contagious disease

Most of us are social creatures, so there’s been concern that social distancing restrictions may be having a serious impact on our society. Especially for older adults, we know that social isolation and loneliness are linked to serious physical and mental health concerns. Yet a new study published online in…

While the news about the coronavirus and older adults continues to be worrisome, what’s also disturbing is the continued presence of ageist stereotypes and our portrait of older adults during the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, as a group of noted geriatricians and gerontologists recently proclaimed, “Older adults have shown remarkable…

We know that older adults, with underlying chronic diseases and weakened immune systems, are at greater risk of infection with COVID-19, at greater risk of severe symptoms, and more vulnerable to the ravages of the disease. As the CDC reports, 8 out of 10 COVID-19-related deaths reported in the United…

The data alone tell a pretty damning story: According to the CDC, from 1999-2018, the prevalence of obesity among adults in the US went from 30.5% to 42.4%, and those with severe obesity went from 4.7% of the US adult population to 9.2%. These statistics are also tied to the…

No matter the risk, many of us are determined to plow ahead with summer travel plans, albeit in a scaled-down fashion. While we won’t be jetting off to Europe, and many of us are not considering plane travel (for understandable reasons), the road trip remains an allure to many, as…

The news regarding the coronavirus continues to evolve, as we learn more about how it attacks the body, the symptoms it causes, the varying rates of infection among different groups, and the levels of risk associated with certain activities. At this point, we know this virus is quite different from…