A study of 800 Swedish women between 1968 and 2005 found that women who suffer from midlife stress have a much higher risk of dementia, reports the Daily Journal . Factors included divorce, bereavement, job loss, and a family history of mental illness. The more stressors the women experienced, the higher the risk. Specifically, a stressful life can lead to a 21 percent elevated risk of Alzheimer's and a 15 percent higher risk of dementia. Twenty percent of the study subjects developed dementia, and 104 cases were Alzheimer's. The researchers concluded from their analysis that stress hormones, which continue to affect the brain for years after the initial stressor, may be the mechanism of increased risk. Suggested coping strategies for stress include abdominal breathing exercises, daily relaxation activities, and a focus on inner peace.

A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found daily, low doses of aspirin may elevate the risk for progression and metastasis and death related to later-stage disease in cancer patients 65 and older, reports Medical Xpress . Australian researchers studied daily use of 100 milligrams of aspirin in 16,703 Australians (70 and older) and 2,411 U.S. participants (65 and older) for an average of 4.7 years in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. A total of 981 cancer events occurred in the aspirin cohort and 952 occurred in the placebo group. An association between daily aspirin intake and the occurrence of metastasis or progression to a stage 4 diagnosis was seen in those with incident cancers. Moreover, subjects had an increased mortality risk if their presenting cancer stage was at 3 or 4. No significant differences were observed in the occurrence of all incident cancers, hematological cancer, or all solid cancers. "Possible explanations for this finding include aspirin suppressing (or 'blunting') antitumor inflammatory or immune responses critical to controlling later-stage growth and spread," the investigators explained. "Such an effect may be particularly evident among an older population for which underlying antitumor immunity may already be compromised."

The State of Florida has received its first shipment of 400,000 rapid antigen test kits from the federal government, and Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that 100,000 will go to assisted living communities to test staff and visitors for COVID-19, reports CBS Miami . He has ordered the shipment of 180,000 more Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card test kits to senior and retirement communities, including The Villages, Sun City Center in Tampa, the four Center Village communities in South Florida, and On Top of the World Communities in Ocala. The remaining 120,000 will be split between public schools and state-supported testing sites. None will go to nursing communities as they are already receiving kits from the federal government. The rapid antigen tests are recommended solely for testing symptomatic people and are less reliable than RT-PCR tests.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded two five-year grants worth a cumulative $13.8 million to Professor Joe Verghese at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, to study pre-dementia and Alzheimer's disease, reports News-Medical . A $7.6 million grant will fund a study of motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR) in 11,000 older adults across six countries. The second grant of $6.2 million will let researchers assess a non-invasive brain stimulation method designed to relieve symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and improve brain function. "Our ultimate goal is to develop treatments that can prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease," Verghese said. In identifying and characterizing MCR, a condition in which older adults have an abnormally slow gait and cognitive complaints, he found it affects nearly one in 10 older adults, and those diagnosed were twice as likely as other older adults to develop dementia within 12 years. The first NIH grant will allow investigators to explore MCR's biological causes and identify biomarkers, establish a consortium of eight ongoing studies of aging, evaluate biological and genetic data from participants, and monitor structural and functional brain changes over time. The second grant will investigate at-home use of transcranial direct current stimulation to determine how it improves cognitive performance and symptoms in 100 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

A study published in the European Heart Journal found that people with atrial fibrillation are in less danger of dementia if they undergo catheter ablation to restore the normal rhythm of their heart, reports EurekAlert . Earlier research determined that atrial fibrillation was linked to a higher dementia risk, even in people who had not had a stroke. Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation also is known for allowing the heart to return to its normal rhythm for a longer period after the procedure compared to anti-arrhythmic drugs. The latest study indicated that catheter ablation reduced the incidence of dementia by 27 percent in atrial fibrillation patients versus those who tried to control their condition only with medication. "The proportion of people who developed dementia during the follow-up period was 6.1 percent in the ablation group and 9.1 percent in the medical therapy group," said Professor Boyoung Joung at Yonsei University College of Medicine. "This suggests that three people per 100 of the atrial fibrillation population avoid dementia if they undergo catheter ablation, and 34 patients would need to be treated to prevent one case of dementia during the follow-up period." Ablation also correlated with a 23 percent lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease compared to medication, and a 50 percent decrease in vascular dementia.

