Long Term care Insurance Expert Reports Low Vitamin B12 Linked To Cognitive Decline In Elderly

Older individuals who have low levels of vitamin B12 in their blood have a greater risk of brain shrinkage, losing cognitive skills and greater risk of needing long term health care.

"The number of U.S. adults aged 65 years and older is projected to nearly double over the next two decades," explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance, the national trade organization.  "As a result, the incidence of cognitive issues especially Alzheimer's disease and other dementias is also expected to rise as will the need for costly long term care."

According to Chicago researchers foods rich in vitamin B12 include those derived from animals and include, eggs, milk, liver, meat, and fish.  Vitamin B12 plays a key role in normal nervous system functioning and brain development. It is also involved in the formation of red blood cells.

Scientists undertook a study of individuals aged at least 65 years. They underwent blood tests to check for B12 and B12-related metabolites levels. They were also assessed for memory and other cognitive skills. Some five years later magnetic resonance imaging scans of their brains were taken to measure comparative brain size and to identify other signs of brain damage.

Those with four of five markers for vitamin B12 deficiency were found to have a higher risk of getting lower cognitive test scores and smaller total brain volumes.  The National Institute of Aging funded the study.

Vitamin B12 plays a key role in normal nervous system functioning and brain development. It is also involved in the formation of red blood cells.

Planning experts advise those seeking to learn more about long-term care planning and get long-term care insurance cost contact a designated expert via the Association's Consumer Information Center at http://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/free-quote/.  They point out that the best ages to look into this protection is prior to age 65 when health issues can make it harder or more costly to medically qualify for coverage.

Women Aged Over 85 Have Higher Prevalence Of Arthritis And Joint Pain

A new study finds that the lifetime prevalence of arthritis is 65.4% in individuals aged 85, with women impacted more than men.

According to Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance, while arthritis is strongly connected with age, few investigations have studied how the oldest individuals (those aged 85+ years) are affected by the disease.

The study looked at over 1,000 individuals aged 85 years old and revealed that for any arthritis the lifetime prevalence was high, with 65.4% of the participants having arthritis.  According to Slome, the researchers discovered that the disease was more common in women than men: 69.1% vs 58.8%.

Osteoarthritis the researchers found was most prevalent in the knee joint followed by the hip and hand. A percentage of those participating in the study identified the knee as the most painful joint, even though the foot, ankle and lower back received the highest pain score. With the exception of the shoulder and foot, for all joints women reported a higher average pain score.

The study was published today in the journal Age and Ageing.  According to AALTCI, arthritis is the fourth leading cause of long term care insurance claims for nursing home care, following Alzheimer's, nervous system conditions and stroke.

"With more Americans living into their 80s and beyond, having a long term care plan in place is more important than ever," declares Slome.  "Most people wait too long to consider their options because the right time to plan is prior to turning age 65."

For more information on long term care insurance, visit the Association's Consumer Information center that can be accessed at http://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/.

Just 15 Minutes Of Exercise Increases Life Expectency By Three Years

New research reports that just 15 minutes of daily physical activity can reduce your risk of death by 14 percent and increase your life expectancy by three years.

The current generally accepted recommendations call for adults to do at least 150 minutes, or a total of 2.5 hours, of physical activity weekly.

Researchers releasing the findings of their new study found that doing even less than that, only a quarter-hour of daily exercise or about 105 minutes a week still provides benefits.

The study included more than 390,000 residents of  Taiwan.  Researchers followed these individuals for an average of eight years and, based on self-reported amounts of weekly exercise, placed them into five categories.

People in the low-activity group, the scientists explained, exercised for an average of 92 minutes per week, or just under 15 minutes a day.   Compared to those categorized as being in the inactive group, individuals who did almost no physical activity, those in the low-activity group were 14 percent less likely to die from any cause, 10 percent less likely to die of cancer, and had a three-year longer life expectancy, on average.

Every additional 15 minutes of daily exercise beyond the minimum 15 minutes further reduced the risk of all-cause death by 4 percent and the risk of cancer death by 1 percent.

"The research is welcome news for millions of Americans who would benefit from even a minimum amount of exercise," suggests Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance http://www.aaltci.org.  "Death from heart disease, diabetes and cancer could be reduced and lifespans can be lengthened, though this means people will need to plan for living a long life."

