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Literature can be a fruitful source of inspiration for rethinking ageing. Two literary short stories, one by Thomas Mann, the other by Stefan Zweig, offer two original portraits of an old man, which may lead some to reconsider the relationship between old age and passion, and to restore the humanity of the figure of the old man., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Nerve cross-sectional area (CSA) is not constant over the human lifespan. The relationship between an increasing CSA and age has been described as a linear positive correlation, but few studies have found a linear decrease in nerve size with older age. The aim of the present study was to analyze the development of nerve CSA in a healthy population from early childhood to old age using high-resolution ultrasound., Methods: The median, ulnar, radial and sural nerves were examined bilaterally at 18 nerve sites in 110 healthy children, adolescents and adults aged between 2 and 98 years. The CSA of every nerve site was evaluated separately and in different age groups. The correlation of CSA with age, height and weight was analyzed in a linear, logarithmic and quadratic model and correlation coefficients were compared in a goodness-of-fit analysis. Models were then adjusted for weight and height., Results: Linear CSA-age correlations showed the lowest correlation coefficients for all nerve sites. An inverted parabolic curve suggesting a quadratic correlation of CSA and age was the best-fitting model. Weight and height had a higher predictive value than age in adjusted models., Conclusions: There is an increase in nerve size during childhood and adolescence and a trend towards a decrease in old age, suggesting an inverted parabolic curve partly explained by age-related changes in weight and height. Enlarged nerves in elderly individuals should not be attributed to age alone., (© 2024 The Authors. European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology.)

Aged individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are prevalent with increased mortality and worse outcomes. SCI can cause secondary brain neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. However, the mechanisms contributing to SCI-induced brain dysfunction are poorly understood. Cell-to-cell signaling through extracellular vesicles (EVs) has emerged as a critical mediator of neuroinflammation, including at a distance through circulation. We have previously shown that SCI in young adult (YA) male mice leads to robust changes in plasma EV count and microRNAs (miRs) content. Here, our goal was to investigate the impact of old age on EVs and brain after SCI. At 24 h post-injury, there was no difference in particle count or size distribution between YA and aged mice. However, aged animals increased expression of EV marker CD63 with SCI. Using the Fireplex® miRs assay, Proteomics, and mass spectrometry-based Lipidomics, circulating EVs analysis identified distinct profiles of miRs, proteins, and lipid components in old and injury animals. In vitro, plasma EVs from aged SCI mice, at a lower concentration comparable to those of YA SCI mice, induced the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and neuronal apoptosis. Systemic administration of plasma EVs from SCI animals was sufficient to impair general physical function and neurological function in intact animals, which is associated with pro-inflammatory changes in the brain. Furthermore, plasma EVs from young animals had rejuvenating effects on naïve aged mice. Collectively, these studies identify the critical changes in circulating EVs cargoes after SCI and in aged animals and support a potential EV-mediated mechanism for SCI-induced brain changes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Older patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) have different features with regard to neurological characteristics after injury. Recent large-scale longitudinal population-based studies showed that individuals with SCI are at a higher risk of developing dementia than non-SCI patients, indicating that SCI is a potential risk factor for dementia. Aging is known to potentiate inflammation and neurodegeneration at the injured site leading to impaired recovery from SCI. However, no research has been aimed at studying the mechanisms of SCI-mediated cognitive impairment in the elderly. The present study examined neurobehavioral and molecular changes in the brain and the underlying mechanisms associated with brain dysfunction in aged C57BL/6 male mice using a contusion SCI model. At 2 months post-injury, aged mice displayed worse performance in locomotor, cognitive and depressive-like behavioral tests compared to young adult animals. Histopathology in injured spinal cord tissue was exacerbated in aged SCI mice. In the brain, transcriptomic analysis with NanoString neuropathology panel identified activated microglia and dysregulated autophagy as the most significantly altered pathways by both age and injury. These findings were further validated by flow cytometry, which demonstrated increased myeloid and lymphocytes infiltration at both the injured site and brain of aged mice. Moreover, SCI in aged mice altered microglial function and dysregulated autophagy in microglia, resulting in worsened neurodegeneration. Taken together, our data indicate that old age exacerbates neuropathological changes in both the injured spinal cord and remote brain regions leading to poorer functional outcomes, at least in part, through altered inflammation and autophagy function., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aims and Methods: Loneliness is a prevalent and significant issue. It has been identified as a particularly important physical and mental health risk for older people. This article critically explores and discusses a recent study that sought to qualitatively explore the lived experiences of existential loneliness in a large sample of older people living in retirement community contexts., Findings: The data pointed to complex, multilayered challenges, often brought about by ageing, that give rise to unique experiences of existential loneliness for many older people., Conclusions: For clinical practitioners, understanding how older people experience existential loneliness is essential if we are to develop support mechanisms that compassionately and empathically respond to them.

