A recent study shows that men and women who are seniors and living apart from family and friends were at a 26% higher risk of death over a seven year period. The risk of death was higher even if the people living alone did not think of themselves as being lonely. The researchers said those people were dying of usual causes, but their isolation was strongly influencing their deaths. People that live alone are over 25% of the households in the U.S., and the number of people in the U.S. who said they... 

Tracey Halvorson, the fire dispatcher in Bakersfield, California pleaded with someone on the other end of the 911 line. The dispatcher pleaded with the woman to begin CPR on a woman who was hardly breathing. Halverson said is anyone there willing to give aid to the woman so she will not die. The answer after a second’s pause was not at this current time. The 911 tape was released this week by the Fire Department in Bakersfield and on the tape, a woman told the dispatcher that she was a Glenwood... 

Two reviews of research done in the past has started a debate over the two vitamins considered to be the most important in strengthening bones to prevent them from breaking. In bone and general health, both vitamin D and calcium are important. Because of that, researchers reviewed data to see if supplements of calcium and vitamin D can help to prevent bone fractures. Each year nearly 1.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from bone fractures tied to bones that are brittle. Close to 50% of all women... 

Researchers from the University of California at Berkley found a link between memory loss and the deterioration of the brain and poor sleep, among elderly adults. Researchers said they found that during sleep, that is deep and restorative, slow brain waves normally take place in younger people and play a key role in the transference of memories between the brain’s hippocampus, the area that stores memories for the short term and the prefrontal cortex the area that provides storage of memories over... 

Drinking a beverage rich in cocoa each day might help older adults brain health says a new study. The study included 90 people who were all elderly and already had some mild cognitive impairment or MCI, which includes but is not limited to difficulty with judgement, thinking, memory and language. During the eight week study, the participants drank a cocoa beverage that had either low, medium or high levels of flavanoids, which are antioxidants. Those who were given the medium and high levels of the... 

A new study finds that the aging of the brains of older honeybees is effectively reversed when they take on tasks typically handled by younger bees.  The aging of the brains of the honeybees seems to resemble that in humans.  The discovery suggests that social intervention should be considered, in addition to medications, as a way to treat age-related dementia in humans.  The findings are detailed in the journal Experimental Gerontology. Gro Amdam, who led the research at Arizona State University,... 

AIDS is starting to grey. The government projects that by the end of 2019, over half of the Americans currently living with HIV will be 50 years old or older. Even in countries that are still developing, many more people afflicted with AIDS are living to middle age or beyond. The government’s news is good, but it is challenging at the same time. More and more evidence shows that people who have battled the virus for decades may be prematurely aging. This week, in Washington D.C. at the International... 

An experimental drug to fight against Alzheimer’s disease was not effective in its first clinical trial. The results from the large trial dealt a blow to the theory about what causes the disease and to the three pharmaceutical companies behind the experimental treatment. Pfizer, one of those three companies, announced on Monday that the medication, bapineuzumab, was not able to improve either daily functioning or cognition of patients compared to just a placebo in a Phase 3 clinical trial. Detailed... 

Vitamin D has been associated with healthy bones and a new study is giving researchers an idea of how much is needed to prevent fractures in an older person.  75% of fractures occur in people age 65 and older.  The worldwide incidence of hip fractures is expected to increase by 240% among women and 310% among men by 2050. Vitamin D supplementation is a highly touted method to prevent fractures.  During the study, researchers measured the effects of Vitamin D supplementation according to each subject’s... 

Following the largest ever genetic analysis of Parkinson’s disease by researchers,  five new genes responsible for the disease have been identified, which will have significant impact on early diagnosis and possible therapies for Parkinson’s disease. Earlier six genomic variants linked to the disease were identified, bringing the total number of genomic variants associated with Parkinson’s, to 11. This study by a 130-member International Parkinson Disease Genomics Consortium had...