Quarterly Report on Aging Research: New research on the role of inflammation in aging, cognitive health, and Alzheimer's Disease
- Phyllis Mirsky
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Phyllis S. Mirsky is a retired academic librarian at the University of California, San Diego, with a 40-year career in librarianship that included leadership roles at both UCLA and UC San Diego. Before joining UCSD in 1981, she served as Head of Reference at the National Library of Medicine. Throughout her career in the health information field, Mirsky held several leadership positions in the Medical Library Association, including serving as its president in 1985. As an educator, researcher, and administrator, she has long been committed to making high-quality health information accessible and understandable.
Each quarter, Phyllis prepares a report for the Del Mar Community Connections (DMCC) Board of Directors that highlights the most significant and relevant research on aging for older adults and their caregivers. This blog builds on that work, sharing timely, evidence-based insights and translating complex research into clear, practical information that supports informed, engaged living.
Community members will have an opportunity to discuss this report at the Aging Research Roundtable, planned in partnership with the Del Mar branch of the San Diego County Library, on Monday, March 23 at 2:30pm. Registration required; sign up here.
October - December 2025
Executive Summary
This quarterly report highlights recent research and reporting on aging, cognitive health, and Alzheimer’s disease, with an emphasis on findings most relevant to older adults, caregivers, and community organizations.
Several key themes emerge. First, lifestyle and environment play a major role in how people age. Research on “inflammaging” shows that chronic inflammation is not an inevitable part of aging and appears to be strongly influenced by factors such as diet, physical activity, weight, sleep, and overall living conditions. Similarly, growing evidence suggests that nearly half of dementia risk may be linked to modifiable factors, including cardiovascular health, social engagement, hearing loss, and daily habits.
Second, socioeconomic disparities strongly shape aging outcomes. A large Pew Research Center survey finds that income affects not only financial security in retirement, but also physical health, social connection, and cognitive functioning. Lower-income older adults are more likely to experience loneliness, health challenges, and difficulty managing daily tasks, highlighting the importance of community-based supports and inclusive aging strategies.
Third, research challenges some common assumptions about technology and aging. A major meta-analysis finds that older adults who use digital technologies tend to experience slower cognitive decline and lower dementia risk, countering fears of “digital dementia.” Related research shows that not all sedentary activities are equal: cognitively engaging activities (such as computer use) are associated with lower dementia risk than passive activities like prolonged television viewing, regardless of physical activity levels.
Finally, advances in Alzheimer’s science offer cautious but meaningful optimism. New FDA-approved drugs can modestly slow cognitive decline, while emerging blood tests may allow earlier and less invasive diagnosis. Research is also expanding toward combination therapies and lifestyle-based prevention strategies, suggesting that Alzheimer’s may increasingly be delayed, managed, or prevented rather than viewed as inevitable.
Implications for Del Mar Community Connections:Together, these findings reinforce the value of programs that promote healthy lifestyles, cognitive engagement, social connection, and equitable access to resources for older adults. They also underscore the importance of addressing financial insecurity and social isolation as part of healthy aging. Continued monitoring of these trends will help inform future community education, outreach, and planning efforts.
I. Ongoing Monitoring
Continued review and monitoring of major publications and resources focused on aging, longevity, and caregiving:
NIH MedlinePlus Magazine
National Institute on Aging (NIA) – Healthy Aging Highlights
NIA’s Alzheimers.gov Highlights
Successful Aging Newsletter (UC San Diego)
San Diego State University Center for Excellence in Aging & Longevity (CEAL)
Alzheimer’s San Diego
National Library of Medicine Reading Club
II. New Publications and Websites
Scripps Research Magazine
Sanford Burnham Prebys Discoveries
Washington Post Well+Being Newsletter (news and practical advice for daily well-being)
III. New Articles and Key Research Highlights
1. Is ‘inflammaging’ part of getting older? Here’s what experts say
By Richard Sima, Washington Post, October 12, 2025https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/10/12/inflammaging-aging-inflammation-chronic-diseases/
Summary:“Inflammaging” refers to a persistent, low-grade inflammation that tends to increase with age, even in the absence of infection or injury. Researchers consider it a hallmark of aging and link it to many age-related conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, frailty, dementia, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Unlike acute inflammation, which resolves after healing, inflammaging lingers. It appears to be driven largely by aging, stressed, or damaged cells that release inflammatory signals, along with factors such as excess visceral fat and poor blood sugar control. Certain immune proteins—especially cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-1β—are commonly involved.
