@article {12063, title = {Healthy memory aging - the benefits of regular daily activities increase with age.}, journal = {Aging}, volume = {13}, year = {2021}, pages = {25643-25652}, abstract = {

As the number of older adults increases, so does the pressure on health care systems due to age-related disorders. Attempts to reduce cognitive decline have focused on individual interventions such as exercise or diet, with limited success. This study adopted a different approach by investigating the impact of combined daily activities on memory decline. We used data from the National Institute of Aging{\textquoteright}s Health and Retirement Study to explore two new questions: does combining activities affect memory decline, and if yes, does this impact change across the lifespan? We created a new machine learning model using 33 daily activities and involving 3210 participants. Our results showed that the effect of combined activities on memory decline was stronger than any individual activity{\textquoteright}s impact. Moreover, this effect increased with age, whereas the importance of historical factors such as education, and baseline memory decreased. The present findings point out the importance of selecting multiple, diverse activities for older adults as they age. These results could have a significant impact on aging health policies promoting new programs such as social prescribing.

}, keywords = {Cognitive decline, Daily activities, healthy aging, Machine learning}, issn = {1945-4589}, doi = {10.18632/aging.203753}, author = {Krakovska, Olga and Christie, Gregory J and Farzan, Faranak and Sixsmith, Andrew and Ester, Martin and Moreno, Sylvain} } @article {8388, title = {Association of Alcohol Use and Loneliness Frequency Among Middle-Aged and Older Adult Drinkers.}, journal = {J Aging Health}, volume = {28}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Mar}, pages = {267-84}, publisher = {28}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between alcohol use, at-risk drinking, and binge drinking, and loneliness in a sample of middle-aged and older adults.

METHOD: We studied participants aged 50+ years from the 2008 wave of the Health and Retirement Study who reported alcohol use. We ran separate multinomial logistic regressions to assess the association of three alcohol use outcomes (i.e., weekly alcohol consumption, at-risk drinking, and binge drinking) and loneliness.

RESULTS: After adjusting for covariates, being lonely was associated with reduced odds of weekly alcohol consumption 4 to 7 days per week, but not 1 to 3 days per week, compared with average alcohol consumption 0 days per week in the last 3 months. No association was found between at-risk drinking or binge drinking and loneliness.

DISCUSSION: Results suggest that among a sample of community-based adults aged 50+, loneliness was associated with reduced alcohol use frequency, but not with at-risk or binge drinking.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alcohol Drinking, Binge drinking, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Loneliness, Male, Middle Aged, Risk-Taking}, issn = {1552-6887}, doi = {10.1177/0898264315589579}, url = {http://jah.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/09/0898264315589579.abstract}, author = {Sarah L. Canham and Pia M Mauro and Christopher N Kaufmann and Sixsmith, Andrew} }