Lighthouse Guild President Alan R. Morse made a presentation at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology's recent annual meeting arguing that the healthcare industry must contend with the social, environmental, and behavioral aspects of functional behavior and well-being pertaining to age-related vision loss, reports PR Newswire . "Because people living with vision loss most often have other health issues, all service providers, including primary care physicians, dentists, podiatrists, physical therapists, and internists have to understand their role in identifying, providing care, and referring patients for specialized services," he said. "Every touchpoint is an opportunity to help those with vision loss." Morse added that the emergence of legal blindness elevates the likelihood of limitations of activities of daily living, while up to 30 percent of those with vision impairment have depression. Morse also noted vision loss is seldom addressed in care plans in hospitals, even though customers with impaired vision are hospitalized longer, experience more problems following discharge, and are less happy with their healthcare in general. He urged more understanding of the importance of vision loss to everyday functioning and well-being to better meet people's requirements.

The Alzheimer's Association estimates that about 5.8 million Americans currently have Alzheimer's disease, and this number could skyrocket to at least 13.8 million by 2050, reports the Detroit Free Press . The University of Michigan's Eva Feldman speculates that aging baby boomers will transform Alzheimer's into an epidemic-scale problem. Although most who develop Alzheimer's are 65 and older, Feldman emphasizes that the disease is not a normal part of aging, and it has been known to strike younger people. Caring for people with Alzheimer's and other kinds of dementia will cost $290 billion in 2019 alone, rising to an anticipated $1.1 trillion annually by 2050. Feldman acknowledges the combined economic, productivity, and medical cost of Alzheimer's is vast, but the most devastating cost is "the emotional toll that it takes not only on the sufferer but on the family."

A study published in Neurology suggests being more physically active is linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer's and a slower rate of cognitive decline in older adults, reports the U.S. National Institute on Aging . The study sought to test several hypotheses, with one proposing that physical activity prevents the formation of damaging plaques and tangles in the brain. The other speculates that being more physically active may simply improve or maintain the ability to function in the face of accruing brain damage from Alzheimer's. More than 450 older adults were recruited from retirement communities, and received cognitive, behavioral, and biomedical tests during their lives, donating their brain and other tissues after death. Signs of dementia were observed in 191 participants, while the remaining 263 did not show symptoms. Nearly all cases, including those with no signs of dementia, exhibited evidence of at least one form of brain disease or damage, with most having an average of three different forms of brain pathology. Even after the presence of signs of Alzheimer's and other brain damage was accounted for, more physical activity and better motor abilities were still associated with better cognitive function. This supports the theory that physical activity may promote cognitive resilience, helping offset or conceal the negative consequences of neurodegeneration.

A study published in Neurology determined older adults who received five days of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) experienced an unprecedented reversal of age-related memory loss, reports Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network . "There is no previous evidence that the specific memory impairments and brain dysfunction seen in older adults can be rescued using brain stimulation or any other method," noted Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Professor Joel Voss. The study involved 15 participants between 64 and 80. At baseline, recall in the older subjects was significantly impaired, compared with younger controls. In a memory task that entailed learning arbitrary relations between paired objects, older adults were correct less than 40% of the time, compared with 55% accuracy for the controls. Following 20-minute TMS sessions focusing on hippocampal-cortical brain networks for five consecutive days, there was more visible neural activity on functional magnetic resonance imaging, compared with baseline, in the older cohort. One day after the last TMS session, older adults scored equal to young adults on a recollection task, while a placebo condition did not improve recollection. "Older people's memory got better up to the level that we could no longer tell them apart from younger people," Voss said. "They got substantially better."

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found older adults who have a poor sense of smell have a nearly 50 percent greater risk of dying within a decade, reports Earth.com . The researchers reviewed and analyzed data from about 2,300 participants 71 to 82 in the National Institute on Aging's Health ABC study. Subjects were followed for 13 years, and the assessment included a smell test of 12 odors. A poor sense of smell corresponded with a 46 percent higher risk of death after 10 years and a 30 percent risk at 13 years. Those in good health at the start of the study were at a greater risk of death, suggesting sense of smell should be taken seriously as a predictor of potential health problems. Although a reduced sense of smell is an early sign of dementia and Parkinson's, these factors could not sufficiently explain the higher risk of death associated with smell. "It tells us that in older adults, impaired sense of smell has broader implications of health beyond what we have already known," says Michigan State University's Honglei Chen. "Incorporating a sense of smell screening in routine doctor visits might be a good idea at some point."