Modifiable lifestyle factors have been shown to promote healthy brain ageing. However, studies have typically focused on a single factor at a time. Given that lifestyle factors do not occur in isolation, multivariable analyses provide a more realistic model of the lifestyle-brain relationship. Here, canonical correlation analyses (CCA) examined the relationship between nine lifestyle factors and seven MRI-derived indices of brain structure. The resulting covariance pattern was further explored with Bayesian regressions. CCA analyses were first conducted on a Danish cohort of older adults (n = 251) and then replicated in a British cohort (n = 668). In both cohorts, the latent factors of lifestyle and brain structure were positively correlated (UK: r = .37, p < 0.001; Denmark: r = .27, p < 0.001). In the cross-validation study, the correlation between lifestyle-brain latent factors was r = .10, p = 0.008. However, the pattern of associations differed between datasets. These findings suggest that baseline characterisation and tailoring towards the study sample may be beneficial for achieving targeted lifestyle interventions., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Impaired hearing is associated with disadvantages in developmental outcomes, such as compromised everyday social communication or reduced well-being. Hearing impairment might also have an impact on how individuals evaluate their own aging as deterioration in hearing can be interpreted as being age-related and as a phenomenon individuals attribute to getting older., Objective: This study investigated how self-reported hearing is related to awareness of age-related change (AARC)., Material and Methods: AARC is a multidimensional construct comprising perceived age-related gains and losses in general as well as across five functional domains (health and physical functioning, cognitive functioning, interpersonal relations, social cognitive and social emotional functioning, lifestyle and engagement). A sample of 423 individuals (age range 40-98 years; mean age, M = 62.9 years; standard deviation (SD) = 11.8 years) was assessed up to 3 times over approximately 5 years., Results: Based on longitudinal multilevel regression models, controlling for age, gender, subjective health and education, it was found that poorer self-reported hearing was associated with more perceived general AARC losses as well as with more AARC losses in health and physical functioning and in cognitive functioning at baseline. With an older age at baseline, poorer self-reported hearing was associated with a steeper decline in AARC gains regarding interpersonal relations over time, whereas in those who were younger at baseline poorer hearing was related to fewer gains in social cognitive and social emotional functioning at baseline., Discussion: Self-reported hearing reveals differential associations with AARC domains; however, changes in most AARC domains of gains and losses seem to be only weakly related to subjective hearing., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Little is known about historical shifts in subjective age (i.e., how old individuals feel). Moving beyond the very few time-lagged cross-sectional cohort comparisons, we examined historical shifts in within-person trajectories of subjective age from midlife to advanced old age. We used cohort-comparative longitudinal data from middle-age and older adults in the German Ageing Survey ( N = 14,928; ~50% female) who lived in Germany and were between 40 and 85 years old when entering the study. They provided up to seven observations over 24 years. Results revealed that being born later in historical time is associated with feeling younger by 2% every birth-year decade and with less intraindividual change toward an older subjective age. Women reported feeling younger than men; this gender gap widened across cohorts. The association of higher education with younger subjective age became weaker across cohorts. Potential reasons for the subjective-rejuvenation effect across cohorts are discussed.

Public and academic medical ethics debates surrounding justice and age discrimination often proceed from a problematic understanding of old age that ignores the diversity of older people. This article introduces the feminist perspective of intersectionality to medical ethical debates on aging and old age in order to analyze the structural discrimination of older people in medicine and health care. While current intersectional approaches in this field focus on race, gender, and sexuality, we thus set out to introduce aging and old age as an additional category that is becoming more relevant in the context of longer life expectancies and increasing population aging. We analyze three exemplary cases on the individual, institutional, and public health level, and argue that considering the intersections of old age with other social categories helps to accommodate the diverse identities of older people and detect inequality and structural discrimination., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

While "population aging" is an accomplishment that deserves acclamation, it is in itself a tremendous challenge. Age-related skin changes, impaired wound healing, and concurrent comorbidities are the deadly triad that contribute most to the development of nonhealing chronic wounds in the elderly. This imposes enormous medical, social, and financial burden. With the rising trend in the aging population, this problem is likely to exacerbate unless multidisciplinary, rapt wound care strategies are developed. The last decade was dedicated to understand the basic biology underlying the wound healing process but most in vitro and animal model studies translated poorly to human conditions. Forthcoming, the focus is on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to improve healing in this vulnerable age group. Further, understanding the complex pathobiology of cellular senescence and wound healing process is required to develop focused therapy for these "problem wounds" in the elderly.

As aging women take relatively high counts of medications and nutritional supplements, each addition to their supplements roster increases the likelihood of experiencing adverse health outcomes. Given these public health implications, we isolate the effects of chronological age and old age stereotypes in driving up the number of nutritional supplements taken by middle age and older women in the United States. We use multiple models that converge on the finding that middle age women, but not older women, who highly endorse negative old age stereotypes take more supplements than their age peers who fail to highly endorse negative old age stereotypes.

Aging is not a phenomenon commonly associated with the James Bond franchise, which relies on the successful template of a more agile and youthful hero. While Bond's adversaries used to be older than him (at least in the classic Bond movies of the 1960s and 1970s), with their deficient 'Otherness' underlining the idea that they are 'bad' and impotent patriarchs, more recent Bond films have turned to different age constellations. Even though the films rarely comment on the hero's age or adjust the material to it, there are various ways in which Bond's age is highlighted in these films, depending, for instance, on whether he has to fight 'bad fathers', 'treacherous brothers', or 'disobedient sons'. This article runs the parameter of Bond's age against other parameters like the age of his adversaries and the number of his sexual conquests. It looks into two non-canonical Bond films, Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983), to demonstrate that the topic of aging has seen more diverse and candid treatments outside of the jurisdiction of the official Eon series. This includes aspects like the hero's virility in the face of old age (at the intersection of senex and eros) and the meta-textual qualities of these films, which resonate with their subtexts on aging. The final section turns to Daniel Craig's swansong as Bond, No Time to Die (2021), which addresses the theme of mortality more directly than any other previous Bond outing., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Although stress is a risk factor for various diseases in later life, its role for sensory abilities in the second half of life has rarely been empirically addressed. We examined if perceived stress at baseline predicts self-reported difficulties with vision and hearing 3 years later. We also explored whether chronological age is a moderator of associations between stress and sensory difficulties. Our sample was derived from the German Ageing Survey and consisted of n = 5,085 individuals aged 40-95 years ( M = 64.01 years, SD = 10.84 years). Controlling for baseline self-reported sensory functioning, socio-demographic indicators, self-rated health and chronic diseases, greater perceived stress at baseline predicted greater self-reported difficulties with vision and hearing 3 years later. The effect of stress did not vary by age. Our findings suggest that, from middle adulthood to advanced old age, stress is a risk factor for increases in self-perceived problems with vision and hearing.

Objectives: We aimed at examining between-person and within-person associations across age trajectories of perceptual speed and loneliness in old age., Method: We applied multilevel models to 4 waves of data collected over 6 years from 1,491 participants of the Berlin Aging Study II (60-88 years at baseline, 50% women) to disentangle between-person and within-person associations across age trajectories of perceptual speed and both emotional and social loneliness. Sex and education were considered as relevant individual characteristics and included as covariates in the model., Results: Analyses revealed that on average perceptual speed exhibited moderate within-person age-related declines, whereas facets of loneliness were rather stable. Perceptual speed did not predict age trajectories of emotional or social loneliness, at either the between- or within-person level. In contrast, loneliness discriminated individuals at the between-person level, such that those feeling emotionally or socially more lonely showed lower cognitive performance than those feeling emotionally or socially less lonely. Predictive effects of social loneliness were stronger for relatively young people (i.e., in their mid to late 60s) than for relatively older participants (i.e., in their 80s). In addition, predictive effects of social loneliness for perceptual speed at the within-person level were modest and deviated in direction and size from between-person social loneliness effects among those in their mid- to late 60s, whereas they did not among those in their 80s., Discussion: We conclude that loneliness may serve as a precursor for basic cognitive functioning in old age and suggest routes for further inquiry., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.)

