It's estimated that nearly half of all Americans over 65 own a gun or live with someone who does. And 7 million in the U.S. have dementia, a number that's expected to double within two decades.
To help seniors stay healthy and independent, some Medicare plans will soon cover things like home-delivered meals or rides to the doctor, but finding plans that include the coverage is not easy.
In mice genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer's symptoms, those given a synthetic version of a chemical in marijuana retained normal memory function.
In the U.S., Alzheimer's clinical trials are largely limited to fluent English speakers, which leaves millions of patients without the opportunity to participate and scientists without diverse data.
Democrats are hammering Republicans over their efforts to eliminate insurance protections for pre-existing conditions. Republicans are telling seniors their Medicare coverage may be in danger.
Though widely prescribed in hospital intensive care units to treat hallucinations and other signs of delirium, Haldol and similar drugs are no better than a placebo for such patients, a study finds.
Marijuana dispensaries are reaching out to seniors seeking help with the aches and pains of aging. They're discovering an array of products and some interesting side effects.
A new approach to helping Alzheimer's and dementia patients starts with training caregivers, teaching them to respond to their loved ones' needs with insight and creativity.
As marijuana gains popularity among people 65 and older, geriatricians call for more research on how it affects elderly patients. Shifts in metabolism as we age can intensify any drug's side effects.
Money has poured into Alzheimer's research, but until very recently not much of it went toward investigating infection in causing dementia. A million dollar prize may lead more scientists to try.
Before Jason's wife Amy died, she wrote a heartbreaking farewell essay: "You May Want To Marry My Husband." Jason Rosenthal remembers Amy's life — and the lessons he learned from her death.
Writer Emily Levine has stage IV lung cancer. But instead of fearing the inevitable, she decided to embrace her new reality, and face death with humor and gratitude for a life well-lived.
How can we better cope with grief? After observing funerals around the world, banker and travel blogger Michelle Knox suggests we talk about death with our loved ones — especially when we're healthy.
Mortician Caitlin Doughty is trying to find a more natural and sustainable way to bury our loved ones. But to get there, she says: we need to rethink how we view death altogether.
Lux Narayan analyzed 2000 New York Times obituaries, of both famous and not-so-famous people, over a two-year period. One common thread among them? A fierce desire to help others.
Lost birth certificates, name changes and even getting to the DMV can all be challenges when older people try to get a new driver's license in order to vote in states with strict voter ID laws.
Author Mara Altman got tired of hiding her hairy, sweaty self from the world, and set out to reframe the shame in her latest book of essays — part memoir, part scientific exploration, part manifesto.
The spread of air conditioning may have kept some people from dying in this summer's extreme heat. But studies project more heat-related illnesses as the climate warms.
The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would prohibit some home health workers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks. The rule would likely undercut unions' power, all agree.
Federal law keeps insurers from using genetic test results when pricing and issuing health insurance. But the tests might keep you from being able to get life insurance or a long-term-care policy.
State Medicaid programs already get much more money from the federal government than Puerto Rico Medicaid gets — and the storm-ravaged U.S. territory's safety net for the poor is barely hanging on.
Medicare pays more than $16 billion a year for hospice services. But a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services says hospice patients don't always get the care they're promised.
Dehydration has long been known to slow physical performance. Now there's evidence that too little water can hurt cognitive performance, too, making complex thinking tasks harder.
