Inherent with aging are a variety of potential physical changes and challenges with which we’re all familiar, but one lesser known condition is dental degradation. With good hygiene habits and enhancements to oral care such as fluoridation, older adults are often now able to keep their own teeth later in life, rather than automatically deferring to dentures.

What Is Multiple Sclerosis?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system. MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease. In MS, the body’s immune system produces cells and proteins (antibodies) that attack myelin, a fatty substance that protects nerve fibers.

Medicine for older people is the same for anyone else: treat the person, not just the body

Modern medicine too often posits doctors as mechanics and people as machines needing to be fixed.
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Bill Lukin, The University of Queensland

This article is part of our series on older people’s health.

There's no need to lock older people into nursing homes 'for their own safety'

Allowing nursing home residents to come and go as they wish may not be so dangerous after all.
from www.shutterstock.com

Marta Woolford, Monash University and Joseph Ibrahim, Monash University

Older people in nursing homes or aged care facilities are often locked up “for their own safety”. But our review shows there’s little justification in most cases for this unfair and unreasonable practice.

It’s not always easy to tell when your parent or another family member or loved one needs more help.

The following warning signs may indicate that it’s time for a talk about assisted living.

Signs that a parent or loved one might need assisted living

The refrigerator is empty or filled with spoiled food or your parent is losing weight.

Scientists are hoping that a single drug can treat two devastating brain diseases: Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

A colored magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain of a 76-year-old patient with dementia shows the brain has atrophied and the dark brown fluid-filled spaces have become enlarged.

As caregivers, we often use intuition to help us decide what to do. No one ever gave us lessons on how to relate to someone with memory loss. Unfortunately, dealing with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is counterintuitive; i.e., often the right thing to do is exactly opposite that which seems like the right thing to do.

Young and old share happy moments at a Welsh care facility.
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Catrin Hedd Jones, Bangor University

We live in a society where care of young and old is increasingly segregated, with very limited opportunity for the two age groups to interact.

Jay Maddock, Texas A&M University

As America grays, healthy aging becomes essential. Physical activity or exercise is an important piece of this. Getting regular exercise of just 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week has been linked to a reduction in heart disease, cancer, falls and cognitive impairment due to dementia, including Alzheimer-type dementia.

People with brain diseases, particularly older people, have trouble swallowing. Via Shutterstock.
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Don Bolser, University of Florida

Recall that last time you had something “go down the wrong pipe”? You spent the next several minutes coughing, choking and feeling like something bad was in your throat.