https://medicalxpress.com/healthy-aging-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Healthy Aging A new clinical trial led by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience has found that exercise has a significant effect on mood and lab-based measures of new brain cell formation in healthy middle-aged participants. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-clinical-physical-trial-mood-neuron.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:40:03 EDT news708870541 The aging brain is often viewed through a lens of cognitive decline, with older adults seen as compensating for their fading memory. New research in Perspectives on Psychological Science challenges that view. Drawing evidence from molecular biology and neuroimaging, researchers at the University of Arizona argue that late-life cognition is a natural phase of human development, one that prioritizes wisdom over details. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-aging-brain-declining.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:40:01 EDT news708865802 A team from the Department of Computational Biology at the University of Lausanne has developed an artificial intelligence model capable of estimating a person's retinal age from a simple photograph of the back of the eye. This measure provides information about health and the future risk of developing age-related diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-ai-retinal-age-revealing-sex.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:40:08 EDT news708788461 Somewhere in the world, a woman over 50 will have fractured a bone by the time you finish reading this sentence due to osteoporosis, a silent bone disease that can weaken the structural integrity of the skeletal system and a person's quality of life. The disease weakens bones and makes them more likely to break because of reduced bone mineral density and bone mass, and it affects an estimated 75 million people across Europe, the USA, and Japan. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-osteoporosis-fractures-fall-small-human.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:30:01 EDT news708777910 A study by DZNE finds that healthy eating is associated with slower biological aging—and that there is more than one way to eat healthily. The researchers examined 10 dietary patterns considered healthy, including the Mediterranean, Nordic, and a plant-based diet, as well as the DASH diet, which is designed to help lower blood pressure. All were linked with slower biological aging, with age-related changes in the DNA serving as markers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-healthy-linked-slower-biological-aging.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 08:40:01 EDT news708766681 Losing muscle as we age could be an important warning sign for dementia, according to new Curtin University research. Researchers analyzed more than 80 studies examining the links between body weight, body fat, muscle health and dementia, finding people with sarcopenia—the loss of muscle mass and strength—had a 42% higher risk of dementia. Sarcopenia is a condition in which people lose muscle mass, strength and physical function, often as they get older. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-dementia-muscles.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 08:00:01 EDT news708762962 In two Indigenous communities living preindustrial lifestyles in the Bolivian Amazon, dementia is remarkably uncommon. However, a new longitudinal study reveals why earlier estimates told only part of the story. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-dementia-indigenous-bolivians.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:40:14 EDT news708692461 An unhealthy Western-style diet was associated with faster cognitive decline in people with a genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to new research led by Murdoch University and Alzheimer's Research Australia. The study, Dietary patterns and cognitive decline in older adults: Findings from the Western Australia Memory Study, appears in the journal Nutrients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-unhealthy-western-diet-linked-faster.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:20:10 EDT news708688621 As humans get older, their brains undergo various changes that can affect mental functions. The cells known to be affected by aging include microglia, the primary immune cells in the brain and spinal cord, which help eliminate waste and damaged material and respond to injuries or infections. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-chromatin-protein-daxx-brain-immune.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:20:05 EDT news708599508 Reading for pleasure—from tucking into a Jane Austen classic to devouring a Heartstopper graphic novel—is linked to better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia, say researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-pleasure-lifelong-health-cognitive-benefits.html Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:10:01 EDT news708603121 Scientists researching Alzheimer's disease and neurodegeneration have been playing a difficult game. Their scientific playbook has been limited by the available resources that, while capturing loads of genes, proteins and cells, have been missing something: microproteins. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-microproteins-playbook-alzheimer.html Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:20:03 EDT news708624782 A new perspective from LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center proposes a new way of understanding how dietary protein restriction may promote healthy aging and extend lifespan: through a coordinated physiological response that connects cellular nutrient sensing with hormones, the brain and changes throughout the body. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-protein-restriction-trigger-body-wide.html Sun, 13 Sep 2026 12:00:04 EDT news708268507 Researchers at Texas A&M University's Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine have identified time-specific patterns of brain activity following ketamine treatment in older adults with treatment-resistant depression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-ketamine-reveals-shifting-brain-patterns.html Sat, 12 Sep 2026 09:00:01 EDT news708354104 A new UCLA study has found a connection between how quickly the brain ages and the bacteria and chemical byproducts found in the gut, offering a clue to what drives brain aging long before symptoms appear. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-brain-aging-decades-symptoms-links.html Fri, 11 Sep 2026 16:20:01 EDT news708343682 You're hurrying out of the grocery store to drive home and start cooking dinner. As the doors close behind you, you step into the parking lot and head … where? Where, among the rows of gleaming vehicles, did you park your car? The memory seems to have disappeared. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-deep-loss-linked-alzheimer-protein.html Fri, 11 Sep 2026 11:20:04 EDT news708338882 Twenty-five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found that environmental conditions where World Trade Center responders live may influence their long-term physical and mental health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-frailty-ptsd-depression-decades.html Fri, 11 Sep 2026 05:00:05 EDT news708270901 Researchers from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (COMD) have partnered with faculty from across the Arnold School and USC to complete a study investigating the connections among physical function, blood pressure, hearing and cognition among older adults. Published in Scientific Reports, the team found that participants who maintained higher levels of physical function (i.e., engaging in everyday physical activities) were less likely to experience hearing loss. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-physical-older-adults-loss.html Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:40:04 EDT news708277082