Pumping Irony

As Big Pharma’s latest Alzheimer’s drug faces renewed skepticism, a new study suggests that avoiding ultraprocessed food may be a more promising approach to maintaining healthy cognitive function as we age.

A growing proportion of U.S. seniors are struggling with too much debt, and a recent study suggests that it’s making them sick.

As the most recent — and virulent — of COVID variants spreads across the country, U.S. seniors have mostly ignored the available boosters. Is it time to increase our vigilance against a pandemic that refuses to retreat?

Medicare scam artists — and the agency’s own complacency — make the annual enrollment season more hazardous than it needs to be.

Recent research suggests heavy sleepers like me may avoid cognitive dysfunction and multimorbidity as we age — with some notable caveats.

Just as cheaper over-the-counter hearing aids finally become widely available, researchers are trumpeting new approaches to hearing loss that may render those devices unnecessary.

A landmark study suggests that colonoscopies do not reduce the risk of cancer — or mortality — nearly as much as advertised. That’s welcome news for the millions of seniors who, like me, stubbornly avoid the procedure.

The latest miracle cure for Alzheimer’s is likely to receive accelerated approval from the FDA, which benefits as much from the cash that accompanies these requests as Big Pharma does from the agency’s lax standards.

Arthritic knees often send seniors looking for various surgical solutions, even as recent research — and personal experience — suggests the most reliable remedy may simply involve moving those troublesome joints more frequently.

While the Federal Trade Commission works to tighten regulations on the funeral industry, which often uses obscure pricing policies to prey on grief-stricken mourners, seniors like me need to start thinking more seriously about how we want to be laid to rest.

Physical activity has long been shown to improve cognitive function, but a new study suggests we may be able to modify our workouts to boost specific types of memory.

All the time we spend staring at screens could be shortening our lifespan, according to a new study. We do have options, though returning to the typewriter is not one of them.

Can we cure dementia by zapping our brains with electrical currents? Some enterprising researchers would certainly like us to think so.

I’ve discovered plenty of good reasons for postponing retirement and continuing to pursue purposeful work, but a new study suggests I may have overlooked an important one: It could help prevent a stroke.

The Inflation Reduction Act will make some prescription drugs much more affordable for strapped Medicare beneficiaries. But will it deepen our dependence on Big Pharma?

A new study suggests that people mired in low-wage jobs for long periods of time may suffer cognitive decline earlier in life than those favored with a more affluent life. My checkered career leaves me wondering where I stand.

Struggling with a stressful workload in recent weeks, I’m struck by new research describing how chronic stress can accelerate the aging of our immune systems. So, why am I avoiding a proven stress-relief practice?

Elderly patients are often tagged with a “failure to thrive” label when doctors simply don’t want to spend the time and energy to determine a specific diagnosis. While leading geriatricians continue to argue against the designation, others point to its more salutary effects.

As Big Pharma continues to flail away on the Alzheimer’s front, new research increasingly turns toward identifying lifestyle changes that can lower the risk of falling prey to the disease.

Some 5 million elderly Americans fall prey to scam artists each year, and those who struggle to maintain social connections may be more vulnerable than most. A new evaluation program designed to measure an individual’s ability to make good choices could offer some help.

A new study suggests that poor balance may dramatically raise the risk of death — especially among the elderly. The conclusions, however, are about as rickety as my tree pose.