scholarly journals Immune Function and Micronutrient Requirements Change over the Life Course

Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Maggini ◽  
Adeline Pierre ◽  
Philip Calder
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Immune Function ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Micronutrient Supplementation ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Life Course

As humans age, the risk and severity of infections vary in line with immune competence according to how the immune system develops, matures, and declines. Several factors influence the immune system and its competence, including nutrition. A bidirectional relationship among nutrition, infection and immunity exists: changes in one component affect the others. For example, distinct immune features present during each life stage may affect the type, prevalence, and severity of infections, while poor nutrition can compromise immune function and increase infection risk. Various micronutrients are essential for immunocompetence, particularly vitamins A, C, D, E, B2, B6, and B12, folic acid, iron, selenium, and zinc. Micronutrient deficiencies are a recognized global public health issue, and poor nutritional status predisposes to certain infections. Immune function may be improved by restoring deficient micronutrients to recommended levels, thereby increasing resistance to infection and supporting faster recovery when infected. Diet alone may be insufficient and tailored micronutrient supplementation based on specific age-related needs necessary. This review looks at immune considerations specific to each life stage, the consequent risk of infection, micronutrient requirements and deficiencies exhibited over the life course, and the available evidence regarding the effects of micronutrient supplementation on immune function and infection.

scholarly journals The Psychological Consequences of Disability over the Life Course: Assessing the Mediating Role of Perceived Interpersonal Discrimination

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-207
Author(s):  
Eun Ha Namkung ◽  
Deborah Carr
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Interpersonal Discrimination ◽  
The Life Course

We examine whether perceived interpersonal discrimination mediates the association between disability and psychological well-being (depression, negative and positive affect) and how these processes differ across the life course. Data are from two waves (2004–2006; 2013–2014) of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS; N = 2,503). Perceived discrimination accounts for 5% to 8% of the association between disability and the three mental health outcomes. Moderated mediation analyses reveal significant age differences; perceived discrimination is a stronger explanatory mechanism among midlife (ages 40–64) relative to older (age 65+) adults. Disability stigma takes a heightened psychological toll at midlife, a life stage when adults are expected to be able-bodied and interact with a diverse social network, which may be a source of interpersonal mistreatment. Among older adults, for whom impairment is expected and common, the psychological impact of disability may operate through other pathways. We discuss implications for research and practice.

Volunteerism and the Life Course: Investigating Age-Related Agendas for Action

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen M. Omoto ◽  
Mark Snyder ◽  
Steven C. Martino
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Life Course

Play moods across the life course in SKAM fandom

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Line Nybro Petersen ◽  
Vilde Schanke Sundet
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Target Audience ◽  
Fan Studies ◽  
Fan Communities ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Fan Practices ◽  
The Life Course

This article considers fans’ playful digital practices and focuses on the play moods that are co-constructed in online fan communities. We analyse how these play moods are negotiated across the life course for participating fans. Play moods are closely tied to the playful modes of fan practices, and by gaining a greater understanding of the moods that fans engage in at different stages of their life course we gain new insights into fan play as it relates to issues of age-related norms in fan communities. Specifically, this article analyses the Norwegian teenage streaming drama SKAM (Shame) (NRK, 2015‐17), which was produced for a target audience of 16-year-old Norwegian girls but ended up capturing the hearts of people of all ages across Scandinavia and internationally. This study is based on interviews with 43 Scandinavian fans aged between 13 and 70. The participants were all active on social media (Facebook, Instagram, the show’s blog, etc.) while the show was on the air and the interviews offers insights into issues of age-appropriateness as it relates to fan practices. As such, fans ‘police’ both themselves and each other based on perceptions of age, while also engaging in practices that are by nature playful and may be considered subjectively and culturally ‘youthful’ or ‘childish’. The article combines theory of play and fan studies with a focus on the life course and cultural gerontology in order to highlight these tendencies in the SKAM fandom.

scholarly journals Role of MicroRNAs in Obesity-Induced Metabolic Disorder and Immune Response

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Zhong ◽  
Minjuan Ma ◽  
Tingming Liang ◽  
Li Guo
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Metabolic Disorder ◽  
Metabolic Regulation ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Metabolic Dysfunction ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Living Organisms

In all living organisms, metabolic homeostasis and the immune system are the most fundamental requirements for survival. Recently, obesity has become a global public health issue, which is the cardinal risk factor for metabolic disorder. Many diseases emanating from obesity-induced metabolic dysfunction are responsible for the activated immune system, including innate and adaptive responses. Of note, inflammation is the manifest accountant signal. Deeply studied microRNAs (miRNAs) have participated in many pathways involved in metabolism and immune responses to protect cells from multiple harmful stimulants, and they play an important role in determining the progress through targeting different inflammatory pathways. Thus, immune response and metabolic regulation are highly integrated with miRNAs. Collectively, miRNAs are the new targets for therapy in immune dysfunction.

