Older People

Physical activities such as walking help older adults lessen age-related decline in brain structure according to new research from Boston University School of Medicine. The researchers found the relationship between fitness and brain structure only in older adults, but not younger adults. "We found that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with enhanced brain structure in older adults," explained study author Scott Hayes, assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.

Dublin City Council and the Crumlin Centre for Music & Arts are delighted to announce the creation of a new community choir - open to people living in the Dublin 12 area. This fun choir will run for 16 weeks initially and is for older people, with a particular welcome for people with dementia or memory loss, their family members, neighbours or friends. Read more here.

Grandparents who provide high levels of childcare are more likely to suffer from the signs of depression, according to a major new study.

Researchers at Trinity College found grandparents providing over 60 hours' care per month experience significantly more depressive symptoms.

The finding is included in a paper due to be presented later this year as part of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (Tilda) project.

Older adults spend 8.5 waking hours a day sitting or lying down—time linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and death—even if they're physically active at other times. A new study from the Group Health Research Institute showed it was feasible to coach older people to spend less time sitting: an average of a half hour less per day. They reported feeling more able to accomplish everyday tasks—and they walked faster and had fewer depression symptoms.

People over 60 are at higher risk of being diagnosed with lung or bowel cancer as an emergency in hospital than younger people, according to a Cancer Research UK-supported report, published by BMJ Open. The researchers also found that women and less affluent people are at higher risk of an emergency lung cancer diagnosis. While being unmarried, divorced or widowed was associated with having bowel cancer diagnosed as an emergency.