October 14, 2020

Many Older Americans With Heart Failure Take 10 or More Meds

TUESDAY, Oct. 13, 2020 -- When older people hospitalized for heart failure are sent home, they are often given a whopping 10 medications to take for a variety of conditions. But is this "polypharmacy" practice necessary, or does it just place a bigger burden on already frail patients?

October 5, 2020

Shall You Dance? Study Finds Dancing Helps Seniors Avoid Falls

THURSDAY, Oct. 1, 2020 -- Preventing falls in older age could be as fun as dancing them away, new research shows.

Researchers found a 31% reduction in falls and a 37% reduction in fall risk for those aged 65 and older when reviewing clinical trials on "dance-based mind-motor activities" from around the world.

September 29, 2020

Lockdown Could Worsen Hearing Woes for U.S. Seniors

TUESDAY, Sept. 29, 2020 -- Isolation due to the pandemic and failure to get hearing aids checked has fueled anxiety, depression and more hearing loss for many seniors.

"This has been a very difficult time as senior facilities and individuals try to balance poor health outcomes related to COVID-19 versus poor health outcomes related to social isolation," said Catherine Palmer, president of the American Academy of Audiology.

September 21, 2020

COVID-19 Is Tougher on Older Men, and Scientists May Now Know Why

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2020 -- Key differences in immune system function may help determine why severe, life-threatening COVID-19 tends to target older men, scientists say.

A new study found that among elderly people and in men, especially, certain factors may lead to a weaker immune system response against infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

September 21, 2020

Could Daily Low-Dose Aspirin Hasten Cancer in Seniors?

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 12, 2020 -- Taking a daily low-dose aspirin may speed the progression of cancer in the elderly, a new clinical trial shows.

Daily aspirin doubled the risk that a person 70 or older would die from a stage 3 cancer, and increased the death risk associated with stage 4 cancers by nearly a third, according to data from more than 19,000 older people in the United States and Australia.

September 15, 2020

Isolation, Loneliness of Lockdowns Is Tough on America's Seniors

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9, 2020 -- Seniors are among those most at risk for dying from COVID-19, and so they've been urged to socially distance during the pandemic.

But experts fear this isolation, while protecting them from a potentially fatal infection, might be wearing away at their health in other ways.