According to WHO, the number of elderly and senile people by 2050 will amount to more than 2 billion people. The period 2020-2030 is designated by WHO as the «Decade of Healthy Aging» with a program according to which healthy aging is designed to delay the dependence of this age group on outside help, to promote their long healthy life. Such a statement of the problem indicates an understanding of the relevance of the development of functionally comfortable and aesthetically designed clothing and footwear designs that provide this contingent with independence in self-service and contribute to their successful longevity. The purpose of the study is to substantiate recommendations for the development of clothing and footwear designs, the formation of a wardrobe for elderly and senile people to facilitate the process of self-service and movement. A questionnaire has been developed, with the help of which an examination by specialists and a survey of 60 patients aged 60-87 years who underwent social rehabilitation in the clinic of the 1Federal Scientific Center for Rehabilitation of Disabled People named after G.A.Albrecht. Information was obtained about the diseases of these patients, about the limitations in self-service and mobility, preferences in choosing standard designs of clothing and shoes, claims and wishes for their characteristics in the aspect of self-service. The main recommendations on the compilation of a wardrobe for the elderly and senile age have been developed and formulated, the need for the development of functionally new forms and designs of both clothes and shoes to create for the elderly and senile the convenience of using these products, hiding morphological defects and deformations (figures and feet) and at the same time meeting the aesthetic requirements of fashion and personal preferences has been substantiated the user. The rehabilitation effect of using functionally new forms and designs of these products is to provide self-management of clothing and footwear for patients with significantly pronounced diseases, functional disorders, defects and deformations of the musculoskeletal system, that is, to reduce their dependence on outside help in the process of self-service and movement.

Background: Despite the prevalence of publications focusing on the trends of the studies on ergonomics, the information of the aging focused studies within these publications is limited., Objective: This study aims to provide general information regarding the trends of the studies on ergonomics and aging by using bibliometric analysis techniques and to provide a general view regarding to the development of this field., Methods: The bibliometric data of the publications on ergonomics and aging were retrieved from the WOS Database and analysed by using the Bibliometrix extension of the R Packet Programme. For the visualisation of the bibliometric data, the Vosviewer programme was used., Results: Analysis results of the 405 papers published between the years of 1979 and 2020 show that main themes were digital human modelling, design for all, workplace ergonomics, transport and vehicle design, kitchen design, human factors, care and vision in old age., Conclusions: The content of the studies on ergonomics and aging changed from basic elements of ergonomic design for older people to the investigations about computer-aided applications and the effect of the developing technology. Therefore, it can be said that the studies on ergonomics and aging are changing parallel to the development of the technology.

This article offers a fresh examination of Mitch Albom's bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie (1997) from a perspective of literary age studies, with a special focus on the concept of later-life mentorship. The classic mentor figure, commonly seen as the archetype of a wise old teacher, is revived through the healing power of an end-of-life narrative. The mentorial relationship between a young man and an old man shows that the personal growth is as an ongoing and ageless process of becoming that can lead to wisdom and a better understanding of aging and living-with-dying. It also reveals that later-life narratives of mentorship are an integral part of the transmission of knowledge and humanistic values to establish solid relationships between generations. Life lessons with Morrie, collected in the form of a memoir, provide readers with important tools to learn to accept life in all its dimensions, and show how literary narratives of growing older can help deconstruct negative western notions of old age and lead to more meaningful lives in all life stages., (Copyright © 2021 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous studies examining unidirectional relationships between social isolation and physical functioning among older adults may be biased due to reverse causality. This study leveraged data from a US national sample of older adults and a novel estimation method to identify bidirectional associations between these 2 phenomena and their associated temporal dynamics., Methods: The analyses were based on 9 waves of panel data from a sample of adults aged 65 and older from the US National Health and Aging Trends Study (n = 12 427 individuals) and a cross-lagged panel model. Social isolation was measured using the Social Isolation Index (SII) and physical functioning through the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)., Results: One SD increase in the SPPB was associated with a -0.013 SD decrease (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.023 to -0.004) in the SII a year later, whereas 1 SD increase in the SII was associated with a larger -0.058 SD decrease (95% CI: -0.069 to -0.046) in the SPPB a year later. The SII→SPPB effect lasted for approximately 5 years, whereas the SPPB→SII lasted for approximately 3 years., Conclusions: This study confirmed the existence of statistically significant bidirectional associations between social isolation and physical functioning among older adults in the United States, net of reverse causation. Because the effect of social isolation dominates, the findings indicate that public health strategies to promote successful aging should prioritize interventions that enrich older adults' social networks. Furthermore, the effect time horizons yielded by the model point to the optimal timing for the re-delivery of interventions., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The molecular and behavioral effects of the developmental exposure to low doses of Chlorpyrifos (CPF) have been intensively studied in young (neonates and adolescents), and adult animals. However, no study examined influences of developmental CPF exposure in older adult or geriatric rats. This is relevant as such ages are generally linked to cognitive decline and the onset of specific neurodegenerative disorders, some of them previously associated with CPF exposure in both preclinical and human studies. 1 mg/kg/mL of CPF was orally administered to both male and female Wistar rats from Postnatal day 10 to 15. Animals' spatial memory, learning, compulsivity, motricity, and anxiety were analyzed with Morris Water Maze (15-16 months of age) and the Plus-maze (at 18 months of age). Results showed that postnatal CPF exposure did not alter either spatial memory, compulsive-like behaviors, or anxiety levels in late-adult rats. However, CPF exposed rats were hyposensitive to brief disruptions (Probe stage) following the learning phase and showed a general decrease in locomotor activity in both paradigms. These data are relevant as it is the first time that developmental exposure to CPF has been studied at such a late age, observing important effects in locomotor activity that could be linked to specific pathologies previously associated with CPF effects in people. Future studies should extend these findings to other behaviors and molecular outcomes., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Age-related changes in disposition of diazepam and its principal active metabolite, desmethyldiazepam (DMDZ), during and after extended dosage with diazepam were studied in healthy volunteers. Eight elderly subjects (ages 61-78 years) and 7 young subjects (21-33 years) received 2.5 mg of diazepam twice daily for 15 days. Predose (trough) concentrations of diazepam and DMDZ were measured during the 15 days of dosing, and in the postdosage washout period. Kinetic properties were determined by nonlinear regression using a sequential drug-to-metabolite pharmacokinetic model. Steady-state plasma concentrations of diazepam and DMDZ were 30% to 35% higher in elderly subjects compared to young volunteers, and steady-state clearances correspondingly lower, though differences did not reach significance. Large and significant differences were found between young and elderly groups in mean half-life of diazepam (31 vs 86 hours; P < .005) and DMDZ (40 vs 80 hours; P < .02). Half-life values from the multiple-dose study were closely correlated with values from previous single-dose studies of diazepam (R 2 = 0.85) and DMDZ (R 2 = 0.94) in the same subjects. With extended dosing of diazepam in the elderly, slow accumulation and delayed washout of diazepam and DMDZ is probable. After discontinuation, withdrawal or rebound effects are reduced in likelihood, but delayed recovery from sedative effects is possible due to slow elimination of active compounds. Safe treatment of elderly patients with diazepam is supported by understanding of age-related changes in pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic properties., (© 2020, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.)

