The city of Manhattan Beach, Calif., is partnering with the Rotary Club, Salvation Army, and Beach Cities Health District to coordinate a resource delivery program to serve older adults who need assistance during the coronavirus pandemic, reports Easy Reader News . "During this difficult time, it is incumbent upon our community to step up and assist the identified vulnerable populations associated with this pandemic," said Manhattan Beach Mayor Richard Montgomery. Seniors can call a hotline to reach city staff, who will coordinate how resources will be delivered.

Raleigh, N.C.-based startup K4Connect — a leading provider of enterprise-grade technologies for senior living communities — has partnered with Broadway actress Laura Benanti's #SunshineSongs project to help keep older adults entertained while quarantined during the coronavirus pandemic, reports WRAL Tech Wire . Benanti is asking anyone to send in performance videos to help seniors cope with their self-isolation. The videos will be curated into K4Connect's K4Community, where 29,000 older adult residents at more than 125 senior living communities will be able to access the videos at no charge. "This enables individuals who don't have access to social media networks to access some lighthearted entertainment during social distancing," said K4Connect's Patrick Reilly.

A study in Addiction found 56 percent of drinkers 59 and older had been heavy drinkers at some point in their lifetime, which correlates with significantly larger waistlines and a higher risk of stroke, reports Psych Central . The researchers considered U.K. civil servants 34 to 56 years at study outset, from 1985 to 1988. The final sample was of 4,820 older adults, 59 to 83, mean age 69 and 75 percent male. Generally, heavy alcohol consumption over a lifetime is associated with higher blood pressure, poorer liver function, increased stroke risk, larger waist circumferences, and body mass index (BMI) in later life, even if the participants stop drinking heavily before 50 years. Twenty-one percent of the sample were current hazardous drinkers and 5 percent consistent hazardous drinkers — both of these types were primarily male, mainly Caucasian, and likely to hold senior-level jobs. Former later, current, and consistent hazardous drinkers had much higher systolic blood pressure and poorer liver function than never hazardous drinkers. Moreover, current hazardous drinkers had three times the risk of stroke, and former later hazardous drinkers had about twice the risk of non-cardiovascular disease mortality versus never hazardous drinkers. Furthermore, lifetime hazardous drinkers had significantly larger waist circumferences and BMI than never hazardous drinkers, with the magnitude growing with more current and consistent hazardous drinking.

Channel News Asia reports that new and emerging technology can help people living with dementia. One example is the Alzheimer's Disease Association's virtual reality (VR) experience. It allows caregivers to immerse themselves in a dementia sufferer's world. Meanwhile, Bekind Solutions founder Tan Lee Tuan has transformed a walking stick into a multifunctional accessory to help users, serving as a flashlight, an umbrella, and an alarm that triggers if the user falls — while built-in radio and MP3 functionality can offer music therapy. Meanwhile, the still-in-development SoundEye solution will use deep learning artificial intelligence to isolate and analyze the sounds a person would make in an emergency and a motion sensor to detect movement. Another approach is reminiscence therapy, using picture albums and other material to revive long-buried memories. Now available is a more advanced form of this treatment in the form of a VR tool from Dude Studios. It offers recreations of places that the user is familiar with. Finally, Soundbeam technology employs ultrasonic sensors to translate body movement into music.

A study in Nature Neuroscience found that a structure in the brain is configured differently than scientists once assumed, which may shed new light on Alzheimer's disease, reports Medical News Today . Glial cells were previously thought to act as a glue for the more significant neuron cells, but their function is apparently broader. Researchers examined astrocytes, mapping their structure to determine new insights of their role in the brain. The team combined nucleic acid imaging of human and mice brain cells with single-cell genomic data, generating a three-dimensional image of the astrocytes in the cerebral cortex. This revealed that the molecular forms of astrocytes are not uniform, but vary according to their position in the brain. The astrocytes also are separated into distinct layers that are related to, but differ from, layers of neurons that are already well understood. A separate study in Animal Cells and Systems suggested that as Alzheimer's disease develops, astrocytes can get caught in a feedback loop with microglia and trigger inflammation in the glial cells, which makes the microglia neurotoxic. Researchers hope that understanding the structure of glial cells such as astrocytes will lead to new therapeutic interventions for Alzheimer's.

