seniors

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Number of Seniors on Pain Pills Surges, Alarmingly

'USA Today' analysis reveals jump over 5 years

(Newser) - More seniors are getting powerful pain meds for longer periods through Medicare, USA Today reports—and the increases are drastic. One in five seniors now gets prescribed pain drugs like Vicodin and Percocet. The number getting opioid pain medication prescriptions jumped 30% between 2007 and 2012, passing 8.5 million...

Germans Save Money by Exporting Old People
Germans Save Money
by Exporting Old People
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 30, 2012 1:17 PM CST

Germans Save Money by Exporting Old People

Opponents call practice 'inhumane'

(Newser) - With long-term care costs rising—and actual care standards falling—a growing number of Germans are saving money by shipping their elderly relatives to foreign homes, the Guardian reports. Most are headed to Eastern Europe; an estimated 7,146 were in Hungary last year, along with more 3,000 in...

The Best Cities for Seniors
 The Best Cities for Seniors 
study says
Jul 31, 2012 12:17 PM CDT

The Best Cities for Seniors

Topping the list: Provo, Utah

(Newser) - A new study ranks the best cities for seniors—and, when it comes to big cities, none in Florida crack the top 10. And just one Florida city makes it into the top 10 smaller cities for aging. "The traditional notions about retirement, about pulling up stakes and moving...

Pill Could Offer Seniors Years More to Live

But some experts call for more testing

(Newser) - A new one-a-day pill could offer 11 more years of life to 28% of people over 50, researchers say. The "polypill"—a combination of blood pressure-lowering and cholesterol-fighting drugs—could lower heart attack risk by 72% and stroke risk by 64%. On top of all that, it could...

Seniors Still Owe $36B in Student Loans

For some, delinquent debt problems continue even into 80s

(Newser) - America's student debt woes are battering a surprising demographic: seniors. In fact, Americans 60 years of age and older still owe $36 billion in student loans—and more than 10% of those loans are delinquent, reports the Washington Post . All told, seniors account for 4.8% of $85 billion...

Nursing Homes Overmedicating Seniors With Dementia: Health Department Report
Nursing Homes, Big Pharma Overmedicating Seniors
federal report
May 10, 2011 4:38 PM CDT

Nursing Homes, Big Pharma Overmedicating Seniors

Residents with dementia get antipsychotics, boosting death risk: US report

(Newser) - Nursing homes are treating dementia sufferers with powerful antipsychotics despite FDA advice to the contrary, according to a Health and Human Services report spotted by Pro Publica . The FDA began requiring antipsychotics to carry warning labels in 2005 stating the increased death risk they pose for dementia patients. But 88%...

STDs Soar Among Seniors
 STDs Soar 
 Among Seniors 
Apr 19, 2011 2:11 PM CDT

STDs Soar Among Seniors

Chlamydia and syphilis rise faster than national average

(Newser) - Maybe it’s longer lives; maybe it’s Viagra. Either way, STDs are soaring among seniors—and climbing faster among older adults than within the population as a whole. Reportings of syphilis and chlamydia among those 55 and older jumped 43% between 2005 and 2009, the Orlando Sentinel finds in...

For Japan's Elderly, Crisis Echoes WWII

Tsunami survivors tell stories of heroism, selfishness

(Newser) - Younger Japanese aren’t familiar with the level of destruction wrought by the tsunami—but those who lived through World War II have seen it once before. Older residents of tsunami-hit areas long ago grappled with radiation risks and mass destruction. “I lived through the Sendai air raids,”...

Anti-AARP Group Launching
 Anti-AARP Group Launching  
Sep 13, 2010 7:22 AM CDT

Anti-AARP Group Launching

Alliance for Retirement Prosperity is against 'ObamaCare'

(Newser) - The American Association of Retired Persons ... sounds so non-threatening, right? Yet an anti-AARP group is coming out swinging against the nonprofit. Led by a longtime Republican adviser and head of the Social Security Institute, the Alliance for Retirement Prosperity will launch Wednesday with the goals of repealing the Obama administration's...