Verbal fluency is one of the first and most important cognitive functions that deteriorate during the aging process. Verbal fluency is defined as the skill and speed of finding words and finding semantic and phonetic connections between words. One of the most important factors in verbal fluency is bilingualism. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of bilingualism on the verbal fluency of the elderly in Iran. A total of 12 normal elderly bilingual (Arabic-Persian) speakers and 12 normal elderly monolingual (Persian) speakers participated in this comparative-analytical study. To assess verbal fluency, two semantic and phonetic fluency tasks were used. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests. The results obtained from the comparison of phonetic fluency and semantic fluency of native languages of the two groups showed a better performance of monolingual participants in semantic fluency and phonetic fluency tasks in Persian language compared to the Arabic bilingual elderly. No difference was observed in verbal fluency of Persian monolinguals and bilinguals. However, in bilingual elderly participants, faster retrieval was observed in Persian language than in Arabic. This can be considered in assessment and treatment measures for Arabic-Persian bilinguals.

Old age has been central to public health rationalities and contestations of the 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic. This article thinks through what age is and does in pandemic times by juxtaposing four domains of ethical publicity in which age comes to matter: (1) mass fatality of old persons under conditions of variable unpreparedness; (2) circulation of social-Darwinist argument for herd immunity through culling of the weak; (3) everyday challenges of late life care as these are amplified under quarantine; and (4) long-term conditions of economic and political impasse and environmental collapse, experienced as failure of older generations and abandonment of younger ones, a situation here termed generational affect. It asks to what extent the figure of the cullable old renders racialized disparities natural and makes sense through a generational affect in which the world feels as if the survival of the young is in question., (© 2020 by the American Anthropological Association.)

Background: Early-life adversity, including food deprivation, has been linked with late-life cognitive function. Our aim was to explore the association between the early experience of hunger (the age at which it was experienced and its duration) and cognitive performance and decline among older Europeans., Methods: Our sample comprised dementia-free individuals aged ≥65 years who participated in waves 3 and 4 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Information on periods of hunger during the life course was gathered in wave 3 (2009; SHARELIFE). Cognitive performance was assessed using tests of memory, verbal fluency and numeracy in waves 4 (2011) and 5 (2013). Regression models were used to assess the relationship between the experience of hunger at different ages and its duration and cognitive performance and decline while adjusting for age, sex, education, lifestyle and health factors., Results: Among a sample of 2131 individuals (mean age = 76.2 years; 50 % women), the experience of hunger when aged 0-4 years was associated with poorer immediate and delayed recall, fluency and impaired numeracy factors (B±SE=-0.58 ± 0.12; p < 0.001; B±SE=-0.74 ± 0.13; p < 0.001, B±SE=-1.60 ± 0.42; p < 0.001 and OR [95 % CI] = 0.57 [0.42-0.79], respectively). These results attenuated after controlling for duration of the experience of hunger but remained significant for immediate and delayed recall. The experience of hunger at ages 12-18 years was associated with better immediate recall, delayed recall and fluency (B±SE = 0.38 ± 0.15; p = 0.010; B±SE = 0.37 ± 0.17; p = 0.026, B±SE = 1.57 ± 0.53; p = 0.003, respectively). The associations of hunger with cognitive decline were similar but less robust., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that severe nutritional deprivation in early childhood may be associated with poor cognitive function in later life, while food deprivation in later childhood and adolescence may be protective., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the longitudinal relationship between two central concepts in aging research-self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and perceived control of life (COL). Method: The data came from three measurement points over a 9-year period in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). A random intercepts cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was estimated. Results: The covariations between SPA and COL across 9 years were evident at both the between-person level and the within-person within-time level. The results revealed a reciprocal relationship between SPA and COL: Higher than usual negative SPA predicted within-person decreases in COL 4 years later, and lower than usual COL predicted future within-person increases in negative SPA. Furthermore, SPA were found to have a somewhat larger effect on COL than the corresponding influence of COL on SPA. Discussion: This study enriches the stereotype embodiment theory and the practice by documenting a reciprocal interrelationship between SPA and COL.

Background: Protein intake recommendations advise ≥0.8 g/kg body weight (BW)/d, whereas experts propose a higher intake for older adults (1.0-1.2 g/kg BW/d). It is unknown whether optimal protein intake differs by sex or race., Objectives: We examined the shape of sex- and race-specific associations of dietary protein intake with 3- and 6-y changes in appendicular lean mass (aLM) and gait speed and also 6-y incidence of mobility limitation in community-dwelling older men and women., Methods: We used data on men (n = 1163) and women (n = 1237) aged 70-81 y of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study. Protein intake was assessed using an FFQ (1998-1999). aLM and gait speed were measured at baseline and at 3 and 6 y. Difficulty walking one-quarter mile or climbing stairs was measured every 6 mo over 6 y. Prospective associations were evaluated with linear and Cox regression models, comparing fit of models with and without spline functions. All analyses were stratified by sex and additionally by race., Results: Mean ± SD protein intake was 0.94 ± 0.36 g/kg adjusted body weight (aBW)/d in men and 0.95 ± 0.36 g/kg aBW/d in women. There were no strong indications of nonlinear associations. In women, higher protein intake was associated with less aLM loss over 3 y (adjusted B per 0.1 g/kg aBW/d: 39.4; 95% CI: 11.6, 67.2), specifically in black women, but not over 6 y or with gait speed decline. In men, protein intake was not associated with changes in aLM and gait speed. Higher protein intake was associated with a lower risk of mobility limitation in men (adjusted HR per 1.0 g/kg aBW/d: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.91) and women (adjusted HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.94), specifically white women., Conclusions: Associations between protein intake and physical outcomes may vary by sex and race. Therefore, it is important to consider sex and race in future studies regarding protein needs in older adults., (Copyright © The Author(s) on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition 2020.)