A study published in JAMA Neurology appears to indicate that higher concentrations of brain amyloid signal early Alzheimer's disease (AD), reports News-Medical . In the initial data from the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease (A4) study, it appears that amyloid accumulation in the brain mirrors early AD. When the individual is asymptomatic or lacks clinical features, a higher level of amyloid is associated with lower scores on cognitive testing, family history of the disease, and decline in daily cognitive function. The A4 prevention trial started in 2014 and will run until late 2022. Its goal is to identify the efficacy of the monoclonal antibody drug solanezumab at preventing or treating cognitive decline, for use in cognitively normal people with high amyloid levels. "A4 demonstrates that prevention trials can enroll high-risk individuals — people with biomarkers for Alzheimer's who are cognitively normal," said Laurie Ryan at the National Institute of Aging. "Ultimately, precision medicine approaches will be essential."

Policy Genius estimates that 60-something Americans' outstanding debt in 2019 was $2.14 trillion, reports Fox Business . "Many of our older generation continue to work just to keep ahead of their bills," said Well Kept Wallet's Deacon Hayes. "In addition, some have either depleted their savings to pay off debt, or have no savings at all due to a lack of funds." Data from the Congressional Research Service said the average debt for senior households is $86,797, which is mostly due to mortgage loans associated with primary residences, with the rest spread across other types of debt like student loans, car loans, credit cards, and home equity loans. A report from AARP indicated that Americans 50 and older owe 20 percent of the country's $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loans, while the Federal Reserve Bank calculates that those 60 to 69 who are newly retired or about to enter retirement have roughly twice as much student loan debt as those 70 and older. Factors underlying increasing senior debt include more parents and grandparents co-signing private student loans for their children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, those retiring before 65 may depend on loans or credit cards to cover medical costs if they are uninsured during the gap before they become Medicare-eligible. Hayes recommended that seniors should focus on finding ways to manage and pay down debt as fast as possible, such as refinancing.

Professor Heather Fuller at North Dakota State University's (NDSU) Human Development and Family Science Department is leading a study on how social distancing is affecting older adults during the coronavirus pandemic, reports the West Central Tribune . Fuller and fellow NDSU Professor Andrea Huseth-Zosel have completed about 20 interviews for the study, and she noted that prior research indicates "a lot of variability" among older adults' coping strategies. She expects to learn some are doing well and adjusting, while others are not — and these differences could help "tease apart" approaches that appear to help people endure or flourish while others might have difficulty. It also could lead to recommendations for family members and senior communities for better engaging seniors and keeping them connected during the pandemic. Fuller said the study is now actively recruiting and seeking volunteers who are at least 70 and live in North Dakota or Minnesota. Researchers are particularly interested in interviewing people in their 80s and 90s. Fuller added that the information collected will probably be shared with the general public before publication in a journal "since it is very relevant and important now."

A study in Lancet Infectious Diseases estimates the fatality rate for people 80 years and older who contract COVID-19 to be 13.4 percent, reports Philly Voice . Moreover, up to 18.4 percent of people over 80 in the study needed hospital care compared to 12 percent of those in their 60s and 3.4 percent of those in their 30s. According to health experts, higher vulnerability to COVID-19 also is driven by comorbidities. "Having multiple chronic diseases and frailty is in many ways as or more important than chronological age," said the University of Connecticut's George Kuchel. "An 80-year-old who is otherwise healthy and not frail might be more resilient in fighting off infection than a 60-year-old with many chronic conditions." The body's immune system also loses effectiveness as we age, marked by decreasing production of T cells. Declining production of leukocytes, which instruct the T cells on what pathogens to attack, also is a factor.

A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology suggests that wearing water-soaked clothing in hot, humid weather may cool down and lower the risk of heat strain in older adults, reports Medical Xpress . Researchers monitored a group of adults with an average age of 68 in three separate sessions, with volunteers sitting on a breathable mesh reclining chair for two hours in a room with an ambient temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of 34 percent. Each subject underwent a "dry" session where they wore a dry cotton T-shirt; a "wet" session where they wore a cotton T-shirt soaked in 500 milliliters (ml) of water; and a "wet + fan" session where they wore a cotton T-shirt soaked in 500 ml of water while sitting in front of an electric fan. Participants also had unlimited access to lukewarm drinking water throughout the heat exposure sessions. The wet shirt by itself reduced the increase of heat strain, but heat strain levels did not differ between the dry and wet + fan conditions, "which suggests that fan use with supplemental skin wetting was neither beneficial nor detrimental in lessening heat strain in older individuals," the researchers said. "In contrast, wearing a water-soaked T-shirt without electric fan use in the wet trial significantly reduced the rise in heat strain throughout most of the two-hour heat exposure in the wet compared with the dry and wet + fan condition."