A shift towards a more plant-based diet is promoted as healthy as well as sustainable. Whether this also applies to older adults is however less clear: On one hand plant-based diets may lead to energy deficits among vulnerable older adults and therefore negatively impact well-being. On the other hand, plant-based diets have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties, suggesting they could be beneficial to older adults, often prone to chronic inflammation.
Using data of the Lifelines cohort study, we therefore [...]
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Accumulation of senescent cells leads to numerous diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, we set out to characterize heterogeneity of cellular senescence in aged articular cartilage and explored the presence of corresponding metabolic profiles in blood that could function as representative biomarkers. Hereto we set out to perform cluster analyses, using a gene-set of 131 senescence genes (N=57) in a previously established RNA sequencing dataset of aged articular cartilage, and a generated metabolic dataset in overlapping blood samples.
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Anil Seth’s (Professor Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex) research focuses on the concept “consciousness”. In this lecture, Seth will share his theories about this concept and emphasize that how we look at this has a huge impact on healthcare, AI and (biomedical) research. Seth is not only a researcher, but has also written the bestseller “Being you” and given TedTalks that are viewed by millions of people worldwide.
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With age, the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism rises. However, incidence and determinants of spontaneous normalization remain largely unknown. The aim was therefore to investigate incidence and determinants of spontaneous normalization of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in older adults with subclinical hypothyroidism. Pooled data was used from the (i) pre-trial population, and (ii) in-trial placebo group from two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials (TRUST and IEMO thyroid 80-plus thyroid trial). Included were community-dwelling 65 + adults with subclinical hypothyroidism from the Netherlands, [...]
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Lesions, or damage, in the white matter of the brain are important markers to track disease progression in several conditions, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Recently, a collaborative study including LUMC and LEGend researchers used a fast MRI approach called multi-component MR Fingerprinting (MRF) to compare components with increased water content in the white matter, often indicating lesions, between patients with and without MS.
They conducted MRI scans on 48 MS patients and 12 healthy controls at two different locations, [...]
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On September 26th, a fourth LUMC call for PhD proposals came out. See the link below for the call text and application formatting (in PDF format) of this round and the format for the application. The deadline to send in your application is October 30th.
The primary objectives of this call are to provide support and recognition to promising early career researchers, encourage their active participation in the research themes, and foster new collaborative opportunities within the LUMC.
To be [...]
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LUMC PhD candidate Willeke Ravensbergen will defend her PhD thesis “Hip fractures and daily functioning in old age. When does the decline start and how can it be measured?” on the 18th of October at 15.00 o’clock. You can join in person at the Academiegebouw in Leiden, or via the livestream.
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LUMC PhD candidate Paulien van Dam will defend her PhD thesis “Quality of life, care dependency and Paracetamol In advanced dementia – Is paracetamol the panacea to improve quality of life?” on the 6th of September at 15.00 o’clock. You can join in person at the Academiegebouw in Leiden, or via the livestream.
View a short movie about the Q-PID study (in Dutch): Q-PID – Animatie – Werkt paracetamol bij gevorderde dementie? – UNC-ZH
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The EI robot consortium received a Stimulus grant of € 1.200.000 (€423.775,- for LUMC; dr. Hanneke Smaling) to develop an Emotion Intelligent Care Robot in collaboration with Mentech Innovation, SARA Robotics and care organizations Ipse de Bruggen and Zorggroep Elde Maasduinen.
The Emotion Intelligent Care Robot project seeks to develop an autonomous robot to assist people with dementia and people with intellectual disabilities, who often exhibit challenging behavior due to stress. The robot, developed by Mentech and Sara Robotics, uses [...]
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We’re excited to host another lecture in the LEGend lecture series, this time from dr. Yousin Suh of Columbia University, United States. Her talk revolves around the genetics and cellular mechanisms of human longevity. Please join us on August 25th between 12.00 and 13.00 o’clock in lecture room P-05-034, in the back of the main building, or using this link for Teams (passcode if needed: BAsDkD).
Yousin Suh, Ph.D., is the Charles and Marie Robertson professor of Reproductive Sciences [...]
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