Editors: Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau
Gerosexuality, the study of sexuality in the context of aging
and disease, is a special emphasis area of CCBAR researchers. Last week,
CCBAR researchers published findings of a national survey of US Ob/Gyns,
showing that while most do ascertain whether patients are sexually active, more
than 30% rarely or never ask patients about their sexual identity or
orientation, and 25% rarely or never ask about sexual dysfunction, despite a
high prevalence of sexual dysfunction in the female population. This
study was led by now Wayne State medical student, Janelle Sobecki, MS, and was
co-authored by Lindau and University of Chicago Medicine colleagues Farr
Curlin, MD and Ken Rasinski, PhD. It is receiving wide media coverage. Link to
Journal of Sexual Medicine Study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02702.x/abstract
Additional coverage:
NPR:
org/blogs/health/2012/03/22/149157619/what-your-gynecologist-doesnt-know-about-your-sex-life-but-really-should
The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/03/today-in-research-gynecologists-arent-talking-about-sex-enough/254911/
WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/sex/news/20120322/many-gynecologists-dont-talk-about-sex
UPI: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2012/03/23/Patients-doctors-avoid-discussing-sex/UPI-19581332483280/
Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120322100217.htm
Another important paper this month on human sexuality came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health and shows dynamics in sexual orientation identity among adolescents over time. This paper was published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior 3/12, by Ritch C. Savin-Williams, Kara Joyner and Gerulf Rieger.
CCBAR member,
Natalia Gavrilova, gave a presentation
at the 2012 conference of the Chicago Actuarial Association (CAA). The talk was
based on her publication
recently featured by the Wall
Street Journal and WSJ Blog.
Using
Social Security Administration data, the paper challenges a
common
belief in demography that mortality at advanced ages grows slower than
predicted by the Gompertz law (exponential growth). One presentation at the CAA
conference may be of interest to researchers studying biomarkers:
"Potential New Medical Markers in Underwriting" by Al Klein (Millman
Inc). His presentation reviewed several cardiovascular and total
mortality biomarkers and the applicability to life insurance practice.
News
from
the NEJM, Nature Journals, Science, BMJ, PNAS, Lancet and JAMA
Healthier
ageing
Summary points. Ageing affects people in different
ways, with a wide
variation in age related physical and mental functioning. Healthier
ageing is achievable through modifying some lifestyle...
Stress
survey
Survey finds that striving for work-life balance can take its toll on
your career.
Social
science: Human reproductive assistance
What is the biological explanation for menopause,
and for female
survival beyond it? A study suggests that competition for help in
ancestral societies may have been key to the evolution of this unusual
human trait.
Ageing:
Sorting out the sirtuins
Debates over the role of sirtuin proteins in ageing
are maturing into
functional assessments of the individual proteins. It seems that
overexpression of a specific sirtuin can extend lifespan in male mice.
See Letter p.218
The
sirtuin SIRT6 regulates lifespan in male mice
The significant increase in human lifespan during
the past century
confronts us with great medical challenges. To meet these challenges,
the mechanisms that determine healthy ageing must be understood and
controlled. Sirtuins are highly conserved deacetylases that have been
shown to regulate lifespa...
Social
Science: Experimenting with Politics
Social scientists are turning increasingly to experiments to explain
important political behaviors.
Sip
carefully
A new line of relaxation drinks containing neurotransmitters and
hormones purports to help consumers sleep and reduce stress. Scientists
should raise awareness of the potential harms of these drinks and
pressure industry and government to increase the regulation of their
sale and use.
Maximizing
the value of diagnostics in Alzheimer's disease drug development
This article examines strategic issues faced by
pharmaceutical
companies relating to the development of biomarkers and diagnostics for
Alzheimer's disease.
Learning
and memory: Adult-born neurons change jobs
Newborn hippocampal granule cells are crucial in
pattern separation,
whereas older granule cells promote rapid pattern completion.
The
ageing cortical synapse: hallmarks and implications for cognitive
decline
Normal ageing is associated with impairments in
cognitive function,
including memory. These impairments are linked, not to a loss of
neurons in the forebrain, but to specific and relatively subtle
synaptic alterations in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Here, we
review studies that have shed
Collaboration
in social networks [Computer Sciences]
The very notion of social network implies that
linked individuals
interact repeatedly with each other. This notion allows them not only
to learn successful strategies and adapt to them, but also to condition
their own behavior on the behavior of others, in a strategic forward
looking manner. Game th...
