News Briefs: Alzheimer’s Disease; Quitting Alcohol; Anger in Older Adults

Study Suggests Why Older Adults Are More Susceptible to Alzheimer’s Disease

Advancing age has long been known as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). And in a recently published study, researchersÑled by a team from Massachusetts General HospitalÑbelieve they can at least start to explain that connection. In the study, published in the journal Science Advances, researchers found that tau proteins spread more easily in an aging brain. Deposits of tau proteins in neurons is a hallmark of AD, as is the buildup of another protein, known as beta amyloid. The spread of tau proteins is made easier by factors in the aging brain, rather than how long the proteins have been expressed by the neurons, the researchers found. Protein expression refers to the way proteins are synthesized and modified in a living organism. Tau protein exists in a healthy form in every neuron, but it can change to a pathological form that can then damage neurons. Researchers were able to induce the expression of tau in the brains of young mice and old mice. The rate of spread and the accumulation of the pathological form of tau were much greater in the older animals. Even the spread of the healthy form of tau increases in older brains, the researchers found. The study’s findings raised some important questions: What are the factors that facilitate the spread of tau, and is AD the result of too much tau (even the healthy form) being produced or too little disease-causing tau being removed from the brain? Researchers are hopeful that as they learn the answers to these questions, they may be able to devise therapeutic options to help prevent or better treat AD.

Quitting Alcohol May Help Improve Health-Related Quality of Life

While moderate alcohol consumption is often considered a benign part of a healthy lifestyle, a recent study suggests that quitting alcohol altogether might be an even healthier choice. In an observational study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers from Hong Kong found that men and women who abstained from alcohol throughout their lives had the highest level of mental well-being. Moderate drinkers, especially women, who quit alcohol experienced positive changes in their mental well-being over the course of the study. The results were adjusted for sociodemographic status, smoking, body mass index, and other factors. Moderate alcohol consumption is considered two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. Determining exactly how abstaining from alcohol may improve or maintain a healthy mental well-being wasn’t part of the study. Health experts note that moderate alcohol consumption can lead to alcohol abuse if you aren’t careful and start to use alcohol as a form of self-medication. Alcohol can also interact with other medications, possibly leading to health problems. And as people age, their tolerance for alcohol often weakens, raising the risks of alcohol-related injuries and lapses in judgment.

Anger, More Than Sadness, May Be More Harmful to Health in Older Adults

Inflammation is associated with a host of health problems, such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other chronic illnesses. Inflammation itself can be affected by many things, including diet, activity level, and your emotional state. And in a recent study, published in Psychology and Aging, researchers found that frequent feelings of anger are more likely to raise inflammation levels in the body than feeling sad in adults age 80 and older. The difference in inflammation levels related to the two emotions was much smaller in adults ages 59 to 79. The researchers noted that as people get older, the loss of a spouse or other loved ones, reduced mobility, and other age-related changes can trigger feelings of anger and frustration. In the study, older adults who reported feeling angry on a daily basis were much more likely to develop chronic health problems than those who didn’t have so many angry moments. The researchers noted that for many people, including some younger seniors, anger can be a motivation to make positive changes in one’s life. But the ability to channel anger into action becomes more difficult later in life. Sad feelings, even those experienced daily, were not associated with chronic health problems. However, the researchers suggested that older adults and their health-care providers make it a priority to explore an individual’s coping responses to life’s challenges and develop more positive ways to feel and act.

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