Risk Factors

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…

Here’s a sobering statistic: The number of deaths caused by alcohol-associated diseases more than doubled during the years 1999-2020. According to a study published in The American Journal of Medicine, in 2020, nearly 50,000 people, aged 25-85, died in the United States as a result of such alcohol-caused illnesses as…

Back in 2020, we highlighted a landmark report issued by The Lancet Commission which addressed modifiable risk factors for dementia and outlined lifestyle changes that could substantially lower your risk for being diagnosed with dementia. Among the modifiable factors within your control? Smoking, hearing loss, healthy diet and exercise. A…