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The New Shingles Shot: Much More Effective Than the Old One January 30, 2019 by Michelle Andrews - Federal officials have recommended a new vaccine that is more effective than an earlier version at protecting older adults against the painful rash called shingles. But persuading many adults to get this and other recommended vaccines continues to be an uphill battle.
Everything You Need to Know about the New Medicare Cards September 28, 2018 by Judith Graham - In April, the government [started] sending out new Medicare cards, launching a massive, yearlong effort to alter how 59 million people enrolled in the federal health insurance program are identified.
Older Artists Keep Creating and Growing September 12, 2018 by Mary Jacobs - Opera star Plácido Domingo made his name as a tenor. ...But now, at age 77, Domingo is a baritone.
Love to Travel? Don’t Let Aging or a Disability Stop You July 11, 2018 by Mary Jacobs - As a cultural attaché for the US Department of State, Teresa Wilkin lived abroad and traveled the world, and she kept traveling, extensively, after retiring in 2004. But it wasn’t until last year that Wilkin, 69, had what she wryly…
When Is It Time to Give Up the Car Keys? April 20, 2018 by Flora Davis - Americans outlive their own ability to drive by six to 10 years on average. To many of them, that seems like a fate almost worse than death.
How to Save Yourself and Those You Love During a Disaster April 20, 2018 by Mary Jacobs - When Hurricane Harvey struck his neighborhood on August 28, 2017, the Rev. John Stephens of Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston helped launch a “boat ministry.” He and several men in the church navigated privately owned boats into the rising…
Playbook for Later Life April 20, 2018 by Mary Jacobs - In July, 2017, Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel rocked the sports world with a stunning announcement: he was retiring from pro football, at the top of his game, at age 26. Urschel, once dubbed “the NFL’s smartest man,” will…
Don’t Deny Your Age—Celebrate It! March 7, 2018 by Susan Hoskins - Recently someone asked me if I would participate in a talk called "Don’t Let an Old Person Move into Your Body." I thought about it for several days, and then I declined.
Marc Agronin: There’s Power in Growing Old January 21, 2018 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - Marc Agronin, MD, knows old age—as much as a 51-year-old could anyway. In particular, he knows difficult old age.
Save on Health Care at the Playground January 20, 2018 by Mary Jacobs - When Ronni Bennett discovered elder playgrounds online a few years ago, she immediately fell in love with the concept.
Aging and Addicted January 20, 2018 by Jenny Gold for Kaiser Health News - It took a lot of convincing for John Evard to go to rehab. Seven days into his stay at the Las Vegas Recovery Center, the nausea and aching muscles of opioid withdrawal were finally beginning to fade.- The Opioid Balancing Act January 18, 2018 by Jenny Gold for Kaiser Health News - The national conversation about the opioid epidemic has mostly focused on young people who buy drugs illegally on the street. But the scrutiny of opioids has also changed the way doctors are prescribing medications to [older people] to ease their pain from arthritis, cancer, neurological diseases and other illnesses that become more common in later life.
Medical Tourism: Are Local Doctors Always the Best Choice? January 18, 2018 by Mary Jacobs - Patients travel from around the United States and the world to see Richard Guyer, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon at the Texas Back Institute in Plano, TX, because he is a recognized, widely published expert in disc-replacement surgery. But when…
Faster Aging through Space Travel January 11, 2018 by Elizabeth Payne - When Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield returned to Earth after nearly five months in space in 2013, he described his physical state as “tottering around like an old man.”
Henry Cisneros: Homes—and Neighborhoods—Should Work for All Ages June 29, 2017 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - For years, Henry Cisneros watched his father, George, live an active life with limited mobility. A stroke at the age of 59 had left the elder Cisneros without the use of his left arm and left leg. But parts of his house were modified to accommodate his limited mobility. He was able to live there, with his wife, Elvira, in the home and close-knit neighborhood where they’d raised their children, until two years before he died in 2006 at age 89.
They’re Old, They’re Sick—and They’re Homeless April 4, 2017 by Margot Kushel - On any given night in the United States, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, over half a million people are without a home. That number may have decreased nationwide in the past few years, but California remains on the forefront of the problem, accounting for 20 percent of the country’s homeless in 2014.
Membership Medicine: When the Doctor Is Always In April 4, 2017 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - Adina Cook’s teenage son was skateboarding one evening. He tried to jump 10 concrete stairs and landed smack-dab on his shoulder. Instead of rushing him to the emergency room, Cook, 52, called the family’s doctor, Tracy Ragland, who met them…
Is Medical Marijuana Good Medicine for Older Adults? It’s Complicated April 4, 2017 by Liz Seegert - After Jane broke her ankle, walking even short distances was a painful challenge. The 63-year-old had been an avid hiker and gardener and was stifled by her limited mobility. To make matters worse, she couldn’t tolerate the side effects of prescription painkillers.
It’s Never Too Late to Exercise—but Starting by Midlife Is Best April 4, 2017 by Leigh Ann Hubbard - Harrison Caldwell had a good excuse for not being athletic: one of his legs was about a quarter inch shorter than the other, thanks to a childhood bout with polio. Plus, his feet were so flat that the Army turned…
Can Your Cherished Possessions Shorten Your Life? March 28, 2017 by Dana DiFilippo - In a corner of Sarah’s living room, a decades-old phonograph sits ignored. Sarah doesn’t use it anymore, doesn’t even know if it still works. Only the housekeeper pays any attention to it, or to the dozens of records stacked nearby,…
Minister for Older Adults Has Seen How Pervasive Ageism Is - Later life is a time of reassessment and reflection. What sense do we make of the lives we have lived?
Memory Hacks - When I was young, I could memorize epic poems with ease and recite the Gettysburg Address years after I learned it in school. I seldom forgot the names of books I’d read, the films I’d seen or who starred in…