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ABSTRACTIn an increasingly ageing society, its older members are receiving considerable political and policy attention. However, much remains to be learnt about public perceptions ofolderage, particularly the views and experiences of older individuals themselves. Drawing on qualitative interviews carried out with members of two British cohorts (N = 60) who have reached the 'third age', this paper discusses perceptions of age, focusing particularly on how perceived advantages and disadvantages differ by respondents' self-reported physical capability. The interviews were carried out in 2010 as part of the HALCyon (Healthy Ageing across the Life Course) collaborative research programme. Findings suggest there is some difference in the way older people view aspects of ageing by capability and that although advantages are widely perceived, physical decline and associated health concerns were the overwhelming theme across the conversations. The article concludes by making tentative suggestions to inform the positive ageing agenda and its related policies.

Background Few studies have explored the relationship between major mental health disorders and metabolic syndrome (MetS), although both have been linked to cardiovascular disease. The present study examined the cross-sectional associations of major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) with MetS in a large study of male US veterans. Methods The analyses were cross-sectional. Participants (n = 4256) were drawn from the Vietnam Experience Study. From military service files, telephone interviews, and a medical examination, occupational, socio-demographic, and health data were collected. One-year prevalence of MDD and GAD was determined with DSM-III criteria. Metabolic syndrome was ascertained from data on: body mass index, fasting blood glucose or a diagnosis of diabetes, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Results In models that adjusted for age (p = .01) and additionally for place of service, ethnicity, marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption, IQ at enlistment, household income in midlife, and education grade achieved (p = .02), GAD was positively associated with MetS. Major depressive disorder was not related to MetS. Conclusions Depression has very much been the focal condition for studies on mental health and physical health outcomes. The current data suggest that future research should perhaps pay equal attention to GAD.

Anecdotal and biographical reports have long suggested that bipolar disorder is more common in people with exceptional cognitive or creative ability. Epidemiological evidence for such a link is sparse. We investigated the relationship between intelligence and subsequent risk of hospitalisation for bipolar disorder in a prospective cohort study of 1,049,607 Swedish men. Intelligence was measured on conscription for military service at a mean age of 18.3 years and data on psychiatric hospital admissions over a mean follow-up period of 22.6 years was obtained from national records. Risk of hospitalization with any form of bipolar disorder fell in a stepwise manner as intelligence increased (p for linear trend <0.0001). However, when we restricted analyses to men with no psychiatric comorbidity, there was a 'reversed-J' shaped association: men with the lowest intelligence had the greatest risk of being admitted with pure bipolar disorder, but risk was also elevated among men with the highest intelligence (p for quadratic trend = 0.03), primarily in those with the highest verbal (p for quadratic trend=0.009) or technical ability (p for quadratic trend <0.0001). At least in men, high intelligence may indeed be a risk factor for bipolar disorder, but only in the minority of cases who have the disorder in a pure form with no psychiatric comorbidity.

This volume and its companion, The new dynamics of ageing volume 2, provide comprehensive multi-disciplinary overviews of the very latest research on ageing. It reports the outcomes of the most concerted investigation ever undertaken into both the influence shaping the changing nature of ageing and its consequences for individuals and society. This book concentrates on three major themes: active ageing, design for ageing well and the relationship between ageing and socio-economic development. Each chapter provides a state of the art topic summary as well as reporting the essential research findings from New Dynamics of Ageing research projects. There is a strong emphasis on the practical implications of ageing and how evidence-based policies, practices and new products can produce individual and societal benefits