https://medicalxpress.com/healthy-aging-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Healthy Aging A 20-year study of more than 65,000 postmenopausal women found that higher adherence to the Planetary Health Diet was associated with a lower risk of overall cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-planetary-health-diet-linked-heart.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 11:30:02 EDT news704101861 Our population is aging. The United Nations reports that by 2050, the number of people age 85 and older on our planet is set to triple. But a longer life span isn't the same as a longer health span (the number of years we spend healthy). Salk Institute scientists are working to change that through foundational research that explores the cellular mechanisms driving age-related dysfunction. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-enzyme-zombie-cells-tissues.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:00:01 EDT news704104801 Skeletal muscle is one of the first tissues to decline with age. This decline can lead to weakness, scarring, fat accumulation inside muscle and the loss of fast-twitch muscle fibers that are important for quick, powerful movements. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-compound-muscles-stay-strong.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 05:00:03 EDT news704015821 Persistent financial hardship accelerates age-related cognitive decline, according to a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers. The study, published in Innovation in Aging, looked at data from 2,759 people in the UK who filled out questionnaires throughout their lives as part of the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (also known as the 1946 British cohort study). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-persistent-money-struggles-faster-brain.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 19:10:04 EDT news704034302 A new study indicates that the immune cell landscape of the hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and memory, rapidly undergoes substantial remodeling beginning in midlife. This previously unrecognized shift suggests a potential mechanism by which aging may contribute to chronic neuroinflammation commonly observed in neurodegenerative disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-immunity-major-midlife-overhaul.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:20:03 EDT news704034361 Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), which notably increases the risk of stroke and cognitive disorders, is estimated to affect more than 5 million people in France alone. In the absence of a curative treatment, preventing cardiovascular risk factors remains the most effective strategy today. However, promising new therapeutic avenues are being explored. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cerebral-small-vessel-disease-treatment.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:40:08 EDT news704028122 Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have found that certain gut bacteria are linked to how quickly the body ages, providing new insight into the connection between the gut, health and longevity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gut-microbiome-reveals-molecular-clues.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:20:04 EDT news704026201 A new study led by Clarkson University Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Kwadwo Appiah-Kubi introduces a virtual reality tool that could help clinicians better evaluate walking balance and detect balance problems before they lead to falls. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-virtual-reality.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:00:01 EDT news704013902 Many people assume that some memory decline is an inevitable consequence of getting older. But a select group of older adults, known as "SuperAgers," reach their 80s and 90s while retaining memory performance as good as or better than that of people in their 50s and 60s. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-exceptional-memory-80s-defies-simple.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 20:00:01 EDT news703926241 Informal caregivers of individuals living with dementia experience notable reductions in stress and improvements in mindfulness within just three to four weeks of using a tailored mobile application, according to a secondary analysis published in JMIR Aging. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-digital-mindfulness-app-rapid-stress.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:20:01 EDT news703951408 Researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and Hospital Universitario Severo Ochoa in Leganés, part of the public health network of the Comunidad de Madrid, have developed a methodology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze brain electrical activity during sleep and facilitate the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's. The study, recently published in the journal GeroScience, demonstrates that analyzing nocturnal brain waves using machine learning techniques makes it possible to noninvasively identify early neural alterations and classify patients into three distinct biological subgroups. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-analysis-early-diagnosis-alzheimer.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:20:06 EDT news703937750 An analysis of more than 42,000 U.S. deaths linked to multiple sclerosis (MS) found that death rates varied by age, geography, race and ethnicity, with Black patients dying younger than white patients and high blood pressure emerging as a growing contributor. The findings, published in the journal Neurology, point to the need for timely diagnosis and better prevention strategies to help people with MS live longer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-large-national-differences-multiple-sclerosis.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:00:06 EDT news703933321 Being frail appears to accelerate the onset of dementia, particularly in people who show little or no signs of the disease, a University of Queensland-led study has found. Dr. David Ward from UQ's Frazer Institute said the findings suggest frailty could be an important independent clinical marker to help diagnose and potentially treat dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-frailty-key-early-dementia-diagnosis.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:20:03 EDT news703918561 Heart failure already affects more than 60 million people worldwide and is one of the leading causes of hospitalization among people 65 and older. Although it is commonly associated with advanced cardiovascular disease, it actually develops over many years, often without symptoms. Authors of a new expert statement published in the European Heart Journal argue that this is precisely why prevention may become the most effective weapon in tackling one of the greatest challenges of modern medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-latest-evidence-factors-early-intervention.