Tag: Cohort Studies

While the overall prevalence of dementia might be rising due to population aging, a study has found that today’s older people seem to be less prone to dementia than in the past [1]. Are we having more dementia or less? While the robust rise in average life expectancy seen in the previous century has largely...

A new study shows that in midlife, United States citizens are less healthy than their British counterparts. The latter, however, smoke more and rate their health worse [1]. I’ll show you my health if you show me yours It is well-known that despite the US being one of the richest countries in the world, it...

Scientists have found that older people currently retain more youthful abilities than people who were the same age did in previous decades [1]. How miserable are we? Recent decades have seen leaps in average life expectancy. However, those mostly stem from successes in curbing childhood mortality and infectious diseases. The gains in later life have...

According to a new study published in Aging Cell, previously sedentary old people who took up an exercise program were able to improve their fitness and maintain it for at least four years [1]. Better late than never When is it too late to engage in physical activity? The answer might be “never”. Physical activity...

In new research published in BMC Medicine, the authors recruited a large cohort of participants in order to assess how plant-based foods affect aging trajectories [1]. Benefits of plant-based diets Previous research has shown that consumption of plant-based foods is associated with healthy aging [2,3]. It can also help to decrease the risk of mortality...

A high-quality cohort study by Finnish scientists shows that today’s elderly are in better physical and cognitive shape than people of the same age were a generation ago [1,2]. Does longer also mean better? One of the fears commonly evoked by the idea of life extension is that prolonging lifespan will not necessarily prolong healthspan....