrence.

Community-Based Healthy Aging Interventions for Older Adults with Arthritis and Multimorbidity.

Examine the impact of programs led by community health workers on health and function in older adults with arthritis and other health conditions. We conducted a cluster-randomized trial of the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program (AFEP) enhanced with the "10 Keys"™ to Healthy Aging compared with the AFEP program at 54 sites in 462 participants (mean age 73 years, 88 % women, 80 % white). Trained Community health workers delivered the 10-week programs.

Can a Healthy Lifestyle Compress the Disabled Period in Older Adults?

Objectives: To determine whether lifestyle factors, measured late in life, could compress the disabled period toward the end of life.

Design: Community-based cohort study of older adults followed from 1989 to 2015.

Setting: Four U.

Partnership Building and Implementation of an Integrated Healthy-Aging Program.

Background: Evidence-based interventions exist for prevention of chronic disease in older adults. Partnering with community organizations may provide a mechanism for disseminating these interventions.

Objective: To describe the partnership and program implementation by the Arthritis Foundation (AF) and the University of Pittsburgh.

Needs of Patients' Family Members in an Intensive Care Unit With Continuous Visitation.

Background: Although many critical care experts and national organizations support open visitation in intensive care units (ICUs), most ICU visiting policies do not allow unrestricted presence of patients' family members.

Objective: To describe how well the needs of family members were met in an adult neuroscience ICU with a continuous visitation policy and an adjoining private suite for patients' family members.

Methods: An exploratory, descriptive study design was used to identify the effects of continuous family visitation in the neuroscience ICU on patients' family members and their needs and experiences during their time in the unit.

The preventive services use self-efficacy (PRESS) scale in older women: development and psychometric properties.

Background: Preventive services offered to older Americans are currently under-utilized despite considerable evidence regarding their health and economic benefits. Individuals with low self-efficacy in accessing these services need to be identified and provided self-efficacy enhancing interventions. Scales measuring self-efficacy in the management of chronic diseases exist, but do not cover the broad spectrum of preventive services and behaviors that can improve the health of older adults, particularly older women who are vulnerable to poorer health and lesser utilization of preventive services.

Sex, Race, and Age Differences in Observed Years of Life, Healthy Life, and Able Life among Older Adults in The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Objective: Longevity fails to account for health and functional status during aging. We sought to quantify differences in years of total life, years of healthy life, and years of able life among groups defined by age, sex, and race.

Design: Primary analysis of a cohort study.

Pilot Enhancement of the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program with a Healthy Aging Program.

Older adults with arthritis or joint pain were targeted for a pilot program enhancing the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program with the 10 Keys™ to Healthy Aging Program. Using a one-group, pre-post design, feasibility was examined and improvements in preventive behaviors, arthritis outcomes, and cardiometabolic outcomes were explored. A 10-week program was developed, instructors were recruited and trained, and four sites and 51 participants were recruited.