Light Exercise May Slow Dementia: As few as three exercise sessions per week may be all it takes to reduce the risk of dementia in people over 65, according to a report published January 17 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. In a study led by doctors from the Group Health Cooperative's Center for Health Studies in Seattle, researchers selected 1,750 people over 65 who showed no signs of mental decline. They interviewed the subjects about their exercise habits, assessed their general health and traced their progress for an average of about six years, periodically testing their memory and other mental functions. The study found that people who exercised three or more times a week developed dementia at a rate of 13 per 1,000 patient years, compared to 19.7 per 1,000 patient years for those who exercised less often. (A thousand patient years is the equivalent of 100 patients observed over a period of 10 years.)

You're Never Too Old To Benefit From Exercise: People are never too old to gain health benefits from exercise, according to a report published in the February issue of the Journal of Aging and Health. Researchers divided a group of 64 volunteers with an average age of 84 into three groups. The first group exercised by walking, the second did resistance training and the third did no exercise. After 16 weeks of regular exercise twice a week, members of the two exercise groups had lower blood pressure, improved upper and lower body strength, improved hip and shoulder flexibility, and improvements in tests of agility, balance and coordination when compared to the non-exercising group. Both the resistance and the walking programs led to significant improvements, leading researchers to suggest that the exercise itself, not the type of exercise, provides the benefits.

Positive Attitude Linked To Heart Health: Optimistic men may be less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than men who are less hopeful, according to a report published February 27 in Archives of Internal Medicine. Dutch researchers based their findings on a study that followed the health of 545 men, ages 64 to 84, over a 15-year period. In addition to monitoring the men's physical health, researchers gave them a questionnaire every five weeks that assessed their outlook on life. The most optimistic men had a 50 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease over the 15 years than the least optimistic men. Other studies have also found associations between a good frame of mind and good health, although some research suggests the link is not as strong for women. The difference may be explained, in part, by the finding that optimistic people are better able to cope with problems, to follow their medical treatments and to reach out for help from other people when they need it.

Depression May Speed Age-Linked Cognitive Decline: Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) have found that depressed seniors are more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment within six years than those who are depression-free. The more severe the depression, the greater the risk of the mental decline, according to the study, which appears in the March issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. The study included 2,220 people 65 and older. At the start of this study, participants were checked for symptoms of depression. Six years later, they were assessed for cognitive impairment. The researchers found that close to 20 percent of those with moderate to high depression at the start of the study had developed cognitive impairment after six years, compared to just over 13 percent of those who had mild depressive symptoms and 10 percent of those who had no symptoms of depression.

Not Enough Stroke Patients Getting Clot-Busting Drug: Even though it can save lives threatened by stroke, only a very small percentage of patients are getting a powerful clot-busting drug, a new U.S. survey finds. Of nearly 2,100 people treated for strokes caused by a blood clot at 15 hospitals in Michigan over a six-month period, just 2 percent received tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), according to a report published in the February 14 issue of Neurology. The fault for the low use of tPA lies partially with hospitals, and partially with patients who wait too long to go to a hospital when a stroke is coming on, often because they don't recognize the warning signs of a stroke. To work effectively, tPA must be given within three hours of the start of a stroke. Warning signs of stroke include dizziness, sudden weakness on one side of the body and headache.

Not Enough Older Women Getting Bone Density Screenings: Although they have the highest risk for hip fractures, elderly women are least likely to get a bone density screening, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin analyzed the Medicare records of nearly 44,000 women, ages 65 to 90, to see how many of them had bone density screening between 1999 and 2001. They found that 27 percent of women ages 65 to 70 had the test, compared with 25.6 percent of women ages 71 to 75, and less than 10 percent of women older than 75. About 19 percent of women ages 65 to 74 have osteoporosis, along with 32.5 percent of women ages 75 to 84, and more than 50 percent of women over age 85. Researchers suggested that one reason older women are less likely to get bone density screening is that doctors may not understand the importance of bone density testing or may not be aware that just three years of osteoporosis treatment can reduce the risk of fractures. In addition, women may not like to take prescription drugs or may be put off by side effects. Women also may not realize they're at risk for osteoporosis or mistakenly believe that it's a natural part of aging.

