Pitt/UPMC: Exceptional cognitive and physical health in old age leaves immunological fingerprint

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/uops-pec102011.php

Public release date: 20-Oct-2011

Contact: Anita Srikameswaran
[e-mail]
412-578-9193
http://www.upmc.com/Pages/default.aspx">University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

Pitt/UPMC: Exceptional cognitive and physical health in old age leaves immunological fingerprint

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 20 – Exceptional cognitive and physical function in old age leaves a tell-tale immunologic fingerprint, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Likewise, older adults who have mild impairments bear a distinct immunologic pattern, too, according to findings published today in the Public Library of Science: One.

Old age is not synonymous with impairment and disability, noted lead investigator Abbe N. de Vallejo, Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics and immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

"Our study indicates that getting older does not necessarily mean that the immune system gets weaker, as many of us assumed," he said. "The immune system is dynamic, and the changes it undergoes over time very much influence function."

For the project, the team collected blood samples from 140 participants who had been followed in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) for nearly two decades and were 78 to 94 years old. With only two participants younger than 82, the average age of the group was 86. The team also gathered information about the participants' health and function, medical history and hospitalizations, and self-rated health, and assessed their cognitive and physical function using standard tests.

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[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. They can check their blood but they will find the answer in their intestines. n/t