1/21/2013 – Light-up tumors show aging in real-time

/in , /by

Researchers have long known that the gene, p16INK4a (p16), plays a role in aging and cancer suppression by activating an important tumor defense mechanism called “cellular senescence.”

A team led by Norman Sharpless, Professor of Cancer Research at University of North Carolina, has developed a strain of mice that turns on a gene from fireflies when the normal p16 gene is activated. In cells undergoing senescence, the p16 gene is switched on, activating the firefly gene and causing the affected tissue to glow.

Read the full article at Futurity.

1/21/2013 – Europe's Accelerated Aging Problem

/in /by

The jury is still out on whether nations are emerging wiser from the global financial crisis that started in 2008. But it is certain that they are emerging older. Governments in many developed markets have lost valuable time in addressing an inexorable force: the pressure that aging populations will put on public finances. That is particularly true in Europe, because of its intense fiscal crisis.

Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.

1/18/2013 – How Healthcare Spending May Derail Your Retirement

/in , /by

A major research effort by AARP provides projections on the size of medical bills that may await you. The big seniors’ group launched a major project this week to support efforts to help reverse the economic damage experienced during the past several decades by the middle class, or what’s left of it. As part of the effort, AARP commissioned nine studies on the major financial challenges facing middle-class consumers of all ages.

Read the full article at U.S. News and World Report.

1/18/2013 – Are Young Workers On Track For Retirement–Or Smoking Something?

/in , /by

In a survey of defined contribution plan participants conducted last October by State Street Global Advisors and the Boston Research Group, 82% of those under 25 said they were on track to have enough saved to meet their retirement goals. That compares with the 54% of those aged 35 to 44 and 63% of those 55 and older who described themselves as on track. The youngest workers were not only confident, but in some cases downright cocky: 17% rated themselves as “extremely knowledgeable” about financial matters, compared to the 9% of those aged 35 to 44 and 8% of those 55 and older who made that claim.

Read the full article at Forbes.

1/18/2013 – The Impact of Baby Boomers Working Past 65

/in , /by

Today, reaching age 65 does not automatically mean it’s time to retire. The promise of a relaxing and stress-free retirement has been replaced in many cases by the reality that people are not prepared to retire. Some employees cannot afford to retire or are just plain afraid to retire. Age 65 is now just another year in an ongoing career, and retirement has no set time frame.

Read the full article at U.S. News & World Report.

1/17/2013 – The high cost of raising the Medicare age

/in , /by

Medicare reform is back in the spotlight as the White House and Congress gear up for another deficit reduction battle in coming weeks. President Obama has said he’d be willing to make modest changes to Medicare as part of the debt ceiling negotiations, while House Republicans are looking to overhaul the troubled entitlement programs.

Read the full article at CNN Money.

1/16/2013 – U.S. business executives call for raising retirement age to 70

/in , /by

A business group of top executives on Wednesday proposed reforms to Social Security and Medicare that would raise the enrollment age for both programs to 70 but not raise Social Security taxes paid by upper-income Americans.

Read the full article at Reuters.

1/15/2013 – Study: More to Meal Delivery Than Food

/in , /by

Brown University health researchers crunched numbers — from Medicare, states and counties, the federal Administration on Aging and more than 16,000 nursing homes — from 2000 to 2009, publishing their findings in the journal Health Services Research.

The connection they discovered between home-delivered meals and the nursing home population will come as welcome news (though not really news) to Meals on Wheels believers: States that spent more than the average to deliver meals showed greater reductions in the proportion of nursing home residents who didn’t need to be there.

Read the full article at The New York Times.

1/14/2013 – As Hepatitis C Sneaks Up On Baby Boomers, Treatment Options Grow

/in , /by

Two out of three Americans living with hepatitis C infection are baby boomers.

A recommendation last fall from the CDC underscores the magnitude of the problem. The agency says everybody born between 1945 and 1965 — around 79 million baby boomers — should be tested for hepatitis C.

Read/listen to the full story at National Public Radio.

1/12/2013 – Over 50, and Under No Illusions

/in /by

The recession and its aftermath have hit older workers especially hard. People 55 to 64 — an age range when many start to dream of kicking back — are having a particularly hard time finding new jobs. For a vast majority of this cohort, being thrown out of work means months of fruitless searching and soul-crushing rejection.

Read the full article at The New York Times.