Female
reproductive tract form drives the evolution of complex sperm
morpholo...
The coevolution of female mate preferences and
exaggerated male traits
is a fundamental prediction of many sexual selection models, but has
largely defied testing due to the challenges of quantifying the sensory
and cognitive bases of female preferences. We overcome this difficulty
by focusing on po...
Neutral
theory for life histories [Population Biology]
Individuals within populations can differ
substantially in their life
span and their lifetime reproductive success but such realized
individual variation in fitness components need not reflect underlying
heritable fitness differences visible to natural selection. Even so,
biologists commonly argue t...
Discontinuation
of hormone replacement therapy after myocardial infarction an...
Objective To assess the risk of adverse
cardiovascular events in women
who discontinue hormone replacement therapy after myocardial infarction
compared with those who continue.Design Nationwide...
Effectiveness
of physical activity promotion based in primary care: systemati...
Objectives To determine whether trials of physical
activity promotion
based in primary care show sustained effects on physical activity or
fitness in sedentary adults, and whether exercise referral...
Improving
the Cardiovascular Health of the US Population [Editorial]
Trends
in Cardiovascular Health Metrics and Associations With All-Cause and
C...
Recent recommendations from the American
Heart
Association aim to improve cardiovascular health by encouraging the
general population to meet 7 cardiovascular health metrics: not
smoking; being physically active; having normal blood pressure, blood
glucose and total cholesterol levels, and w...
Falls
From Taking Multiple Medications May Be a Risk for Both Young and Old
[...
Higher
social class predicts increased unethical behavior [Psychological and
...
Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic
methods reveal that
upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class
individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more
likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class
individuals. In follow-up laborator...
Honesty
mediates the relationship between serotonin and reaction to unfairnes...
How does one deal with unfair behaviors? This
subject has long been
investigated by various disciplines including philosophy, psychology,
economics, and biology. However, our reactions to unfairness differ
from one individual to another. Experimental economics studies using
the ultimatum game (UG), ...
Telomere
biology of immortal worms [Evolution]
In most sexually reproducing animals, replication and maintenance of
telomeres occurs in the germ line and during early development in
embryogenesis through the use of telomerase. Somatic cells generally do
not maintain telomere sequences, and these cells become senescent in
adults as telomeres shor...
Biomarkers
and
Aging
in
the
News
Media
•
Panel
Calls for Closer Oversight of Biomarker Tests
Institute of Medicine faults Duke University's "failure" to catch
problems
• New
test may predict the possibility of a heart attack
New findings from a landmark research study shows a promising new blood
test may be useful in helping doctors predict who is at risk for an
imminent heart attack.
• Obesity
harms 'later brain skill'
Being overweight in later life puts you at higher risk of brain
decline, research suggests.
• Living
alone 'are more depressed'
Living alone can increase someone's risk of depression by up to 80%
compared to living in families, says a Finnish study.
• Sugar-Sweetened
Drinks Linked to Heart Disease
Each 12-ounce serving of a sugar-sweetened drink sharply raises a man's
relative risk for heart disease, a large epidemiological analysis has
found.
• Diet
Soda May Cause Health Problems, Study Says
People often drink diet sodas to be healthier, but new research
suggests some potential health dangers. CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports
a look at the risk and has some advice on what to do if you're a fan of
those drinks.
• Vital
Statistics: U.S. Study Finds Children Consuming Too Much Sugar
The older the child, the greater the consumption of calories from added
sugars, most of it at home, according to a continuing survey of eating
habits.
• Red
Meat Linked to Cancer and Heart Disease
A new analysis found that each daily increase of three ounces of red
meat was associated with a 16 percent increased risk of cardiovascular
death and a 10 percent increased risk of cancer death.
• Eye
Disease Linked to Memory Decline
A new study suggests that people with even minimal eye blood vessel
damage due to vascular disease have a higher risk for memory and
thinking declines.