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 21:20:04 EDT news703856966 People around the world are living longer than ever before but spending more of those additional years in poor health, according to a new Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study published in The Lancet Public Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-people-longer-years-poor-health.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:30:03 EDT news703841701 Today, most older people with disabilities receive help at home, and there are limited places in nursing homes. At the same time, politicians claim that living at home provides independence and control over everyday life. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-elderly-people-home.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:40:08 EDT news703859315 Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD+, is all the rage in the healthy aging space. Social media influencers tout NAD+ supplements, injections and infusions as anti-aging miracles that can clear brain fog and improve everything from energy and memory to athletic performance and recovery. But the latest research from the University of Delaware suggests the benefits of boosting NAD+ may be more limited than some marketing claims suggest. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-healthy-aging-supplement-limited-benefits.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:20:05 EDT news703858142 People with dementia, mild cognitive impairment, alcohol addiction or psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia show increased brain aging, each in specific patterns within the brain, according to a study published in PLOS Medicine by Shile Qi from the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China, and colleagues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-scans-reveal-aging-signatures.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703756261 While everyone may benefit from a healthy diet, those with higher levels of Alzheimer's-related blood biomarkers may be more likely to benefit from a MIND diet intervention, according to a new study from the MIND trial. The biomarkers found in participants' blood measure two specific proteins central to Alzheimer's disease: beta-amyloid (or amyloid-β40) and phosphorylated tau (or p-tau181). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-alzheimer-blood-markers-reveal-benefits.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:40:09 EDT news703854001 Partners do not simply grow old together; they often grow more alike. Decades of shared routines, environments and experiences leave couples with increasingly similar health profiles, a pattern long recognized for obesity, diabetes and heart disease and stroke. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-dementia-higher-spouse-lifestyle.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:20:07 EDT news703846442 Frailty threatens older individuals because it increases their vulnerability to detrimental health outcomes, such as falls, longer hospitalizations or even shortened life expectancy. Biogerontologists are actively exploring a potential health trade-off important to mothers: Whether the production of offspring comes at a maternal cost as a consequence of a diversion of physiological resources that could lead to accelerated aging and increased late-life frailty. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-motherhood-late-life-frailty-companion.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:00:03 EDT news703780626 Chronic, low-grade inflammation in the body—a phenomenon known as "inflammaging" because it increases with age—has been linked to many of today's leading causes of illness and death, including cancer, heart disease, metabolic conditions and neurodegenerative diseases. But scientists have struggled to understand what causes inflammaging or how to reverse its effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-thymus-derived-hormone-suppress-age.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:00:01 EDT news703756021 A new position statement from the International Osteoporosis Foundation's (IOF) Committee of Scientific Advisors Fracture Working Group urges orthopedic surgeons and bone health specialists to work together to assess and treat osteoporosis before and after joint replacement and spinal fusion surgery. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-systematic-bone-health-optimization-joint.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 23:40:01 EDT news703776521 Many fractures are early-warning signs of osteoporosis. Yet in everyday clinical care, they often go unrecognized and undocumented as warning signs, according to a new nationwide Austrian study by the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Osteology (LBI Osteology). Men are affected more often. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-bone-fractures-unlinked-osteoporosis.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:40:01 EDT news703758983 A new neuroimaging study published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behavior provides some of the first evidence that strengthening your brain health through daily habits rewires its physical architecture. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-newly-mri-biomarkers-reveal-physical.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:40:07 EDT news703786381 Most of us would like to hang around on the planet for as long as possible, and thankfully, lifespans in many countries are increasing. Scientists are also developing a new field known as longevity medicine, which aims to help people stay healthier for longer as they age. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-healthy-aging-born.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:40:02 EDT news703763143 Growing evidence suggests lifelong learning can help combat cognitive decline, but many older adults with dementia avoid traditional classes for fear of not keeping up. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-dementia-patients-gain-peace-concert.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:01 EDT news703491541 "Turn off that TV, it'll rot your brain!" has been a household refrain for decades. While "rot" might be too strong a term, researchers are finding that the overall sentiment could have some merit. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-heavy-tv-smaller-brain.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703687543 Women who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods face worse heart health and experience faster declines as they approach menopause, according to a long-term study led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-women-heart-health-decades.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 04:30:02 EDT news703566898 There's a small fire isolated in your kitchen. If you had the right tool, you might be able to put it out. But before you can, the sprinklers turn on and flood your entire house. An automatic response to an issue has now damaged everything you own. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hours-alzheimer-breakthrough.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:20:01 EDT news703497775