Utah May Eliminate 12th Grade
 Utah May Eliminate 12th Grade 
Feb 15, 2010 7:54 AM CST

Utah May Eliminate 12th Grade

Lawmaker proposes drastic cut to address $700M shortfall

(Newser) - Utah is considering battling its $700 million budget gap, and wiping out senioritis in the bargain, by eliminating the entire last year of high school. GOP state Sen. Chris Buttars' proposal to eliminate 12th grade altogether could save the state up to $60 million. The plan is supported by those...

Airports Catch Seniors Carrying Swords in Canes

Elderly frequently transport weapons without knowing it

(Newser) - It may sound ridiculous, but swords hidden inside of canes are a disturbingly common problem for airport security. They’re almost always carried by elderly individuals more interested in walking than in stabbing, and the sword-wielding seniors generally profess to have been utterly unaware that they were carrying weapons, the...

GOP Ramps Up Attacks on AARP Over Health Care

Republicans see 'backroom deals' over reform

(Newser) - The "right-wing commentariat" has a new villain to replace ACORN, and it has a far more familiar acronym: AARP. The basic line of attack is that the AARP has struck "backroom deals" with Democrats on health care reform to steer insurance business its way, writes Evan McMorris. The...

America's Most Powerful Octogenarians

Slate ranks the country's top old people

(Newser) - Retirement? Bah! Slate’s annual 80 for 80 list ranks America’s mightiest octogenarians, giving extra credit for post-80 achievements, and “being really, really old.” The top:
  1. Thomas Monson (82): As the head of the Mormon church, 13 million people think he’s a prophet “in the
...

Steele Changes Tune on Medicare Cuts

(Newser) - The RNC has joined the fracas over health care reform with a proposed “seniors’ bill of rights” that guards against Medicare cuts, ABC News reports. “Our seniors have really come under fire in the last few weeks,” says RNC chair Michael Steele—who backed Medicare cuts as...

In LA, You're Never Too Old to Rap

Seniors learn to love the music in unusual class

(Newser) - A new crop of rappers is emerging in Los Angeles, and they have one thing in common: They’re senior citizens. Hip-hop artist Keith Cross started his unorthodox rap class in 2004 to show seniors “there is positive rap out there; we just have to look for it,”...

Seniors Spooked by 'Kill Granny' Health Bill Campaign

(Newser) - Conservative radio hosts are scaring America's seniors with a campaign against an end-of-life counseling proposal in the health care reform bill, the Washington Post reports. Under the proposal doctors would be reimbursed for consulting with elderly patients about what medical interventions they would prefer as the end nears, but opponents...

Wii Bowling a Strike With Seniors

(Newser) - Seniors are wholeheartedly embracing Wii Bowling as a fun social activity mercifully devoid of the weight of an actual ball, the Chicago Tribune reports. “Can you think of anything better to do?” says the president of a league at a Chicago-area retirement community. “It's the piece de resistance ...

Inner-Ear Woes Linked to Many Elderly Tumbles

More than half of Americans over 60 have the disorder

(Newser) - Researchers have shed light on the frequent, debilitating, and sometimes life-threatening falls among the elderly: many tumbles may be caused by inner-ear imbalances, Time reports. Some 35% of Americans over 40 have such vestibular dysfunction; the condition affects more than 50% of Americans 60 and older. An inner-ear imbalance multiplies...

Watch Out World, You're Going Gray
 Watch Out World, 
 You're Going Gray 
Analysis
Jan 4, 2009 11:38 AM CST

Watch Out World, You're Going Gray

Aging, population decline mark next decades

(Newser) - Wall Street's a wreck and terrorists are clamoring for WMDs, but the world's real crisis is far worse: It's getting old, Neil Howe and Richard Jackson write in the Washington Post. By the 2020s, baby boomers will push the median age in Western Europe and Japan to near 50,...

Seniors, Remember Ledger: Don't Mix Meds

Seniors in danger from drug interactions

(Newser) - Millions of older Americans take so many prescription and over-the-counter drugs that they risk serious side effects from the drugs’ interactions, USA Today reports. A new study found that about 30% of people aged 57 to 85 now take at least five prescription drugs regularly—plus non-prescription medications and supplements—...

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