Objectives: We used data from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on Adult Development (ILSE study) to investigate whether associations of cognitive abilities with late-life personality changes are moderated by individuals' physical health., Method: Individuals born between 1930 and 1932 (n = 473; mean baseline age: 62.87 years) were assessed up to four times over a period of about 20 years (M = 20.34 years). Cognitive abilities were assessed based on multiple tests representing various cognitive functions. In addition, the Big Five personality traits were measured. Study participants' health was rated by a physician based on several in-depth medical examinations., Results: Health appeared as a significant moderator of the associations between cognitive abilities and personality trajectories: First, lower cognitive abilities were associated with an increase in neuroticism in individuals with poor health, but not in those with good health. Second, lower cognitive abilities were related with an increase in agreeableness in older adults with good health, but with a decrease in agreeableness among those with poor health. Third, better cognitive abilities were associated with stability in conscientiousness, but only among individuals with poorer health., Discussion: Our findings suggest that once health is compromised, cognitive abilities may become a compensatory resource to prevent undesirable personality changes., (© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The aim of this article is threefold. First, we seek to elicit the attitudes and practices of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan Muslim women towards ageing and care for the elderly. Second, we aim to identify possible differences between middle-aged and elderly women's attitudes and practices. Third, we seek to explore which role religion plays in their attitudes and practices. Qualitative empirical research was conducted with a sample of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan Muslim women living in Antwerp (Belgium) (n = 30) and with experts in the field (n = 15). Our study unveils that ageing and care for the elderly are clearly understood from a religious framework. More specifically, theological and eschatological considerations take up a central position. Access to and utilization of professional elderly care is hampered by several barriers (e.g. religious, cultural and financial). We found a more open attitude towards professional elderly care among middle-aged women than among elderly women.

As executive functioning (EF) is especially sensitive to age-related cognitive decline, EF was evaluated by using a multi-method assessment. Fifty males (60-85 years) with a late adulthood autism spectrum condition (ASC) diagnosis and 51 non-ASC males (60-83 years) were compared on cognitive tests across EF domains (cognitive flexibility, planning, processing speed, and working memory) and a self- and proxy report of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version. While no objective performance differences emerged, autistic males and their proxies did report more EF challenges than non-ASC males on the subjective measure. In order to know how to support the older autistic men who received their ASC diagnosis in late adulthood with their daily life EF challenges, it is important to understand what underlies these subjective EF problems.

Old age is a complex, multidimensional concept, difficult to define. Aging is related to different fields of life (family life, social life, cultural life…) and is at the centre of debates. It is a real challenge to take an accurate viewpoint of this phenomenon., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

While much has been said about gendered bodies in legal discourse, as yet relatively little has been written about older bodies. This is surprising given the fact older people are statistically far more likely to be the subjects of certain areas of law which constrain and regulate bodily autonomy, such as mental health and capacity law. This paper uses discourse analysis to understand the way in which older disabled bodies appear in judicial discourse. It is argued that these bodies are often understood as abject, which in turn is used to legitimize certain problematic legal interventions., (Crown Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives : The complex concept of rational suicide, defined as a well-thought-out decision to die by an individual who is mentally competent, is even more controversial in the case of older adults. Materials and Methods : With the aim of better understanding the concept of rational suicide in older adults, we performed a systematic review of the literature, searching PubMed and Scopus databases and eventually including 23 published studies. Results : The main related topics emerging from the papers were: depression, self-determination, mental competence; physicians' and population's perspectives; approach to rational suicide; ageism; slippery slope. Conclusions : Despite contrasting positions and inconsistencies of the studies, the need to carefully investigate and address the expression of suicidal thoughts in older adults, as well as behaviours suggesting "silent" suicidal attitudes, clearly emerges, even in those situations where there is no diagnosable mental disorder. While premature conclusions about the "rationality" of patients' decision to die should be avoided, the possibility of rational suicide cannot be precluded.

Humans flexibly adapt their behavior using feedback from their environment. This ability is impaired in old age, but recent research suggests this mainly concerns processing of negative feedback and that positive feedback might be spared. The aim of this study was to test this idea of an age-related positivity bias against the possibility of a strategic focus on relevant feedback due to limited processing resources in old age. For this purpose, 17 younger (aged 19 to 28 years) and 18 older (aged 69 to 79 years) adults performed a learning task in which they learned the correct response to a stimulus via feedback. Learning relevance was manipulated by varying the informational value of positive and negative feedback. To manipulate available processing resources, the task was conducted under two difficulty levels. Our results showed no hint of a positivity bias in older adults. On the contrary, we found that they learned worse when the information value of the negative feedback was reduced. This is in line with the idea that the positivity effect in older adults reflects a strategic change in motivation, i.e., older adults preferably process positive information if they have a choice, but they can process negative information as effectively when it is relevant for the task at hand. For younger adults, negative feedback seemed to be more important, too, because it modulated later higher-order feedback processing as indexed by the P3b. They showed reduced working memory updating and a more frontal P3b distribution indicating a higher processing effort in conditions in which the information value of negative feedback was reduced., (Copyright © 2019 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As the world's population ages, efforts to improve quality of life (QOL) in old age are gaining public attention. In this study, a programme was conducted for older people with the aim of clarifying their life goals related to QOL and the meaning of their existence, and the effect of the programme in improving QOL was evaluated. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group after registration. The program consisted of four 90-minute classes. The primary outcome was the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale score (PGC), and changes in outcomes were compared between groups. The intervention group had significantly improved PGC scores (P<0.003). Further, the scores of PGC subscales 'Acceptance of one's own ageing' and 'Lonely dissatisfaction' showed significant improvements after the intervention (P<0.001). The findings suggest the effectiveness of the developed program in improving QOL in people aged ≥65 years.