scholarly journals Sex-specific associations of adiposity with cardiometabolic traits: multi-life-stage cohort study with repeat metabolomics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda M. O’Keeffe ◽  
Joshua A. Bell ◽  
Kate N. O’Neill ◽  
Matthew Lee ◽  
Mark Woodward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Waist Circumference ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Fat Mass ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Adolescent And Young Adult ◽  
Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Cardiometabolic Traits

AbstractBackgroundSex differences in cardiometabolic disease risk are commonly observed across the life course but are poorly understood and may be due to different cardiometabolic consequences of adiposity in females and males. We examined whether adiposity influences cardiometabolic trait levels differently in females and males at four different life stages.MethodsData were from two generations (offspring, Generation 1 [G1] and their parents, Generation 0 [G0]) of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children birth cohort study. Body mass index (BMI) and total fat mass from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry were measured at mean age 9y, 15y and 18y in G1. Waist circumference was measured at 9y and 15y in G1. Concentrations of 148 cardiometabolic traits quantified using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were measured at 15y, 18y and 25y in G1. In G0, all three adiposity measures and the same 148 traits were available at 50y.Using linear regression models, sex-specific associations of adiposity measures at each time point (9y, 15y and 18y) with cardiometabolic traits 3 to 6 years later were examined in G1. In G0, sex-specific associations of adiposity measures and cardiometabolic traits were examined cross- sectionally at 50y.Results3081 G1 and 4887 G0 participants contributed to analyses. BMI was more strongly associated with key atherogenic traits in males at younger ages (15y-25y) and associations were more similar between the sexes or stronger in females at 50y, particularly for apolipoprotein-B-containing lipoprotein particles and lipid concentrations. For example, a 1- SD (3.8 kg/m2) higher BMI at 18y was associated with 0.36 SD (95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 0.20, 0.52) higher concentrations of extremely large very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particles at 25y in males compared with 0.15 SD (95% CI = 0.09, 0.21) in females. In contrast, at 50y, a 1-SD (4.8 kg/m2) higher BMI was associated with 0.33 SD (95% CI = 0.25, 0.42) and 0.30 SD (95% CI = 0.26, 0.33) higher concentrations of extremely large VLDL particles in males and females respectively. Sex-specific associations of DXA-measured fat mass and waist circumference were similar to findings for BMI in both generations and at all ages.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that the adverse cardiometabolic effects of adiposity are stronger and begin earlier in the life course among males compared with females until mid life, particularly for key atherogenic lipids. Adolescent and young adult males may therefore be high priority targets for obesity prevention efforts.

scholarly journals Sarcopenic Obesity in Africa: A Call for Diagnostic Methods and Appropriate Interventions

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy E. Mendham ◽  
Lillemor Lundin-Olsson ◽  
Julia H. Goedecke ◽  
Lisa K. Micklesfield ◽  
Dirk L. Christensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Musculoskeletal Diseases ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Diagnostic Methods ◽  
Sarcopenic Obesity ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Diagnostic Criterion

This perspective aims to highlight the lack of current knowledge on sarcopenic obesity in Africa and to call for diagnostic methods and appropriate interventions. Sarcopenic obesity has been defined as obesity that occurs in combination with low muscle mass and function, which is typically evident in older adults. However, there has been no clear consensus on population-specific diagnostic criterion, which includes both gold-standard measures that can be used in a more advanced health care system, and surrogate measures that can be used in low-income settings with limited resources and funding. Importantly, low and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Africa are in an ongoing state of economic and social transition, which has contributed to an increase in the aging population, alongside the added burden of poverty, obesity, and associated co-morbidities. It is anticipated that alongside the increased prevalence of obesity, these countries will further experience an increase in age-related musculoskeletal diseases such as sarcopenia. The developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) approach will allow clinicians and researchers to consider developmental trajectories, and the influence of the environment, for targeting high-risk individuals and communities for treatment and/or prevention-based interventions that are implemented throughout all stages of the life course. Once a valid and reliable diagnostic criterion is developed, we can firstly assess the prevalence and burden of sarcopenic obesity in LMICs in Africa, and secondly, develop appropriate and sustainable interventions that target improved dietary and physical activity behaviors throughout the life course.

