Researchers Working on Pacemakers Without Batteries

A cardiac pacemaker and an implanted defibrillator are wonderful inventions for thousands of seniors, but there is the worry about batteries to keep them going and the stress of having them surgically replaced. However, scientists may be making progress on a solution – a way of using vibrations from heartbeats to power the devices.

Engineering researchers at the University of Michigan designed a device that harvests energy from the reverberation of heartbeats through the chest and converts it to electricity to run a pacemaker or an implanted defibrillator.

These mini-medical machines send electrical signals to the heart to keep it beating in a healthy rhythm. By taking the place of the batteries that power them today, the new energy harvester could save patients from repeated surgeries. That’s the only way today to replace the batteries, which last five to 10 years.

“The idea is to use ambient vibrations that are typically wasted and convert them to electrical energy,” said Amin Karami, a research fellow in the University of Michigan Department of Aerospace Engineering. “If you put your hand on top of your heart, you can feel these vibrations all over your torso.”

Karami has teamed with colleague Daniel Inman, chairman of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, and other researchers on the project. They haven’t built a prototype yet, but they’ve made detailed blueprints and have run simulations demonstrating that the concept would work.

For more about the pacemaker research, go to http://aerospace.engin.umich.edu/newsevents/index.html#Pacemaker.

It’s Time for Seniors to Step Into Better Health, Fitness

Regular walking, a favorite exercise for seniors, is one of the most effective forms of activity that delivers substantial health benefits and improves heart health, the American Heart Association has said. The latest addition to the American Heart Association’s tools for persuading people to exercise is walking clubs, which are being formed across the United States.

Walking is easy to start and continue, and has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity. By joining or forming an American Heart Association Walking Club, participants can connect with others who share their goals, lifestyles, schedules and hobbies – and do it for free. An American Heart Association study revealed that American adults are 76 percent more likely to take a walk if another person is counting on them.

“I encourage our patients to engage in regular exercise, including moderate-to-vigorous intensity walking programs, and the American Heart Association’s new Walking Clubs are a great resource,” said Barry A. Franklin, Ph.D., Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Laboratories at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.

According to an American Heart Association survey, 15 percent of American adults achieve the association’s recommended level of moderate aerobic exercise, which is 150 minutes per week. Walking for as little as 30 minutes a day will improve circulation, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and promote weight loss.

For more information about walking clubs, visit www.mywalkingclub.org.

Silent Strokes Are a New Suspect in Determining Seniors’ Memory Loss

In some cases, memory loss among seniors may be due to so-called “silent strokes,” new research suggests. Such strokes, which may not cause any noticeable symptoms, result in small pockets of dead brain cells and are found in about 25 percent of older adults, the study team noted.

“The new aspect of this study of memory loss in the elderly is that it examines silent strokes and (brain) shrinkage simultaneously,” said study author Dr. Adam Brickman, of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

 The research, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, appeared in the journal Neurology. All the study participants underwent MRI brain scans, as well as testing to gauge their capacities in terms of memory, language skills, thinking speed and visual perception.

 The brain scans revealed that 174 of the 658 participants had experienced silent strokes, and the investigators found that these seniors did not perform as well on the memory exams. This finding held regardless of whether the part of the patient’s brain responsible for memory (the hippocampus) was found to be relatively small or not.

“Given that conditions like Alzheimer’s disease are defined mainly by memory problems, our results may lead to further insight into what causes symptoms and the development of new interventions for prevention,” Dr. Brickman noted. “Since silent strokes and the volume of the hippocampus appeared to be associated with memory loss separately in our study, our results also support stroke prevention as a means for staving off memory problems.”

For more about the research visit http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.aspx?Docid=660249  

Alzheimer’s Drug May Be First to Prevent the Disease’s Progression

There is potentially good news in the research for combating the incurable disease that affects as many as 5.4 million Americans. A new drug candidate may be the first capable of halting the devastating mental decline of Alzheimer’s disease, based on the findings of a study by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif.

When given to mice with Alzheimer’s, the drug – known as J147 – improved memory and prevented brain damage caused by the incurable disease. The new compound could be tested for treatment of the disease in humans in the near future, according to researchers.

“J147 enhances memory in both normal and Alzheimer’s mice and also protects the brain from the loss of synaptic connections,” said David Schubert, the head of Salk’s Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory, whose team developed the new drug. “No drugs on the market for Alzheimer’s have both of these properties.”

Although it is unknown whether the compound will prove to be safe and effective in humans, the Salk researchers said their results suggest the drug may hold potential for treatment of people with Alzheimer’s. Because of the broad ability of J147 to protect nerve cells, the researchers believe that it also may be effective for treating other neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease,

Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), as well as stroke.

The potential for a groundbreaking Alzheimer’s medication is providing a glint of sunlight in the otherwise gloomy outlook for those who have the incurable dementia.

For more information about the study, visit http://www.salk.edu/news/pressrelease_details.php?press_id=532.