The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recent gave emergency approval to a vaccine that Pfizer-BioNTech developed to prevent the novel coronavirus from causing COVID-19. Based on preliminary data supplied by Pfizer, the FDA concluded that the vaccine “may be effective in preventing COVID-19. The data also support that the known and potential benefits outweigh the […]
Healthy aging means maintaining the functional abilities that enable wellbeing. Functional abilities include the capacity to meet basic needs, to be mobile, to build and maintain relationships, to make decisions, and to feel like a contributing member of society. Factors that contribute to healthy aging include exercise, diet, healthcare, having regular contact with friends and […]
The risk of serious illness or death associated with an infection increases with age. The body’s mechanisms that resist infections begin to weaken, on average, at age 50. The risk to seniors associated with SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19) is primarily associated with a compromised immune system. Fatality rates associated with COVID-19 begin to […]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated its list of risk factors for developing a serious illness after exposure to the coronavirus. Until that update, the CDC advised the public that individuals who were 65 and over had an elevated risk of suffering severe illness or death from COVID-19. The update reflects […]
Providing senior care and maintaining social distancing may seem like incompatible goals. Some services, whether provided by home health aides or by the staff of a senior living facility, need to be provided in person. A certain amount of physical contact — or at least close proximity — is necessary when seniors need assistance bathing, […]
As the country reopens and stay-at-home orders are eased, the risk to seniors from COVID-19 may increase. While the curve has flattened in some parts of the country, infected people still inhabit every state. Since a large percentage of individuals who carry the coronavirus have no symptoms — and may never develop symptoms — it […]
Most adults will lose at least 30% of their muscle mass during their lifetimes. That frightening truth even has a scary-sounding name: sarcopenia — literally translated as the even scarier sounding “poverty of the flesh.” The “poverty” actually begins for most people around age 30. At that point, even individuals who are physically active will […]
Updated September 2025 Most people in the U.S., where the average life expectancy is 78 years old, live about 20% of their lives with a chronic disease of aging such as osteoarthritis, Type II diabetes, cancer, heart attack, stroke, and macular degeneration. But the brainiacs at the Buck Institute for Age Research, based in Novato, […]
While everyone needs nourishing and well-balanced daily meals, caregivers and families need to recognize this is especially true for seniors. Many seniors have medical conditions, such as diabetes, that require special dietary attention, compounded by lagging appetites. That means caregivers and families must also make sure that seniors get sufficient protein along with enough vegetables […]
There are several ways to preplan and consider when you might want to move from your home. How do you set the milestones and stay accountable … or do you need to be accountable to anyone? My parents bought into a Life Care Community (previously called Continuing Care Retirement Communities) in 1998. However, for more […]