A study to be presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America found magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans outperform common clinical tests at predicting Alzheimer's development, reports Medical Xpress . Brain MRIs via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which evaluate the state of the brain's white matter, hold promise for analysis of dementia risk. The team measured differences in DTI in people who decline from normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's, versus controls who do not develop dementia. They performed exams on 61 people drawn from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, about half of whom later developed Alzheimer's. Participants who developed the disease had lower fractional anisotropy (FA) compared with those who did not, suggesting damage to white matter, as well as statistically significant reductions in certain frontal white matter tracts. "Using FA values and other associated global metrics of white matter integrity, we were able to achieve 89 percent accuracy in predicting who would go onto develop Alzheimer's disease," noted Washington University School of Medicine Professor Cyrus A. Raji. "The Mini-mental State Examination and APOE4 gene testing have accuracy rates of about 70-71 percent."

A study published in Cell Reports found low-protein, high-carbohydrate diets promote longevity, healthy brain aging, and improvement of memory and learning skills, according to Earth.com . The researchers fed mice complex carbohydrates derived from starch, and casein protein derived from cheese and milk. They then examined the animals' hippocampus. "The low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet appeared to promote hippocampus health and biology in the mice, on some measures to an even greater degree than those on the low-calorie diet," said University of Sydney Professor David Le Couteur. The team compared the positive brain health benefits of a low-protein, high-carb diet to those of a calorie-restricted diet, which humans can rarely adhere to. "It shows a lot of promise that we have been able to replicate the same kind of gene changes in the part of the brain responsible for memory that we also see when we severely restrict calories," noted the University of Sydney's Devin Wahl.

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests people need to know how often visually impaired older adults fall, and what happens to them afterwards, in order to understand the scope of the problem and develop preventive strategies, reports News-Medical . Older adults with impaired vision may be at risk for decreased independence, poorer well-being, and a greater risk of falls. In any given year, about 30 percent of adults over 65 will fall, a risk more than doubled in those with impaired vision. The researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, concluding that falls, fear of falling, and limiting activity were considerably more frequent among visually impaired older adults. About half of persons who said they had difficulty seeing were afraid of falling, and restrained their activity as a result. More than one in four older adults with vision problems experienced recurrent falls in the year before they were surveyed. The researchers said their study implied that taking steps to prevent falls for older adults with vision problems was valuable, and could limit the damage of falls. They also noted helping older adults prevent falls may also slow declines in well-being, quality of life, and independence associated with a fear of falling.

A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found the U.S. labor market to be at full employment, reports Bloomberg . "Our estimates indicate that the aggregate labor force participation rate is at its trend as of 2018," said the San Francisco Fed in an Economic Letter. "Combined with the low unemployment rate, this argues that the U.S. labor market is operating at or beyond its full potential." According to the study, the labor force participation rate since 2015 had stabilized around 62.8 percent. The San Francisco Fed examined the underlying changes in the U.S. population, which led to the conclusion that this level represents the long-run trend level of labor force participation. The regional bank also predicted this would decrease by about 2.5 percentage points over the next decade. "Almost the entire projected future decline is driven by population aging," the study authors wrote.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and Prefix Health Technologies are rolling out a pilot program to accelerate the process of determining Medicaid eligibility for older state residents seeking coverage for long-term care (LTC), reports the Hays Post . "We are excited to partner with Prefix Health to bring a data-driven, transparent approach to improving the determination process," said KDHE Secretary Jeff Andersen. Hold-ups in Medicaid eligibility determinations often leave LTC providers to shoulder the cost of a resident's care for months before the LTC center can be paid. The Prefix Health solution leverages data retrieval and machine learning innovations to quickly access and analyze data from secure, trusted third-party sources, reducing the information-gathering burden on residents and their families while delivering additional usability and security. "Streamlining this process and identifying areas where more information is needed gives LTC communities more control in the process, enabling them to sustain this vital work," said Kansas Health Care Association CEO/President Cindy Luxem.

