The Be My Eyes app offers a way for aging parents with impaired vision to access help, reports Forbes . "When the blind or low-vision user requests assistance through the app, Be My Eyes sends a notification to several volunteers," states the app website. The app matches the blind or low-vision user with a healthy volunteer, according to language and timezone. "The first volunteer to answer the request is connected to that specific user and receives live video feed from the rear-facing camera of the user's smartphone," says the site. "The audio connection allows the user and the volunteer to solve the task together." The requester is linked with live video on their phone camera to the first volunteer to take the call who views the video on her phone. As the requester moves the camera around, the volunteer can see where an object was dropped, for example, or the color of an item someone wants to match; the volunteer gives the requester directions for moving the camera. After the volunteer signs up, the information is logged, and when a visually impaired person calls to request help, the organization matches the request with the volunteer.

A study from the University of Copenhagen's Center for Healthy Aging and the Department of Public Health in the European Journal of Aging found spending four or more years with an income below the relative poverty threshold as an adult can significantly speed up aging, reports ScienceDaily . The researchers studied 5,500 people in middle age based on physical capability, cognitive function, and inflammatory level, then compared this with their income throughout the 22 years leading up to the test. A yearly income of 60 percent below the median income is deemed relative poverty. "People who have been below the relative poverty threshold for four or more years in their adult life perform significantly worse on physical and cognitive tests than those who have never been below the threshold," said University of Copenhagen Professor Rikke Lund. The results indicate a substantial correlation between financial challenges and early aging — an important factor for staging interventions. "From a broader perspective, the results may inspire a reconsideration of the politically adopted reduced rates of public benefits," Lund suggested.

A study in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association has demonstrated that people with Alzheimer's or Lewy body dementia exhibit unique walking patterns that specify subtle distinctions between the two diseases, reports Medical Xpress . Persons with Lewy body dementia vary step time and length more often than those with Alzheimer's — and their movement is asymmetric. "The way we walk can reflect changes in thinking and memory that highlight problems in our brain, such as dementia," says Newcastle University's Ríona McArdle. "Correctly identifying what type of dementia someone has is important for clinicians and researchers as it allows subjects to be given the most appropriate treatment for their needs as soon as possible." The investigators analyzed the walk of 110 people, including 29 older adults with healthy cognition, 36 with Alzheimer's, and 45 with Lewy body dementia. The team observed that analysis of step length variability and step time asymmetry could accurately identify 60 percent of all dementia subtypes.

AgeneBio of Baltimore has received more than $3 million in new grant funding to further explore treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD), reports Technical.ly Baltimore . The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation has allocated $500,000 in grant funding to AgeneBio, while the U.S. National Institutes of Health is supplying $2.9 million through the Small Business Innovation Research program. AgeneBio develops treatments for slowing Mild Cognitive Impairment stemming from AD, and the grant will focus on development of a drug designed to treat overactivity in the hippocampus of the brain. One treatment, GABA-A a5 PAM, is concentrated on specific hippocampal receptors, and AgeneBio seeks to complete work toward the clinical testing stage. "This class of drugs shows great promise, not only for their potential to treat the early symptoms of AD, but also for their ability to address other unmet patient needs in autism and schizophrenia," said AgeneBio CEO Michela Gallagher.

A study published in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience found treating a diseased neuron with a blocker of the L-type channel reduced the flow of calcium ions into the brain cell, which could have applications to treating memory loss in Alzheimer's victims, reports ScienceDaily . The researchers administered the fluorescent molecule GCaMP6f, which details the amount of calcium ions in brain cells, to fruit flies. They observed that diseased neurons become inundated with calcium ions, because of overproduction of the L-type channel gene. Applying a drug to block the L-type channel reversed the disease and restored the flow of calcium ions to a normal level. Memory tests investigated whether fruit flies could recall which of two odors had previously been paired with an electric shock, and determined the diseased insects' memories were impaired. Correcting overproduction of L-type channels reversed this effect. The researchers recommended further research to define the underlying mechanism of memory recovery, and assess this method's effectiveness in humans.

