Roche has announced that its Elecsys product for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease has been granted an accelerated review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to Reuters . The agency has designated Elecsys a breakthrough device. The product analyzes the cerebrospinal fluid in adults with cognitive impairment who are being assessed for Alzheimer's or other causes of dementia.

According to Inside Higher Ed , the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) this week issued a report outlining the importance of reskilling America's workers for the jobs of the future. In the United States, investment in skill development is largely "front-loaded" during the first 25 years of life. However, such factors as renewed economic growth, a booming job market, and the evolving nature of work are resulting in changes in the skills U.S. employers need and are leading to new and different opportunities for American workers. The report described an information gap between employers, workers, and educational institutions about which skills companies want in their job candidates. According to CEA, "While employers presumably know which skills they value in an employee, workers themselves and educational institutions have less up-to-date knowledge, and their response lags behind the changing demand."

A new study from Oral Health America (OHA) found seniors require more access to oral health care services, according to Pharmacy Times . The report found 33 percent of older adults have lost six teeth or more, with sociodemographic forces wielding a vital influence. OHA gave 25 U.S. states poor overall oral health scores for seniors, while states with "excellent" scores included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Connecticut, and Colorado. "Oral health for seniors is important for their diet, nutrition, self-esteem, socialization, and freedom from pain, among many other benefits," says the University of Illinois at Chicago's Caswell Evans. The study found state oral health plans (SOHPs) have boosted the percentage of people in regions served by community water fluoridation and cover a greater number of adult dental services under Medicaid. From the study's findings, OHA recommends states perform basic screening surveys of older adults; set up, maintain, or reinstate a comprehensive adult Medicaid dental benefit; outline specific objectives for older men and women in all SOHPs; combine comprehensive dental coverage in Medicare; and sustain or expand community water fluoridation.

A Mayo Clinic study published in the British Journal of Anesthesia analyzed 1,819 older adults to determine a connection between exposure to anesthesia after age 70 and long-term cognitive decline, according to News-Medical . The researchers say this decline could be significant for individuals with already low cognitive function or pre-existing mild cognitive impairment who are considering surgery with general anesthesia. Analysis determined whether exposure to surgery and anesthesia during a period two decades before enrollment was tied to cognitive decline and whether anesthesia exposure after enrollment as an older adult was associated with a cognitive change. "This study provides further reasons for clinicians to start performing routine preoperative cognitive evaluations of seniors to further clarify an individual's risk of exposure to surgery and anesthesia," says the Mayo Clinic's Juraj Sprung.

A study published in Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine determined Chinese-Americans "face a high prevalence of psychological distress and disorders, dementia, and cancer, especially in advanced age," according to the American Council on Science and Health . Moreover, the investigators stated that "a well-connected community, active social life, and high acculturation are essential to improving older Chinese adults' health and lowering depression." Over two years, the team interviewed 3,159 older Chinese-Americans in greater Chicago. "The key finding of this study is that loneliness was associated with poor global cognitive functioning in U.S. Chinese older adults," they say. "We suspect that loneliness and depressive symptoms act together to influence cognitive functioning." Furthermore, the researchers ascertained that the length of residence in the U.S. had a positive association with all cognitive function domains apart from working memory. "One plausible explanation is longer years lived in the United States may increase Chinese older adults' engagement in social and leisure activities, which can mitigate cognitive decline," they note.

A study from Tohoku University published in Brain Stimulation applied low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) to the whole brain of mice with conditions simulating vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease, improving their cognitive dysfunction, reports News-Medical . The researchers applied LIPUS to the mice three times daily for 20 minutes each time. Mice with vascular dementia received LIPUS on the first, third, and fifth days following surgery that limited the brain's blood supply, while those with simulated Alzheimer's received 11 treatments over three months. Genes related to the cells lining blood vessels were activated at the molecular level, and there was higher expression of an enzyme involved in blood vessel formation and a protein that plays a role in nerve cell survival and growth. "The LIPUS therapy is a non-invasive physiotherapy that could apply to high-risk seniors without the need for surgery or anesthesia, and could be used repeatedly," remarks Tohoku's Hiroaki Shimokawa.

House Democrats on Thursday officially announced the launch of a Medicare for All Caucus in an effort to promote a single-payer healthcare bill, according to The Hill . About sixty members led by Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Debbie Dingell (Mich.), and Keith Ellison (Minn.) will initially form the caucus, which is currently supported by some potential 2020 Democratic presidential contenders. Ellison is the lead sponsor of the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, which most of the House Democratic Caucus are backing. The measure so far has only an outline of how it would raise the trillions of dollars for setting up universal healthcare. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found a majority of Americans support the concept of single-payer healthcare. "It's the increasing view of everyone that single-payer is inevitable," notes Ellison spokesperson Dan Riffle.

The new RICP Retirement Income Literacy Survey from the American College of Financial Services estimated that an unnerving number of older Americans failed a quiz for assessing their retirement financial literacy, reports the Motley Fool . Three out of four interviewees from a total of 1,244 flunked the quiz. All were between the ages of 60 and 75, with at least $100,000 in household assets, not including their primary residence. Respondents also were unclear overall about topics including long-term care cost, investment considerations, approaches for sustaining income throughout retirement, and life expectancy. Although 61 percent claimed they had "high levels of retirement income knowledge," just 33 percent of that subgroup passed the quiz. Generally, 74 percent of the quiz takers scored less than 60 percent, while another 13 percent got a "D" grade for scoring between 60 percent and 69 percent. Eight percent of the remainder scored a "C," 5 percent scored a "B," and fewer than 1 percent received an "A."

A growing cluster of entrepreneurs are applying Massachusetts' celebrated mix of brainpower and technology prowess to potentially easing the burdens of growing old, reports the Boston Globe . Both elected officials and business leaders are hopeful this emerging industry will have huge potential for the state's economy and for aging populations worldwide. Earlier this month, a consortium that includes General Electric and the MIT AgeLab, working with Gov. Charlie Baker's administration, took the wraps off a global innovation challenge seeking to generate new ideas for technology-assisted aging. Baker detailed the "big opportunity" in an appearance at an AARP annual volunteer meeting this spring. Baker called for making the state the "Silicon Valley" for emerging products and services that reduce loneliness and social isolation for the senior population. Many are applauding this unconventional approach to economic development, which is focused less on a particular set of technologies and more on a rapidly growing demographic of people who are living longer, have disposable income, and often live far from family members who might be first responders in health emergencies. Startups so far include Boston-based Pillo, which has developed a robot that sits on a kitchen counter or nightstand, greets seniors in the morning, and reminds them to take their prescriptions; Eversound, which sells wireless headphones whose volume controls let older adults with varying levels of hearing loss exercise or watch movies together; and Rendever, which has developed software that can "transport" housebound seniors to such farflung locales as Africa and South America via virtual reality goggles.

A review and meta-analysis of people receiving care at memory clinics published in JAMA Psychiatry found a strong predictive association between apathy and elevated incident dementia risk, according to MedPage Today . The investigators examined 12 studies with 7,299 individuals using a validated apathy definition, and found apathy connected to an almost twofold higher dementia risk. About 20 percent of subjects were diagnosed with apathy defined by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire at baseline. Surprisingly, the researchers observed significant heterogeneity that could be explained by differences in follow-up time. "Apparently, apathy is particularly potent as a predictor of dementia in the short-term, corroborating the hypothesis that it may be prodromal to dementia and the concept of mild behavioral impairment," says the University of Amsterdam's Jan Willem van Dalen. He suggests healthcare providers discuss apathy with caregivers, particularly underscoring that care recipients "are not unwilling but rather unable to show initiative."