Risk Factors

You likely don’t need any reminders that older adults are at risk for falls, and that each year, 1.5 million older adults are treated in emergency rooms due to a fall, and thousands die as a result of falling each year. While a fall can happen anywhere, it’s more likely…

It’s a tough question to think about, but it could yield a life-altering response depending on how you decide. If you’re having memory or word-retrieval problems, or in some other way are beginning to experience symptoms that may reflect cognitive decline, would you want to know if you are in…

What does it mean to age in a healthy way? Are you eligible for the gold star for healthy aging, or is your status in question because of such habits as lack of exercise, unhealthy eating, or poor sleep routines? Standard definitions of healthy aging tend to focus on physical,…

Back in January, we profiled a recent study that predicted that by 2060, the number of yearly dementia diagnoses in the US was likely to double to over one million. These are scary numbers, especially if dementia runs in your family or you’ve personally witnessed the downfall of someone diagnosed…

With spring approaching, you may be thinking about the return of warmer weather. But the evidence is growing and getting more alarming with each passing year when it comes to hot weather. We know from NASA that 2024 was the warmest year on record for the world, with 15 consecutive…

There’s just no getting around the fact that as an older adult, you are at risk of falling and potentially causing serious injury to yourself. The reasons for falling are numerous and complex (everything from balance problems to vision or hearing issues, to weak muscles or problematic medications), but the…