The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a quadrivalent formulation of first-and-only adjuvanted season flu vaccine for adults 65 and older from Seqirus, confirms HCPLive . The Fluad Quadrivalent vaccine employs the same MF59 adjuvant as Seqirus's Fluad medication. A 2019 study in Clinical Infectious Diseases showed that enhanced flu vaccines can better protect older adults, and the MF59-adjuvanted vaccine was one of three study vaccines which induced a stronger immune response than in the standard vaccine cohort. "Adults 65 years and older are at high risk for influenza-related complications each season and it is important to have influenza vaccines to help protect this vulnerable population," stated Seqirus General Manager Anjana Narain. Adults 65 years and older also have had the highest rate of hospitalization in the current flu season.

A study in Geriatrics found that people whose memory and gait speed declined together were most at risk of developing dementia, reports Medical News Today . The researchers combined data from six large-scale studies involving 8,699 participants older than 60. They compared participants with dual decline with those whose walking speeds and memory remained constant, categorized as "usual agers." Across all six studies, individuals who experienced memory decline had a 2.2 to 4.6 times higher risk of developing dementia than usual agers. Among subjects who had reduced gait speed, the risk of dementia rose by 2.1 to 3.6 times, and this effect was only statistically significant in three of the six studies. "Participants with dual decline had 5.2 to 11.7 times higher risk of developing dementia, compared with usual agers," the authors concluded. They also suggested that dual decline could be "captured early in clinical settings by routinely administering gait speed assessment and a free recall memory test."

Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., offers mechanical companion pets to people diagnosed with dementia, reports WSYR . These lifelike companions have demonstrated the ability to mitigate depression, increase social engagement, and bring comfort to seniors. "The pets normalize the experience of being in the hospital," said Upstate Assistant Director of Nursing Kelly Dolan. Although a mechanical pet is a far cry from living pets, Dolan noted that "the response has been wonderful." She added that the pets were made possible by the Upstate Foundation.

A study in Biological Psychiatry found that a combination of non-invasive, low-cost cognitive measures may help determine people who are at risk for progressing to Alzheimer's disease, reports Healio . Although amyloid-beta levels in the brain become abnormal long before severe cognitive impairments manifest, a growing body of evidence suggests subtle cognitive changes may arise before amyloid-beta exceeds the threshold for abnormality. The researchers considered the association of baseline cognitive composites called the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative with progression to amyloid-beta positivity in 292 nondemented, amyloid-beta-negative subjects. Later studies looked at the effects of subthreshold pathology using continuous cerebrospinal fluid biomarker levels. The team found a link between poorer baseline performance on both cognitive measures and elevated odds of progression. More abnormal levels of subthreshold amyloid-beta and baseline cerebrospinal fluid phosphorylated tau correlated with higher odds of progression to amyloid-beta positivity. "There is often a focus on finding the single best cognitive test to use in detecting Alzheimer's disease, but . . . we think that the increased sensitivity gained from combining multiple tests is well worth the time and effort needed to collect them," concluded the University of California, San Diego's Jeremy A. Elman.

B. (Barbara Elaine) Smith, a former model who became a famous author, restaurateur, TV host, and lifestyle guru, has died after a seven-year battle with Alzheimer's disease at age 70, reports USA Today . Smith was only the second black model on the cover of Mademoiselle magazine in 1976, before going on to host the syndicated show "B. Smith With Style." She also owned three restaurants, wrote multiple cookbooks, and launched several lines of home goods products. Following an Alzheimer's diagnosis in 2013, Smith wrote a book in 2016 on living with the disease, titled: Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's . She and her husband Dan Gasby used the book to raise awareness for Alzheimer's, especially within the African-American community. "Two out of three people with Alzheimer's disease are women," Gasby said in 2016. "Blacks are two to three times more likely to have Alzheimer's. And it drives people into poverty, in many cases taking away the gains that a sizable and growing portion of people in the African-American community have made." There was some controversy in Smith's later years, when Gasby sparked outrage over acknowledging his relationship with another woman as he served as his wife's caregiver. Gasby said in a 2019 appearance on "The View" that his wife of nearly three decades encouraged him to move on with his life after she learned of her diagnosis. "I'm not doing anything we didn't discuss," Gasby said at the time.

