The Influence of Education and Occupation Type on Birth Cohort Differences in Cognitive Function of Mexican Older Adults.

Objectives: Mexico's population aging is occurring in the context of social changes such as increased educational attainment and occupational shifts from agriculture to service and industry. The current study compares cognitive function between two birth cohorts of Mexican adults aged 60-76 to determine if population-level changes in education and occupation type contribute to cohort differences in cognitive function.

Methods: We used the Mexican Health and Aging Study to examine adults aged 60-76 in 2001 (men: 2,309; women: 2,761) and 2018 (men: 2,842; women: 3,825).

Harmonisation of later-life cognitive function across national contexts: results from the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocols.

Background: The Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) is an innovative instrument for cross-national comparisons of later-life cognitive function, yet its suitability across diverse populations is unknown. We aimed to harmonise general and domain-specific cognitive scores from HCAP studies across six countries, and evaluate reliability and criterion validity of the resulting harmonised scores.

Methods: We statistically harmonised general and domain-specific cognitive function scores across publicly available HCAP partner studies in China, England, India, Mexico, South Africa, and the USA conducted between October, 2015 and January, 2020.

Education and cognitive function among older adults in Brazil and Mexico.

Unlabelled: Education is protective against cognitive impairment. We used nationally representative data from Mexico and Brazil to assess the association between education and cognitive function. The sample included adults ≥ 50 years from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI) and the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS).

Algae Ingestion Increases Resting and Exercised Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis Rates to a Similar Extent as Mycoprotein in Young Adults.

Background: Spirulina [SPIR] (cyanobacterium) and chlorella [CHLO] (microalgae) are foods rich in protein and essential amino acids; however, their capacity to stimulate myofibrillar protein synthesis (MyoPS) in humans remains unknown.

Objectives: We assessed the impact of ingesting SPIR and CHLO compared with an established high-quality nonanimal-derived dietary protein source (fungal-derived mycoprotein [MYCO]) on plasma amino acid concentrations, as well as resting and postexercise MyoPS rates in young adults.

Methods: Thirty-six healthy young adults (age: 22 ± 3 y; BMI: 23 ± 3 kg·m; male [m]/female [f], 18/18) participated in a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial.

Memory and language cognitive data harmonization across the United States and Mexico.

Introduction: We used cultural neuropsychology-informed procedures to derive and validate harmonized scores representing memory and language across population-based studies in the United States and Mexico.

Methods: Data were from the Health and Retirement Study Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HRS-HCAP) and the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) Ancillary Study on Cognitive Aging (Mex-Cog). We statistically co-calibrated memory and language domains and performed differential item functioning (DIF) analysis using a cultural neuropsychological approach.

Addressing non-response data for standardized post-acute functional items.

Background: The post-acute patient standardized functional items (Section GG) include non-response options such as refuse, not attempt and not applicable. We examined non-response patterns and compared four methods to address non-response functional data in Section GG at nation-wide inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF).

Methods: We characterized non-response patterns using 100% Medicare 2018 data.

Signal detection of adverse events associated with gabapentinoid use for chronic pain.

Introduction: Gabapentinoids (GABA) prescribing as a potential and conceivably safer substitute for opioids has substantially increased. Understanding all potential adverse drug events (ADEs) associated with GABA will guide clinical decision-making for pain management.

Methods: A 20% sample of Medicare enrollees with new chronic pain diagnoses in 2017-2018 was selected.

Differences in the Cognitive Function of Mexican Adults Aged 60 and Older with Self-Reported Diabetes in 2001 and 2018.

Background: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Mexico has nearly doubled for adults aged ≥60. Increases in education and healthcare resources to manage chronic conditions have contributed to population-level increases in the cognitive functioning of older adults. However, research has not focused on older adults with chronic conditions such as diabetes.

Comparative effectiveness of pain control between opioids and gabapentinoids in older patients with chronic pain.

Gabapentinoid (GABA) prescribing has substantially increased while opioid prescribing has decreased since the 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines restricted opioid prescribing for chronic pain. The shift to GABA assumes equal analgesic effectiveness to opioids, but no comparative analgesic effectiveness data exist to support this assumption. We compared GABA to opioids by assessing changes in pain interfering with activities (activity-limiting pain) over time in patients with chronic pain.

In the wake of a crisis: Caught between housing and healthcare.

Objective: To measure the association between housing insecurity and foregone medication due to cost among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65+ during the Recession.

Methods: Data came from Medicare beneficiaries aged 65+ years from the 2006-2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Two-wave housing insecurity changes are evaluated as follows: (i) No insecurity, (ii) Persistent insecurity, (iii) Onset insecurity, and (iv) Onset security.