• Few
U.S. cities are ready for aging Baby Boomer population
Few communities have started to think long term about how to plan for
aging Baby Boomers.
• Older
adults 'drink more often'
Adults tend to drink more often as they get older in Great Britain, a
major lifestyle survey shows.
•
Memory
Problems May Worsen After Hospital Stay
Older people who are hospitalized may experience a worsening of their
memory problems and thinking abilities after they are discharged, a new
study suggests.
• Scientists
wrest partial control of a memory
Scientists have successfully harnessed neurons in mouse brains,
allowing them to at least partially control a specific memory.
Researchers have known for decades that stimulating various regions of
the brain can trigger behaviors and even memories. But understanding
the way these brain functions develop and occur normally -- effectively
how we become who we are -- has been a much more complex goal.
• Really?:
The Claim: Sleep Quality Worsens With Age
Studies show that healthy older adults are unlikely to have more
problems sleeping than younger counterparts. For those who do have
problems, they may be a symptom of underlying illness.
• Studies
Link Aspirin Daily Use to Reduced Cancer Risk
The findings add to evidence suggesting that aspirin may be a powerful
if overlooked weapon against cancer, but some physicians and health
officials are concerned about side effects.
• The
Consumer: How Much Aspirin Is Too Much of a Good Thing?
Despite recent good news about aspirin reducing the risk of cancers,
doctors still don't know how much of it people should take.
• Supreme
Court Orders New Look at Gene Patents
Appellate judges were told to reconsider a ruling that let Myriad
Genetics patent two genes associated with a high risk of breast and
ovarian cancer.
• Gray
Matter: The Case for Sleep Medicine
The risks of sleeping pills are real, but so are the risks of sleep
deprivation.
• Genetic
risk and stressful early infancy join to increase risk for schizophrenia
Working with genetically engineered mice and the genomes of thousands
of people with schizophrenia, researchers say they now better
understand how both nature and nurture can affect one's risks for
schizophrenia and abnormal brain development in general.
• Chronic
stress spawns protein aggregates linked to Alzheimer's
Repeated stress triggers the production and accumulation of insoluble
tau protein aggregates inside the brain cells of mice, say researchers.
• Lowering
LDL, the earlier the better
Coronary atherosclerosis - a hardening of the arteries due to a
build-up of fat and cholesterol - can lead to heart attacks and other
forms of coronary heart disease (CHD). Lowering low-density lipoprotein
(LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, reduces the risk of CHD, and researchers
found that lowering LDL beginning early in life resulted in a
three-fold greater reduction in the risk of CHD than treatment with a
statin started later in life.
• Sleeping
too much or too little can be bad for your heart
Getting too little sleep - or even too much - appears to spell trouble
for the heart. New data reveal that adults who get less than six hours
of sleep a night are at significantly greater risk of stroke, heart
attack and congestive heart failure. Even those who reportedly sleep
more than eight hours a night have a higher prevalence of heart
problems, namely chest pain (angina) and coronary artery disease, a
narrowing of the blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the
heart.
• CDC:
Only half of first marriages last 20 years
Even though Americans are marrying older, the divorce rate has
remained high, shows a new report from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Among women there was just a 52 percent chance that a
first marriage would last for 20 years. Men fared slightly better with
a 56 percent chance.
• Estrogen
pills reduce breast cancer risk in study of menopausal women
Women taking estrogen pills had 23 percent lower risk for breast cancer
• Aging,
overweight people stay happy says new study
Growing older and being overweight are not necessarily associated with
a decrease in mental well-being, according to a cross-cultural study
looking at quality of life and health status in the US and the UK.
NIH
launches online resource on behavioral and social science research
methods
A Web-based interactive anthology will provide psychologists,
economists, anthropologists, sociologists and other scientists with the
latest research methods and tools to address emerging challenges in
public health, such as the obesity epidemic and the rise of chronic
diseases such as heart disease. The Office of Behavioral and Social
Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health
collaborated with New England Research Institutes to create the free
resource, called e-Source.
NIH
study finds interventions to prevent type 2 diabetes give good return
on ...
Programs to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in high-risk adults would
result in fewer people developing diabetes and lower health care costs
over time, researchers conclude in a new study funded by the National
Institutes of Health.
