Social Contact Mode and 15-Year Episodic Memory Trajectories in Older Adults With and Without Hearing Loss: Findings From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Objectives: Frequent social contact benefits cognition in later life although evidence is lacking on the potential relevance of the modes chosen by older adults, including those living with hearing loss, for interacting with others in their social network.

Method: 11,418 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing provided baseline information on hearing status and social contact mode and frequency of use. Multilevel growth curve models compared episodic memory (immediate and delayed recall) at baseline and longitudinally in participants who interacted frequently (offline only or offline and online combined), compared to infrequently, with others in their social network.

Positive and negative well-being of older adults with symptomatic peripheral artery disease: A population-based investigation.

Objective: We investigated positive and negative subjective well-being in relation to lower-extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) in a sample of older adults.

Method: 4760 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) provided baseline data on symptomatic PAD, sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle risk factors, and co-morbid conditions. Baseline and two-year follow-up data were available for life satisfaction, quality of life, and depressive symptoms.

Efficacy and Safety of Rapid-Acting Insulin Analogs in Special Populations with Type 1 Diabetes or Gestational Diabetes: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: To assess the efficacy and safety of three available rapid-acting insulin analogs (insulins lispro, aspart and glulisine, respectively) in pregnant women, children/adolescents and people using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) with type 1 diabetes.

Methods: PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Reviews were searched electronically, and their bibliographies examined to identify suitable studies for review and inclusion in a meta-analysis. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials that reported data on relevant clinical outcomes.

Is use of the internet in midlife associated with lower dementia incidence? Results from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Objectives: Dementia is expected to affect one million individuals in the United Kingdom by 2025; its prodromal phase may start decades before its clinical onset. The aim of this study is to investigate whether use of internet from 50 years of age is associated with a lower incidence of dementia over a ten-year follow-up.

Methods: We analysed data based on 8,238 dementia free (at baseline in 2002-2004) core participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Loneliness, Social Integration, and Incident Dementia Over 6 Years: Prospective Findings From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Objectives: Social relationships are important for the maintenance of cognitive function at older ages, with both objective features of social networks and perceived social connections (loneliness) being relevant. There is limited evidence about how different aspects of social experience predict diagnosed dementia.

Methods: The sample comprised 6,677 dementia-free individuals at baseline (2004) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

The association of ferritin with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in community-dwellers: The English longitudinal study of ageing.

Background: Ferritin constitutes a sensitive iron-storage index and multi-functional protein. Evidence on its association with mortality in general population is scarce and conflicting. We investigated the sex-specific associations of ferritin levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a population-based cohort.

Positive and Negative Experiences of Social Support and Risk of Dementia in Later Life: An Investigation Using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Background: Having a network of close relationships may reduce the risk of developing dementia. However, social exchange theory suggests that social interaction entails both rewards and costs. The effects of quality of close social relationships in later life on the risk of developing dementia are not well understood.

Association of Adherence to a Healthy Diet with Cognitive Decline in European and American Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis within the CHANCES Consortium.

Aim: To examine the association between a healthy diet, assessed by the Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI), and cognitive decline in older adults.

Methods: Data from 21,837 participants aged ≥55 years from 3 cohorts (Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly, a Concerted Action [SENECA], Rotterdam Study [RS], Nurses' Health Study [NHS]) were analyzed. HDI scores were based on intakes of saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, mono- and disaccharides, protein, cholesterol, fruits and vegetables, and fiber.

Prevalence of vitamin B-12 insufficiency during pregnancy and its effect on offspring birth weight: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Vitamin B-12 and folate are micronutrients essential for normal embryogenesis. Vitamin B-12 insufficiency in pregnancy is high in certain parts of the world, such as India, and although this has been linked to low birth weight (LBW) in these populations, the relation between vitamin B-12 and birth weight (BW) elsewhere is unknown.

Objectives: We performed a systematic review to assess 1) the worldwide prevalence of vitamin B-12 insufficiency in pregnancy and 2) its association with BW.

Informal caregiving transitions, subjective well-being and depressed mood: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Objectives: To prospectively investigate the impact of transitions in informal caregiving on emotional well-being over two years in a large population study of older people.

Methods: Information on provision of unpaid care in 2004/2005 and 2006/2007 was available for 6571 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Three well-being domains were also assessed on each occasion: life satisfaction (measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale); quality of life (assessed with the CASP-19 scale); and depression symptoms (measured using the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale).

Longitudinal Influences of Social Network Characteristics on Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults: Findings From the ELSA Study.

Objective: To investigate the influence of social network characteristics on subjective well-being over 6 years in a population sample of older adults.

Method: A total of 4,116 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging provided baseline data on social network characteristics and potential confounding factors, and complete follow-up data on 2 measures of subjective well-being.

Results: Social network size and network contact frequency were positively and independently associated with future life satisfaction and quality of life after controlling for confounding factors, including demographic characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and long-standing illness.

Longitudinal associations between social connections and subjective wellbeing in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Objective: The role of social relationships in determining well-being may be particularly salient in ageing populations. There is only limited longitudinal research examining the relationship between different dimensions of social relationships and change in well-being over time. The present analysis explores the association between isolation, loneliness and two measures of subjective well-being over six years using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Antioxidant nutrients and age-related cognitive decline: a systematic review of population-based cohort studies.