Healthy Lifestyle Helps Keep Aging Brains Healthy: Being good to your heart and making the right lifestyle choices - such as exercising, learning new things and staying socially connected - may help keep your brain healthy as you grow older, according to a report published February 21 in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. The report's authors reviewed previous studies and concluded that controlling cardiovascular risk factors plays an important role in maintaining brain health as people age. And controlling those risk factors is within most people's grasp: losing weight, reducing blood pressure and cholesterol, avoiding smoking, and preventing or controlling diabetes are all proven heart-healthy activities. The report also found correlations between physical activity and brain health, and between brain health and such factors as higher education level, higher socio-economic status, emotional support, moderate alcohol use and use of vitamin supplements. In contrast, the authors found that such psychosocial factors as social disengagement and depressed mood are associated with both poorer cognitive and emotional health in late life.

Low-Fat Diet Can Help Control Weight: Although eating less fat does not magically melt flab away, it does not necessarily lead to weight gain either, as some diet promoters have claimed. In a study of 48,000 women who were followed for about seven years, published January 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, those who adopted a lower-fat diet initially lost about five pounds, but later gained back all but two pounds. A comparison group that did not change its diet stayed about the same. The bottom line, according to researchers who led the study, is that lower-fat diets can help people avoid gaining weight in middle age. The study was the first to follow a large number of people who cut their daily fat intake over a long period.

Whole Grains May Reduce Diabetes And Heart Disease Risks: A diet high in whole grains may lower a person's likelihood of developing diabetes and heart disease, according to a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Danish researchers found that, among more than 900 healthy men and women, those who reported consuming the most whole grains had lower levels of cholesterol and various markers of heart disease and better-controlled blood sugar. Healthy men and women who reported the highest intake of whole grains had levels of homocysteine, a blood protein that has been tied to heart disease and stroke, that were 17 percent lower than those who reported consuming the least amount of whole grains.

Chocolate Does A Man's Heart Good: Eating or drinking cocoa may lower blood pressure and even reduce the death risks for older men, according to a report in the February 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Dutch researchers examined links between cocoa and cardiovascular health in 470 men aged 65 to 84 years. The men had physical examinations and were interviewed about their diet at the start of the study in 1985 and then again in 1990 and 1995. The researchers found that over a 15-year period, men who ate cocoa -including chocolate - regularly had significantly lower blood pressure compared with those who didn't. In addition, men who consumed the highest amount of cocoa were half as likely to die from cardiovascular disease, compared to men who ate little or no cocoa, and men who ate the most cocoa were less likely to die from any causes. Cocoa contains flavan-3-ols, which have been linked to lower blood pressure and improved function of the cells lining the blood vessels. The researchers believe that the lowered death risk didn't stem so much from lowered blood pressure, as from other heart-healthy benefits linked to flavan-3-ols. And since cocoa is rich in antioxidants, it may also protect against other diseases linked to oxidative stress, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and certain types of cancer.

Wash Your Hands After Shopping: Shopping cart handles are the most bacteria-infested items among some commonly used objects, while doorknobs on public bathrooms are not as bad as might be expected, according to a survey conducted recently in South Korea. The Korea Consumer Protection Board tested six items that are commonly handled by the public and ran tests for their bacteria content. Shopping cart handles led the way with 1,100 colony-forming units of bacteria per 1.55 sq inches followed by a mouse used on computers in Internet cafes, which had an average of 690 colony-forming units. Hand straps on buses were next with 380 units, followed by bathroom doorknobs at 340. Rounding out the list were elevator buttons at 130 colony-forming units and hand straps on subways at 86. The report said washing hands with soap removes almost all of the bacteria.

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