Garlic Consumption and All-Cause Mortality among Chinese Oldest-Old Individuals: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

In vitro and in vivo experimental studies have shown garlic has protective effects on the aging process; however, there is no evidence that garlic consumption is associated with all-cause mortality among oldest-old individuals (≥80 years). From 1998 to 2011, 27,437 oldest-old participants (mean age: 92.9 years) were recruited from 23 provinces in China. The frequencies of garlic consumption at baseline and at age 60 were collected. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for potential covariates were constructed to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) relating garlic consumption to all-cause mortality. Among 92,505 person-years of follow-up from baseline to September 1, 2014, 22,321 participants died. Participants who often (≥5 times/week) or occasionally (1-4 times/week) consumed garlic survived longer than those who rarely (less than once/week) consumed it (p < 0.001). Participants who consumed garlic occasionally or often had a lower risk for mortality than those who rarely consumed garlic at baseline; the adjusted HRs for mortality were 0.92(0.89-0.94) and 0.89(0.85-0.92), respectively. The inverse associations between garlic consumption and all-cause mortality were robust in sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses. In this study, habitual consumption of garlic was associated with a lower all-cause mortality risk; this advocates further investigation into garlic consumption for promoting longevity

Blood cholesterol in late-life and cognitive decline: a longitudinal study of the Chinese elderly

Mean difference in annual cognitive change for each mmol/L increment of lipid concentrations, stratified by age. (DOCX 13 kb

Dietary Diversity Was Positively Associated with Psychological Resilience among Elders: A Population-Based Study

The association between dietary diversity (DD) and psychological resilience among older people is an underdeveloped area of research. This cross-sectional study explored the associations of DD with psychological resilience among 8571 community-based elderly individuals. The intake frequencies of food groups were collected, and dietary diversity was assessed based on the mean DD score. Psychological resilience was assessed using a simplified resilience score (SRS). Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression and logistic regression models. Poor DD was significantly associated with psychological resilience, with a β (95% CI) of −0.94 (−1.07, −0.81) for the SRS (p \u3c 0.01) and an odds ratio (95% CI) of 1.83 (1.66, 2.01) for low SRS status. The interaction effects of age with DD were observed for the SRS (p \u3c 0.001) and low SRS status (p \u3c 0.001). Based on separate analyses by age group, the association of a low SRS with poor DD was more prominent in the younger elderly than the oldest old, with OR (95% CI) 2.32 (1.96, 2.74) and 1.61 (1.43, 1.82), respectively. Compared with younger participants with good DD, the risk of a low SRS was greater for younger participants with poor DD, the oldest old with good DD, and the oldest old with poor DD, with OR (95% CI) 2.39 (2.02, 2.81), 1.28 (1.09, 1.51), and 2.03 (1.72, 2.39), respectively. The greatest contribution to DD was from a high consumption of vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Our study suggested that poor DD was associated with a low psychological resilience among the Chinese elderly, especially the younger elderly. These findings suggest that augmentation of DD might promote psychological resilience

Higher dietary diversity scores and protein-rich food consumption were associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality in the oldest old

Background & aims: Dietary diversity is widely advocated in national and international recommendations although whether the beneficial effects on survival or longevity still apply in the final phase of the lifespan remains understudied. We aimed to prospectively examine the association of dietary diversity, food items with all-cause mortality among the oldest old (80+) and determine whether dietary diversity recommendations were appropriate for this population. Methods: The study included 28,790 participants aged 80+ (9957 octogenarians, 9925 nonagenarians, and 8908 centenarians). A baseline dietary diversity score (DDS) was constructed based on nine food items of a food frequency questionnaire. Cox models with penalized splines evaluated non-linear associations of DDS as continuous variable with mortality to identify cut-offs of DDS. Results: We documented 23,503 deaths during 96,739 person-years of follow-up. Each one unit increase in DDS was associated with a 9% lower risk of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 0.91; 95% confidential interval (CI): 0.90–0.92). Compared to participants whose DDS less than 2 scores, those with a DDS of 2, 3, 4, 5, and higher than 6 scores had a lower mortality risk, the HRs were 0.86 (0.82–0.89), 0.78 (0.75–0.81), 0.69 (0.66–0.72), 0.65 (0.62–0.68), and 0.56 (0.53–0.58) respectively, and a significant trend emerged (p \u3c 0.001). Protein-rich food items were associated with prominent beneficial effects on mortality including meat (HR and 95% CI for high vs low frequency: 0.70 (0.68–0.72)), fish and sea food (HR, 0.74 (0.72–0.77)), egg (HR, 0.75 (0.73–0.77)), and bean (HR, 0.80 (0.78–0.82)). Conclusions: Even after the age of 80, the DDS tool may offer a simple and straightforward mean of identifying and screening individuals at high risk for mortality. Recommendation of dietary diversity, especially consumption of protein-rich food, may be advocated to reduce mortality risk and promote longevity in the oldest old