Purpose: To further inform the debate on the possible cognitive benefits of antioxidant nutrients in the elderly, we systematically reviewed available prospective studies while paying a special attention to their methodological quality.

Methods: This is a systematic review of studies involving major antioxidant nutrients and change in cognitive performance. Abstracts were independently reviewed; studies were selected based on prespecified criteria.

Sizable variations in circulatory disease mortality by region and country of birth in six European countries.

Background: Circulatory disease mortality inequalities by country of birth (COB) have been demonstrated for some EU countries but pan-European analyses are lacking. We examine inequalities in circulatory mortality by geographical region/COB for six EU countries.

Methods: We obtained national death and population data from Denmark, England and Wales, France, the Netherlands, Scotland and Sweden.

Assessing available information on the burden of sepsis: global estimates of incidence, prevalence and mortality.

Objective: Sepsis is a complex and hard-to-define condition with many different interactions with other disorders. Presently, there are no estimates of the burden of sepsis and septicaemia at the global level and it was not included in the initial Global Burden of Disease study. Non-maternal sepsis has only recently received attention as a substantial global public health problem.

Prediagnostic concentrations of plasma genistein and prostate cancer risk in 1,605 men with prostate cancer and 1,697 matched control participants in EPIC.

Purpose: Data from prospective epidemiological studies in Asian populations and from experimental studies in animals and cell lines suggest a possible protective association between dietary isoflavones and the development of prostate cancer. We examined the association between circulating concentrations of genistein and prostate cancer risk in a case-control study nested in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Methods: Concentrations of the isoflavone genistein were measured in prediagnostic plasma samples for 1,605 prostate cancer cases and 1,697 matched control participants.

Migrant mortality from diabetes mellitus across Europe: the importance of socio-economic change.

The first objective of this study was to determine and quantify variations in diabetes mortality by migrant status in different European countries. The second objective was to investigate the hypothesis that diabetes mortality is higher in migrant groups for whom the country of residence (COR) is more affluent than the country of birth (COB). We obtained mortality data from 7 European countries.

Mortality from circulatory diseases by specific country of birth across six European countries: test of concept.

Background: Important differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality by country of birth have been shown within European countries. We now focus on CVD mortality by specific country of birth across European countries.

Methods: For Denmark, England and Wales, France, The Netherlands, Scotland and Sweden mortality information on circulatory disease, and the subcategories of ischaemic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease, was analysed by country of birth.

Is a low blood level of vitamin B12 a cardiovascular and diabetes risk factor? A systematic review of cohort studies.

Purpose: To assess the prior hypothesis that low blood vitamin B12, partly through hyperhomocysteinemia and partly through direct effects, increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. As background, we also extracted all-cause mortality from the studies that met our criteria.

Methods: A systematic review of prospective cohort studies identified through searching six electronic databases, screening of reference lists, and citation search.

Ankle--brachial index predicts level of, but not change in, cognitive function: the Edinburgh Artery Study at the 15-year follow-up.

The ankle-brachial index (ABI), a marker of generalized atherosclerosis, is related to cognitive impairment in older adults. We investigated whether ABI is associated specifically with age-related cognitive decline. We measured ABI at recruitment and 5 and 12 years later in a sample of individuals aged 55-74 years.

Genetic variants associated with altered plasma levels of C-reactive protein are not associated with late-life cognitive ability in four Scottish samples.

It is unknown whether the relationship between raised inflammatory biomarker levels and late-life cognitive ability is causal. We explored this issue by testing the association between genetic regulators of plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and cognition. Data were analysed from four cohorts based in central Scotland (Total N = 4,782).

Age-associated cognitive decline.

Introduction: Age-associated cognitive decline-or normal (non-pathological, normative, usual) cognitive ageing-is an important human experience which differs in extent between individuals. The determinants of the differences in age-related cognitive decline are not fully understood. Progress in the field is taking place across many areas of biomedical and psychosocial sciences.

Large-scale epidemiological data on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in migrant and ethnic minority groups in Europe.

Background: Data on differences by ethnicity in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes, reflecting the influence of diverse cultural, social and religious factors, are important to providing clues to disease aetiology and directing public health interventions and health care resources.

Methods: Through a network of European public health researchers and searches of bibliographic databases and internet sites, we determined the availability and characteristics of ethnically relevant data on mortality and morbidity from coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and diabetes, in current European Union countries; data from the four countries comprising the UK were assessed separately.

Results: In total, 25 countries had one or more relevant data sets (72 in total); however, two-thirds (n = 47) of the data sources came from only eight Nordic and Western European countries.

Could mitochondrial efficiency explain the susceptibility to adiposity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in South Asian populations?

Background: South Asians are susceptible to cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially after migration to affluent countries. Contributing factors include high prevalence of diabetes, and possibly insulin resistance. Excess adiposity centrally may underlie such metabolic disturbances.

Peripheral arterial disease and cognitive function.

As a marker of generalized atherosclerosis, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) has implications not only for the affected lower extremity but also to overall cardiovascular health. It confers an increased risk of non-fatal and fatal vascular events which increases with the severity of the disease. Patient-based studies have shown that individuals with advanced PAD tend to perform poorly on cognitive tests compared to controls.