Aging Well

The 100-Year Human Aging Study is a prospective, pragmatic, observational trial enrolling participants across fixed and mobile clinical sites to undergo comprehensive multi-system health screening and longitudinal follow-up until death. Participants are followed to determine whether measurements taken at enrollment and repeated across the lifespan - individually and in combination - predict all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, incident serious disease, and functional disability. The study is designed to generate the surrogate endpoint validation data that longevity medicine currently lacks.

Aging-related functional declines are thought to be caused by hallmark biological processes that ultimately manifest in physical, mental, and metabolic impairments to compromise intrinsic capacity and healthspan. Exercise is the only multipotent treatment with promise to mitigate many of the aging hallmarks, but there is substantial variability in individual exercise responsiveness. Thus, the investigators approach to boosting exercise responsiveness in aging is to combine an exercise training prescription containing both endurance and resistance training (in alignment with DHHS guidelines) with a nitrate-enriched dietary supplement to augment the cellular, tissue, and systemic adaptations that induce myriad health benefits of exercise in older adults.

This study will investigate transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) as a method of enhancing cognitive and neural function. The study team will apply this low intensity, magnetically pulse technology to key brain regions in a randomized, sham-controlled trial (RCT). The study will determine the magnitude of changes in cognitive function and brain function and structure between a pre- and post-stimulation among 10 typically-aging older adults and 10 patients with mild dementia.

Aging-related functional declines are thought to be caused by hallmark biological processes that ultimately manifest in physical, mental, and metabolic impairments that compromise healthspan and quality of life. Exercise is a multipotent treatment with promise to mitigate most aging hallmarks, but there is substantial variability in exercisƒe responsiveness. Combining endurance and resistance training in alignment with public health guidelines will be used to better understand variable exercise responsiveness in older adults with the ultimate goal of improving each older adult's capacity to attain the many health benefits of exercise.

This randomized control study is designed to understand the role of a positive psychology intervention (PARK: Positive Affect Regulation sKills) in biological aging and well-being. PARK provides a series of positive emotion skills in a self-guided online format, making the program accessible and convenient. Our main aims are: Aim 1: To explore the effects of PARK on psychological well-being (e.g., depression, anxiety, positive affect). Aim 2: To explore the effects of PARK on biological age as defined by DNA methylation (DNAm) GrimAge and electrocardiogram-age (ECG-age), as well as physiological well-being in adults (e.g., cardiovascular, endocrine, musculoskeletal functioning, etc.).

HealthyLifetime (HL) is a person-centered program that enables older adults to maximize health and optimize functioning - the necessary requisite to successfully remaining independent in their preferred home setting as long as possible, i.e., to age in place.

Introduction: aesthetics is one of the specialties for professional nurses and presents a dialogue with Aromatherapy, a practice that uses essential oils (EO) from aromatic plants, being one of the most used integrative therapies for beauty care, youth and well-being. EOs are volatile compounds extracted from the most diverse parts of plants and some, such as geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), have antioxidant action, acting in the regeneration and maintenance of skin tissue, becoming a potential ally in the prevention and/or treatment of wrinkles, as well as general skin aging. Several anti-aging strategies are available, but consumers in aesthetics have increasingly prioritized their health and well-being, desiring non-invasive products and treatments, of natural origin, that guarantee safety and effectiveness. Objective: to evaluate the effect of Aromatherapy in alleviating the signs of aging on the facial skin of women, through a protocol of topical facial application, twice a day, with geranium EO (Pelargonium graveolens) diluted at 1% in Biocompatible Serum Gel All.me Beauty. Method: pilot study with a Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) design, using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) as a reference, in its extension to randomized pilot and feasibility trials, double-blind (researcher and statistician). The sample will consist of 38 participants, estimating a loss of 10% throughout the study, who will be randomized between the Placebo Group (G1), whose treatment will be with pure use of the carrier base, and Intervention Group (G2), whose treatment will be with geranium EO diluted to 1% in All.me Beauty® Biocompatible Serum Gel. Participants must perform self-application at home, following a determined protocol and the intervention will respect a standard, in accordance with the guidelines of the manufacturer of the equipment used to measure the participants\' progress in terms of wrinkles, hydration and elasticity of the facial skin, these being: Visioscan ® VC 20 Plus, Corneometer® CM 825 and Cutometer® Dual MPA 580.

Frailty syndrome (i.e. frailty) is a geriatric syndrome which relies on the reduction of multisystem reserve capacity. Frail people have a lower potential to respond to external stressors and various life incidents as well as they present a weak prognosis particularly in cardiovascular diseases. Yet, frailty is not only a set of physical deficits, but it also concerns psychological and social dimensions of human functioning. Hence, an approach to frailty should be multidimensional because such a concept more adequately reflects a functional degradation in the elderly. Frailty is usually associated with the impaired condition of circulatory system, and therefore, an identification of subclinical cardiovascular abnormalities is paramount in the frailty prevention and treatment. Another potential mechanism which may predispose to frailty is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. This system plays a crucial role in the response to internal or external stressors such as diseases and activities of daily living. An impairment of the autonomic nervous system function may maintain or accelerate the frailty process. In this scientific project, a comprehensive echocardiography will investigate cardiac function with a particular attention to features which typically change with age, like flow parameters and chambers sizes. The activity of the autonomic nervous system will be explored with the analysis of heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory signals. The study participants will also undergo routine medical examination and a number of additional tests, including: assessment of cognitive function, psychological condition, nutrition status, activities of daily living, and risk of falls. The study group will comprise community dwelling elderly individuals over the age of 65 years who get around by themselves. After 2 years, the participants will be re-examined for their frailty and independence status, as well as their survival will be checked with the National Health Found electronic system. The aim of this project is to seek for factors determining frailty and to explore the frailty impact on the elderly people survival. Particular attention will be paid to the multidimensional frailty which is a new concept of the functional decline in the elderly. In addition, the prevalence of different modes of frailty in Polish community will be investigated. The results of this research should help to establish preventative and therapeutic strategies against frailty.