Innovations in Geroscience to enhance mobility in older adults.

Aging is the primary risk factor for functional decline; thus, understanding and preventing disability among older adults has emerged as an important public health challenge of the 21st century. The science of gerontology - or geroscience - has the practical purpose of "adding life to the years." The overall goal of geroscience is to increase healthspan, which refers to extending the portion of the lifespan in which the individual experiences enjoyment, satisfaction, and wellness. An important facet of this goal is preserving mobility, defined as the ability to move independently. Despite this clear purpose, this has proven to be a challenging endeavor as mobility and function in later life are influenced by a complex interaction of factors across multiple domains. Moreover, findings over the past decade have highlighted the complexity of walking and how targeting multiple systems, including the brain and sensory organs, as well as the environment in which a person lives, can have a dramatic effect on an older person's mobility and function. For these reasons, behavioral interventions that incorporate complex walking tasks and other activities of daily living appear to be especially helpful for improving mobility function. Other pharmaceutical interventions, such as oxytocin, and complementary and alternative interventions, such as massage therapy, may enhance physical function both through direct effects on biological mechanisms related to mobility, as well as indirectly through modulation of cognitive and socioemotional processes. Thus, the purpose of the present review is to describe evolving interventional approaches to enhance mobility and maintain healthspan in the growing population of older adults in the United States and countries throughout the world. Such interventions are likely to be greatly assisted by technological advances and the widespread adoption of virtual communications during and after the COVID-19 era.

Effects of 90 Days of Resveratrol Supplementation on Cognitive Function in Elders: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this trial was to study the effects of chronic resveratrol use on cognitive function in humans. DESIGN: The authors conducted a double-blind, Phase IIa randomized, placebo-controlled trial to obtain preliminary estimates of the effects of resveratrol supplementation on cognitive function over a 90-day period in older adults. LOCATION: University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. SUBJECTS: Sedentary, overweight older adults (N = 32; age range: 65-93 years, M age = 73.34 years, SD age = 7.02 years). INTERVENTION: Participants were randomized to one of three treatment groups (placebo, 300 mg/day resveratrol, 1000 mg/day resveratrol) for 90 days. OUTCOME MEASURES: Cognitive function was assessed before and after treatment using a well-characterized test battery: Trail Making, Digits Forward and Backward, Erikson-Flanker, Controlled Oral Word Association, Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised, and Task Switching. RESULTS: Psychomotor speed improved on the Trail Making Test part A in participants taking 1000 mg/day of resveratrol compared with participants in both the 300 mg/day condition and the placebo condition (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: This pilot study suggests that 90 days of resveratrol supplementation at a dose of 1000/mg per day selectively improves psychomotor speed but does not significantly affect other domains of cognitive function in older adults. These findings provide modest support to further study the effects of resveratrol on cognitive function in older adults.

Safety and metabolic outcomes of resveratrol supplementation in older adults: results of a twelve-week, placebo-controlled pilot study.

Resveratrol has been found to have potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic effects. The safety and efficacy of resveratrol supplementation in older adults are currently unknown. We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to examine the safety and metabolic outcomes in 32 overweight, older adults (mean age, 73±7years). Participants were randomized into one of three treatment groups: (1) placebo, (2) moderate dose resveratrol (300mg/day), and (3) high dose resveratrol (1000mg/day). Both resveratrol and placebo were orally ingested in capsule form twice daily for 90days. Blood chemistry values remained within the normal range, and there were no significant differences in the number of participants reporting adverse events across conditions. Compared to placebo, glucose levels were significantly lower at post-treatment among participants randomized to both resveratrol conditions, with and without adjustment for the corresponding baseline values (ps<0.05). Glucose values of participants in the treatment groups, however, were not significantly different from baseline levels. These findings suggest that short-term resveratrol supplementation at doses of 300mg/day and 1000mg/day does not adversely affect blood chemistries and is well tolerated in overweight, older individuals. These findings support the study of resveratrol for improving cardio-metabolic health in older adults in larger clinical trials.