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance  http://www.aaltci.org is the national trade organization focused on educating individuals about the importance of long-term care planning.  The Association's Consumer Information Center was voted the #1 source for information by consumer interest group rating and can be accessed at http://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance.

Smoking And Weight Tied To Future Brain Shrinkage, Increased Long Term Care Insurance Need

Smoking, having high blood pressure or diabetes and being overweight during your middle years may cause brain shrinkage and lead to cognitive problems up to a decade later.

According to a new study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology these factors appear to cause the brain to lose volume.  Some 38.7 million Americans age 65 and older reported having one or more cognitive disorders according to the 2011 Long-Term Care Insurance Almanac published by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

Health conditions increased the development of lesions secondary to presumed vascular injury, and also appeared to affect its ability to plan and make decisions as quickly as 10 years later.  The findings provide evidence that identifying these risk factors early in people of middle age could be useful in screening people for at-risk dementia and encouraging people to make changes to their lifestyle before it's too late.

The study involved over 1,300 people without dementia with an average age of 54.  Participants had body mass and waist circumference measures taken and were given blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes tests. They also underwent brain MRI scans over the span of a decade, the first starting about seven years after the initial risk factor exam. Participants with stroke and dementia at baseline were excluded, and between the first and last MRI exams, 19 people had a stroke and two developed dementia.

Researchers found that people with high blood pressure developed small areas of vascular brain damage, at a faster rate than those with normal blood pressure readings.  They also had a more rapid worsening of scores on tests of executive function, or planning and decision making, corresponding to five and eight years of chronological aging respectively.

People with diabetes in middle age lost brain volume in the hippocampus at a faster rate than those without diabetes. Smokers lost brain volume overall at a faster rate than nonsmokers and were also more likely to have a rapid increase in white matter hyperintensities.

"Unhealthy habits come back to haunt millions at older ages," explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the long term care insurance association.  "It creates an increased risk of needing long term care in your 80s and 90s a reason why planning prior to retirement is a must especially for those still in good health."

New Study Ties Diet To Longer Life

According to medical researchers, today's leading causes of death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic diseases.  These include cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Both of these illnesses may be affected by diet a study published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reveals. 

Researchers examined data regarding the associations of dietary patterns with mortality through analysis of the eating patterns of over 2500 adults between the ages of 70 and 79 over a ten-year period. They found that diets favoring certain foods were associated with reduced mortality.

By 2030, an estimated 973 million adults will be aged 65 or older worldwide according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. This study sought to determine the dietary patterns of a large and diverse group of older adults, and to explore connections between these dietary patterns with survival over a 10-year period.

Researchers were able to group the participants into six different clusters according to predominant food choices including healthy foods, high-fat dairy products, meat, fried foods, and alcohol and sweets and desserts.
The "Healthy foods" cluster was characterized by relatively higher intake of low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish, and vegetables, and lower consumption of meat, fried foods, sweets, high-calorie drinks, and added fat. The "High fat dairy products" cluster had higher intake of foods such as ice cream, cheese, and 2% and whole milk and yogurt, and lower intake of poultry, low-fat dairy products, rice, and pasta.

The study was unique in that it evaluated participants' quality of life and nutritional status, through detailed biochemical measures, according to their dietary patterns.

After controlling for gender, age, race, clinical site, education, physical activity, smoking, and total calorie intake, the "High-fat dairy products" cluster had a 40% higher risk of mortality than the "Healthy foods" cluster. The "Sweets and desserts" cluster had a 37% higher risk. No significant differences in risk of mortality were seen between the "Healthy foods" cluster and the "Breakfast cereal" or "Refined grains" clusters.

Carrots And Celery Reduce Memory Decline

Diets rich in the plant compound luteolin reduces age-related inflammation in the brain and related memory deficits.   

Luteolin is found in many plants, including carrots, peppers, celery, olive oil, peppermint, rosemary and chamomile.  The compound inhibits the release of inflammatory molecules in the brain.

According to researchers who examined the effects of dietary luteolin in a mouse model of aging and reported their findings in the Journal of Nutrition.

The researchers focused on specialized immune cells that reside in the brain and spinal cord.   Inflammation in the brain also appears to be a key contributor to age-related memory problems, said the University of Illinois animal sciences professor who led the new study.

Scientists found previously that during normal aging, microglial cells become dysregulated and begin producing excessive levels of inflammatory cytokines.  The researcher has spent nearly a decade studying the anti-inflammatory properties of nutrients and various bioactive plant compounds, including luteolin.

