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A Hidden Epidemic Threatens Older Adults: Malnutrition December 4, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - For most of her life, Jenny Anne Horst-Martz’s mother worked hard to stay slender. But now, at age 90, her mother struggles to keep enough weight on. The problem started a few years ago when her mother was injured in…
What Makes Older Achievers Tick? October 7, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - In recent years, oncologist Philip Salem, MD, has done some of the best work of his career. Using new combinations of existing cancer therapies—personalized immunotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy—he’s getting remarkable results for patients with advanced lung, pancreatic and other…
Senior Centers Are Evolving September 4, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - The first time Sue and Mike Miller visited their community’s senior center in Portage, MI, several years ago, they found a few people playing pool or bridge—and decided it wasn’t for them. But the couple tried again in 2022, when…
The Burden of Getting Medical Care Can Exhaust Older Patients August 13, 2024 by Judith Graham - Susanne Gilliam, 67, was walking down her driveway to get the mail in January when she slipped and fell on a patch of black ice.
Dementia: A Diagnosis Too Often Delayed August 9, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - Last year, a bank officer phoned Kelli Brown’s brother with a concern: a lot of money was going out of their 87-year-old father’s bank account. Their father, a retired accountant, lived alone in Cincinnati. He seemed to be functioning well…
How to Navigate Our Fragmented Medical System July 3, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - For three years, Lil Banchero’s 86-year-old mother struggled with pain due to advanced arthritis. She tried yoga. Doctors prescribed medications and tried injections. Nothing worked. The pain got worse, and her mother became depressed. “Months passed,” said Banchero. “Nobody was…
Poor Hearing Can Be Frustrating, but So Can Some Hearing Aids June 27, 2024 by Judith Graham - 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.
Where Are All the Geriatricians? June 11, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - Even though he’s at retirement age, T.S. Dharmarajan, MD, continues to care for older patients as the clinical director of geriatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY. But he’s terrified of the possibility of becoming a patient himself one…
Health Risks Mount When Seniors Are Stranded in the ER June 4, 2024 by Judith Graham - It’s called “boarding” when patients who have come to an emergency room spend hours and hours, lying on a gurney in a hallway, waiting for a bed in the hospital. Studies show that seniors who have been boarded don’t do…
About 25 Percent of Older Adults in the United States Will Fall Within the Next Year May 1, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - At the end of each appointment, Jo Ann Battles’ cardiologist offers a “thought for the day.” Four years ago, it was this tongue-in-cheek advice: “Whatever you do, don’t fall.” Battles didn’t think much about it. At the time, she was…
Should Older People Take the New Weight Loss Drugs? April 3, 2024 by Judith Graham - Corlee Morris has dieted throughout her adult life. After her weight began climbing in high school, she spent years losing 50 or 100 pounds then gaining it back. 
Don’t Forget Your Eyes March 21, 2024 by Bernard J. Wolfson - I vividly remember that late Friday afternoon when my eye pressure spiked, and I staggered on foot to my ophthalmologist’s office as the rapidly thickening fog in my field of vision shrouded passing cars and traffic lights.
When Is It Time to Move to Senior Housing? March 6, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - Even after a diagnosis of vascular dementia, Laura Brancato’s father was able to stay in his own home for years. 
Addiction in Older Adults: A Problem on the Rise February 6, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - Jane’s adult children worried she was sinking into dementia. Her behavior had changed. She wasn’t taking care of her physical appearance. She was forgetful and missing appointments. Maybe it was time, family members wondered, to move her into assisted living. …
Tips for Long-Distance Caregivers January 10, 2024 by Mary Jacobs - This is part 2 of a series about caregiving from a distance. Read part 1 here. Fern, 92, called her daughter in a panic. She couldn’t turn off her television because she couldn’t find the remote. Due to Fern’s hearing…
What to Expect as You Age December 28, 2023 by Judith Graham - How many of us have wanted a reliable, evidence-based guide to aging that explains how our bodies and minds change as we grow older and how to adapt to those differences?- Caring from Afar December 8, 2023 by Mary Jacobs - This is part 1 of a series about caregiving from a distance. Read part 2 here. A few years before he passed away, Maria Hood noticed that her father wasn’t shaving or showering regularly, which was unusual, because the retired…
Dementia Can Take a Toll on Financial Health November 21, 2023 by Sarah Boden - Angela Reynolds knew her mother’s memory was slipping, but she didn’t realize how bad things had gotten until she started to untangle her mom’s finances: unpaid bills, unusual cash withdrawals and the discovery that, oddly, the mortgage on the family home had been refinanced at a higher interest rate.
Special Programs Teach Much-Needed Skills to Dementia Caregivers November 15, 2023 by Judith Graham - There’s no cure—yet—for Alzheimer’s disease. But dozens of programs developed in the past 20 years can improve the lives of both people living with dementia and their caregivers. 
What AI Can Do for Older Adults November 7, 2023 by Mary Jacobs - When Alyssa Weakley’s 82-year-old grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019, the family scrambled to respond. Her grandmother lived in southern California; Weakley and other family members were in northern California and Washington State. As problems arose, they took turns…
Senior Centers Are Evolving - The first time Sue and Mike Miller visited their community’s senior center in Portage, MI, several years ago, they found a few people playing pool or bridge—and decided it wasn’t for them. But the couple tried again in 2022, when…
The Upside and Downside of Being Owned by a Cat - I love my cat, but until now, I hadn’t thought of her as a way to stay healthy. In fact, when I first brought Velvet—a small, feisty black kitty—home, I thought of her as a dog substitute. My beloved dog…