Beth Newcomb

Times of India, Newsweek, and others featured a study led by Professor Daniel Nation that revealed how rapid, short-term fluctuations (beat-to-beat) in blood pressure — even when the average is normal — are linked with brain shrinkage in regions critical for memory and cognition. “Our findings show that even when average blood pressure is normal, instability from one heartbeat to the next may place stress on the brain,” Nation said.

AARP quoted Caroline Cicero in an article on how the popular ideal of successful aging — staying fit, active and disease-free — excludes millions of older adults.

“A lot of [aging] has to do with luck, a lot of it has to do with genetics, and a lot of it has to do with socioeconomic status as well,” Cicero said. “I actually think that to age well, we need to acknowledge our own death. And so, instead of trying to avoid disease so we can live as long as possible, we need to acknowledge that we are mortal, and maybe we need to think more about what we want our final years or decades on Earth to include.”

HuffPost quoted Professor Jennifer Ailshire on what defines a “SuperAger” and the lifestyle habits tied to longer, healthier lives. “We think of SuperAgers … as people who are reaching 85 years of age, so they’re exceeding the typical or average life expectancy for … their cohort. For us, a SuperAger is not just someone who’s long-lived. It’s also someone who’s maintained a fairly high level of physical, cognitive, psychological and social well-being.”

MyNewsLA reports that a $6.5 million, five-year grant by the National Institute on Aging will establish the Los Angeles Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. The center is a collaboration among USC, Cedars-Sinai and UCLA. USC Leonard Davis Dean Pinchas Cohen is co-director of this initiative, stating, “This partnership allows us to accelerate breakthroughs that can directly improve quality of life for older adults.”

USC Annenberg Media reports that USC professor Duke Han is co-leading a $39 million NIH-funded initiative to develop an accessible, open-source digital platform for detecting Alzheimer’s-related brain changes earlier. The initiative aims to democratize cognitive assessments currently held behind proprietary tools. USC Leonard Davis faculty member Michelle Keller is also quoted in the story, emphasizing how earlier detection via public tools may enable timely interventions and improve equitable access to cognitive health care. “When we are allowing people to identify potential cognitive decline earlier, it means we can intervene earlier, ” she said.

Chosun Biz quoted Caleb Finch’s commentary in eLife on new findings in naked mole rats that show negligible aging, or no increase in mortality risk with advancing years. “This is the first confirmation of a mammal whose mortality risk does not increase with age,” Finch said.

The Good Men Project quoted Eunyoung Choi about how heat negatively affects your body at a cellular level. “The physical toll of heat might not show up right away as a diagnosable health condition, but could be taking a silent toll at the cellular or molecular level of our body,” Choi said.