The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) is one of the world’s longest-running studies on aging. It began in 1958 and continues to date. For this study, researchers enroll participants age 20 or older and monitor them for life. Participants undergo an extensive battery of health tests and measures every 3 years throughout their lifespan. These tests include blood work, physical tests for mobility, cognitive testing, and body composition, among others.

This is one of the largest and most comprehensive data sets we have available. And after 60+ years of study, researchers have learned a lot but have also been left with questions.

The study was set up to discover markers of aging but found there are none. One of the key findings of the study has been that aging is highly varied. And understandably this frustrated researchers at first.

They’ve realized aging is different for each individual and data predicted that. And most interesting was a huge variation among individuals observed by researchers. One thing that can be agreed on is that we all age differently and the older we get the more variation there is.

So, does that mean aging is completely beyond our control? There may not have been one single marker for aging, but there were several strong predictors of how individuals would age. And researchers found these differences could be detected in middle age. For any disease, research supports that one’s aging trajectory is largely determined by our health and attitudes during middle age. The good news is that the markers for many of these diseases are malleable and depend mostly on behaviour and choices.

The two strongest predictors researchers found that correlated with healthy aging were attitudes toward aging and mobility during middle age. Meaning the more positive the participant’s attitudes toward aging while in their 40’s and 50’s the better they aged. And the better their walking speed and balance in their 40’s and 50’s the better they age as well.

The study found that we can start taking control of our aging today by implementing simple solutions to improve our attitudes and beliefs about aging. We can:

1.        Surround ourselves with others in the right frame of mind to age well.

2.        Then, get up and go for a walk.

3.        Try a balance challenge. Just keep moving in small ways every day. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Don’t overthink it, just move.

4.        And finally, bypass flashy and expensive “anti-aging” solutions for inexpensive, accessible, and simple approaches instead. The best things in life really are free.

Driving Test

 I have a friend who is suffering from Vascular Dementia and he has been doing pretty good. When he first was given the diagnoses he started going to research projects at our local university. He underwent tests, after test and was given exercises and tasks to do to help him improve. He told me once that these outings were the highlight of his week. He went to the first research going three days a week to the hospital and he said he loved it. He drove himself. 

When the first study ended he seemed lost for a while, because the research regime had been part of his weekly routine. Within a month he had started to gain another routine but another research opportunity came up and he applied for it and was accepted. He, again, found a purpose and a routine that he liked and he believed that by taking part he was helping others. A fine goal. 

He was in the routine and doing well, and the research appeared to be helping him remember and keep focused. Then COVID hit and the study stopped and then when we went to phase three it started again with different protocols. About three months ago after some cognitive testing by the researchers my friend was told he could no longer drive and his family doctor was taking away his drivers licence and he could no longer drive.

In my jurisdiction, family doctors used to have this ability, but a few years back the law changed and the family doctor could only recommend to the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles that a person lose his licence. Once the Superintendent received that notice from the family doctor, he/she was obliged to investigate and if follow-up tests determined the doctors advice was sound, the person was told the had lost the right to drive. However, a person can still appeal that decision.

So I told my friend this and he appealed and was given back his licence while the appeal process was taking place. As part of the process my friend went through a battery of cognitive and physical tests. He received the results a few days before I wrote this. The results of the test were not good and the recommendation was that he could drive, but only around his neighbourhood during the day. That is impossible to monitor so my friend lost his license. He is very upset but his wife although she is upset is, I think relived because she told us that my friend was getting lost on the way home from the supermarket, which is 4 blocks away. As well he was driving on sidewalks and over peoples yards.

We still hold hope that his dementia will slow down in its rate of attack. For those who don't know Vascular Dementia is caused by a series of small strokes. Multi-infarct Dementia (MID) is the second most common cause of dementia after Alzheimer disease in people over age 65. MID usually affects people between ages 55 and 75. More men than women have MID. I have talked about this before, my friend had a series of small strokes about three years ago, and did not tell his doctor, and by the time he did and he was looked at it was determined that he had Vascular Dementia. The doctors at the time said that he probably had about five good years ahead of him. We hope they are wrong, but it appears that he is getting worse. 

I know that many of you have lost friends to Alzheimer's and Dementia and it is a very sad time but my friend is still in good spirits and has a positive outlook on life, which is all we can ask for during this time. 

In a time

Thanks to Wally for this and for Thomas A Thomas for the poem

There are times when I feel trapped in time.

And this is one of those times, the year 2020,

a time in the impossible future I expected not

to be alive to see, and the month is August

and August is the month and time of litany.

It is the month of my one wedding, the month

of gaining a son who could have been thirty-one.

It is the month of our first walk along the salt

shore together, and of my beloved’s first illness,

harbinger of worse to come, month of our lost

mortgage, of bankruptcy, August of learning

my only brother had renal cell carcinoma, would

follow my father to that hard darkness so soon,

the month of disability determination, August

of a diagnosis at last, terribly final as it is.

And it is still the month berries ripen along

humid vines, corn ears swell in steamy fields,

as fawns fatten out of their spots, gorging on

clover blossoms and dandelion blooms, as seal

pups bask between fishing lessons, as fingerling

flash to avoid shadows as kingfisher young

learn not to make shadows as they dive, it is

the month apples begin to blush at the thought

of falling, time of joy upon joy, joy upon sorrow,

time of sorrow time of love upon love upon love.

© Thomas A. Thomas

Frauds and Scams oh no!

I received a call on my landline this morning about 10:30 AM that started “New customer” and went on claiming to be working in the security and fraud department of your bank or credit card company. Evidently, I had purchased something at 5:30 AM that they thought was suspicious and asked me to phone a number to verify the purchase. I didn’t phone because I am not a “New customer” This is a fraud, once you phone back they then ask if you’ve made a particular purchase; once you reply that you haven’t, they assure you they will credit your account for the amount. The fraud works as follows:

To verify the credit, the caller recites your home address (correctly) and says you can call the 1-800 number on the back of your card later if you have questions. Finally, they ask you to prove that you are in possession of the credit card by asking you to read out the three- or four-digit CVV (Card Verification Value) security number on the back of your card. After you do this, they respond that you are correct, thank you and hang up.

Unfortunately, the caller now has all the information required — your name, address, card number and CVV — to commit fraud.

Here are a few other versions of the scam:

·         Call-back request: The caller may ask you to call the 1-800 number on the back of your card to prove to you the call is legit. When you hang up, however, the call is not immediately disconnected because there is a 5 to 25 second disconnect delay on landline calls in Canada. To really fool you, the caller even plays a recording of a dial tone to make you think you are placing a new call but — make no mistake — the scammers are still on the line. When they “answer” your call, they redirect you to an imposter who may ask you to transfer funds to an external, supposedly “safer”, bank account (that belongs to them) while the “investigation” is taking place.

·         Transaction-review request: Some victims are duped into providing remote access to their computers and online banking records so the “investigator” can review any suspicious transactions.

·         Investigation-assistance request: Other victims are asked to “help” catch the criminal by accepting a deposit and transferring on it to another account. The deposit, however, is fake — which means victims end up transferring their own money to the scammers.

So, how did the caller get your name, address and/or credit card number to begin with? Unbelievably, there are lead lists for sale online that contain this information for marketers. Unfortunately, criminals can purchase the lists as well. Other methods include going through your garbage or mailbox for credit card statements, hacking companies that have your card information, or through phishing scams.