News briefs

Respite care providing broad relief for aged care sector, says report

A new study by the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) suggests residential respite care is effective in helping older Australians remain in their own homes for longer and spending fewer days in residential care, potentially reducing the costs of aged care. Respite services facilitate short stays for older Australians in residential aged care homes, where they can receive specialised care while also providing relief for their carers. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, evaluated data for more than 480 000 Australians approved for respite care during 2005–2012; the investigators assessed their use of permanent residential aged care during the two years after using respite care. The ROSA Director, Associate Professor Maria Inacio, says her team's latest work indicates that the federal government‐subsidised residential respite care program is achieving its aims. “The program looks to be benefiting both the older Australians who are accessing it and also the system as a whole,” she said. “We know the preference for most older Australians is to remain in their own homes for longer and the data we examined indicates respite care is helping achieve that. In addition, given the high costs associated with permanent residential aged care this is likely to translate into reduced costs across the sector.”

https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(19)30639-5/fulltext

Skin UV exposure reflected in faecal matter

Research published in Frontiers in Microbiology indicates that skin exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) light alters the gut microbiome in humans. The analysis suggests that vitamin D mediates the change, perhaps explaining the protective effect of UVB light in inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease. Sun exposure, vitamin D levels, and the mix of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract each influence the risk of inflammatory conditions, and a causal link between the three has been suspected. Exposure to UVB in sunlight drives vitamin D production in the skin, and recent findings suggest that vitamin D influences the human gut microbiome. However, that UVB changes to the gut microbiome are mediated by vitamin D has only been shown in rodents. In their clinical pilot study, researchers from the University of British Columbia tested the effect of UVB exposure on the human gut microbiome. Twenty‐one healthy women received three one‐minute sessions of full‐body UVB exposure within a single week. Before and after treatment, stool samples were collected for bacterial analysis and blood samples for determining vitamin D levels. Gut microbial diversity was significantly increased following UVB exposure, but only in the 12 subjects who were not taking vitamin D supplements during the (winter) study. “Prior to UVB exposure, these women had a less diverse and balanced gut microbiome than those taking regular vitamin D supplements,” reports Professor Bruce Vallance, who led the University of British Columbia study. “UVB exposure boosted the richness and evenness of their microbiome to levels indistinguishable from the supplemented group, whose microbiome was not significantly changed.” The greatest increase was that of the relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae bacteria. The researchers also that Lachnospiraceae abundance and blood vitamin D levels, which increased following UVB exposure, were correlated, suggesting that vitamin D at least partly mediates UVB‐induced gut microbiome changes.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02410/full