All Articles on Aging

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  Anticholinergic drugs linked to risk for pneumonia in elderly

  Group Health study suggests higher risk with acute or chronic use.
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  The Who was wrong: We should hope to get old

  Old age does not equal unhappiness, says Dr. Eric B. Larson in King’s Review, a magazine from University of Cambridge, UK.
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  High-dose vaccine may protect seniors better

  Thanks to a new flu vaccine being distributed this flu season, seniors are getting more protection against serious seasonal flu viruses.
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  Caring for someone with dementia? These tips may help.

  If you’re a caregiver for someone with dementia, you know how challenging your role can be. This is especially true with progressive conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, where deterioration of brain function can affect a person’s behavior.
• Aging with an edge: The ACT study advances genetics and brain science

  What if scientists could combine the latest in genetics and brain science with decades of rich data from research and clinical visits? That interdisciplinary cross-fertilization is just what’s happening with Adult Changes in Thought (ACT), a joint Group Health–University of Washington (UW) study funded by the National Institute on Aging. After decades of studying Group Health seniors to pinpoint risk factors for conditions including dementia, ACT researchers are now collaborating with new partners to learn even more.
• Can we talk?

  As a health services researcher, I know the toll society pays when we fail to help patients talk about and plan for eventualities like end-of-life care. Surveys show most Americans would prefer to die peacefully at home—and a recent study shows increasingly more are doing so. But the same study also reports that in their last three months, more patients are being hospitalized—and more often in intensive care units.
• No magic bullet, but cautious optimism in journey to halt dementia

  Last month brought good news for those interested in preventing or delaying dementia—which is predicted to triple between now and the year 2050, affecting 115 billion people worldwide.