According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance which tracks aging research and issues, this is the first study to suggest, however, that luteolin improves cognitive health by acting directly on the microglial cells to reduce their production of inflammatory cytokines in the brain.

The researchers showed that microglial cells that were exposed to a bacterial toxin produced inflammatory cytokines that could kill neurons. When the microglia were exposed to luteolin before they encountered the toxin, however, the neurons lived.

The researchers next turned their attention to the effects of luteolin on the brains and behavior of adult (3- to 6-month-old) and aged (2-year-old) mice. The mice were fed a control diet or a luteolin-supplemented diet for four weeks. The researchers assessed their spatial memory and measured levels of inflammatory markers in the hippocampus, a brain region that is important to memory and spatial awareness.

Normally, aged mice have higher levels of inflammatory molecules in the hippocampus and are more impaired on memory tests than younger adult mice. Aged mice on the luteolin-supplemented diet, however, did better on the learning and memory task than their peers, and the levels of inflammatory cytokines in their brains were more like those of the younger adult mice.

The data suggests that consuming a healthy diet has the potential to reduce age-associated inflammation in the brain, which can result in better cognitive health.

Vitamin B May Help Dementia Alzheimer's Disease

A new study reveals that elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment who take huge doses of B vitamins everyday may reduce the rate at which their brains shrink by 50%, resulting in a much slower progression toward dementia, and eventually Alzheimer's disease.

According to the findings of studies conducted by researchers from Oxford University, England, in an article published in Plos One (Public Library of Science One), this two-year clinical trial is the largest ever which examined the effect of B vitamins on "mild cognitive impairment" (MCI).

Individuals with MCI have a higher risk of progression to Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia notes Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance the industry's trade group.

"People with mild cognitive impairment can function in everyday activities, but they may have problems with memory, such as recalling people's names, losing the flow of a conversation, and not remembering where they left things," Slome explains. Approximately 16% of individuals aged over 70 years are affected by mild cognitive impairment.

David Smith, University Department of Pharmacology and Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics, University of Oxford, trial co-leader, said:

The single-center, randomized, double-blind controlled trial involved 168 volunteers who all had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. One group received high daily doses of vitamins B6 (0.5 mg/d) and B12 (20 mg/d), as well as folic acid (0.8 mg/d). This was 300 times the recommended daily intake for B12, 15 times daily recommended amounts of B6, and 4 times daily recommended intake of folic acid.

The other group received a placebo (tablets without any active ingredients). Treatment lasted 24 months.

The principal outcome measure was the change in the rate of atrophy of the whole brain, assessed by serial volumetric MRI scans.

The researchers found that the B vitamin with folic acid group had an average brain shrinkage of 0.76% per year. The placebo group had an average brain shrinkage of 1.08% per year.

Those with the highest homocysteine blood levels at the start of the trial who took the B vitamins and folic acid experienced half the brain shrinkage compared to individuals with the highest homocysteine blood levels at the start and who received the placebo.

To learn more about long-term care insurance and receive a free, no obligation quote for this protection, visit the Association's Consumer Information Center. Click here now.

Mild Cognitive Problems More Common In Men

A new study by the Mayo Clinic has found that the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment was 1.5 times higher in men than in women.
The research which is part of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging also showed a prevalence rate of 16 percent in the population-based study of individuals aged 70-89 without dementia. These are residents of Olmsted County, Minn.

According to the researchers, the finding that the frequency of mild cognitive impairment is greater in men was unexpected. They noted this was due to the fact that the frequency of Alzheimer's disease is actually greater in women.

Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., neurologist and director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center notes, "If we consider the 16 percent prevalence of mild cognitive impairment in individuals without dementia, then add the 10-11 percent of individuals who already have dementia or Alzheimer's disease, we're looking at 25 percent or more of the population aged 70 or older who have dementia or are at risk of developing dementia in the near future."

With the aging of America, these numbers are staggering and the impact on the health care economy, states Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. "There is a financial, emotional and physical toll on millions of individuals and their families." Slome notes, "and few have taken any steps to prepare."

According to the organization, some eight million Americans currently have long-term care insurance in place. This coverage provides payments and benefits for individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Experts advise consumers to look into this protection in their 50s when rates are most affordable and tbe ability to health qualify is higher.

A free guide on reducing the cost of long-term care insurance can be accessed on the Association's website.


The Mayo study will be published in the September issue of Neurology.