A study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia found biopsychosocial frailty (BF) can be a predictor for short- and longer-term dementia risk, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers analyzed data from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, which included 2,171 participants, to identify the BF construct and at least one of the two impaired items of the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Over the course of a 3.5-year follow-up, participants with BF were at an elevated risk for overall dementia — especially vascular dementia — while a seven-year follow-up yielded similar observations. "Secondary preventive strategies for cognitive impairment and different frailty phenotypes, particularly BF, may be suggested, with an individualized multidomain intervention targeting physical, nutritional, cognitive, and psychological domains," the researchers noted.

A study in Heart suggests one to two daytime naps a week promotes better heart health, reports NBC News . "We looked at healthy adults in Switzerland and found that people who take occasional naps — once or twice a week — had a lower risk for cardiovascular disease compared to people who were not napping at all," said the University Hospital of Lausanne's Nadine Häusler. The researchers monitored about 3,500 subjects between 35 and 75 over five years, with about 20 percent taking naps once to twice weekly. People in that frequency had a 48 percent reduced risk for heart attack, stroke, or heart failure. Nap length was apparently irrelevant to these findings. "It could be that these people who nap once to twice a week are those who make napping a priority, because they know they don't sleep enough during the week," noted University of Colorado Boulder Professor Céline Vetter. Häusler added, "Our best guess is that a daytime nap just releases stress from insufficient sleep."

Research indicates that older American entrepreneurism is surging to unprecedented heights, reports Bloomberg BusinessWeek . The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation estimates that 26 percent of new entrepreneurs in 2017 were 55- to 64-year-olds, while the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor says this same demographic has enjoyed the highest rate of business startup activity worldwide in the past 10 years. Hospitality entrepreneur Chip Conley says older business owners have an "intergenerational potluck" advantage, where across-the-board diversity "ignites the creative spark" in virtually any field. Older business partners typically have lots of industry expertise and a lifetime of connections and potential clients, not to mention capital; younger generations are usually digital natives often weighed down by student loans. "The incentive is they really need each other," says Global Institute for Experienced Entrepreneurship CEO Elizabeth Isele. "It's how to add value to each other." Basic economic and societal changes help make multigenerational entrepreneurship practical, with cities and towns encouraging more entrepreneurship by supporting incubators, accelerators, and new business competitions. Meanwhile, information technology innovations reduce startup costs.

National Preparedness Month (NPM) is recognized each September to promote family and community disaster and emergency planning. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's (CDC's) Center for Preparedness and Response with its FEMA partners from the Ready Campaign are producing a new webinar scheduled for Sept. 25. It will feature presentations from the CDC about its Prepare Your Health web resources and new digital media toolkit and from the Ready Campaign about their "Prepared, Not Scared" campaign, along with new Ready Kids materials. CDC is encouraging leaders who are responsible for the safety and care of others to attend. The one-hour webinar will take place starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will provide seniors with a new 1040 form in time for filing their 2019 taxes next year, reports CBS News . With Form 1040-SR, seniors will be able to file taxes without needing an accountant. The form has large print and is free of shading in certain boxes, which should make it easier for seniors to see and immediately determine what refund they will receive with the inclusion of the Standard Deductions Chart. The form is especially likely to appeal to baby boomers — who want to handle their own finances — as well as seniors who are computer-averse and prefer paper filing. "Approximately 10 percent, or 15 million, taxpayers might qualify for the 1040-SR," suggests Retirement Income Strategies founder Kristian Finfrock. The new form is expected to be useful to seniors who rely on capital gains for the bulk of their annual income. "The new form has lines for specific retirement income streams, such as Social Security benefits, IRA distributions, pensions, and annuities," says Align Wealth Advisors CEO Nicholas Yrizarry. However, Form 1040-SR does not allow filers to itemize, so small business owners will still need to file on standard Form 1040 with Schedule C.