Healthy Aging Archive

Aging can be a challenge to body image. For some women, it may bring on — or rekindle — an eating disorder.

Many baby boomers are experiencing a disconnect between how old they feel and the birth date on their driver's licenses. In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, half of people in their late 60s and early 70s said they felt at least 10 to 20 years younger than their actual age.

Overdoses and drug interactions are to blame.

Some medications are notorious for having potentially serious side effects. Barbiturates, muscle relaxants, certain antihistamines — take too much of them, or take them with certain other medications, and you can wind up in serious trouble and possibly in the hospital. The risk is especially high for older people. With age, medications tend to have a more pronounced effect and linger in the body longer.

But researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Emory University found that the medications typically flagged as having serious effects are not the ones that most commonly result in emergency hospitalizations among older Americans.

The bone-thinning condition known as osteoporosis can be a big problem for older people. That’s why older folks are urged to have their bones checked with a test that measures bone density. Exactly how often to have the test hasn’t yet been set. By following 5,000 older women for almost 17 years, researchers found that the timing of the next bone mineral test should depend on the result of the current one. People who get a normal result can wait 15 years, those with moderate osteopenia should have the test every five years, while those with severe osteopenia should have it every year.

Everyone has moments of forgetfulness—misplaced keys, a forgotten errand, the name of that movie you want to recommend but can’t get off the tip of your tongue. A certain amount of forgetfulness seems to be a normal byproduct of aging. But how do you know is forgetfulness signals something more serious, like Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia? According to “A Guide to Alzheimer’s Disease,” an updated Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School, by exploring several questions you may be able to get a clearer sense of normal versus worrisome forgetfulness: Is my loved one worried about the memory loss? Is he or she getting lost in familiar territory? Are word-finding problems common? Is your loved one losing the ability to socialize, or interest in it?

Women over age 50 are having sex — and developing STIs — at a higher rate than commonly believed.

The notion that women lose interest in sexual activity after menopause has collapsed under scientific scrutiny. In a survey of 27,000 women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), more than 60% of women in their 50s, 45% of those in their 60s, and 28% of women in their 70s reported that they were sexually active, and almost two-thirds said they were happy with their level of sexual activity. Of those who were dissatisfied, more than half said they would prefer having sex more often. The study was reported in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society (November 2011).

It’s more than just a few flecks. President Barack Obama, who turned 50 in August, is definitely going gray. He’s said the color change runs in his family and has mentioned a grandfather who turned gray at 29. Dr. Michael Roizen, of RealAge.com fame, says presidents age twice as fast as normal when they’re in office. Not so, says new study of presidential longevity. According to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, there’s no evidence that American presidents die sooner than other American men of their time. In fact, quite the opposite: most of them lived long lives and beat the longevity expectations for their time. Seven of the first eight presidents lived to a ripe old age, with average life spans of 81.5 years. These men probably had some inborn hardiness, as well as fortunate circumstances.

Some medications are well known for being risky, especially for older people. Certain antihistamines, barbiturates, muscle relaxants—take too much of them, or take them with certain other medications, and you can wind up in serious trouble (and possibly in the back of ambulance). But researchers from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) […]

Taking care of your feet could improve your chances of staying on them.

For most of our adult lives, we can take it pretty much for granted that once we're upright and on our feet, we'll stay that way. But starting in about our mid-60s, remaining perpendicular is not such a sure thing. Each year, about one in every three older Americans takes a tumble, and the chances of falling increase in our 80s and 90s.

Screening guidelines often change after age 75. If you're in that age group, how do you decide which tests you need?

If you're close to age 75, you may have followed the same schedule for mammograms, Pap smears, and other screening tests for decades. And if you're like many women, you may be surprised that your physician is suggesting fewer tests or longer intervals between them. The practice seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom. After all, the risk for many degenerative diseases increases with age, so shouldn't older women be monitored even more closely? The answer is, "It depends on the woman."

Strategies that protect blood vessels also fight aging-related memory loss.

Like a slow, invisible thief, Alzheimer's disease steals memory and so much more. Its partner in crime, vascular dementia, has long lurked in the shadows. A scientific statement from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association puts the spotlight on vascular dementia and offers recommendations for preventing it.