Misconceptions about aortic stenosis can be deadly. About 4% of older Americans have been diagnosed with aortic stenosis, and in a recent Alliance survey, relatively few general practice physicians reported feeling confident when diagnosing and recommending treatment for the disease. Most general practitioners and geriatricians choose to refer their patients to a cardiologist instead of diagnosing or treating patients themselves.
The most recent podcast series on the
SAGE Crossroads website focuses on the economics on longevity science. During a
conversation with Daniel Perry, the executive director of the Alliance for Aging Research, the topic of the “baby bust” arose. The baby bust, as Mr. Perry explained it, is the period when the baby boom generation retires from the paid workforce in droves, leaving a huge staffing and experience gap across the spectrum. This could have very damaging effects on the US economy.
About
10 million of the almost 45 million caregivers in the United States care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Most of these caregivers are not prepared for their new role, which takes a toll on their mental and physical health. Furthermore, Alzheimer’s disease is often called a “family disease,” because the daily stress of watching a loved one slowly decline affects the whole family.
Earlier this week,
Gallup and
Healthways released the first data from their collaborative
Well-Being Index—a Dow Jones type measure of the daily health and well-being of American adults. Polling 1,000 Americans every day for the next 25 years, the Index will be the largest data collection ever assembled on the health and well-being of large populations.
Last Thursday morning during my usual routine of eating breakfast while listening to NPR’s “Morning Edition,” movie critic Kenneth Turan was discussing a new documentary, Young at Heart.
According to the a recent Washington Post article, more than 20 companies today offer personalized genomics tests that promise to help you determine what diseases you may get and gain insight into your personality and behavior.
Ten million Americans have osteoporosis, and 34 million suffer from osteopenia or low bone mass, which increases the risk of developing osteoporosis. The aging of the baby boomer generation will boost these numbers to 52 million by 2010.