Long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and fasting blood glucose level in a Chinese elderly cohort

Fasting blood glucose level is the primary indicator for the diagnosis of diabetes. We aim to conduct a longitudinal study on the association between long-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure and fasting blood glucose concentrations. We recruited and followed up 1449 participants older than 65 years of age in 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2017 in eight counties in China. Fasting blood glucose was repeatedly measured 3697 times in total among these participants. Data on annual ground-level PM2.5 concentrations with a 0.01° spatial resolution from 2005 to 2016 were used to assess exposures. An increase of 10 μg/m3 in 3-year average exposure to PM2.5 was associated with an increase of 0.146 mmol/L (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.045, 0.248) in fasting blood glucose in all participants. The association was more pronounced among the subgroup with diabetes compared to the subgroup without diabetes (P < .05). In conclusion, Long-term PM2.5 exposure was associated with an increase in fasting blood glucose levels among elderly people. Elderly individuals with diabetes are particularly vulnerable to high level exposures of PM2.5. SUMMARY: Long-term PM2.5 exposure was associated with an increase in fasting blood glucose levels among elderly people. Elderly individuals with diabetes are particularly vulnerable to high level exposures of PM2.5. Keywords: elderly; fasting blood glucose; fine particulate matter; long-term exposur

Dietary Patterns Associated with Cognitive Function among the Older People in Underdeveloped Regions: Finding from the NCDFaC Study

Although dietary patterns are crucial to cognitive function, associations of dietary patterns with cognitive function have not yet been fully understood. This cross-sectional study explored dietary patterns associated with cognitive function among the older adults in underdeveloped regions, using 1504 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and over. Diet was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire and 24-h dietary recall. Factor analysis was used to extract dietary patterns. Global cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Two dietary patterns, a “mushroom, vegetable, and fruits” (MVF) pattern and a “meat and soybean products” (MS) pattern, were identified. The MVF pattern, characterized by high consumption of mushrooms, vegetables, and fruits was significantly positively associated with cognitive function (p &lt; 0.05), with an odds ratio of (95% CIs) 0.60 (0.38, 0.94) for cognitive impairment and β (95% CIs) 0.15 (0.02, 0.29) for –log (31-MMSE score). The MS pattern, characterized by high consumption of soybean products and meat, was also associated with better cognitive function, with an odds ratio of 0.47 (95% CIs 0.30, 0.74) for cognitive impairment and β (95% CIs) 0.34 (0.21, 0.47) for –log (31-MMSE score). Our results suggested that both the MVF and MS patterns were positively associated with better cognitive function among older adults in underdeveloped regions

Land-Use Planning for Urban Sprawl Based on the CLUE-S Model: A Case Study of Guangzhou, China

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Land Ecological Security Evaluation of Guangzhou, China

As the land ecosystem provides the necessary basic material resources for human development, land ecological security (LES) plays an increasingly important role in sustainable development. Given the degradation of land ecological security under rapid urbanization and the urgent LES requirements of urban populations, a comprehensive evaluation method, named Double Land Ecological Security (DLES), has been introduced with the city of Guangzhou, China, as a case study, which evaluates the LES in regional and unit scales for reasonable and specific urban planning. In the evaluation process with this method, we have combined the material security with the spiritual security that is inevitably associated with LES. Some new coefficients of land-security supply/demand distribution and technology contribution for LES evaluation have also been introduced for different spatial scales, including the regional and the unit scales. The results for Guangzhou indicated that, temporally, the LES supply indices were 0.77, 0.84 and 0.77 in 2000, 2006 and 2009 respectively, while LES demand indices for the city increased in 2000, 2006 and 2009 from 0.57 to 0.95, which made the LES level decreased slowly in this period. Spatially, at the regional scale, the urban land ecological security (ULES) level decreased from 0.2 (marginal security) to −0.18 (marginal insecurity) as a whole; in unit scale, areas in the north and in parts of the east were relatively secure and the security area was shrinking with time, but the central and southern areas turned to be marginal insecurity, especially in 2006 and 2009. This study proposes that DLES evaluation should be conducted for targeted and efficient urban planning and management, which can reflect the LES level of study area in general and in detail

Incorporating biomarkers into the study of socio-economic status and health among older adults in China

The social gradient in health – that individuals with lower SES have worse health than those with higher SES– is welldocumented using self-reports of health in more developed countries. Less is known about the relationship between SES and health biomarkers among older adults residing in less developed countries. We use data from the ChineseLongitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) longevity areas sub-sample to examine the social gradient in healthamong rural young-old and oldest-old adults (N=2,121). Our health indicators include individual biomarkers, metabolic syndrome, and self-reports of health. We found a largely positive relationship between SES and health. SES was more consistently associated with individual biomarkers among the oldest-old than the young-old, providing evidence for cumulative disadvantage. We discuss the implications of our findings for older adults who have lived through different social, economic, and health regimes