Telehealth has significant potential to boost healthcare access for older adults and other populations at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, reports Forbes . It is vital for doctors to ensure their telemedicine platforms are inclusive for users across all age and digital literacy levels. Making users who lack confidence in telehealth more comfortable begins with developing frequently asked questions, video tutorials, and other resources to help them understand the telehealth process, schedule appointments, download apps, and access the platform. Providers also need to help patients overcome problems and to offer technical support within the platform by supplying a phone number and/or button to connect directly with assistance. Telehealth platforms should offer omnichannel support so patients can take appointments from their preferred device. The user journey should be as simple as possible by reducing the number of screens, giving patients clear instructions, and stating why particular information is needed. Accessibility features also should enable patients to see and hear clearly during virtual visits, and passwords should be ditched in favor of digital identity verification.

The National Poll on Healthy Aging found most older Americans take two or more prescription medications, yet only a small number have had a pharmacist review potential drug interactions, reports Becker's Hospital Review . Michigan Medicine polled 2,048 Americans ages 50 to 80, and estimated that two-thirds take two or more prescription drugs and about 20 percent take five or more. Medication reviews are covered for qualifying Medicare Part D beneficiaries, but patients have been historically unlikely to participate. The survey indicated 85 percent of Medicare Part D enrollees who had not had a medication review were unaware that they could be eligible for one. Moreover, just 29 percent of respondents who take five or more prescription drugs have had a medication review with their pharmacist. "These results show the importance of continuing efforts by physicians, pharmacists, other healthcare providers, insurers, and policymakers to help older adults understand the importance of medication reviews," said survey co-author Antoinette Coe.

A study in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology finds that neurological symptoms occur a lot in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, reports NBC News . Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and can encompass headaches, vertigo, and altered brain function. The researchers also determined that these symptoms may linger long after they recover. The team examined the first 509 patients hospitalized within their network of 10 hospitals and medical centers in Chicago in March and April, and slightly more than 25 percent had been put on ventilators. Most subjects, 82 percent, developed problems stemming from the nervous system. "That means four out of five hospitalized patients in our hospital system at the beginning of the pandemic had those neurologic problems," said Northwestern Medicine's Igor Koralnik. About 44.8 percent of patients reported muscle pain and 37.7 percent reported headaches, while just under a third developed encephalopathy. Ailments ranged from mild symptoms — like difficulty with attention, short-term memory, concentration, and multitasking abilities, "all the way to confusion, stupor, and coma," Koralnik said. Patients older than 65 were more likely to have severe brain function issues.

The number of job postings declined 0.3 percent in September from August, after logging monthly gains between 5 percent and 7 percent throughout the summer, according to data from jobs website Glassdoor cited by the Wall Street Journal . Separate data from jobs site Indeed also show weaker improvements in job postings in September than in early summer. September job postings on Glassdoor and Indeed remained well below precrisis levels. The slowdown reflects a pullback in employer demand across numerous sectors, said Daniel Zhao, economist at Glassdoor. Job postings for higher-wage occupations have recovered more slowly than those for lower-wage roles, according to Indeed. The sharp decline in postings for higher-wage occupations from pre-pandemic levels is one reason job postings in larger metropolitan regions have lagged behind the rebound in smaller metro areas.

Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) School of Medicine will receive a $53.6 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to explore the role of incidental white matter lesions (WMLs) in dementia among people with cognitive ailments, reports Newswise . "Our team has been at the forefront of genetic studies of WMLs for two decades," explained UTHealth Professor Myriam Fornage. "Through the genetic risk profiles we will develop, we will have an opportunity to apply what we have discovered and improve the precision with which we identify patients with a higher prior probability of cognitive impairment and dementia. At the same time, we will be contributing new resources for dementia research everywhere." UC Davis Professor Charles DeCarli will be principal investigator. "This grant gives us the chance to study WMLs from every angle and definitively understand their roles in age- and disease-related cognitive decline and risk for future dementia," he said. "It's the culmination of our three decades of research that has given us great directions, but no final answers yet." DeCarli and Fornage will study patients with WMLs on magnetic resonance imaging scans and issues about cognitive symptoms, but no dementia diagnosis; it will be the first large study of a diverse population on the long-term impact of WMLs on thinking and dementia risk.