Importantly, emerging research suggests that inflammaging is not universal. Studies comparing populations in industrialized countries (such as Italy and Singapore) with Indigenous populations in nonindustrialized regions (including the Tsimane of Bolivia and the Orang Asli of Malaysia) found that typical inflammaging patterns were largely absent in Indigenous groups. Although these populations often experience high inflammation due to infections, they do not show the same age-related inflammatory profiles or chronic disease patterns seen in industrialized societies. This suggests that lifestyle and environmental context play a major role.
Experts emphasize that inflammation itself is not inherently harmful—it is a necessary immune response. However, chronic and misdirected inflammation can be damaging. To reduce the risk of inflammaging, researchers recommend broadly healthy habits rather than attempting to micromanage inflammation: maintaining a healthy weight, managing blood pressure and blood sugar, exercising regularly, eating in moderation, sleeping well, and avoiding excessive calorie intake. Caloric moderation may be beneficial, though evidence is still emerging.
Overall, research on inflammaging helps explain why many diseases of aging develop and highlights how healthier lifestyles across the lifespan may reduce their impact—while also cautioning against unnecessary anxiety about inflammation itself.
2. What a poll of 9,000 adults reveals about aging in America
By Shannon Najmabadi, Washington Post, November 6, 2025https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/11/06/pew-survey-aging-income/
Summary:A Pew Research Center survey of nearly 9,000 U.S. adults finds that income strongly shapes how Americans experience aging and retirement. Higher-income retirees report better physical and mental health, stronger social connections, sharper cognitive functioning, and significantly greater confidence in their financial security than their middle- and lower-income peers. While many adults over age 65 remain generally satisfied and optimistic, substantial numbers still face loneliness, health challenges, and difficulty managing daily activities.
Across all age groups, financial insecurity is a major concern. Only about one-quarter of Americans feel confident they will have enough money for retirement, with women, Black and Hispanic adults, and those in midlife expressing particularly high levels of concern. Most Americans hope to live into their 80s or early 90s, but relatively few aspire to extreme longevity.
Overall, the findings point to widening socioeconomic disparities that will shape health outcomes, social well-being, and policy demands as the population ages.
Implications for Policy and Strategy:
The data highlight deep socioeconomic divides that will influence aging experiences, health outcomes, and service needs.
Organizations serving older adults should consider interventions that address financial insecurity, social isolation, and cognitive health, particularly among lower-income populations.
Policymakers may face increasing pressure to sustain retirement systems and expand support for vulnerable older adults as demographic shifts continue.
3. A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging
Benge, J. F., & Scullin, M. K. Nature Human Behaviour, 9, 1405–1419 (2025)https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02159-9
Summary:The first generations to grow up using computers and digital technologies are now reaching ages at which memory loss and dementia become more common. This raises an important question: does long-term technology use harm thinking abilities, or does it help protect them?
Some researchers have proposed a “digital dementia” hypothesis, suggesting that heavy technology use weakens cognitive abilities over time. Others argue the opposite—that digital tools keep people mentally engaged and help preserve cognitive function, creating a form of “technological reserve.”
To evaluate these competing ideas, researchers conducted a meta-analysis combining results from numerous studies of adults aged 50 and older. The review examined everyday technology use—such as computers, smartphones, and the internet—and its relationship to cognitive performance or dementia risk. In total, the authors reviewed 136 studies and closely analyzed 57 high-quality studies involving more than 400,000 participants followed for up to 18 years.
