https://medicalxpress.com/healthy-aging-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Healthy Aging Researchers at NDORMS have found that a naturally occurring compound called spermidine may help improve vaccine responses in some older adults by reducing signs of immune system aging. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-natural-compound-boost-vaccine-responses.html Tue, 23 Jun 2026 07:40:03 EDT news701419055 Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have found that how quickly an older adult can execute a voluntary step—especially when distracted (concurrently performed cognitive task)—may serve as a valuable clinical predictor of survival. The exploratory study suggests that dynamic balance assessments capture an integration of neuromuscular vitality and central cognitive processing, offering a window into an individual's long-term functional health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-quickly-older-adults-longevity.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 17:40:07 EDT news701353880 Cancer is often considered a disease of aging. Older adults are at higher risk because they have had more time to accumulate cellular damage that can trigger tumor formation. But as cancer rates in younger adults rise, with each successive generation facing higher risks than the one before it, researchers are asking whether cellular damage is accumulating faster in recent generations, accelerating their bodies' biological aging. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-faster-aging-younger-generations-linked.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 17:00:01 EDT news701363642 Strength training has long been seen as something you mainly do to build muscle or look good. But a new study adds to a growing body of evidence showing that lifting weights does far more than change how we look. It may help us live longer—even if you don't spend hours each day in the gym. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-people-weights-longer.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 15:00:06 EDT news701353742 Many of us would like to keep our brains sharp as we get older. That has helped create a growing market for "brain-health" supplements. These include fish oil capsules and postbiotics, the beneficial, nonliving compounds and byproducts produced by "good" gut bacteria (probiotics) when they digest dietary fiber or prebiotics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-supplements-brain-sharp-evidence-complicated.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 14:40:03 EDT news701353622 A growing body of research suggests that sleep may be more than a symptom of Alzheimer's disease—it may also play a role in how the disease develops and progresses. Now, new research from the University of Kentucky's Sanders-Brown Center on Aging is shedding light on how everyday environmental factors and inflammation in the brain could influence sleep, circadian rhythms and Alzheimer's-related changes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-nighttime-affect-brain-health-alzheimer.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:20:04 EDT news701348882 A research team from University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center has identified a critical molecular cause of age-related cognitive decline, potentially paving the way for new treatments to protect brain health as people age. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-molecular-age-cognitive-decline.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:00:03 EDT news701347193 Residents in an Edmonton long-term care home are getting regular visits from therapy dogs this summer, thanks to a pilot project designed by University of Alberta nursing researcher Brittany DeGraves. The project builds on DeGraves' recently published research in BMC Geriatrics on the feasibility of using animal-assisted programs to benefit both residents and staff. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-pet-small-moment-home-term.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 09:20:01 EDT news701338021 When many of us think about drug overdose, we picture young people at a music festival or people dependent on street heroin. But the latest figures from the Penington Institute show older Australians are increasingly dying from overdoses. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-over50s-overdose-older-people-drugs.html Sat, 20 Jun 2026 09:30:01 EDT news700914804 Prehabilitation can help the elderly recover better and suffer fewer complications from spinal fusion surgery, a new study says. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-prehab-boost-seniors-recuperation-spinal.html Fri, 19 Jun 2026 16:40:04 EDT news701082662 In Denmark, around 2,500 pregnant women develop pre-eclampsia every year. The condition typically manifests as high blood pressure and increased protein in the urine, and some women experience symptoms such as severe headaches and visual disturbances. Pre-eclampsia cannot be treated during pregnancy, and for some women it becomes necessary to induce labor early to protect both mother and child. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-women-pre-eclampsia-chronic-kidney.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:00:01 EDT news701010383 Americans spend more than $1 billion annually on fish oil supplements, in part because of purported cognitive benefits from the omega-3 fatty acids they contain, essential nutrients that help form brain cell connections needed for cognition. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-fish-oil-supplements-alzheimer-decline.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 19:30:01 EDT news700991042 Alzheimer's disease is commonly known for its symptoms—memory loss, cognitive impairment, difficulty with daily tasks—but it can only be definitively diagnosed by looking at the brain. A scan must show the abnormal buildup of two distinct brain proteins, beta-amyloid and tau, and the presence of both distinguishes the disease from other forms of dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-experimental-tau-tracer-alzheimer-linked.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:00:02 EDT news701014121 New research from Edith Cowan University has discovered an important link between genes and sleep habits, suggesting they work together to influence early brain and cognitive changes associated with Alzheimer's disease long before symptoms appear. The study is published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-aqp4-gene-variants-jointly-early.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:40:05 EDT news701011501 A new kind of flu vaccine moved a step closer to the U.S. market Thursday as federal health advisers recommended approval of the first made with the same mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-fda-panel-kind-flu-vaccine.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:46:14 EDT news701012712 The experiences we face early in life may leave their marks on our health in ways that echo across decades—and even across the entire body. A new study, published in the journal Science, examined a unique group of free-living rhesus macaques that have been followed their entire lives to document their experiences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-early-life-adversity-molecular-imprint.