International Day of Older Persons 2020

The year 2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and the 30th Anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons. This year has also seen an emergence of COVID-19, that has caused an upheaval across the world.

MISA celebrated the day by all the staff promoting active lifestyle for successful ageing.

We wish you a “Happy International Day of Older Persons”.

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Technology 2019

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Technology 2019 at St. James’s Hospital is designed to provide the non-AI expert with a basic understanding of AI concepts and a road map to the application of AI in healthcare.

Intended for clinicians, healthcare professionals, engineers and scientists, the objective of the seminar is to demystify AI and to provide an understanding of the practical issues on the pathway from concepts to application.

AI in Healthcare poster

 

Excess belly fat in older adults ‘linked with cognitive impairment’ | Spectator Health

Spectator Health reporter

3rd August 2018

The amount of belly fat a person has (the waist to hip ratio) is associated with reduced cognitive function in older adults, according to new research by Trinity College, Dublin.

Previous studies have found that people who are overweight do not perform as well on tests of memory and visuospatial ability compared to those who are a normal weight. However, it is not well known if this is true in older adults.

The researchers used data from the Trinity Ulster Department of Agriculture ageing cohort study, which is a cross-border collaborative research project gathering data from thousands of elderly adults in Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The researchers found that a higher waist to hip ratio was associated with reduced cognitive function. This could be explained by an increased secretion of inflammatory markers by belly fat, which has been previously associated with a higher risk of impaired cognition.

On the contrary, body mass index (BMI) was found to protect cognitive function. BMI is a crude measure of body fat and cannot differentiate between fat and fat-free mass (muscle), thus it is proposed that the fat-free mass component is likely to be the protective factor.

Conal Cunningham, the study’s senior author, said: ‘While we have known for some time that obesity is associated with negative health consequences our study adds to emerging evidence suggesting that obesity and where we deposit our excess weight could influence our brain health. This has significant public health implications.’

MISA Annual Lecture 2018 MISA Annual Lecture 2018

This years MISA annual lecture was presented by Baroness Julia Neuberger and was held on June 28th in the Stanley Quek lecture theatre in Trinity College. Baroness Neuberger spoke about avoiding loneliness in older age. This lecture was well attended and positive feedback was received. To watch this lecture click here

Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing, Annual Public Lecture 2018 Thursday June 28th

Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing proudly presents its Annual Public Lecture 2018 entitled “Loneliness and how to avoid it in Successful Ageing” presented by Baroness Julia Neuberger on Thursday June 28th @ 6pm at the Stanley Quek Lecture Theatre, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Pearse Street, Dublin
Flyer can be downloaded here

Asking the Big Questions in Dublin’s Fair City MISA hosts Biogerontology for Clinicians Conference

Mary Ni Lochlainn is an Academic Clinical Fellow in Geriatric Medicine. She works at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Mary attended the Biogerontology for Clinicians Conference in February 2018 which was co-organised by MISA and TCD.

Read Mary’s interesting blog recently posted on the British Geriatric Society website:

Asking the Big Questions in Dublin’s Fair City – Part 1

Asking the Big Questions in Dublin’s Fair City – Part 2