Possessing a greater purpose in life is associated with lower mortality rates among older adults according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

Patricia A. Boyle, PhD, and her colleagues from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, studied 1,238 community-dwelling elderly participants from two ongoing research studies, the Rush Memory and Aging Project and the Minority Aging Research Study. None had dementia. Data from baseline evaluations of purpose in life and up to five years of follow-up were used to test the hypothesis that greater purpose in life is associated with a reduced risk of mortality among community-dwelling older persons.

Purpose in life reflects the tendency to derive meaning from life’s experiences and be focused and intentional, according to Boyle.

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Older mice are more susceptible to proteoglycan-induced arthritis (PGIA). Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Immunity & Ageing have shown, for the first time, that young mice are completely resistant, but become fully susceptible to the disease with age.

Tibor Glant, from Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, worked with a team of researchers to investigate the effects of immunological senescence on susceptibility to arthritis. He said, “Our results suggest that, while the young can effectively regulate their immune response to proteoglycan, in older mice these mechanisms are partially lost. This ‘physiological’ loss of control may lead to sustained activation of autoreactive T cells and auto-antibody production, directing the immune system against self antigen and culminating in joint inflammation in genetically susceptible animals”.

The researchers conclude that complex age-related changes in interactions between T cells and antigen presenting cells, and reduced generation of regulatory T cells, may lead to impaired immune regulation and the development of autoimmune disease. Glant said, “Increasing incidence of rheumatoid arthritis with age has been repeatedly shown in the human population, hopefully this mouse model will go some way towards explaining why”.

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Hearing and vocal problems go hand-in-hand among the elderly more frequently than previously thought, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center. Together, they pack a devastating double punch on communication skills and overall well-being.

“It’s important to realize these disabilities often occur concurrently,” says Seth Cohen, MD, an otolaryngologist at the Duke Voice Care Center. “And when they do, they can increase the likelihood of depression and social isolation.”

Nearly half of people age 65 and older have some degree of hearing loss, according to previously published reports, and about one-third of elderly adults have vocal problems including dysphonia, more commonly known as hoarseness. Taken apart, the disabilities have been linked in the elderly to increased depression, anxiety and social isolation.

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