Overall, older adults who used digital technologies were less likely to develop cognitive impairment and experienced slower cognitive decline over time. These associations remained significant even after accounting for education, income, health status, and other known influences on brain aging. Results were consistent when analyses were restricted to the highest-quality studies.
While the findings suggest that digital technology use may support, rather than harm, cognitive health, the authors emphasize the need for further research to clarify cause-and-effect relationships, underlying mechanisms, and which types of technology use are most beneficial at different stages of life.
4. Leisure-time sedentary behaviors and dementia risk
Raichlen, D. A., et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(35), August 22, 2022https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2206931119
Summary:Sedentary behaviors—such as watching television or using a computer—occupy a large portion of adults’ leisure time and have been linked to increased risk of chronic disease and mortality. This prospective cohort study, using data from the UK Biobank, examined whether different types of sedentary behavior are associated with all-cause dementia risk, independent of physical activity levels.
The findings showed that high levels of cognitively passive sedentary behavior (such as television viewing) were associated with an increased risk of dementia. In contrast, high levels of cognitively active sedentary behavior (such as computer use) were associated with a reduced risk of dementia. These associations held regardless of participants’ levels of physical activity.
The results suggest that reducing cognitively passive activities and increasing cognitively engaging sedentary behaviors may be promising strategies for lowering dementia risk, even among individuals who meet physical activity guidelines.
5. The big breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s science and treatment
By Julia Busiek, University of California, December 4, 2025https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/next-big-breakthroughs-alzheimers-science-and-treatment
Summary:Alzheimer’s disease has long been one of the most devastating and difficult-to-treat conditions, affecting millions of older adults and progressively eroding memory, cognition, and personality. After decades of limited progress and failed clinical trials, researchers now believe the field has reached a turning point.
The approval of the first drugs shown to slow cognitive decline, combined with rapid advances in genetics, brain imaging, blood-based diagnostics, and epidemiology, is transforming how scientists approach diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. FDA-approved therapies that remove amyloid protein from the brain can delay cognitive decline by several months, while next-generation treatments aim to target tau and other disease-related proteins in combination.
At the same time, experimental approaches are exploring ways to restore brain function, not just slow deterioration. One promising molecule has been shown in animal studies to revive disrupted neural signaling linked to memory, raising hope that future therapies may help repair damaged brain circuits.
Diagnosis is also becoming faster and less invasive. Newly approved blood tests can detect Alzheimer’s-related proteins, and ongoing research suggests additional biomarkers may identify risk years before symptoms appear. These advances align with growing evidence that nearly half of dementia risk is associated with modifiable factors, including cardiovascular health, hearing loss, social engagement, and environmental exposures. Large clinical trials show that combined lifestyle interventions—such as exercise, diet, cognitive training, and social support—can improve cognitive performance in at-risk adults.
Finally, cutting-edge CRISPR gene-editing research is uncovering previously unknown molecular drivers of dementia, including how immune cells in the brain shift between protective and harmful states. Together, these discoveries suggest that Alzheimer’s disease may be moving from an inevitable and untreatable condition toward one that can be delayed, managed, and potentially prevented.
IV. Books and Videos
Video: Sanford Burnham Prebys — Metabolism and Longevity Are Complexly Intertwined. An engaging, easy-to-follow discussion of how metabolic processes influence aging and disease risk, why some individuals are more vulnerable, and the emerging discoveries shaping the future of health and longevity.
Book: Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer by Michael Gurven
An anthropologist presents new evidence on the evolutionary origins of human longevity and argues that aging is an evolutionary success rather than a burden. Gurven explains that gains in life expectancy over the past century have not dramatically extended maximum lifespan, but have instead increased the likelihood that people reach older age. The human capacity to live well beyond menopause—a rarity among species—evolved millennia ago among hunter-gatherers. While seven decades may once have represented exceptional longevity, improvements in living conditions mean that, in many high-income countries today, average adult lifespans commonly extend into the eighth or ninth decade.