Friendly-to-a-fault,
yet tense: personality traits traced in brain
A personality profile marked by overly gregarious yet anxious behavior
is rooted in abnormal development of a circuit hub buried deep in the
front center of the brain, say scientists at the National Institutes of
Health. They used three different types of brain imaging to pinpoint
the suspect brain area in people with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic
disorder characterized by these behaviors.
Possible
causes of sudden onset OCD in kids broadened
Criteria for a broadened syndrome of acute onset obsessive compulsive
disorder (OCD) have been proposed by a National Institutes of Health
scientist and her colleagues. The syndrome, Pediatric Acute-onset
Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS), includes children and teens that
suddenly develop on-again/off-again OCD symptoms or abnormal eating
behaviors, along with other psychiatric symptoms -- without any known
cause.
NIH
brain imaging study finds evidence of basis for caregiving impulse
Distinct patterns of activity -- which may indicate a predisposition to
care for infants -- appear in the brains of adults who view an image of
an infant face -- even when the child is not theirs, according to a
study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and in
Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Nearly
800,000 deaths prevented due to declines in smoking
Twentieth-century tobacco control programs and policies were
responsible for preventing more than 795,000 lung cancer deaths in the
United States from 1975 through 2000, according to an analysis funded
by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes
of Health.
NIH
and Lilly to generate public resource of approved and investigational
med...
The National Institutes of Health and Eli Lilly and Company will
generate a publicly available resource to profile the effects of
thousands of approved and investigational medicines in a variety of
sophisticated disease-relevant testing systems, NIH announced today.
NIH
study links childhood cancer to delays in developmental milestones
Infants and toddlers who have been treated for cancer tend to reach
certain developmental milestones later than do their healthy peers, say
researchers at the National Institutes of Health and in Italy.
NIH
launches consumer-friendly tips series on complementary health practices
A new series of monthly health tips, Time to Talk Tips, will provide
consumers with easy-to-read information on complementary health
practices. The effort is managed by the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National
Institutes of Health.
Vitamin
D shrinks fibroid tumors in rats
Treatment with vitamin D reduced the size of uterine fibroids in
laboratory rats predisposed to developing the benign tumors, reported
researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.
NLM
Information Resource Grants to Reduce Health Disparities (G08)
Funding Opportunity RFA-LM-12-001 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) solicits resource
grant applications for projects that will bring useful, usable health
information to health disparity populations and the health care
providers who care for those populations. Access to useful, usable,
understandable health information is an important factor during health
decisions. Proposed projects should exploit the capabilities of
computer and information technology and health sciences libraries to
bring health-related information to consumers and their health care
providers. Preference will be given to applications that show strong
involvement of health science libraries.
Secondary
Analyses in Obesity, Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R21)
Funding Number: PA-12-125
Expiration Date: May 8, 2015
Exploratory
Laboratory and Analysis Projects in Parkinsons Disease Biomarkers...
Funding Opportunity RFA-NS-12-010 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA)
is to stimulate innovation and development of technologies and reagents
that will accelerate the discovery of biological biomarkers for
Parkinsons disease (PD). It is expected that the NINDS Parkinsons
disease biomarkers program (PDBP) will consolidate, integrate and
enhance NINDS-funded PD biomarkers research projects. This FOA will
foster research into biospecimen preparation methodologies,
quantitative analyte analysis, reagent and assay development, and data
analysis methods needed for PD biomarkers progress to occur.
Utilization of extant specimens and data for novel discovery projects
is permitted under this FOA, as long as consent enables deposition of
all data into the PDBP Data Management Resource (DMR).
Studies
in Parkinson's Disease Biomarkers Discovery (U01)
Funding Opportunity RFA-NS-12-011 from the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts. The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA)
is to 1) support hypothesis driven clinical research to discover
biomarkers that will improve the efficiency and outcome of Phase II
clinical trials for Parkinsons Disease (PD) and 2) support the
collection of clinical data and new biological specimens that will be
used for biomarker exploratory efforts under the NINDS Parkinsons
Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP). Applications may include both of
these goals if justified. Studies using either existing or new cohorts
may be appropriate. For all applications, applicants must describe
statistical justification for the number of subjects/samples proposed
and a clear scientific rationale for the range and types of
subjects/samples to be collected. Broad sharing of data and biological
specimens with academic, industry and government researchers is a
critical feature of the PDBP generally and of this FOA specifically, in
order to provide valuable research resources for the scientific
community to advance Parkinsons Disease research in an efficient and
effective manner (consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and
policies); therefore, all subjects in any proposed study must be
properly consented to allow appropriate sample and data distribution to
researchers in academics and industry.