A new study in Family Practice suggests intensive behavioral therapy from dietitians could help older adults to more successfully lose weight, reports News Channel 3 . East Carolina University researchers sought to determine whether the addition of such a regimen to intensive behavioral therapy for obesity (IBTO) would be effective. IBTO with a dietitian can effectively address not just obesity in older adults, but also associated conditions like type 2 diabetes. Subjects who underwent IBTO lost nearly three pounds on average and had better health outcomes in comparison to those who did not undergo IBTO. "Coupled with the fact that nutrition is not required content in medical school curricula, medical professionals may not have the time or the skills to develop and implement nutrition interventions for beneficiaries," said Cornell University's Emily Wilcox Gier. "Referring patients to dietitians is an easy, cost-effective, and necessary step to ensure that they receive the treatment they need to meet weight loss goals."

Volunteerism alone cannot bridge the yawning gap between caregivers and frail seniors in the United States, even with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) trying to promote more volunteer caregiving via the just-launched Community Care Corps program, writes Forbes contributor Howard Gleckman. Author of the book "Caring for Our Parents" and a senior fellow at The Urban Institute, Gleckman notes that the initiative is vague on important details, including the kinds of work volunteers will perform. Moreover, the program is in danger of succumbing to excessive bureaucracy, and there is no guarantee that it is compatible with other volunteer efforts for helping older adults. Congressional funding for the program is only earmarked for about a year, which will make it difficult for local groups to build out the required infrastructure, he further notes. There also is no clarity on how the program will complement paid home caregivers. Community Care Corps can realize some key goals by engaging people to support older adults and people with disabilities in their communities, as well as by training people to support seniors. But solving the growing caregiver crisis will require far more investment than the Trump administration has offered, Gleckman concludes.

A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey estimated that 5,250 deaths occurred on the job in 2018 versus 5,147 in 2017, reports Bloomberg . Workplace fatalities have risen for six of the last nine years, and one contributing factor is an increasing number of Americans older than 55 who are working — and people over 55 are more likely to die on the job than younger employees. The labor force participation rate among those 65 and older has climbed from a low of 10.4 percent in 1985 to 20.3 percent today, while the rate among those 75 and older has increased from 4 percent to 9.7 percent. The workforce share of "65-plusers" has grown 0.3 percent since 2006, while their occupational fatality rate stood at 10.3 in 2018. A Monthly Labor Review by BLS economists Sean M. Smith and Stephen M. Pegula found that employees 55 and older were more likely than younger workers to die of lingering injuries days, weeks, months, or even years after a workplace incident. They also are frailer and more likely to suffer certain injuries like hip fractures. Smith and Pegula hope that these and other findings will help health and safety experts "tailor their efforts to best meet the needs of older workers and to keep them safe during their careers."

Americans who are planning to still be working past retirement at age 65 should consider the role of Medicare, reports CNBC . "The advice I give is to calculate the financial impact for each option," said Lewin & Gavino founder Elizabeth Gavino. "Figure out your cost based on your usage and your medication, and do a comparison on what your outlay may be." Many people enroll in Medicare Part A even if they remain on their employer's plan because it is free, provided they have at least a 10-year work history of contributing to the plan through payroll taxes. However, employees with a health savings account coupled to a high-deductible health plan through their employer should know that they cannot make contributions once enrolled in Medicare, even if only Part A. When adding up costs to compare options, workers should determine their best option coverage cost, going by assumptions about their use of the healthcare system and the cost of their prescription drugs. Moreover, the rules for enrollment when someone already has insurance depend partly on whether they are employed by a large or small company.

A study in Gut suggests a Mediterranean diet could yield benefits for older adults within just one year by boosting levels of "good" bacteria in the gut while decreasing "bad" bacteria concentrations, reports USA Today . The researchers looked at 612 people 65 to 79 years old in five European countries who adhered to a Mediterranean diet regimen, and experienced slowdown in the loss of gut bacteria diversity, along with a boost in bacteria associated with better brain function. Those older adults also exhibited more indicators of less frailty like grip strength and walking speed, and reduced production of harmful inflammation. Consumers of Mediterranean diets also had more bacteria tied to production of short chain fatty acids, which can significantly help maintain health and ward off disease, while concentrations of bacteria associated with certain bile acids connected to cancer and other adverse effects declined. The "good" bacteria generated by study participants also functioned as "keystone" species in their guts, increasing the stability of the gut microbiome and lowering "bad" bacteria levels. Age and weight did not impact the outcomes, and changes in bacteria appeared to be consistent as diet changed regardless of subjects' nationality.