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:01:58 EDT news701010044 Menopause is associated with a number of adverse health effects, some of which can be mitigated by an array of modifiable health behaviors (MHBs), including diet, exercise and sleep duration. A new study sought to determine whether menopause and hormone therapy status had any association with MHBs. Initial results suggest that a link exists. Results of the study are published today in Menopause. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-menopausal-women-hormones-healthier-lifestyles.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:40:09 EDT news700999261 The risk of a fall is typically discussed with patients after they have experienced a fall or reported poor balance. For researcher James Richardson, M.D., a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at University of Michigan Health, this approach seemed backward. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-method-falls.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:20:02 EDT news700995375 A pilot study suggests that a simple program combining exercise and protein supplementation may help older adults with frailty recover more successfully after hospitalization, with 80% of participants discharged from skilled nursing facilities back to the community rather than to long-term care or the hospital. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-protein-aid-recovery-frail-seniors.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 07:20:01 EDT news700979641 Native Hawaiian adults experience mobility limitations—including challenges with agility, gait, balance and fall risk—at significantly higher rates and at younger ages than other major racial and ethnic groups in Hawaiʻi, according to new research from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Hā Kūpuna National Resource Center for Native Hawaiian Elders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-native-hawaiian-adults-mobility-earlier.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 22:40:01 EDT news700906096 According to a study published in Neurology, the risk for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and certain brain diseases may go in both directions. Studies have shown that having a TBI may increase the risk of developing a stroke, dementia, epilepsy or Parkinson's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-older-people-brain-diseases-traumatic.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:00:14 EDT news700844222 A new perspective paper published in Frontiers in Nutrition argues that current public health recommendations for physical activity and protein intake are designed to prevent deficiency rather than maximize long-term health, independence and quality of life. The paper explores first-principles questions: How much protein should you have? What exercises should you be doing? What does the latest science tell us? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-gym-bros-kind-protein.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:00:03 EDT news700923241 For many older adults, aging well means remaining independent—being able to do everyday activities like buying groceries or cooking dinner without help. A new Yale School of Medicine study suggests that changes in mental, physical or sensory capacity may be linked to a person's future ability to perform these routine tasks. The study is published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-physical-mental-capacity-linked-disability.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:40:04 EDT news700919043 Researchers at the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC analyzed brain imaging and clinical data from more than 17,000 participants across five major aging and Alzheimer's disease studies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-key-alzheimer-factor-differently-older.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:20:06 EDT news700903841 A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has uncovered a previously unknown connection between nucleic acid structures called R-loops and age-related inflammation—or inflammaging—that could herald new intervention options for chronic inflammation and the subsequent health conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-age-inflammation-treatment-pathway.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 09:40:05 EDT news700903202 Duke-NUS scientists have discovered that aging muscle may contribute to cancer growth by releasing fewer extracellular vesicles, tiny particles that cells use to communicate with one another. Their study also found that the composition of these particles changes with age, weakening protective signals that help suppress tumor development. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-scientists-uncover-physical-older-adults.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:40:01 EDT news700897741 In a pilot clinical trial published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that included older adults with depression receiving standard care, adding probiotic therapy produced modest but meaningful reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms compared with adding a placebo. However, both groups demonstrated substantial overall improvements during follow-up. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-probiotics-depression.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 03:10:07 EDT news700756861 New research in General Psychiatry has uncovered a link between higher levels of daytime light exposure and a lower risk of dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-daytime-exposure-dementia.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 03:10:04 EDT news700756983 As recently as the mid-20th century, aging was described by Nobel Prize laureate Peter Medawar as "an unsolved problem in biology." Today, scientists can analyze the activity of thousands of genes in individual cells, identify genetic variants associated with longevity, study molecular pathways affecting lifespan, and estimate biological age using epigenetic clocks. Experimental therapies using senolytics—compounds that eliminate some senescent cells—have also emerged. Paradoxically, however, the more we know about the biology of aging, the more clearly we see how complex this process is. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-scientific-biology-aging.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:20:01 EDT news700847641 Some people might not mind spending time alone, but new research with data from 18 countries suggests that older people who struggle with loneliness—rather than strictly being alone—may experience faster mental and physical decline. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-loneliness-cognitive-impairment-shorter-life.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:40:02 EDT news700834122