medicine

If you have trouble swallowing pills, you’re not alone.

By Nicole Duritz

We hear a lot about how older Americans have difficulties with their prescription medications. That makes it all the more disturbing when a pharmaceutical company takes advantage of them by promoting a drug as safe and effective for a certain condition - like, say, dementia - when in fact it may…

The MacArthur Foundation has announced its 2013 MacArthur Fellows. Each year, the foundation provides stipends of $625,000 - popularly known as "genius grants" - to encourage "people of outstanding talent" to pursue their ambitions in the arts, sciences, education, social entrepreneurship and other…

If you could take a pill and prevent further aging, would you take it? Besides extending the length of your life, what if the pill could protect you from cancer, Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes? You might even find your skin looking younger.

A study published yesterday in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows many prescription drugs could have a longer shelf life than assumed, in some cases much longer. But while the results could have important implications for drug companies, researchers are quick to caution consumers against applying the findings to their own medicine cabinets.

The following is a guest post from William J. Hall, MD, AARP Board Member. Bill Hall is a geriatrician with a special interest in strategies for successful aging.

Accidental poisonings from medicine cause more emergency room visits for young children each year than do car accidents, and one big reason may be that grandparents often store their prescription drugs in places easy for their grandkids to reach, says a new national poll.

Emergency Rooms of Their Own: A growing number of American hospitals have been debuting emergency rooms designed specifically for older adults, generally those 65 and up. Special accommodations include things like nonskid floors, rails along the walls, extra heating units, thicker mattresses to reduce bedsores and artificial skylights intended to combat "sundowning."

I admit it; I pop pills on a daily basis. I won't bore you with what I have to take when, but suffice it to say, several years ago, pill popping became a part of my everyday existence. I wasn't excited about it. It's one thing to take meds when you're ill, for a period of time (Z-packs!…