AARP Eye Center
Boomers make up the majority of hepatitis C infections in the United States -- though many don't know they're harboring it. That's why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is officially recommending all boomers get screened for the liver-destroying virus.
If you were likely to get Alzheimer's disease in the future, would you want to know? The question is largely hypothetical at the moment, but might not be for much longer.
Rhizoctonia is a genus of asexual, anamorphic fungi known for causing crop diseases. It's also the word that netted 67-year-old Michael Petrina Jr. his second first-place win at the AARP National Spelling Bee. Petrina also won the bee in 2009 and placed second in 2011 and 2008.
One in four Americans over age 45 take the cholesterol-lowering drugs collectively known as statins. Recently, some researchers have raised concern that these drugs could increase diabetes risk, especially among post-menopausal women or people taking high statin doses. But a large new analysis shows that the cardiovascular benefits of statins outweigh diabetes concerns, even for high-risk groups.
Though I'm a pretty healthy eater most of the time, one of my few junk food weaknesses is movie theater popcorn -- and the more butter, the better. That oily, artificially flavored buttery topping is what makes the snack worthwhile! It's also what makes it terrible, apparently. Long suspected as a cause of lung damage, researchers are now linking butter flavoring to Alzheimer's disease.
Life is good? Most retirees think so, at least according to one new survey. Conducted by USA Today, UnitedHealthcare and the National Council on Aging, the poll of Americans age 60 and older found a surprising amount of optimism in a cohort often painted as scared, sad and struggling.
As the Summer 2012 Olympics in London continue to draw the world's attention, Mike Sophia is already focused on summer 2013. That's when the National Senior Games -- aka the "Senior Olympics" -- will take place, and Sophia is already lining up older athletes to compete in what he expects to be a record-breaking event.
For a person retiring in 1960, Social Security presented a pretty great deal: Pay in during your working years and you could expect to get back about seven times more in benefits during retirement. But today's retirees won't reap nearly the same return on investment. In fact, they're part of the first generation of workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes than they will receive in benefits.
Inspired by the 2003 Helen Mirren movie Calendar Girls, a dozen women of Riderwood Village retirement community in Maryland have bared (almost) all to raise money for fellow residents struggling financially.
Helen Johns Carroll, now 97, was only 17 years old when she represented the United States in swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics. That makes the gold medal she won 80 years old--and Carroll the product of a much different Olympic era.