Retirement as a Journey: Who wants to just sit around anyway?
[August 2003 - Darwin Magazine] IT'S TIME FOR people in business to rethink their retirement plans, with the concept of inactive retirement basically going away. ... No matter what stage of their career business people are in, it is time to assess that ultimate, down-the-road decision.

Elderly's mental decline often missed
[18 August 2003 - Reuters Health Information] Doctors accustomed to diagnosing physical ailments too often miss symptoms of mental decline that may be early signs of dementia in the elderly, researchers said on Monday. "As a result, these patients do not have the benefits of early medical treatment or the opportunity to make legal and financial decisions while they are still able," psychiatrist Sanford Finkel of the University of Chicago Medical School told the Congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association. His study of 2,150 people in Illinois aged 65 or older, under way since 2000, found as many as 28 percent of participants showed symptoms of cognitive impairment. Yet their physicians noted the symptoms in the medical records of only 6 percent of patients and only 2 percent were prescribed drugs. In addition, doctors diagnosed only one quarter of the 25 percent of participants with symptoms of depression. "These statistics represent a major public health problem and have serious implications for our aging population," Finkel said.

New Alzheimer projections add urgency to search for prevention, cure
[18 August 2003 - Alzheimer's Association] An expected Alzheimer's epidemic will be far worse than previously thought, according to a new study published in the current issue of Archives of Neurology. The study, "Alzheimer's Disease in the U.S. Population," predicts the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease will increase 27% by 2020, an astonishing 70% by 2030, and nearly 300% by 2050, unless science finds a way to slow the progression of the disease or prevent it. According to the study's authors, current and future estimates of Alzheimer's disease are essential for public health planning. But because Alzheimer's can progress slowly and is often not diagnosed, and because there is no requirement that the disease be reported, it has been difficult to gauge the scope of the problem. According to Sheldon Goldberg, president and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, "If left unchecked, it is no exaggeration to say that Alzheimer's disease will destroy the health care system and bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid."

Alzheimer's cases expected to rise at a more rapid rate 16 million Americans may be afflicted by 2050
[19 August 2003 - USA Today] A new study suggests the number of cases of Alzheimer's disease may increase at a higher rate than expected, affecting as many as 16 million Americans by the year 2050. Previous studies had put that estimate at 14 million by the middle of the century. The latest study suggests that the disease has the potential to overwhelm the nation's health care system if nothing is done to stop it, warns Sheldon Goldberg, president of the Chicago-based Alzheimer's Association. The jump in cases could cause the collapse of Medicare and Medicaid, federal health plans that help pay for Alzheimer's care. And it almost certainly would devastate millions of American families. Goldberg says many families go bankrupt paying for care before federal programs kick in. ''This will have a massive impact on our society,'' Goldberg says, adding that U.S. companies already pay an estimated $61 billion a year for medical expenses and productivity losses associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Relaxing can wait, as retirees flood job market
[21 August 2003 - The Christian Science Monitor] (There are) a record number of Americans - 21 million - age 55 or older and in the workforce. Last month, nearly another 1 million older Americans were searching for work. While seniors were also hired in large numbers during the booming late 1990s because of labor shortages, the trend has continued during faltering economic times, as cautious employers turn to those they see as reliable as well as inexpensive. Employment experts believe the surge in senior workers is likely to have a spillover effect on the labor force as a whole, since they are competing with younger workers for available positions. "They have in essence taken the jobs that usually go to immigrants and young people," says Mark Zandi of Economy.com. In fact, over the past year, individuals 55 and over are the only age group that has been able to find work.

Appreciation of humor doesn't change with age: Older adults still enjoy a good laugh - But ability to comprehend complex humor diminishes in later years
[25-Aug-2003 - Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care] A Canadian study of humor in older adults has found that appreciation and emotional reactiveness to humor doesn't change with age. Older adults still enjoy a good laugh. However, the ability to comprehend more complex forms of humor diminishes in later years. The findings are published in the September issue of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. Lead researcher Dr. Prathiba Shammi, a psychologist with Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, conducted the study with the supervision of Dr. Donald Stuss, psychologist and Director of The Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest. The research was part of Dr. Shammi's doctoral thesis at the University of Toronto. Shammi and Stuss captured world attention in 1999 for their landmark study (published in the journal BRAIN) showing the 'right' frontal lobe plays a pre-eminent role in our ability to appreciate humor. They found that subjects with right frontal damage -- from stroke, tumor or head trauma -- not only had difficulty getting punch lines, but preferred slapstick humor. In this current study, a second phase of the earlier study, Shammi and Stuss explored the effects of normal aging on humor comprehension and appreciation.