The first large-scale trial to show that training improves cognitive function in older adults could reduce the number of people experiencing functional impairment by 38 percent by 2050, according to a new report.
Read the full article at The Washington Post.
But a group that includes leading Wall Street and Federal Reserve economists says the drop in workforce participation is about demographics, not the health of the economy. Mostly, it’s about Baby Boomers.
About 76% of those leaving the workforce in 2013 last year represented people over age 55 who say they don’t want jobs, the Labor Department estimates.
Read the full article at USA Today.
How can doctors help patients who are no longer able to care for themselves? How can they engage patients and their families when someone is mentally competent but making what seem to be bad choices.
A couple of weeks ago, the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a remarkable—and very important– article. Written by three doctors, it provides a valuable framework for physicians to think about these common situations and suggests four practical ways they can respond.
Read the full article at Forbes.
Frontotemporal dementia, unlike Alzheimer’s, often hits people in the prime of their lives, and can make them act like a completely different person.
Read the full article at The Atlantic.
Employees these days realize they probably won’t experience their grandparents’ version of retirement. They can expect to live longer and need to be fully prepared to make the most of this new stage of their lives. To ensure that the shine doesn’t come off their golden years, many plan to continue to work—only this time around they want it on their own terms. Semi-retirement offers a second chance to turn a passion into a fulfilling career and, at the same time, bring in extra cash to pay for that South American cruise you never had the time to take.
Read the full article at Forbes.
Researchers at the University of Maryland reported today that racism appears to accelerate aging in cells. In a first-ever study of its type, researchers found that African American men who reported experiencing negative effects from racial discrimination have shorter telomeres, the DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes that are considered biomarkers for biological aging.
Read the full article at Forbes.
It’s very possible you won’t spend as much in retirement as you think.
Read the full article at CNN.
Naturally, being diagnosed with dementia represents an important change in life, but it is certainly not a death sentence. Some patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease will live another 15 and even 20 more years, though others will progress more quickly. Nor does it represent the end of all that is good in life. Theresa Klein and her colleagues at Augustana Emerald Crest Assisted Living in Minneapolis have learned a crucial lesson that needs to be disseminated to caregivers everywhere: “We should dwell less on lamenting what dementia patients are incapable of and focus more on bringing out and celebrating what they are capable of doing.”
Read the full article at The Atlantic.
By 2060, Japan’s population will fall by nearly a third, according to the latest figures from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. Nearly 40% of those people will be 65 or older.
Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.
Studies are showing that learning to play an instrument can bring significant improvements in your brain.
Read the full article at National Geographic.