Impact of Geroscience on Therapeutic Strategies for Older Adults With Cardiovascular Disease: JACC Scientific Statement.

Geroscience posits that cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other chronic diseases result from progressive erosion of the effectiveness of homeostatic mechanisms that oppose age-related accumulation of molecular damage. This hypothetical common root to chronic diseases explains why patients with CVD are often affected by multimorbidity and frailty and why older age negatively affects CVD prognosis and treatment response. Gerotherapeutics enhance resilience mechanisms that counter age-related molecular damage to prevent chronic diseases, frailty, and disability, thereby extending healthspan.

Exposure to Agent Orange and Risk of Bladder Cancer Among US Veterans.

Importance: To date, limited data exist regarding the association between Agent Orange and bladder cancer, and the Institute of Medicine concluded that the association between exposure to Agent Orange and bladder cancer outcomes is an area of needed research.

Objective: To examine the association between bladder cancer risk and exposure to Agent Orange among male Vietnam veterans.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This nationwide Veterans Affairs (VA) retrospective cohort study assesses the association between exposure to Agent Orange and bladder cancer risk among 2 517 926 male Vietnam veterans treated in the VA Health System nationwide from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2019.

Optimizing the Design of Clinical Trials to Evaluate the Efficacy of Function-Promoting Therapies.

Background: Several candidate molecules that may have application in treating physical limitations associated with aging and chronic diseases are in development. Challenges in the framing of indications, eligibility criteria, and endpoints and the lack of regulatory guidance have hindered the development of function-promoting therapies.

Methods: Experts from academia, pharmaceutical industry, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discussed optimization of trial design including the framing of indications, eligibility criteria, and endpoints.

Nutritional Interventions: Dietary Protein Needs and Influences on Skeletal Muscle of Older Adults.

Background: This narrative review describes foundational and emerging evidence of how dietary protein intakes may influence muscle-related attributes of older adults.

Methods: PubMed was used to identify pertinent research.

Results: Among medically stable older adults, protein intakes below the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) (0.

An Umbrella Review of Self-Management Interventions for Health Conditions With Symptom Overlap With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: To synthesize evidence for the effectiveness of self-management interventions for chronic health conditions that have symptom overlap with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to extract recommendations for self-management intervention in persons with TBI.

Design: An umbrella review of existing systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials or nonrandomized studies targeting self-management of chronic conditions and specific outcomes relevant to persons with TBI.

Method: A comprehensive literature search of 5 databases was conducted using PRISMA guidelines.

A Closer Look-Who Are We Screening for Lung Cancer?

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics of individuals receiving lung cancer screening (LCS) and identify those with potentially limited benefit owing to coexisting chronic illnesses and/or comorbidities.

Patients And Methods: In this retrospective study in the United States, patients were selected from a large clinical database who received LCS from January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019, with at least 1 year of continuous enrollment. We assessed for potentially limited benefit in LCS defined strictly as not meeting the traditional risk factor inclusion criteria (age <55 years or >80 years, previous computed tomography scan within 11 months before an LCS examination, or a history of nonskin cancer) or liberally as having the potential exclusion criteria related to comorbid life-limiting conditions, such as cardiac and/or respiratory disease.

Longitudinal Associations of Staff Shortages and Staff Levels with Health Outcomes in Nursing Homes.

Objectives: To examine whether facility-reported staff shortages and total staff levels were independently associated with changes in nursing home (NH) outcomes in 2020.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study.

Setting And Participants: A total of 8466 NHs with staffing and outcome data.

Economic Resources and Health: A Bi-Directional Cycle for Resilience in Old Age.

The paper offers an expanded framework for conducting empirical research on resilient aging. We review the conceptual frameworks for resilient aging and incorporate the role of economic factors as resources that contribute to resilience, in addition to social and psychological factors emphasized in the existing literature. Moreover, the idea of reinforcing cycles of resilience is incorporated in the framework.

Effect of Physical Activity on Association between COVID-19 and Personal Life in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Our study investigated whether changes in physical activity due to COVID-19 mediate the association between quarantine or hospitalization due to COVID-19 and COVID-19 life impact score. A total of 154 participants (0.23%) were quarantined or hospitalized due to COVID-19.

Quantifying label enrichment from two mass isotopomers increases proteome coverage for in vivo protein turnover using heavy water metabolic labeling.

Heavy water metabolic labeling followed by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry is a powerful high throughput technique for measuring the turnover rates of individual proteins in vivo. The turnover rate is obtained from the exponential decay modeling of the depletion of the monoisotopic relative isotope abundance. We provide theoretical formulas for the time course dynamics of six mass isotopomers and use the formulas to introduce a method that utilizes partial isotope profiles, only two mass isotopomers, to compute protein turnover rate.