A study published in Psychosomatic Medicine determined responding calmly to daily stressors may help preserve brain health in older adults, while emotional reactions could contribute to cognitive decline, reports Medical Xpress . Investigators followed 111 older adults between 65 and 95 for 2.5 years, making cognitive assessments in six-month intervals. Participants looked at a series of two strings of numbers and were asked whether the same numbers appeared in the two strings, regardless of order. Previous studies associated fluctuations in how quickly people can do this exercise with decreased mental focus, cognitive aging, and dementia risk. Each participant completed the exercises for up to 30 sessions over the study period; in general, participants who responded to stressful events with more negative emotions and noted a more dour mood overall exhibited greater fluctuations in their performance on the exercises, suggesting poorer mental focus and cognitive health among this cohort. Being more reactive to stressors than usual also contributed to worse cognitive performance for the oldest subjects in the late 70s to mid-90s group. Meanwhile, people in their late 60s to mid-70s performed better if they reported more stressors. "These relatively younger participants may have a more active lifestyle to begin with, more social and professional engagement, which could sharpen their mental functioning," says Oregon State University Professor Robert Stawski.

A study published in Sleep suggests excessive sleepiness during the day may indicate a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's, reports Harvard Medical School . Researchers asked 124 healthy older adults, average age 60, about how often they felt drowsy or fell asleep during the day when they would rather be awake, as well as their napping patterns. The group then underwent regular positron emission tomography scans over the next 15 years to look for beta-amyloid in the brain. Subjects who noted frequent excessive daytime sleepiness were about three times more likely to have beta-amyloid accumulation compared to those who were not sleepy during the day. Previous study findings implied that when sleep is inadequate or disrupted, the brain has less time to eliminate metabolic debris that can lead to beta-amyloid buildup.

A study published in JAMA Neurology estimated that seven in 10 people with Down syndrome show evidence of dementia when they die, reports Medical Xpress . "Down syndrome is a genetic condition caused by having an extra copy of chromosome 21," says King's College London's Rosalyn Hithersay. "On this chromosome, there is a gene — the amyloid precursor protein, or APP gene — which controls the production of a protein called amyloid." The buildup of amyloid clumps in the brain is an established characteristic of Alzheimer's, with Hithersay noting, "All adults with Down syndrome will have lots of these plaques in their brain," even if not all go on to develop early dementia symptoms. The investigators tracked 211 Britons with Down syndrome who were 36 years and older. Nearly 33 percent were diagnosed with dementia prior to the study's launch, at an average age of almost 52. Over the 5.5-year study period, 70 percent of subjects with Down syndrome who died had dementia. The researchers calculated that persons with both Down syndrome and dementia were five times more likely to die early than those without dementia.

Pfizer will hike prices on 41 of its prescription drugs in January despite President Trump's push to reduce costs, reports CNBC . The company announced that it will increase the list price of about 10 percent of its drugs on Jan. 15. Most hikes will be 5 percent, although Pfizer will elevate three drugs' list prices by 3 percent and one drug's list price by 9 percent. "We believe the best means to address affordability of medicines is to reduce the growing out-of-pocket costs that consumers are facing due to high deductibles and co-insurance, and ensure that patients receive the benefit of rebates at the pharmacy counter," stated Pfizer outgoing CEO Ian Read. Earlier this year, Trump reprimanded Pfizer when it announced plans to raise prices on about 40 drugs, tweeting that Pfizer and other drugmakers "should be ashamed" for such actions. Pfizer backtracked and said it would hold off on making these increases until the end of the year or until Trump's plan to lower drug prices went into effect. On an October earnings call with Wall Street analysts, Read said by year's end Pfizer's strategy on price hikes would be back to "business as normal."

Employers trying to recruit workers in the tightest job market since 1969 are hiring some candidates sight unseen, at times after a single phone interview, reports the Wall Street Journal . The practice has become most common in seasonal work, especially retail, although it is becoming more commonplace among certain in-demand white-collar roles, such as engineers, IT professionals, and teachers. For example, CVS Health is trialing a program in which workers at some distribution centers do not meet with a human until the day they begin their jobs, with recruiters basing hiring decisions on candidates' performance in a "virtual job tryout" and online evaluation. CVS' Jeffrey Lackey stresses that the company still requires in-person interviews for jobs such as cashiers and corporate positions. He notes shortening the time it takes to hire a qualified employee is essential when an applicant could land a job elsewhere. The U.S. Department of Labor estimated about 1 million more job vacancies than unemployed Americans at the end of September, and the unemployment rate is at a 49-year low of 3.7 percent. University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Professor Peter Cappelli calls multiple personal interviews overrated, saying most companies are "so bad at interviewing, and the interviews are so full of bias, that it's not crazy to just ignore them altogether."