scholarly journals YOU’LL SEE: YOUNGER RESEARCHERS INTERVIEWING OLDER PARTICIPANTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S706-S707
Author(s):  
Sarah Jen ◽  
Yuanjin Zhou ◽  
Mijin Jeong
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Younger Women ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In qualitative research, similarities and differences between the participant and researcher influence the research process and dynamics. Specifically, the age difference between older participants and relatively younger qualitative researchers is a common, but under-examined dynamic requiring nuanced, reflexive analysis. Using a life course conceptual framing, this study explored age-related participant-researcher dynamics in interviews from two qualitative studies of older women’s sexual experiences in later life. Participants included 25 women whose ages ranged from 55 to 93 and both studies were completed by the same researcher, a relatively younger woman (age 23 and 28 at times of data collection). A thematic analysis revealed three primary themes: 1) taking care - participants took care of the researcher by offering advice, asking about the researcher’s life, and expressing hopes for a positive future, 2) expertise – varied expertise was demonstrated by the researcher (e.g. substantive and scholarly) and participants (e.g. life experience), and 3) researcher growth - the researcher’s interviewing tactics shifted between the two studies (e.g. use of validation rather than consolation in response to aging-related concerns), indicating a shift in perceptions of aging and later life. Findings indicate that older women participants and younger women researchers are bound together through the life course, by shared gendered experiences, the fact that one will eventually become the other, and the mutual sharing of expertise and caring. Gerontology researchers must actively reflect on the impact of their own identities and aging perceptions on the interviewing process in order to enhance rigor in qualitative research.

The Unique Experience of Caregivers Based on Their Life Stage and Relationship to the Patient

2019 ◽  
pp. 34-49
Author(s):  
Kristin Litzelman
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Cancer Caregivers ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Cancer Caregiving

Although caregivers are often thought of as middle-aged or older adults, cancer caregiving spans the life course. This chapter discusses the unique challenges of cancer caregiving across the life course—early adulthood (18–44 years of age); middle age (45–64 years); and older age (adults 65 years and older)—using data from the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and evidence from the extant literature. More than 4 in 10 cancer caregivers were in early adulthood. Another 4 in 10 were in middle age, and nearly 2 in 10 were in older adulthood. Normative developmental patterns differ at each life stage, with implications for supporting cancer caregivers in clinical and policy settings. Future research embracing a nuanced view of caregiving across the life course and across relationship type will enhance the ability to care for caregivers and improve cancer survivor and caregiver well-being.

scholarly journals Developmental thyroid disruption causes long-term impacts on immune cell function and transcriptional responses to pathogen in a small fish model

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah M. Thornton Hampton ◽  
Miranda G. Finch ◽  
Christopher J. Martyniuk ◽  
Barney J. Venables ◽  
Marlo K. Sellin Jeffries
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Immune Function ◽  
Cell Function ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Bacterial Load ◽  
Early Life Stage ◽  
Pathogen Resistance ◽  
Treated Fish

AbstractCurrent evidence suggests thyroid hormones (THs) impact development of the immune system, but few studies have explored the connection between the thyroid and immune systems, especially in fish. This is important as some environmental contaminants disrupt TH homeostasis and may thus have negative impacts on the immune system. To determine the long-term consequences of early life stage (ELS) hypothyroidism on immune function, fathead minnows were exposed to the model thyroid hormone suppressant propylthiouracil (PTU) from < 1 to 30 days post hatch. Fish were transferred to clean water and raised to adulthood (5–7 months post hatch) at which time, several aspects of immune function were evaluated. Ex vivo assessment of immune cell function revealed significant decreases (1.2-fold) in the phagocytic cell activity of PTU-treated fish relative to the controls. Fish were also injected with Yersinia ruckeri to evaluate their in vivo immune responses across a suite of endpoints (i.e., transcriptomic analysis, leukocyte counts, spleen index, hematocrit, bacterial load and pathogen resistance). The transcriptomic response to infection was significantly different between control and PTU-treated fish, though no differences in bacterial load or pathogen resistance were noted. Overall, these results suggest that early life stage TH suppression causes long-term impacts on immune function at the molecular and cellular levels suggesting a key role for TH signaling in normal immune system development. This study lays the foundation for further exploration into thyroid-immune crosstalk in fish. This is noteworthy as disruption of the thyroid system during development, which can occur in response to chemicals present in the environment, may have lasting effects on immune function in adulthood.

scholarly journals Life Course Pathways From Childhood SES to Age-Related Declines in Kidney Function Across Adulthood

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 832-832
Author(s):  
Agus Surachman ◽  
Alexis Santos ◽  
Jonathan Daw ◽  
Lacy Alexander ◽  
Christopher Coe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Kidney Function ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
The United States ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Age is a strong predictor of declines in kidney function across adulthood. Using data from 2,045 adults (ages 25-84) in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, we examined the life course pathways through which low parental education, through adult SES and body mass index (BMI), was associated with faster age-related declines in kidney function. Kidney function declines by 0.8 mL/min/1.73 m2 per year across adulthood. Lower parental education, through adult SES and BMI, was associated with higher kidney function among younger adults (Est = -1.61, SE = 0.62, 95%CI = -2.62, -0.60), but lower kidney function among older adults (Est = 0.93, SE = 0.51, 95%CI = 0.11, 1.79). The impact of early socioeconomic adversity on kidney function is initiated by kidney hyperfiltration in early adulthood and followed by faster declines and development into disease state in later adulthood.

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