10/25/2013 – Why boomers are happier than millennials at work

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It takes years, if not decades, to learn to love one’s job, a new study finds.

Read the full article at MarketWatch.

10/25/2013 – Aging Well: Keeping Blood Sugar Low May Protect Memory

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There’s a growing body of evidence linking elevated blood sugar to memory problems.

For instance, earlier this year, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicineconcluded that higher glucose may be a risk factor for dementia, even among people without type 2 diabetes.

Read the full article at National Public Radio (NPR).

10/24/2013 – Hiring an End-of-Life Enforcer

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The chilling dilemma of “the unbefriended elderly,” who don’t have family or close friends to make medical decisions on their behalf if they can’t speak for themselves, generated a bunch of ideas the last time we discussed it.

One reader, Elizabeth from Los Angeles, commented that as an only child who had no children, she wished she could hire someone to take on this daunting but crucial responsibility.

“I would much rather pay a professional, whom I get to know and who knows me, to make the decisions,” she wrote. “That way it is an objective decision-maker based on the priorities I have discussed with him/her before my incapacitation.”

Elizabeth, it turns out other people have been thinking the same way.

Read the full article at The New York Times.

10/24/2013 – Many Americans don't expect to ever retire

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A new Wells Fargo study found that 37% of people don’t ever expect to retire, but instead will have to “work until I’m too sick or die.” Survey respondents say paying the monthly bills is their highest priority, and saving for retirement is a distant second.

Read the full article at USA Today.

10/23/2013 – Aging Population Could Trim 3% Off China GDP Growth

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China’s one-child policy has hastened such a big slowdown in China’s working-age population that the country’s demographic future is starting to look a lot more like that of rich nations—and that’s bad news for China.

Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.

10/23/2013 – Most Americans accumulating debt faster than they’re saving for retirement

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A majority of Americans with 401(k)-type savings accounts are accumulating debt faster than they are setting aside money for retirement, further undermining the nation’s troubled system for old-age saving, a new report has found.

Read the full article at The Washington Post.

10/22/2013 – Cities Grapple With Pension Debt

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Dozens of local municipalities are facing major budget issues, with pension debts getting much of the blame. And many city workers are finding their retirement funds in danger, or worse. Host Michel Martin speaks with Michael Fletcher of The Washington Post, about the issue.

Read the full article at National Public Radio (NPR).

10/21/2013 – Less Sleep Linked To Alzheimer’s Disease

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Scientists from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that people who get less sleep or poor quality sleep tend to have abnormal brain images that hint at the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Read the full article at Time.

10/21/2013 – Scientists Discover New Biological Clock With Age-Measuring Potential

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A team of scientists from UCLA have discovered a new biological clock with the potential to measure the age of human tissue. While preliminary, the research has fascinating implications for anti-aging – if it holds up in further testing.

Read the full article at Forbes.

10/19/2013 – Study: Brains flush toxic waste in sleep, including Alzheimer’s-linked protein

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While we are asleep, our bodies may be resting, but our brains are busy taking out the trash.

A new study has found that the cleanup system in the brain, responsible for flushing out toxic waste products that cells produce with daily use, goes into overdrive in mice that are asleep. The cells even shrink in size to make for easier cleaning of the spaces around them.

Read the full article at The Washington Post.