The exercises maintain or slightly increase their bone mass, and they significantly improve their balance, decreasing their risk of falling. These results offset the potentially crippling disease osteoporosis. Interest in the research has come from community colleges, fitness centers, senior centers, and hospitals. Fitness practitioners are being trained so they can launch their own classes and programs around the state. Research by Tory Hagen, of OSU's Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Linus Pauling Institute, is pointing towards certain nutrients that can slow and even reverse mitochondrial decay, with the possible effects of improved cognitive function and increased energy .
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in postmenopausal women.
Her studies on the role of dietary modifications on cardiovascular risk factors in women indicate that a balance of kinds of fats, including the fatsfound in fish, may be important in the prevention of heart disease as well as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis . Karen Hooker of OSU's Human Development and Family Sciences is working to identify the predictors of depression for caregivers. The studies can lead to strategies to prevent depression and enhance the well-being of persons living with dementia as well as of those who are helping them . An understanding of motivations for seeking care, expected outcomes, and actual outcomes may help us all to choose the best care in the future .