You won’t find the word “senior” in any of the promotional materials for Affinity Living Communities, though most Affinity residents are senior-discount age. Instead, you’ll find “active adult” and other words designed to attract aging boomers: Wi-Fi, fitness center, community gardens, pub, happy hour and “pets welcome.” Read more

An amino acid commonly found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients has been discovered in the spinal fluid of people without dementia whose close relatives were diagnosed with the disease, according to a study led by Duke University researchers. The researchers also found people closely related to an Alzheimer’s patient were more likely to have a smaller-than-normal hippocampus, the portion of the brain linked to memory. The findings could help lay the groundwork for development of early-detection tools, said Erika Lambert, a Duke researcher involved in the project. Read more

At 26, Cara Hernandez has her untimely death about as well-planned as it can be. It’s all in her advance directive, instructions for family and doctors to follow if an accident or some other catastrophe leaves her in dire condition and unable to make her wishes known. Read more

CHICAGO – When Alpa Patel’s grandfather was diagnosed with cancer, he seemed healthy: The 64-year-old had been training for a triathlon when doctors found a lemon-size tumor in his brain. He died almost a year to the day from when he was diagnosed. Patel, only a teenager at the time in Daytona Beach, Fla., said that experience “really got me to thinking what causes most cancer.” Read more

Marcella Poppe is 86, and her husband, Louis Poppe, is 88. The Spokane residents are not interested in living in an old-folks home. But they knew they needed help if they were to stay in their own home, a stairs-free apartment where they’ve lived going on nine years, after selling the house they’d owned for 46 years. Read more

Cancer and heart disease are bigger killers, but Alzheimer’s is the most expensive malady in the U.S., costing families and society $157 billion to $215 billion a year, according to a new study that looked at this in unprecedented detail. The biggest cost of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia isn’t drugs or other medical treatments, but the care that’s needed just to get mentally impaired people through daily life, the nonprofit RAND Corp.’s study found. Read more

People who are socially isolated are more likely to die prematurely, regardless of underlying health problems, according to a study of the elderly British population. The findings, published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that when mental and physical health conditions were factored out, the lack of social contact still led to early death among 6,500 men and women tracked over seven years. Read more

As a general rule, Dennis Robertson is in. Bowling? Fishing? Karoake? Yes, yes, yes. A homebound elderly resident in need of a companion, or a caregiver who needs a few hours of relief? Yes to them, too. Read more

The illnesses that killed our parents and grandparents won’t kill as many of us in the future. Deaths from strokes, heart attacks and cancer declined significantly between 2000 and 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while death from Alzheimer’s increased significantly. Read more

It is said that our parents’ final gift is this: They teach us how to die. Aging experts predict that end-of-life care, as well as management of chronic illnesses, will change dramatically for boomers, because of what the boomers are learning while caring for their aging parents. Read more

Utah authorities think they have a valuable new use for the ubiquitous ankle bracelet: to locate missing patients with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Officials in Davis County, about half an hour north of Salt Lake City, say the device, which typically monitors criminals on house arrest or parole, could be a cost-effective solution to a common problem. Read more

As baby boomers approach their golden years, they are embracing wellness and wine – two things that don’t always go together. While a glass of red wine a day may reduce the risk of heart disease, many boomers are drinking a lot more and not realizing they are increasing their potential risks for other serious health problems, ranging from alcohol abuse disorders to chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, liver disease, pancreatitis and certain cancers, said Dr. Robert Huebner, acting director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s Division of Treatment and Recovery Research. Read more

ATLANTA – It turns out this year’s flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting older people, the most vulnerable age group. The vaccine is proving only 9 percent effective in those 65 and older against the harsh strain of the flu that is predominant this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Read more