Older adults sometimes experience difficulty in decoding non-literal language, such as sarcastic statements where the underlying meaning differs from the literal words used. Given that sarcasm usually communicates a negative message this age effect might be explained by a positivity bias in old age. Here we test this for the first time by looking at age differences in interpreting non-literal compliments made with positive intention. However, another possibility is that older adults may fail to interpret such remarks correctly because these non-literal compliments are rarely encountered in everyday interactions. The aim of this study was therefore to compare younger and older adults' comprehension of positively and negatively valenced non-literal language. Forty younger and thirty-eight older adults read short story scenarios ending with a positive or negative, literal or non-literal evaluative appraisal of an event. Older adults were less likely than young to detect negatively valenced non-literal criticism and there were even more pronounced age-related differences in comprehending positive non-literal compliments. This indicates that age differences in understanding non-literal language are not driven by positivity biases. The relative rarity of non-literal compliments may have made these particularly difficult to interpret for both younger and older adults. Younger adults' performance indicated that non-literal language mutes perceived levels of critique and praise, while older adults' tendency to misinterpret non-literal language means that they may not benefit from this muting function. Potential implications for social interactions in older adulthood are discussed., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: A multitude of studies have demonstrated a positive effect of spirituality for dealing with difficult situations in life; however, specific studies on spirituality in older age are exceptionally rare within the German gerontological research landscape. The theory of gerotranscendence by Tornstam indicates that spirituality is of particular importance for maintaining life satisfaction especially in older age, due to a change in perspective., Objectives: This study looked into the research questions of how spirituality is presented in the oldest old (80 years and older) in Germany and to what extent its characteristics are specific to older age., Material and Methods: Problem-centered interviews were conducted with 20 oldest old subjects and evaluated using qualitative content analysis., Results: Spirituality in itself is not specific to very old age. Its shaping, however, as an existential process of transformation and redefinition, is specific in the oldest old due to their socialization and biographical experiences over the life course impregnated by processes of subjectification and individualization. In addition, its relation to existential questions gains increasing relevance and priority in very old age in an affective, reflective and performative dimension, and the answers change between fragility and continuity., Conclusion: As a heterogeneous (intermediate) result of experiences over the life course against the background of socialization and individual existential interpretation of "Self" and "World", spirituality in the oldest old should be perceived in this diverse and dynamic manner in research and practice, in order to foster well-being in old age.

Background: Physical function and physical activity decrease with age, but differences in physical activity patterns within different physical functioning groups are unknown., Objectives: To describe physical activity patterns and multimorbidity burden by physical function group and age., Methods: Actigraph accelerometer-derived physical activity patterns were compared by physical function (high functioning, activity limitations, activity of daily living disabled) determined by questionnaire and age among 2174 older adults (mean age = 70.9, sd = 0.2 years) from the cross-sectional 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Associations between physical function, physical activity, and multimorbidity were examined., Results: Reduced physical function and increased age were associated with lower physical activity, increased sedentary time and a compressed activity profile. During the most active hour of the day (11:00 a.m.), the oldest, lowest physical functioning group was 82% less active than the youngest, highest physical functioning group. High functioning had over 30% more total activity counts, over 56% more time in moderate-to-vigorous activity, about 8% less time sedentary and took approximately one more sedentary break/hour than lower physical functioning groups. Gender differences in physical activity variables were prevalent for high functioning, but limited within reduced physical functioning groups. Physical function, age, total activity counts/day, and breaks in sedentary time/day were independently associated with multimorbidity (p < 0.005)., Conclusions: Reduced physical function and increased age are associated with physical activity levels, and all three are associated with multimorbidity. Understanding physical activity differences by physical function is important for designing interventions for older individuals at increased risk for mobility disability., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In the last two decades, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender + elderly people in Argentina have experienced considerable transformations with respect to social policies and laws as well as in the media and public opinion. This article aims to analyze the levels of acceptance and expression of identity ("coming out") in lesbian and gay seniors based on the political and legal changes that have occurred in Argentina but also in their relationship with others. Focus groups were conducted with 10 older gay and 10 older lesbians. The results indicate that sociocultural changes are seen as something positive although doubts arise about the in-depth and authenticity of the changes. The same-sex marriage and gender identity laws are considered as a symbol of an era of greater tolerance and diversity in which they have achieved the exercise of their rights as citizens.

Aim: Aging is thought to coincide with gradual and progressive changes in brain function and behavior over the lifetime. Our previous meta-analytic study reported age-related behavioral changes from young to middle age in male C57BL/6J mice. However, the previous study had some limitations that could affect the generalizability of the findings because of the potential influence of genetic and environmental factors on behavior, in addition to a lack of information regarding the behaviors of old-aged mice. Here, to investigate age-related behavioral changes from young to old age in mice, we analyzed the behaviors of male C57BL/6J mice from four different age groups (8, 47, 73, and 99 weeks of age at the beginning of the experiment) from a colony that had been maintained in a genetically controlled condition based on The Jackson Laboratory's Genetic Stability Program in an environmentally controlled animal facility., Methods: We used a battery of behavioral tests, including the light/dark transition, open field, elevated plus maze, hot plate, social interaction, rotarod, three-chamber social approach, prepulse inhibition, Porsolt forced swim, T-maze, Barnes maze, tail suspension, and fear-conditioning tests., Results: Some behavioral changes occurred between young and middle age, and further changes in various behaviors were observed in old age. Decreased locomotor activity and increased anxiety-like behavior were found in old-aged mice compared to those in young and middle-aged mice in the light/dark transition test. Similarly, an age-dependent decrease in locomotor activity was observed in the open field test and the elevated plus maze test, while there was an age-dependent increase in the time spent in the center area in the open field test and there were no significant differences among age groups in behavioral measures of anxiety in the elevated plus maze test. Decreases in motor performance and the auditory startle response were found in middle-aged mice compared to those in young mice. Similar behavioral changes and increased pain sensitivity, decreased social novelty preference, reduced working and spatial memory, and impaired cued fear memory were observed in old-aged mice compared to those in young mice. Prepulse inhibition was higher in middle-aged mice than in young and old-aged mice. Age-related changes in depression-related behavior were dependent on the type of test and the test time period., Conclusions: This study generally confirmed our previous report regarding age-related behavioral changes from young to middle age and expanded the previous observations by examining the behaviors of old-aged mice. Our results show age-related changes in a wide range of behaviors in mice from young to old age. Most behaviors showed gradual changes with advancing age, but some types of behaviors, such as vertical activity, prepulse inhibition, and depression-related behavior, did not show unidirectional changes with age. These findings provide basic information about the behavioral characteristics of young, middle-aged, and aged male C57BL/6J mice., (© 2019 The Authors. Neuropsychopharmacology Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japanese Society of Neuropsychopharmacology.)

