seniors – News Stories About seniors - Page 2

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

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...

Tsunami Destruction Echoes World War II for Japan's Elderly

For Japan's Elderly,
Crisis Echoes WWII

Mar 15, 2011 8:11 AM CDT

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

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

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

Jan 11, 2010 3:59 PM CST

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

Oct 28, 2009 4:16 PM CDT

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

Oct 21, 2009 4:25 PM CDT

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:

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

Aug 24, 2009 12:53 PM CDT

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

Aug 3, 2009 12:33 PM CDT

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

Aug 1, 2009 7:56 AM CDT

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

Jul 22, 2009 3:33 PM CDT

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

May 27, 2009 7:45 AM CDT

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

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

Dec 24, 2008 7:15 AM CST

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—...

Japan's Seniors Turn to Crime

Oct 17, 2008 9:10 AM CDT

Japan's Seniors Turn to Crime

Violence surges among over-65s

(Newser) - It's not the kids who are causing hand-wringing in Japan these days, but the elderly, who are responsible for a crime wave, the Daily Telegraph reports. With some 49,000 people over the age of 65 convicted of crimes ranging from petty theft to murder last year—more than triple...

'Sweetie' Talk
Saps Seniors'
Health

Oct 7, 2008 7:34 AM CDT

'Sweetie' Talk Saps Seniors' Health

Condescending treatment builds poor self-image: study

(Newser) - Many believe they’re bridging a divide with the elderly by calling them “sweetie” or “dear”—what experts call “elderspeak.” But studies show that such language may actually be hurtful to older people, causing “negative images of aging” that can trigger a “downward...

Oldsters Not Diggin'
Whippersnapper Obama

analysis

Aug 12, 2008 6:11 AM CDT

Oldsters Not Diggin' Whippersnapper Obama

Seniors see their worldview in McCain

(Newser) - Barack Obama is facing an unusually pronounced generation gap among voters: though normally apathetic young people are supporting him in droves, those over 65 are leaning heavily toward John McCain—a fact that’s keeping the race tight, the Washington Post reports. And seniors have a loud voice on Election...

'Young Old People' Defend McCain From Age Attacks

Aug 11, 2008 3:44 AM CDT

'Young Old People' Defend McCain From Age Attacks

'What was the question?' quips one

(Newser) - A group of fit Florida seniors have stepped up to the plate to defend candidate John MCain from criticism that he's too old to competently govern the country. "I think he could do the job in his 90s," said a supporter, one of several men born within days...

Seniors Wield Canes in Martial- Arts Training

Jul 12, 2008 8:58 AM CDT

Seniors Wield Canes in Martial- Arts Training

Exercise and self- defense meet in 'Cane Fu' classes

(Newser) - Call it cane fighting, combat cane or cane fu: in classes across the country, seniors are turning to a different kind of self-defense, the Wall Street Journal reports. While the practice serves as a healthy way to get exercise, it also provides comfort to elderly people interested in protecting themselves...