Biodemography
of
Aging
(R21),
Funding
Number:
PAR-12-079
Expiration Date: March 4, 2014
Biodemography
of
Aging
(R03),
Funding
Number:
PAR-12-080
Expiration Date: March 4, 2014
Biodemography
of
Aging
(R01),
Funding
Number:
PAR-12-078
Expiration Date: March 4, 2014
Limited
Competition:
Archiving
and
Dissemination
of
Research
Data
on
Aging
(P30)
Funding Opportunity RFA-AG-12-013 from the NIH Guide for Grants
and
Contracts. The purpose of this FOA is to continue the P30 Center Grant
to 1) maintain the existing collections of the National Archive of
Computerized Data on Aging and develop it further as a user-friendly
data archive to support behavioral and social science research on
aging; 2) advise and assist researchers in documentation and archiving
of data and metadata; 3) advise and assist researchers on methods of
sharing data for secondary analysis while providing adequate
protections for confidentiality; and 4) facilitate secondary analysis
by providing user support, access to data, and training and
consultation.
Announcements:
2012 WLS
Pilot
Grant Program
The Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA) at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison will award two to three pilot grants to
investigators using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) data for
scholarly research. Grant application must be received by May
25,
2012. Please contact Carol Roan by e-mail roan@ssc.wisc.edu or by
telephone (608) 265-6196 for more information.
Registration
for
the
2012
International
Conference
on
Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural
Modeling, and Prediction is now open!
SBP12 will be held at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD
April 2 - April 5, 2012.
Early bird registration ends March 16
NIH Videocasts:
• Targeting
Aging to Delay Multiple Chronic Diseases: A New Frontier
Geroscience Interest Group
Air date: Thursday, March 08, 2012, 11:30:00 AM
• Demystifying
Medicine- Aging Gracefully Conferences:
Population
Association
of
America
Annual
meeting, San Francisco, CA.
RAND Summer
Institute,
July
9-10,
Santa
Monica,
California. 2012 Annual
Meeting of
the American Sociological Association, August 17-20, Denver,
CO This
Newsletter is supported by a grant from the National
Institute on
Aging, National Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5 P30 AG012857)
The course includes presentation of patients, pathology, diagnosis and
therapy in the context of major disease problems and current research.
Primarily directed toward Ph.D. students, fellows, and staff, it is
also of interest to medical students and clinicians. The course is
designed to help bridge the gap between advances in biology and their
application to major human diseases. Each session includes clinical and
basic science components which are presented by NIH staff and outside
invit...
Air date: Tuesday, March 06, 2012, 4:00:00 PM
The 2012 Annual Meeting will be held May 3-5 at the Hilton San
Francisco Union
Square Hotel.
Registration deadline: April 15, 2012
American
Geriatrics
Society
2012 Annual Scientific Meeting, May 2-5, 2012, Seattle, WA
Abstracts
Deadline:
December
5,
2011
Summer
Research
Institute
on
Behavioral
Intervention, June 14-16, 2012
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD
RAND is pleased to announce the 19th annual RAND Summer Institute
(RSI). RSI consists of two annual conferences that address critical
issues facing our aging population. The Mini-Medical School for Social
Scientists will be held on July 9–10, and the Demography, Economics,
Psychology, and Epidemiology of Aging conference on July 11–12, 2012.
Both conferences will convene at the RAND Corporation headquarters in
Santa Monica, California.
The application
deadline is March
9, 2012
Abstracts
Deadline:
January
11,
2012
Gerontological
Society
of
America's
65th
Annual
Scientific
Meeting, November 14-18, 2012, San Diego, CA.
Abstracts
Deadline:
March
15,
2012
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