Positive life orientation predicts good survival prognosis in old age.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the value of life orientation as a screening tool and survival indicator in old age. A postal questionnaire answered by 2490 random older people (>75 years) included six questions concerning satisfaction with life, feeling needed, plans for future, zest for life, lack of feelings of depression and loneliness. The vital status was followed for 57 months. All-cause mortality rate was 19.1% and 30.3% among elderly with (22%) and without (78%) positive life orientation, respectively (p<0.001). The difference in mortality increased over time. After controlling for age, gender, and subjective health, the protective value of positive life orientation remained significant (hazard ratio, HR=0.78, 95%CI=0.63-0.98, p<0.03). Feeling needed was the strongest independent predictor (HR=0.72, p<0.001). A six-question life orientation identifies old people at risk. Positive life orientation predicts good survival prognosis independently of subjective health.

Suffering from loneliness indicates significant mortality risk of older people.

Background. The harmful associates of suffering from loneliness are still in dispute. Objective. To examine the association of feelings of loneliness with all-cause mortality in a general aged population. Methods. A postal questionnaire was sent to randomly selected community-dwelling of elderly people (>74 years) from the Finnish National Population Register. The questionnaire included demographic characteristics, living conditions, functioning, health, and need for help. Suffering from loneliness was assessed with one question and participants were categorized as lonely or not lonely. Total mortality was retrieved from the National Population Information System. Results. Of 3687 respondents, 39% suffered from loneliness. Lonely people were more likely to be deceased during the 57-month follow-up (31%) than subjects not feeling lonely (23%, P < .001). Excess mortality (HR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.21-1.57) of lonely people increased over time. After controlling for age and gender, the mortality risk of the lonely individuals was 1.33 (95% CI = 1.17-1.51) and after further controlling for subjective health 1.17 (CI = 1.02-1.33). The excess mortality was consistent in all major subgroups. Conclusion. Suffering from loneliness is common and indicates significant mortality risk in old age.

Shorter adult stature increases the impact of risk factors for cognitive impairment: a comparison of two Nordic twin cohorts.

We analyzed the association between mean height and old age cognition in two Nordic twin cohorts with different childhood living conditions. The cognitive performance of 4720 twin individuals from Denmark (mean age 81.6 years, SD = 4.59) and Finland (mean age 74.4 years, SD = 5.26) was measured using validated cognitive screens. Taller height was associated with better cognitive performance in Finland (beta-estimates 0.18 SD/10cm, p value < .001, for men and 0.13 SD, p = .008, for women), but this association was not significant in Denmark (beta-estimates 0.0093 SD, p value = .16, for men and 0.0075 SD, p value = .016, for women) when adjusted for age and education/social class. Among Finnish participants higher variability of cognitive performance within shorter height quintiles was observed. Analysis using gene-environment interaction models showed that environmental factors exerted a greater impact on cognitive performance in shorter participants, whereas in taller participants' it was explained mainly by genetic factors. Our results suggest that shorter participants with childhood adversity are more vulnerable to environmental risk factors for cognitive impairment.

Coffee drinking in middle age is not associated with cognitive performance in old age.

BACKGROUND: The lack of effective disease-modifying treatments highlights the need for research on the prevention of dementia. It has been suggested that coffee has a protective effect on cognitive performance in old age, but only some of the previous studies have shown this association. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to analyze the potential association between coffee drinking in middle age and cognitive performance in old age in a large sample of Finnish twins. DESIGN: Coffee consumption and other baseline variables of 2606 middle-aged Finnish twins were assessed in 1975 and 1981 by postal questionnaires. After the median follow-up of 28 y, their cognitive status was measured by using a validated telephone interview questionnaire. RESULTS: Coffee consumption was high and associated with educational level and several other baseline variables. After adjustment for these variables, linear regression analysis showed that coffee consumption was not an independent predictor of cognitive performance in old age (beta = -0.12 test score units per coffee cup; 95% CI: -0.27, 0.04). No consistent differences in coffee consumption and cognitive score were observed within discordant twin pairs. Also, coffee drinking did not affect the risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Coffee drinking is associated with many sociodemographic and health variables, but our results do not support an independent role of coffee in the pathogenesis of cognitive decline and dementia.

Enantiospecific interactions between cholesterol and phospholipids.

The effects of cholesterol on various membrane proteins have received considerable attention. An important question regarding each of these effects is whether the cholesterol exerts its influence by binding directly to membrane proteins or by changing the properties of lipid bilayers. Recently it was suggested that a difference in the effects of natural cholesterol and its enantiomer, ent-cholesterol, would originate from direct binding of cholesterol to a target protein. This strategy rests on the fact that ent-cholesterol has appeared to have effects on lipid films similar to those of cholesterol, yet fluorescence microscopy studies of phospholipid monolayers have provided striking demonstrations of the enantiomer effects, showing opposite chirality of domain shapes for phospholipid enantiomer pairs. We observed the shapes of ordered domains in phospholipid monolayers containing either cholesterol or ent-cholesterol and found that the phospholipid chirality had a great effect on the domain chirality, whereas a minor (quantitative) effect of cholesterol chirality could be observed only in monolayers with racemic dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. The latter is likely to derive from cholesterol-cholesterol interactions. Accordingly, cholesterol chirality has only a modest effect that is highly likely to require the presence of solidlike domains and, accordingly, is unlikely to play a role in biological membranes.

Genetics of coffee consumption and its stability.

BACKGROUND: Coffee is a highly popular drink associated with the pathogenesis of several diseases and the use of tobacco and alcohol. Considering the worldwide consumption, coffee has a substantial effect on individual wellbeing and public health. The role of genetic factors contributing to interindividual differences and their stability in coffee use is not well known. AIMS: We analysed the heritability of coffee consumption and its stability in a large population-based sample of Finnish twins. DESIGN: In 1975 and 1981 a postal questionnaire on coffee consumption was sent to all Finnish same-sex twin pairs born before 1958. Responses were obtained from 10 716 complete twin pairs in 1975 (3409 monozygotic and 7307 dizygotic), of whom 8124 also responded in 1981. The data were analysed using classical twin modelling based on linear structural equations. FINDINGS: Additive genetic and unique environmental factors affected coffee drinking, whereas shared environmental factors did not show any effect. Heritability of coffee consumption, adjusted for age and sex, was estimated as 0.56 in 1975 and 0.45 in 1981. Coffee consumption showed a moderate correlation between these two time-points (r = 0.58 in men and 0.55 in women). Genetic factors affecting coffee consumption were stable: additive genetic correlations were 0.84 in men and 0.83 in women, whereas unique environmental correlations were moderate (0.45 and 0.36). Additive genetic factors had the highest contribution in young adults. CONCLUSIONS: Coffee consumption is affected by both additive genetic and unique environmental factors, each of which plays an almost equally important role. The long-term stability of coffee consumption is affected mainly by a stable set of additive genetic factors.