You’ve probably heard of the phrase “midlife crisis”—it’s a phrase used to describe the period when someone’s behavior suddenly changes as they hit middle age, in response to the sudden longing for their youth. It may be characterized by bouts of dejection, splurging on expensive purchases, or other impulsive behaviors and activities to help them… Continue reading Is There Really Such a Thing as a Midlife Crisis?
Tag: Aging Well
Feeling Younger Than You Are Lowers Death Rate
Do you feel younger than you really are? If so, that’s good news! Research done at the University College London and published online in December 2014 by JAMA Internal Medicine found that older people who felt three or more years younger than their chronological age had a lower death rate compared with those who felt… Continue reading Feeling Younger Than You Are Lowers Death Rate
Web-Savvy Older Adults Who Enjoy Culture May Retain “Health Literacy” Better
Here’s one more reason to be glad you’re a “Silver Surfer” who often visits ThirdAge.com and other sites: Researchers from the University College of London found that regular Internet use helps to maintain health literacy skills, regardless of age related cognitive decline. Beyond that, older people who engage in cultural, civic, and leisure activities when… Continue reading Web-Savvy Older Adults Who Enjoy Culture May Retain “Health Literacy” Better
Grip Strength and Life Expectancy
Researchers from the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU) at the University of Southampton in the UK have shed new light on how grip strength changes across the lifespan. Previous work has shown that people with weaker grip strength in midlife and early old age are more likely to develop problems such as… Continue reading Grip Strength and Life Expectancy
Five Secrets of Resilience
Those of us who have a pulse also have risks … risks of bad things happening at anytime, anyplace. Illness, loss, impairment, or accidents can suddenly be a major part of our day or even our life. It’s like we have buzzards circling overhead wherever we go. When we’re young, those buzzards are high above… Continue reading Five Secrets of Resilience
Cocoa Flavanols Combat “Senior Moments”
Taking the chill out of winter weather by indulging in cup of hot cocoa may also be helping to dial back cognitive decline – but only if the naturally occurring dietary flavonols haven’t been removed by processing. Dietary cocoa flavanols—naturally occurring bioactives found in cocoa—reversed age-related memory decline in healthy older adults, according to a… Continue reading Cocoa Flavanols Combat “Senior Moments”
Molecular Chaperones, Aging, and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Aging is the most significant and universal risk factor for developing neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. This risk increases disproportionately with age, but no one really knows why. Now a team of scientists from Northwestern University, Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. and Harvard University has uncovered some clues. The… Continue reading Molecular Chaperones, Aging, and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Why You’re Taking Care of Yourself (or Not) As You’re Aging
People over 50 who feel comfortable with aging are likelier than those who don’t to get preventive health care services, University of Michigan researchers have found. Previous research has shown that older adults can take several different paths of health. Some decline, some stay the same, and some get healthier. What path an adult takes… Continue reading Why You’re Taking Care of Yourself (or Not) As You’re Aging
The One Essential Element You Need to Age Well
There’s no denying the powerful benefits of water. The wonders it can do for your overall health and well-being have been well studied and demonstrated—water is essential for survival, which is why it’s so important for aging well. Water is crucial as we age because it does a lot more than quench thirst. Water is… Continue reading The One Essential Element You Need to Age Well
The Plus Side of Population Aging
Here at ThirdAge, we’re delighted to spread some good news about the the fact that the population in the U.S. and other developed countries is increasingly older than in the past. Most academic discussions of this trend so far have focused on the potential problems it creates, including challenges to pension systems, economic growth, and… Continue reading The Plus Side of Population Aging
Hope for Repairing Muscles as We Age
As we age, stem cells throughout our bodies gradually lose their capacity to repair damage, even from normal wear and tear. Researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa in Canada have discovered the reason why this decline occurs in skeletal muscles. Their findings were published online September 2014 in the journal… Continue reading Hope for Repairing Muscles as We Age
Why Our Word Choices Matter As We Age
By Roger Landry MD
Have you ever considered how the words we use impact the culture around us? How do those words reflect our own attitudes, beliefs, and values? Furthermore, for those among us who work in the aging profession, how does what we say affect both how we perceive older adults to be, and how they self-identify?
How Our Brains React to the Words We Say
Are You as Old as What You Eat?
Researchers from University College London (UCL) have demonstrated how an interplay between nutrition, metabolism, and immunity is involved in the process of aging.
The two new studies, supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), could help to enhance our immunity to disease through dietary intervention and help make existing immune system therapies more effective.
Foods That Won’t “Frail” You
By Robert Ashton M.D.
With aging comes frailty. The more frail we are, the more likely we are to get sick or die from chronic illnesses including heart disease, diabetes, and other leading causes of death. If you can slow the debilitating process, then you have a shot at living not only a longer life, but a healthier one too.
Genes That Protect Against Frailty
Frailty is a common condition associated with old age, characterized by weight loss, weakness, decreased activity level and reduced mobility, which together increase the risk of injury and death. Yet, not all elderly people become frail. Some remain vigorous and robust well into old age. The question remains: Why?
Watch: How to Live Over 100 Years
Here’s another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
Longer Lives, Fewer Age-Related Illnesses
Living long and well may eventually be more possible, thanks to a surprise result of the work of scientists at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. While developing a new cancer drug, the researchers discovered that mice lacking a specific protein live longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses. The mice, which lack the TRAP-1 protein, demonstrated less age-related tissue degeneration, obesity, and spontaneous tumor formation when compared to normal mice. The teams findings could change how scientists view the metabolic networks within cells.
3 Tips for Choosing an Assisted-Living Home for Your Parents
By Peder Johnsen
Seventy percent of people age 65 and older will need long-term care at some point in their lives, according to a 2014 study by CareScout, a division of Genworth Financial Services. But that doesn’t mean they have to sacrifice quality of life. In fact, a person who needs some assistance with day-to-day living will often find he or she is much happier in a good assisted-living community with an atmosphere that reminds them of their former home.