The results of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found persons with midlife lung disease and reduced lung function are at a modestly elevated risk for dementia and mild cognitive impairment later, reports Pulmonology Consultant . From 1987 to 1989, 14,184 participants underwent spirometry and were queried about their lung health. Development of dementia and mild cognitive impairment was tracked, defined by hospitalization diagnosis codes, from 1987 to 2013. From 2011 to 2013, 42 percent received a comprehensive neurocognitive examination. Subjects exhibiting restrictive and obstructive lung disease were more likely to develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment versus those lacking those ailments, though the association was stronger for restrictive impairment than for obstructive lung disease. Associations were similar in nonsmokers, and present for both Alzheimer's-related dementia and cerebrovascular etiologies. "If the observed associations are causal, policy and public health efforts to reduce smoking and improve air quality may have the added benefit of preventing the development of dementia and mild cognitive impairment," the researchers suggested.

A RIKEN mouse study published in Nature Communications discovered a new protein involved in Alzheimer's, which may enable linkage between amyloid plaques and tau pathology, reports ScienceDaily . The CAPON protein binds to tau, and the implication that CAPON forms this connection is suspected because of its known risk for other psychiatric disorders. Examination of one type of mouse with Alzheimer's uncovered CAPON deposition in the hippocampus, with this accrual even greater when amyloid-ß pathology was present. The insertion of CAPON DNA within the brain of another type of mouse with Alzheimer's caused CAPON overexpression, with specimens exhibiting significant neurodegeneration, elevated tau, and hippocampal contraction. "Although cell death resulting from CAPON can occur through many different pathways, we definitely think this protein is a facilitator between neuroinflammation and tau pathology," said RIKEN's Shoko Hashimoto.

University of New Mexico (UNM) researchers think their research has yielded a vaccine to prevent Alzheimer's disease, reports KRQE . UNM's Nicole Maphis said the vaccine was designed to target a specific protein often found in the brain of persons with Alzheimer's. "What we chose to pursue was a specific region of tau, as you saw pathological tau the red structures, that are common in Alzheimer's disease," she noted. Maphis added that "these antibodies seem to have cleared pathological tau. Pathological tau is one of the components of these tangles that we find in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease." Maze-like tests using mice showed that animals given the vaccine performed a lot better than those that were not. However, UNM Professor Kiran Bhaskar cautioned that "we got to make sure that we have a clinical version of the vaccine so that we can test in people." Once a vaccine is developed that is safe for humans, it must be submitted to the FDA for approval — a process that might take another five years.

Rapidly aging populations has emerged as a new concern among policymakers across the developed world, reports Axios . Population growth is not only key to maintaining demand for housing and filling jobs yet to be automated, but also paying into pension systems pressed by demographic realities and slowing economic growth. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development secretary-general Angel Gurria remarks, "You basically have a very large portion of mankind that is aging and then the workforce is shrinking. But I would say the G20 in particular are aging faster." Some nations — such as the United States — are feeling these issues less thanks to immigration. Such others as China and Japan are more restrictive and are beginning to "feel the bite" in projected growth.

Analysis of U.S. Census data by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found seniors in major metropolitan areas, especially in the Northeast and around Washington, D.C., are more likely to continue working beyond age 65 than those in other areas around the country, reports the Denver Post . "Those are the areas where all of the jobs are, really," says Anqi Chen at Boston College's Center for Retirement Research. "The coastal areas recovered well from the recession, while other areas have not." Analysts added that the jobs offered in those regions — government, finance, law, and academia — keep seniors employed longer. Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging Chairman Paul Irving said seniors can be an advantage to regional economies, increasing tax revenues, encouraging growth with more consumer spending, and delivering additional skills and expertise at a time of low unemployment. "Despite whatever misnomers might exist, there is a great demand out there for mature workers," said Mary Branagan at Vermont-based Associates for Training and Development.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is hosting a webinar on June 12 on the Home and Community-Based Services ( HCBS ) Settings Rule. The webinar is titled "System Change vs. Compliance Mindset Approach in Implementing the Settings Rule," and will take place from 1:30-3:00 ET. Click here to register for the webinar. CMS says the presentation "will identify strategies to integrate the values and principles of the HCBS settings rule into the fabric of a state's HCBS program, will identify some basic tenets of HCBS system change including examples of how states have demonstrated system transformation, and will describe how the state can use the Statewide Transition Plan to execute system change."

The latest installment of Bridge the Gap: The Senior Living Podcast interviews Avanti Senior Living co-founder Lori Alford on all of the ways her company makes its senior living and memory care communities appealing. She uses the term "bringing sexy back" to senior living, in reference to the hit Justin Timberlake pop song of a few years back. For Alford, it's all about creating environments that make residents feel confident, "walk a little taller," get up and get dressed each day, and feel good about who they are. She wants Avanti's residents to be proud of where they are, and this philosophy extends to each senior community's staffers' attire and on-the-job appearance.

The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is using a sensory tool to boost public awareness of what it's like to have dementia, according to U.S. News & World Report . Demonstrations of the Virtual Dementia Tour are being held today, June 11, at CCRI's Lincoln campus; June 18 at the Providence campus; June 21 at the Warwick campus; and June 25 at the Newport campus. The demonstrations, facilitated by CCRI nursing staff, take about 30 minutes with registration required in advance. CCRI claims it is the only college in the state to offer this tool, and it is attempting to do more to help caregivers and healthcare professionals understand how to treat persons with dementia.

A study published in Health Affairs examined the role immigrant labor plays in care for U.S. seniors, reports SlashGear . The researchers determined immigrants comprised a significant percentage of the U.S. workforce committed to the care and health of seniors and/or disabled citizens, and government policy to reduce immigration in the near future could have bad consequences. The authors estimated that 5.2 percent of the U.S. population is comprised of legal, noncitizen immigrants, who also make up 9 percent of direct care workers. Naturalized citizens, meanwhile, constitute up to 13.9 percent of all direct care workers. Moreover, 18.2 percent of healthcare workers in the United States are immigrants, as are 23.5 percent of formal and non-formal long-term care sector workers. In addition, immigrants comprise 27.5 percent of direct care workers and 30.3 percent of nursing community housekeeping and maintenance workers in the U.S.

Forbes reporting on the dietary and nutritional research being done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab's Lifestyle Leaders, an extraordinary group of adults 85-years old and older that work alongside AgeLab researchers and students to explore the lives of the nation's most senior men and women. They've come up with three food values and lifestyles that Millennials may share with many older adults. The first is "Heat & Eat: Keep It Convenient." The quest for convenience is fueling the growth of such near-ubiquitous food delivery services as Uber Eats. The second is "From Kitchen To Kit." Ready-to-cook meal kit services, like Hello Fresh and Plated, promise a meal pre-cut, pre-measured with easy-to-make recipes that result in putting a familiar favorite or exotic dish on the table in less than a half-dozen steps in under a half-hour. The third trend is "In The Zone: Eating For Health." While managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, may place healthy eating high on the agendas of our 85-plus friends, making healthy food choices is an important consumer value to Millennials also.