elderly

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Countries Spending Most on the Elderly

The US doesn't make the top 10 list, and France is No. 1

(Newser) - One of the biggest fiscal issues many developed and developing nations will soon face is the enormous amounts of money it will take to support the elderly, according to a recent study by Standard and Poor's. These costs will be an even greater problem as most of the analyzed countries...

Elderly Hit Hard by Japan Quake

Those who survived face shortages of medicine, shelter

(Newser) - Japan is an aging nation, with one in four people over 65. And as the search-and-rescue effort continues after the earthquake and tsunami, it's becoming clear that older residents were hit especially hard, reports AP . Many had no way of escaping the waves that shredded homes and tossed cars around...

For Japan's Elderly, Crisis Echoes WWII

Tsunami survivors tell stories of heroism, selfishness

(Newser) - Younger Japanese aren’t familiar with the level of destruction wrought by the tsunami—but those who lived through World War II have seen it once before. Older residents of tsunami-hit areas long ago grappled with radiation risks and mass destruction. “I lived through the Sendai air raids,”...

Why Elderly Drive Badly: They See Too Much


 Why Elderly 
 Drive Badly: 
 They See 
 Too Much 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 29, 2011 7:47 AM CST

Why Elderly Drive Badly: They See Too Much

The brain loses its ability to filter out background visuals: Study

(Newser) - One of the knocks against elderly drivers is that, like Mr. Magoo, they just can't see what's in front of them. A new neurological study flips the premise and suggests that they see too much, reports Scientific American . The theory goes like this: Our brain takes in so much visual...

Face It, Fellow Boomers, Getting Old-Old Isn't Pretty

Susan Jacoby hopes she doesn't live into her 90s

(Newser) - Author Susan Jacoby has just turned 65, and she's not signing up for the "90-is-the-new-50" school of thought on aging. Having seen what old age did to the women in her family in their 90s—bright minds trapped in failing bodies, and in the case of one grandmother, Alzheimer's—...

If We're Going to Live to 100, We Need to Rethink 'Old'

Because if we're going to be 'old' for half our life...

(Newser) - Hitting "old age" doesn't mean what it used to: Writing in the Telegraph , Geraldine Bedell notes that almost 20% of people living in the UK right now will make it to the ripe old age of 100. So if we're living longer, when do we officially become old? According...

1 in 5 Drivers Will Soon Be 65 or Older

Baby boomers will outlive their driving ability

(Newser) - As the baby boomer generation enters old age, the graying of America may be felt dramatically on the road. In 15 years, 1 in 5 drivers will be 65 or older, reports AP . The NTSB is already trying to gauge the impact that might have—though smart cars and smart...

94-Year-Old Beaten to Death in Nursing Home

By his 81-year-old roommate

(Newser) - Authorities say an 81-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder for allegedly beating to death his 94-year-old roommate at an Orange County nursing home. According to police, William McDougall allegedly took a bar used to hang clothes from a closet, and used it to repeatedly strike his roommate,...

Cuba Snuffs Smoking Subsidy for Elderly

Smokes no longer a necessity, Castro decides

(Newser) - Cigarettes should no longer be considered an essential item for the elderly, the Cuban government has decided. In an effort to cut spending, Raul Castro's government has axed the subsidy that supplied everybody over 54 with four packs of cut-price smokes a month, the BBC reports. Subsidies for chickpeas and...

New Trend in Care for Elderly: 'Granny Pods'

It's like a mini mobile home for the back yard

(Newser) - Granny Pods? Yes, Granny Pods. As NPR and the Roanoke Times explain, these are essentially miniature mobile homes custom-designed for the elderly and small enough to fit in a caregiver's yard. The idea is that aging relatives could live inside, close to the family, instead of going to a nursing...

104-Year-Old Tokyo Woman Found in Backpack

Her son kept her there for nine years, he says

(Newser) - After discovering that Tokyo’s (supposedly) oldest man had been dead for 30 years and its oldest woman is missing , police began a search for other Japanese centenarians—and found one in her son’s backpack. The remains of the 104-year-old woman were stuffed in the pack for nine years,...

Now Tokyo's 'Oldest' Woman Is Missing

Authorities check up on elderly after 'oldest' man found to have died 30 years ago

(Newser) - Authorities in Tokyo are having trouble keeping track of their oldest citizens. Officials who went to check on the city's oldest woman discovered that she hadn't been seen in decades. Fusa Furuya would be 113 if she's still alive, but her daughter told local authorities that she hasn't seen her...

Calcium Pills Tied to Jump in Heart Attack Risk: Study

Supplements don't prevent fractures, either

(Newser) - Calcium supplements may make heart attacks more likely in older patients, a new study suggests. Researchers looking to confirm calcium supplements' ability to prevent bone fractures instead found the patients taking the supplements were 30% more likely to suffer a heart attack, the BBC reports. And it turns out the...

Depression Doubles Risk of Dementia

But doctors aren't sure why

(Newser) - Depression sufferers are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia later in life, according to a pair of new studies. Doctors aren’t entirely sure why that is, and stress that they can’t prove that one causes the other. But they theorize that the brain inflammation that accompanies depression...

Woman, 91, Lived With Bodies of Husband, Sister

Pennsylvania nonagenarian found death 'hard to take'

(Newser) - A 91-year-old Pennsylvania woman busted for sharing her home with the embalmed corpses of her husband and twin sister says she "felt differently about death" than people who "have a terrible feeling" about her living arrangements. Jean Stevens won't say who exhumed the bodies and considers the actions...

Robert Byrd Hospitalized; Senator, 92, 'Seriously Ill'

West Virginia lawmaker is longest-serving member of Congress

(Newser) - Robert Byrd, the Democratic senator from West Virginia who last fall became the longest-serving member of Congress, is hospitalized and in serious condition, his office tells MSNBC . The 92-year-old was admitted last week with what was believed to be a heat-related illness, but "other conditions have developed which has...

Can a Robot Seal Really Take Care of Grandma?

Paro raises ethical concerns

(Newser) - Is Paro—the adorable robotic seal designed to comfort the elderly—the best thing to happen to solitary seniors since the Clapper, or a tasteless substitute for human attention? Manufactured in Japan and recently cleared in the US as a Class 2 medical device, the $6,000 robot is intended...

Old Couple Found Buried Alive in Trash

Trapped in garbage for days

(Newser) - An elderly Chicago couple was found, alive, buried beneath mounds of trash in their two-story home. The neighbors called police after they hadn't spotted the couple, both in their 70s, for days. Responding firefighters in Hazmat suits entered the home to find the couple covered in rotting food and other...

Geezer Bandit Hits 7th Bank
 Geezer Bandit Hits 7th Bank 
Apr 22, 2010 2:07 AM CDT

Geezer Bandit Hits 7th Bank

FBI hunting gun-toting pensioner

(Newser) - The frail, bespectacled thief nicknamed the "Geezer Bandit" has struck again. The heister, believed to be in his 70s, waited patiently in line at a California bank before showing the teller a gun and handing over a note demanding money, according to the FBI. He escaped with an undisclosed...

Mom, 81, Sues for Child Support for 60-Year-Old

Widow says child's father ignored court order

(Newser) - At first, it looks like a standard child support case—she says he never paid, he says he never knew. But the plaintiff is 81-year-old widow Rosemary Douglas. She’s suing Urban Joseph Grass—who was born during the Coolidge administration—saying that he’s spent the last 60 years...

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