Get Healthy!

If you are middle-aged or older, you may often feel lonely and isolated as you deal with the strains of daily life.

Now, a new survey suggests you are far from alone: More than one-third of middle-aged and senior Americans feel that way.

The good news? That means that loneliness and isolation has mostly returned to pre-pandemic rates among older Americans, the researchers noted.

Maintaining muscle might be one way to help prevent dementia, new research suggests.

“We found that older adults with smaller skeletal muscles are about 60% more likely to develop dementia when adjusted for other known risk factors,” said study co-senior author Marilyn Albert. She's a professor ...

If you're over 40 and raise your levels of exercise to that of the top 25% of your peers, you might gain an average of five more years of life, a new study calculates.

For over-40 folks in the lowest level of daily activity, a similar move could bring an average 11 extra years, the same report found.

The study results surprised even its Australian authors.

“Our findings ...

Seniors who are drowsy during the day and find it hard to muster enthusiasm for activities could be at higher risk of a brain condition that precedes dementia, a new study warns.

These sleep-related problems are associated with "motoric cognitive risk syndrome," a pre-demen...

Sleep apnea appears to increase a person's odds of developing dementia, a new study finds.

The effect seems stronger among women compared to men, noted a research team from the University of Michigan.

Luckily, there are treatments available to help ease sleep apnea, noted study lead author Dr. Tiffany Braley

Folks with more money and better education are at less risk for developing dementia as they grow older, a new study shows.

People with advantaged backgrounds are less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, and to progress from there to dementia, researchers found.

They also have a better chance ...

Hospice care is a compassionate and heartfelt enterprise, involving a medical team dedicated to maintaining a person’s comfort and dignity as they face the final curtain.

Now, new research shows hospice is also incredibly cost-effective as a health care service, a new report says.

For-p...

Some Americans should get more than one shot of the updated COVID vaccines because their age or certain health conditions make them more vulnerable to severe infections, U.S. health officials advised this week.

Six months after their first shot, people 65 and older and those who are immunocompromised should receive a second dose of the vaccines that rolled out this fall, according to...

There's a simple test available to seniors who want to quickly check how well they’re aging: see how long you can stand on one leg.

Folks over 50 who can stand on one leg for 30 seconds are aging gracefully, particularly if it’s not their strong leg, a new study finds.

This test worked better than tests of hand grip, knee strength and walking gait at evaluating healthy a...

Cataract surgery could restore good vision to older people and by doing so cut their odds for potentially life-threatening falls, a new study finds.

Folks who got the surgery had significantly lower odds for bone fractures and brain hemorrhages linked to falling compared to people with cataracts who didn't get the operation, researchers report.

The benefits were even greater than ex...

A global real-world study of the vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) finds it offers folks aged 60 and over 80% protection against severe illness and/or hospitalization.

With U.S. vaccination rates falling, "I encourage older adults to follow CDC guidance and get vaccinated for RSV as we enter this year’s and every year’s respiratory disease season," said study co-au...

Most Americans 50 and older don’t place much trust in health advice generated by artificial intelligence, a new survey finds.

About 74% of middle-aged and senior Americans would have very little to no trust in health info generated by AI, the University of Michigan poll found.

At the same time, these older adults have...

About 6.5 million “Near Dual” seniors are struggling to afford long-term care as they grow older and more frail, a new study warns.

“Near Dual” seniors are those who are eligible for Medicare but are only at the cusp of eligibility for Medicaid, the federal/state insurance program for the poor, researchers said.

Medicaid covers long-term care for seniors; Med...

It’s never too late for a person to quit smoking, even if they’re elderly, a new study finds.

Dropping the smokes even as late as 75 can meaningfully increase a person’s life expectancy, researchers reported recently in the