HEALTHY AGING

Add Five More Years with One Therapy

LIFE EXTENSION – My 40-year quest to persuade supporters to keep their blood pressure in lower ranges continues to fail! I’ll never forget a call I received from a dedicated Life Extension® supporter in the 1980s who had suffered an ischemic stroke. He was fortunate to fully recover. My first question was about his blood pressure. It was elevated. This supporter recalled our warning to keep blood pressure below 120/80 mmHg. He nonetheless thought that his healthy diet...

What Are We Told About the Health of Biden and Trump? They Decide.

President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump are the oldest people ever to seek the presidency, challenging norms about what the public should know about candidates’ health.

Untangling the threads of early onset dementia

MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK – Changes in personality, behavior and language are hallmarks of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the most common form of dementia in patients under the age of 65, which is associated with degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Researchers have known that a less common protective variant of a gene called TMEM106B may slow disease progression, and now they have new insight into how parts of the protein produced...

Ageism in health care is more common than you might think, and it can harm people

Assumptions that older people are one big, frail, homogenous group can cause more serious issues. Such as when a patient doesn't receive the care they need because the doctor is seeing a number, rather than an individual.

Coroner calls for change after 89-year-old’s fatal vitamin D overdose

BBC News – Surrey's coroner is calling for change to supplement packaging rules after an 89-year-old's fatal vitamin D overdose. Following the death of David Mitchener, the coroner has written to the Department of Health and Social Care and the Food Standards Agency (FSA). A report said the 89-year-old had been taking vitamin supplements for at least the nine months preceding his death. Before his death, a test showed his vitamin D levels at 380, the maximum level...

Say That Again: Using Hearing Aids Can Be Frustrating for Older Adults, but Necessary

KFF HEALTH NEWS – It was an every-other-day routine, full of frustration. Every time my husband called his father, who was 94 when he died in 2022, he’d wait for his dad to find his hearing aids and put them in before they started talking. Even then, my father-in-law could barely hear what my husband was saying. “What?” he’d ask over and over. Then, there were the problems my father-in-law had replacing the devices’ batteries. And the...

An 83-year-old doctor and triathlete transformed his health in his 40s. He shares his 4 key diet principles.

Joseph Maroon is an 83-year-old practicing neurosurgeon who competes in triathlons.

10 tips for healthy eyes

NEBRASKA MEDICINE – Regular eye care can have a life-changing impact, and taking steps to support your vision now can make a difference. Schedule regular eye exams with an eye doctor. Everyone needs their eyes and vision checked regularly. Comprehensive dilated eye exams help find problems that may not have warning signs and can provide an opportunity for early treatment and prevention. Your eye doctor may be able to detect certain conditions, such as diabetes or...

Do We Simply Not Care About Old People?

KFF HEALTH NEWS – In the last week of 2023 and the first two weeks of 2024 alone, 4,810 people 65 and older lost their lives to covid — a group that would fill more than 10 large airliners — according to data provided by the CDC. But the alarm that would attend plane crashes is notably absent. (During the same period, the flu killed an additional 1,201 seniors, and RSV killed 126.) “It boggles...

Strange vision problems may indicate Alzheimer’s disease

In 94% of cases, people experiencing posterior cortical atrophy went on to develop Alzheimer's disease, researchers found. The remaining 6% developed other dementias such as Lewy body disease or frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

Preparing to Hang Up the Car Keys as We Age

KFF HEALTH NEWS – Lewis Morgenstern has made up his mind. When he turns 65 in four years, he’s going to sign an advance directive for driving. The directive will say that when his children want him to stop getting behind the wheel, Morgenstern will follow their advice. “I recognize that I might not be able to make the best decision about driving at a certain point, and I want to make it clear I trust...

Walk like a penguin: Keeping your winter balance

MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK – When winter storms hit, good balance can prevent falls and injuries — ranging from broken arms, legs or hips to back injuries and concussions. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control says slips and falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injury across all age groups, except the 10–24 group. One in every 5 falls results in a serious injury, such as head trauma or broken bones. That’s more...

Canada vows to defend its drug supply against Florida importation plan

ARS TECHNICA – Canada issued a warning Monday that it stands ready to defend its prescription drug supply from US importation plans—and also said the plans wouldn't work for the US, anyway. "Bulk importation will not provide an effective solution to the problem of high drug prices in the US," Health Canada said in a statement. The defensive stance comes just days after the US Food and Drug Administration granted Florida authorization to directly import cheaper...