U.S. State Life Tables, 2018

A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics presents the first set of annual complete period life tables for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) for the year 2018. The period life table does not represent the mortality experience of an actual birth cohort. Rather, it presents what would happen to a hypothetical cohort if it experienced throughout its entire life the mortality conditions of a particular period in time. Life tables were produced for the total, male, and female populations of each state and D.C. based on age-specific death rates for that year. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Hawaii had the highest life expectancy at birth, 81.0 years in 2018, and West Virginia had the lowest, 74.4 years. Life expectancy at age 65 ranged from 17.5 years in Kentucky to 21.1 years in Hawaii. Life expectancy at birth was higher for females in all states and D.C. The difference in life expectancy between females and males ranged from 3.8 years in Utah to 6.2 years in New Mexico.

Prescription Drugs For Older Adults And The Risk Of Falling

Published on February 3, 2021 in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, a study reported from the University at Buffalo examined data on deaths due to falls and prescription fills among patients 65 and older from the National Vital Statistics System and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Age-adjusted mortality due to falls increased from 29.40 per 100,000 in 1999 to 63.27 per 100,000 in 2017. The percent of individuals who received at least one prescription for a fall risk increasing drug, including antidepressants, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, antihypertensives (for high blood pressure), opioids, sedative hypnotics, and benzodiazepines (tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax) increased from 57% in 1999 to 94% in 2017. Fall risk increasing drugs may partially explain the increase in mortality due to falls, but cannot be firmly concluded from the current study. Future research involving nationally representative person‐level data are needed.

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Sex Differences In Neurodegenerative Diseases

Many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and motor neuron disease, demonstrate clear sexual dimorphisms. While sex as a biological variable must now be included in animal studies, sex rarely is included in in vitro models of human neurodegenerative disease. A review published on March 16, 2021 online in APL Bioengineering describes these sex-related differences in neurodegenerative diseases and the blood–brain barrier (BBB), whose dysfunction is linked to neurodegenerative disease development and progression. The authors from the University of Maryland highlight a growing body of research suggesting sex differences play roles in how patients respond to these ailments. The authors note that some research suggests the barrier can be stronger in women than men, and the barriers in men and women are built and behave differently. They hope their article will serve as a reminder across the sciences, that accounting for sex differences leads to better results.

Female College Athletes And Traumatic Brain Injury

Female athletes are under-studied in the field of concussion research, despite evidence of higher injury prevalence and longer recovery time. Hormonal fluctuations caused by the natural menstrual cycle (MC) or hormonal contraceptive (HC) use have an impact on both post-injury symptoms and neuroimaging findings, but the relationships among hormone, symptoms, and brain-based measures have not been jointly considered in concussion studies. A preliminary investigation from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine published on February 24, 2021 in the Journal of Neurotrauma compared cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured with arterial spin labeling between concussed female club athletes 3–10 days after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and demographic, HC/MC matched controls (CON). Researchers tested whether CBF statistically mediates the relationship between progesterone serum levels and post-injury symptoms, which may support a hypothesis for that hormone's role in neuroprotection. The findings support a hypothesis for its having a neuroprotective role after concussion and highlight the importance of controlling for the effects of sex hormones in future concussion studies.

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