11/12/2012 – Alzheimer’s Precursors Evident in Brain at Early Age

Scientists studying Alzheimer’s disease are increasingly finding clues that the brain begins to deteriorate years before a person shows symptoms of dementia.

Now, research on a large extended family of 5,000 people in Colombia with a genetically driven form of Alzheimer’s has found evidence that the precursors of the disease begin even earlier than previously thought, and that this early brain deterioration occurs in more ways than has been documented before.

Read the full article at The New York Times.

11/11/12 – Child’s Education, but Parents’ Crushing Loans

When Michele Fitzgerald and her daughter, Jenni, go out for dinner, Jenni pays. When they get haircuts, Jenni pays. When they buy groceries, Jenni pays. It has been six years since Ms. Fitzgerald — broke, unemployed and in default on the $18,000 in loans she took out for Jenni’s college education — became a boomerang mom, moving into her daughter’s townhouse apartment in Hingham, Mass. Jenni pays the rent.

For Jenni, 35, the student loans and the education they bought have worked out: she has a good job in public relations and is paying down the loans in her name. But for her mother, 60, the parental debt has been disastrous.

Read the full article at The New York Times.

11/9/2012 – Slower Growth Seen in a Graying World

As the world grows older in the coming decades, economic growth will slow.

That forecast was issued Friday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 34 countries that includes all of the major industrialized nations.

Read the full article at The New York Times.

10/30/2012 – The Risks of Tapping Your Retirement Fund for an Alternative Use

Retirement funds are being used increasingly for anything but retirement. Instead, 401(k)’s and individual retirement accounts are becoming money pots used to invest in business start-ups, speculate in gold and buy private equity investments.

Such maneuvers come with big tax advantages. But they may also leave their users penniless in retirement, while their ability to evade taxes can cost the government.

Read the full article at The New York Times.

10/29/2012 – Lilly trials boost amyloid link to Alzheimer's-analysis

Levels of a protein believed to be a main cause of Alzheimer’s disease rose in the blood of patients treated with Eli Lilly’s experimental drug in late-stage trials, suggesting the protein, beta amyloid, was removed from the brain as intended, researchers said on Monday.

Read the full article at Reuters.

10/29/2012 – How Cannabinoids May Slow Brain Aging

Since the mid 2000′s researchers have been building an appreciation for the power of marijuana-like substances that make up the brain’s cannabinoid systems. In animal experiments, for example, synthetic compounds similar to THC—marijuana’s main psychoactive component—have shown promise in preserving brain functions. A 2008 study even demonstrated that a THC-like substance reduced brain inflammation and improved memory in older rats.

Read the full article at Time.

10/27/2012 – What Medicare Will Cover Even if You’re Not Likely to Get Better

Should the federal government cover the costs of many kinds of treatments for patients who aren’t going to get any better?

It didn’t, for many years. But after the settlement of a landmark class-action lawsuit this week, Medicare will soon begin paying more often for physical, occupational and other therapies for large numbers of people with certain disabilities and chronic conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Read the full article at The New York Times.

10/25/2012 – More Americans Delaying Retirement Until Age 80

As they struggle to save for retirement, a growing number of middle-class Americans plan to postpone their golden years until they are in their 80’s.

Nearly one-third, or 30%, now plan to work until they are 80 or older — up from 25% a year ago, according to a Wells Fargo survey of 1,000 adults with income less than $100,000.

Read the full article at CNN Money.

10/24/2012 – U.S. elderly, middle-aged see higher obesity rates: poll

Data from nearly 600,000 U.S. adults showed that people aged 18 and older were more likely to be obese than they were in 2008, according to the Gallup survey. Researchers noted a significant jump among adults in their 40s, 70s and 80s.

Read the full article at Reuters.

10/24/2012 – Many in Middle Class ‘Guess’ on Retirement Needs

Three-fourths of middle-class Americans say their estimate of what they’ll need to live on in retirement is based on “some sort of guess,” a new survey finds.

And those guesses often appear off the mark, according to the annual Wells Fargo Retirement Survey.

Read the full article at The New York Times.