Healthy Aging Archive

Q. I love to soak in the sun and get a nice tan, which makes me look healthier. However, over the years I've acquired a few wrinkles, which I'm not so crazy about. Is there anything I can do to minimize them?

A. As you know, prolonged exposure to the sun can result in premature wrinkles. In addition, age, sex, skin type, geographic location, skin pigmentation, genetics, and total duration of sun exposure throughout life all play a role in how our skin ages. Studies have shown sun exposure induces skin aging in up to 80% to 90% of Europeans and North Americans.

Research we’re watching

The Framingham Heart Study—which has charted the lifestyles and health status of the residents of Framingham, Mass., since 1948—has been tracking the development of dementia among participants since 1975. In a recent analysis, published in the Feb. 11, 2016, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers calculated the dementia rate among 5,205 people ages 60 or older. The participants had physical exams, including tests for dementia, every five years. The researchers determined that the five-year rate of dementia was 3.6% between 1982 and 1986, 2.8% between 1991 and 1996, 2.2% between 1998 and 2003, and 2.0% between 2009 and 2013. Moreover, the average age when dementia was diagnosed went from 80 to 85 over those three decades.

The declining dementia rate was registered only in high school graduates, but they made up most of the Framingham participants. The rate of cardiovascular disease—including stroke, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure—also fell during the three decades. In that sense, the results give further support to findings that education (which may build up cognitive reserves) protects against dementia, and cardiovascular disease (which restricts blood flow to the brain) may promote it. They provide encouragement that pursuing a healthy, engaged lifestyle may pay off.

Research we’re watching

A study found that knee buckling was associated with a higher risk of recurrent falls and significant injuries.

Knee buckling, caused by weakened muscles, is common in people who have osteoarthritis in their knees. To determine whether knee buckling leads to falls, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, studied 1,842 participants enrolled in the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST), 59% of whom were women. At a visit five years into the study, the researchers asked the participants if their knees had buckled in the past three months and whether they had fallen as a result. About 17% of participants said their knees had buckled, 20% of whom reported falling as their knees gave way.

In the Journals

Knee buckling in older adults may increase the risk of falling, according to a study published online Feb. 8, 2016, by Arthritis Care & Research. Buckling, often described as the knee "giving way," is a symptom of knee instability. It often affects older individuals, in particular those with knee pain and knee osteoarthritis. It also may be caused by leg muscle weakness or balance difficulties. When your knee buckles, you can lose your balance and fall, which raises your risk of injury and even fractures. Repeated incidents also can limit your ability to climb stairs.

Researchers studied 1,842 participants, 40% of whom were men, who were at high risk for knee osteoarthritis. After five years, 16.8% reported regular knee buckling, and over the next two years, those people were 1.6 to 2.5 times more likely to experience recurring falls, fear of falling, and poor confidence in their ability to balance.

With the right props and advice, you can turn your living space into an efficient workout area.

Exercising at home may be more convenient and affordable than a gym membership, but you still need to muster up the movtivation to work out. 
Image: littlebloke/iStock

Every year, thousands of people buy fitness club memberships, hoping that the bright lights, glitzy machines, and peppy instructors will propel them out of their exercise ennui. But sizable portions of new patrons fail to show up at the gym after a month or so, having slimmed their pocketbooks but not their waistlines.

Loneliness and social isolation have been linked to higher risk of having a heart attack, needing a procedure to clear blocked heart arteries, or experiencing a stroke. 

It may be helpful to eat a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

 Image: Elena_Danileiko/Thinkstock

Maybe you're hoping to protect your thinking skills by eating oily fish like salmon or taking a daily fish oil supplement. After all, the media frequently talk about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, and sales of fish oil supplements are more than $1 billion per year in the United States. But can fish oil keep us thinking clearly? "For people who are healthy, who don't have a decline in memory and thinking skills, the question of prevention has not yet been answered," Dr. Scott McGinnis, an assistant professor in neurology at Harvard Medical School, explains.

About omega-3s

Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats in food that are essential for health. There are three main types:

Your midsection is home to perhaps the most important muscular group for keeping you active and pain-free.

When golf legend and fitness pioneer Gary Player is asked to name the most important part of his conditioning, the 81-year-old slaps his midsection: "The core!"

Mr. Player is right on the mark. "Your core is the epicenter from which every movement revolves. It helps you bend forward and backward and twist side to side," says Patrick Davin, physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Center.

Research we're watching

Even moderate drinking may not be good for your brain, according to a study published online June 6, 2017, by The BMJ. Researchers from the University of Oxford and University College London, found that imbibers, even those who met definitions for moderate drinking, saw higher rates of cognitive decline and brain shrinkage than their teetotaling counterparts.

The study followed 550 men and women for 30 years, measuring their brain structure and function to determine how alcohol use affects the mind over time. What they found is that the more people drank, the more atrophy occurred in the brain's hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped structure in your brain that plays a role in storing memories. The highest risk was for people who drank 17 standard drinks or more of alcohol per week. But even people who drank moderately saw an elevated risk for cognitive changes.

They'll tempt you with their marketing promises, but beware the dangers hidden within.

 Image: © FatCamera/Getty Images

It's February — time to think about roses, chocolates, sweethearts, and romance. And if those sentiments bring you to a certain drugstore aisle stocked with pills and potions promising to boost your sex life, you may want to think twice before buying any. "Most are a phenomenal waste of money, in my opinion," says Dr. Michael O'Leary, a urologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Unicorn juice?

With a few exceptions, most supplements for sexual function haven't been studied scientifically. At best, says Dr. O'Leary, they have a placebo effect (a beneficial result from an inactive treatment).