Objective: To examine the insights of carers to better understand self-harm in their older relatives., Methods: An in-depth interview was conducted with the nominated relative/friend (carer) of a person over 80 who had self-harmed within the last month. Carer interpretation and experience of the self-harm and clinical care were explored qualitatively. Audio recordings were transcribed and the content thematically analyzed using N-VIVO., Results: Thirty-two carers of 30 older people who self-harmed were interviewed. Physical, social, and psychological issues were identified as contributory to self-harm. Themes relating to the perceived barriers to seeking help included "they can't communicate," "suicide and secrets," and "invalidation." Themes for the intent of self-harm were "attention seeking" and "wanting to die." Themes which emerged for consequences of self-harm for carers were "anger," "guilt and self-blame," and "it made us ill." Themes for solutions to address the underlying factors leading to self-harm were "more practical support and structure," "improving communication," "removing means of self-harm," "advance care directives as a solution for suffering," and "ignoring self-harm." Clinical care themes were "shared shame and stigma," "safety and supervision vs being locked up," "clinicians dismissing the carer," and "relief and support.", Conclusions: Validation of carer perspectives and understanding family dynamics may improve communication at various system levels and inform interventions for older persons, concurrently support families, and potentially reduce risk of repeat self-harm. Good care must be holistic, be person-centred, and relieve carer burden. A shared understanding and psychotherapeutic approaches to management of self-harm in late life should be considered., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

All over world people live longer. In highly civilized societies the elderly people are half of the population. The old age crowns the whole life, it is the period when one enjoys the fruits of his labours. The man, when living on earth, completes a certain cycle which begins with the birth and is crowned with the old age. Each age is somehow beautiful but the extreme happiness is to go through the whole cycle. The old age is the specific beauty enriched with the past which had prepared it. Through their whole life one should be preparing to have successful, cheerful old age as it crowns air existence. The elderly like calmness, rest, silence and deadened sounds. Thanks to these traits they make every environment harmonious, calm and peaceful. They do it subconsciously thanks to their existence, exclusively through their own presence because these traits are the inherent part of their lives. The old age is God's grace given to man. That is why we may easily say that in their hand an old man holds their life's achievements that they will introduce to God one day.

Objectives: Recommended cut-off criteria for testing measurement invariance (MI) using the comparative fit index (CFI) vary between -0.002 and -0.01. We compared CFI results with those obtained using Bayesian approximate MI for cognitive function., Methods: We used cognitive function data from Waves 1-5 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; Wave 1 n = 11,951), a nationally representative sample of English adults aged ≥50. We tested for longitudinal invariance using CFI and approximate MI (prior for a difference between intercepts/loadings ~N(0,0.01)) in an attention factor (orientation to date, day, week, and month) and a memory factor (immediate and delayed recall, verbal fluency, and a prospective memory task)., Results: Conventional CFI criteria found strong invariance for the attention factor (CFI + 0.002) but either weak or strong invariance for the memory factor (CFI -0.004). The approximate MI results also supported strong MI for attention but found 9/20 intercepts or thresholds were noninvariant for the memory factor. This supports weak rather than strong invariance., Conclusions: Within ELSA, the attention factor is suitable for longitudinal analysis but not the memory factor. More generally, in situations where the appropriate CFI criteria for invariance are unclear, Bayesian approximate MI could alternatively be used., (© 2018 The Authors International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: To examine the six-year prognosis of patients with late-life depression and to identify prognostic factors of an unfavorable course., Design and Setting: The Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons (NESDO) is a multisite naturalistic prospective cohort study with six-year follow-up., Participants: Three hundred seventy-eight clinically depressed patients (according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revision criteria) and 132 nondepressed comparisons were included at baseline between 2007 and 2010., Measurements: Depression was measured by the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology at 6-month intervals and a diagnostic interview at 2- and 6-year follow-up. Multinomial regression and mixed model analyses were both used to identify depression-related clinical, health, and psychosocial prognostic factors of an unfavorable course., Results: Among depressed patients at baseline, 46.8% were lost to follow-up; 15.9% had an unfavorable course, i.e., chronic or recurrent; 24.6% had partial remission; and 12.7% had full remission at six-year follow-up. The relative risk of mortality in depressed patients was 2.5 (95% confidence interval 1.26-4.81) versus nondepressed comparisons. An unfavorable course of depression was associated with a younger age at depression onset; higher symptom severity of depression, pain, and neuroticism; and loneliness at baseline. Additionally, partial remission was associated with chronic diseases and loneliness at baseline when compared with full remission., Conclusions: The long-term prognosis of late-life depression is poor with regard to mortality and course of depression. Chronic diseases, loneliness, and pain may be used as putative targets for optimizing prevention and treatment strategies for relapse and chronicity., (Copyright © 2018 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Alongside clinical tasks and decision making, there is a growing awareness of the emotions that arise during nurses' interaction with clients and its significance in relation to meeting the demands of one's role. This study aims to delve deeper into the experience of community care nurses' encounters with older adults engaged in self-neglectful behaviors., Method: In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 22 experienced nurses in Israel, who worked with older adults engaged in self-neglectful behaviors in the community., Results: Three main themes emerged: "Everything is amplified in old age": An age-related decline in functioning produces situations of self-neglect, Self-neglect as an experience imprinted on the nurse's work: The struggle for treatment, and "What is our role here?"-Nurses' obligations in cases of self-neglect., Conclusion: The complexity of older adults engaged in self-neglectful behaviors results in feelings of confusion and ambiguity regarding the nurses' role.

Objectives: Technostress is stress induced by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use. Research on the topic has focused primarily on the workforce and tended to overlook senior citizens. This study presents the development of a new scale, which was designed to measure technostress specifically among older adults., Method: The scale explores five constructs: overload, invasion, complexity, privacy and inclusion. The initial 20-item measure was tested in a pilot study and then included in an online survey of 537 Internet users aged 60 years and over., Results: Based on the statistical analysis, the scale was reduced to 14 items. The constructs had good internal homogeneity, significant inter-construct correlations and high loadings on a single latent factor. The scores were well distributed along the range. Concurrent validity was assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale. A significant negative association was found between the two scales - a correlation that remained significant even after controlling for background variables., Conclusion: The new scale is useful for measuring technostress in older people, and technostress ought to be considered a particular threat to well-being in later life. Future research should explore its antecedents and consequences and identify interventions useful in alleviating its harmful effect on older ICT users.