A pilot program by the New York State Office for the Aging deployed about 60 animatronic pets in state households, and researchers are studying the devices' effect on senior caregivers, reports NBC 5 . Office Director Greg Olsen thinks animatronic pets could benefit senior community members who experience social isolation, and the agency is working with county offices to test this theory. "The majority of folks we serve are very old and frankly, they live alone and they may not see anybody outside the people that are providing them services," he noted. Franklin County Office for the Aging Director Becky Peeve adds, "The pet project is one of many of things we do locally to really combat social isolation, whether it be pairing someone with an actual volunteer, providing a home-delivered meal with a volunteer that sees that individual daily. Seeing the impact of what a small pilot project could do really for the individuals in our community, it was not only heartwarming but the right thing to do."

The Chicago-based Bureau of Sages is a group of seniors who advise researchers about what matters to older adults, how to engage in aging-related research, and how to communicate with seniors effectively while doing so, reports Kaiser Health News . "The recognition that this population has something meaningful to contribute — that's really unique," says LeadingAge's Robyn Stone. One Sage group is located at the Lieberman Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Skokie, Ill., where residents meet biweekly to discuss academic studies, issues they encounter in their daily lives, and potential research projects. Seven adults with dementia gather every few of months at Northwestern University's Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease to give scientists feedback. The Bureau of Sages has received $500,000 in funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), which sponsors innovative projects that include healthcare customers in setting research priorities, designing research studies, and assessing their impact. PCORI's Kristin Carman concludes that groups like the Sages can supply "valuable ongoing context about individuals' lives" that refines research.

A study published in Brain details a newly classified form of dementia called limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE), which manifests as memory and thinking problems that closely resemble Alzheimer's pathology, reports WebMD . A panel of experts said LATE mainly affects people older than 80 and may constitute approximately 17 percent of all dementia cases. This may help explain why some people who die with what seems to be Alzheimer's do not exhibit telltale disease symptoms in post-mortem brain tissue analysis — specifically, abnormal protein plaques and tangles. Nina Silverberg with the U.S. National Institute on Aging's Alzheimer's Disease Centers Program said LATE "mimics" Alzheimer's symptomatology, causing memory loss and problems with thinking and reasoning. But she noted brains affected by LATE, unlike Alzheimer's brains, show dysfunction in TDP-43, a protein that helps regulate gene expression in the brain. The study found 25 percent of adults older than 85 have sufficient abnormal TDP-43 to inhibit memory and thinking. LATE victims also are often marked by severe contraction of the hippocampus.

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found a morning round of moderate-intensity exercise improves decision-making throughout the day compared to being sedentary, reports Medical Xpress . In addition, a morning workout in combination with brief light-intensity walking breaks to disrupt sitting over an eight-hour day can improve short-term memory versus uninterrupted sitting. Moreover, the researchers found the distinct responses in cognitive performance to exercise compared to exercise and sitting breaks suggest differing patterns of physical activity augmenting distinct aspects of cognition. Core to mediating the benefits of exercise on learning and memory is neurotropic growth factor, a protein which fulfills a key role in the survival and growth of neurons. The study showed this protein was elevated for eight hours during both exercise conditions, relative to prolonged sitting. "This study highlights how relatively simple changes to your daily routine could have a significant benefit to your cognitive health," notes the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute's Michael Wheeler. "It also reveals that one day we may be able to do specific types of exercise to enhance specific cognitive skills such as memory or learning."

The solvency of Social Security has not been a focus of Democrats running for the 2020 presidential nomination, even as a new report reveals that the program's trust fund will run out of money in just 16 years. Instead, several candidates have focused on protecting or expanding Social Security benefits. Experts say that keeping the program funded past 2035 is no easy task, reports The Hill . Stephen Goss, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, says the report highlights how precarious the situation is, as the population ages and costs go up, warning that without action, by 2035, the trust fund will be depleted, and revenues coming in from payroll taxes would only be able to cover less than 80 percent of benefits. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) calls for an expansion of Social Security benefits and an extension of the lifeline of the trust fund by taxing the rich. Currently, the payroll taxes that fund Social Security only apply to the first $132,900 of salary. Sanders' proposal would reintroduce the payroll tax for dollars earned past $250,000. Sanders says his plan would extend solvency until 2071, while also expanding benefits. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) are co-sponsors. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has advocated for lifting the cap on payroll taxes altogether, an approach the Alliance for Retired Americans says would avoid creating a "reverse donut hole" of revenues and help stabilize the fund.