Good morning and welcome to agebuzz… Headlining today’s topics:

-The Rx: Medications and Your Brain Health

-The Hunger Games: Fasting For a Longer Life

-It Keeps You Running: Senior Athletes Run the Boston Marathon

-Work It Out: Is the Concept of Retirement Out of Date?

-Keep a Lookout: The Latest Updates on Senior Scams

-Music Man: A Life Devoted to Mahler

-The Last Word

The Rx: Medications and Your Brain Health: For most of us, drugs are a fact of getting older: they relieve pain, regulate hormones and keep illnesses at bay. But for every upside, there is the inevitable downside. Whether over the counter or prescription, the risks can include serious impact on brain health and cognitive abilities. Aging affects how quickly meds are metabolized. Add a cocktail or two, or mix a couple of medications together, and things can get really risky. For a clear fact sheet on the effects of medication, and the right questions to ask your physician, pull out your co-pay and Read This.

The Hunger Games: Fasting For a Longer Life: Counting calories is never fun. But would you do it if you knew an occasional drastic reduction in calories would lead to a longer, healthier life? Researchers at the University of Southern California believe they are on track to achieve that outcome. Theorizing that restricting dietary intake can reprogram the body to age more slowly, these researchers came up with a formula of normal eating for the first 25 days a month and then drastically fewer calories for the last 5 days. To better understand the science behind this balance of feast and famine, Read This.

It Keeps You Running: Senior Athletes Run The Boston Marathon:  Need something to motivate you to get on the treadmill this morning? The news out of Boston is that 7 seniors over the age of 80 completed this week’s Boston Marathon. Among the over 80 crowd was first place finisher, Yoko Nakano of Tokyo, completing her 22nd marathon since she began racing at age 60.  Among the slightly younger runners was 72-year-old Fran Drozdz, a veteran marathoner running to raise money for cancer research. Fran was the absolute last finisher out of 26,639 entrants. To learn about her inspiring journey, Read This.

Work It Out: Is The Concept of Retirement Out of Date?  With the explosion of aging baby boomers, millions are now contemplating their retirement. But for a sizable number, that could mean living decades beyond their last day of work. Given this stark demographic, is the concept of retirement a flawed idea? According to a new piece in the Harvard Business Review, it’s time to look to Okinawa as a source of inspiration for how to live beyond the typical American work life. Residents of this Japanese island are among the longest living, disability-free people in the world, and the concept of retirement doesn’t even exist in their language. To understand what lies behind their long and healthy lives, Read This.

Keep a Lookout: The Latest Updates on Senior Scams: Perhaps this is familiar: the phone rings and your elderly parent answers to hear the voice of a frightened teen.  Thinking it’s a grandchild calling in distress, they listen to instructions about wiring money to help in this crisis. Only it’s not a crisis- it’s a scam. The elderly are frequently the targets of such frauds: their identities are stolen, they’re duped into thinking they’ve won prizes, or their trust is preyed upon by imposters seeking to steal money. As soon as one scam becomes stale, the next one is put into motion. The Federal Trade Commission publishes regular scam alerts to keep you, and your aging parents, in the know. To stay on top of the latest shakedown, Read This. 

Music Man: A Life Devoted to Mahler: For many, retirement means having more time to finally explore a life-long passion.  For a lucky few, that kind of passion is a primary focus throughout life.  Henri-Louis De La Grange is one of those lucky few. His devotion to Gustav Mahler, both his life and music, has led La Grange around the world. He’s also written a mammoth 4 volume biography of the esteemed musician. Now 91 years old, La Grange is the subject of a new documentary. The excellent blogger Jesse Kornbluth (aka The Head Butler) gives you the details of this film and the life of La Grange. To see what drives a man of passion, put on your headphones and Read This.

THE LAST WORD: “I complain that the years fly past, but then I look in a mirror and see that very few of them actually got past.” Robert Brault