Objectives: Personality traits have been found to influence health and functional ability (FA) via multiple pathways. However, personality traits may also change in reaction to constraints in FA, particularly in more vulnerable individuals with high risk of decline in independent functioning in daily life (e.g. older adults with sensory impairment). Therefore, conceptually anchored in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF model), this study investigated reciprocal relationships between personality, focusing on neuroticism and agreeableness, and indicators of FA (i.e. activities of daily living and subjective autonomy) as well as the potentially moderating role of sensory impairment status., Method: The study sample consisted of 387 older adults (mean age at T1: M = 82.50 years, SD = 4.71 years) who were either sensory impaired (SI; i.e. visually or hearing impaired) or sensory unimpaired (UI). A total of 168 individuals were reassessed four years later., Results: Depending on sensory status, personality acted both as predictor and as outcome of FA. Neuroticism was more strongly related with later FA outcomes in SI than in UI individuals. FA variables, in turn, were significant predictors of later neuroticism in UI older adults only and of later agreeableness in SI individuals only., Conclusion: These findings suggest that the late-life personality-FA interplay needs to be considered bidirectional, and the direction of associations varies systematically as a function of sensory impairment status.

The prison population is ageing. Caregivers are having to work in an environment which is unsuited to the care of elderly prisoners. The French law of 18 January 1994 relating to public health and social protection, radically changed the health care provision for people in prisons. The methodological guide relating to their care constitutes a valuable aid to its application. Since then, various laws have been modified by the Code of Criminal Procedure, improving the way the health status of prisoners in general and elderly prisoners in particular is taken into account., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

In contrast to newborns, who spend 16-20 h in sleep each day, adults need only about sleep daily. However, many elderly may struggle to obtain those 8 h in one block. In addition to changes in sleep duration, sleep patterns change as age progresses. Like the physical changes that occur during old age, an alteration in sleep pattern is also a part of the normal ageing process. As people age, they tend to have a harder time falling asleep and more trouble staying asleep. Older people spend more time in the lighter stages of sleep than in deep sleep. As the circadian mechanism in older people becomes less efficient, their sleep schedule is shifted forward. Even when they manage to obtain 7 or 8 h sleep, they wake up early, as they have gone to sleep quite early. The prevalence of sleep disorders is higher among older adults. Loud snoring, which is more common in the elderly, can be a symptom of obstructive sleep apnoea, which puts a person at risk for cardiovascular diseases, headaches, memory loss, and depression. Restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder that disrupt sleep are more prevalent in older persons. Other common medical problems of old age such as hypertension diabetes mellitus, renal failure, respiratory diseases such as asthma, immune disorders, gastroesophageal reflux disease, physical disability, dementia, pain, depression, and anxiety are all associated with sleep disturbances., (© 2018 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.)

This article examines the nature of human dignity against the background of old age and introduces the novel idea of treating human dignity as a formal principle related to the more foundational notion of indignity. The discussion starts with the objection that the notion of human dignity can be used to justify contrary positions and is therefore inconclusive. This pitfall can be averted by appealing to the notion of indignity rather than dignity in one's moral reasoning and decision-making. Cases of indignity are more primary and indicate the violation of the very core of a human being. The verifiable property of vulnerability is central to this identification of indignity, as is illustrated by reference to the experiences of elderly people. The article argues for applying the concept of human dignity to reverse the conditions that existed before a particular indignity emerged, rather than trying to define positively the notion of human dignity in the first place., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Oxidative stress (OS) negatively affects skeletal muscle homeostasis in experimental models of ageing. However, little is known about the associations between circulating OS markers and parameters of muscle mass and function, and their responses to exercise training, in humans., Methods: Maximal voluntary contraction (MVC, primary outcome) and isokinetic torque of the knee extensors at 30° s -1 (MIT), muscle cross-sectional area (MCSA) and quality (MQ, secondary outcomes), and plasma concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA, pro-OS), homocysteine (HCY, pro-OS), taurine (TAU, anti-OS), and protein sulphydryl groups (PSH, anti-OS) were measured in 27 healthy older males and 23 females at baseline and after an 18-week resistance exercise program, with or without a nutritional intervention (fish oil vs. placebo)., Results: After adjusting for age, glomerular filtration rate, and nutritional intervention, there were no significant correlations between baseline OS markers and muscle parameters, barring a positive association between TAU and MIT in females (r = 0.53, P = .035) and between MDA and MCSA in males (r = 0.69, P = .001). Training did not significantly change OS markers, except for a reduction in MDA in females (-0.27 μmol/L, 95% CI -0.51 to -0.02, P = .034). In females, there were significant correlations between baseline MDA and exercise-induced changes in MVC (P = .018), baseline TAU and changes in MCSA (P = .026), and baseline HCY and changes in MCSA (P = .046) and MQ (P = .022). In males, baseline MDA was significantly associated with exercise-induced changes in MVC (P = .040)., Conclusions: Plasma MDA, HCY, and TAU were significantly associated with baseline and/or exercise-induced changes in muscle mass and function in healthy older adults, primarily in females. Pending further confirmation in other populations, specific OS markers, particularly MDA, might predict muscle responses to resistance exercise programs in old age., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The current study investigates the relevance of positive attitudes toward Internet technologies for psychological well-being and social well-being in old age. A sample of 245 elderly people ( Mean age = 70; SD =9.1) filled in the Psychological Well-Being Questionnaire, the Social Well-Being Questionnaire, and Attitudes Toward Technologies Questionnaire (ATTQ). Favorable attitudes toward Internet technologies showed positive correlations with overall social well-being and all its components with the exception of social acceptance. Positive correlations with overall psychological well-being and two of its components, namely, personal growth and purpose in life, were also found. Two hierarchical multiple regression models underscored that positive attitudes toward Internet technologies constitute the most important predictor of social well-being, and it appears to be a significant predictor for psychological well-being as well. Results are discussed and integrated into the Positive Technology theoretical framework that sustains the value of technological resources for improving the quality of personal experience and well-being.