Health & well being

A major Scotland-wide study of the health, economic and social circumstances of people aged 50-plus will enable future improvements to be made to their health and wellbeing. The University of Stirling-led Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS) study, launched July 2015, is the first in Scotland to follow individuals and households through time. There are currently two million people over 50 in Scotland, comprising 38 percent of the population. The £500,000 HAGIS study will capture a snapshot of the current circumstances of 1000 of them.

A project that brings hens to older people in care settings, has joined with Notting Hill Housing to introduce the hens into two of the housing association’s extra-care sites. The project is supporting some 700 residents, including those with dementia, in more than 20 care homes in north-east England. Henpower’s launch in London last week is its first project outside the region. Read more here.

The Irish part of the European Study Actifcare (Access to Timely Formal Care) would like to speak to people with dementia living at home and their families. If you would like to take part in this study please contact Dr Louise Hopper on 00 353 (0) 1 700 8540 or louise.hopper@dcu.ie for further details. Read more here.

Older adults who have “successfully aged,” may be more prone to developing harmful drinking habits, says a recent study in BMJ Open. "Successful agers" are defined as adults who are healthy, active both physically and socially, and also wealthy. Researchers at Age UK focused on what forces might cause harmful drinking in older adults. The study included 9,251 men and women, all 50 or older, as part of the 2008-09 and 2010-11 English Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Scientists appear to have broken a decades-long deadlock in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease after announcing trial results for the first drug that appears to slow the pace of mental decline.The drug, called solanezumab, was shown to stave off memory loss in patients with mild Alzheimer’s over the course of several years. The effects would have been barely discernible to patients or their families, scientists said, and it is no cure. Read more here.