The Impact of Genes on Aging, US Death Rate, Alzheimer’s smell test, Obesity vs. Brain Health… and more

By Steve Moran

I spend a lot of time looking at all kinds of stories and articles on the internet. A few . . . maybe 5 or 6 . . . are just plain cool. Some are cool but not worth turning into an article, while others are cool and yet really have nothing to do with senior living. Nonetheless I am thinking you might think they are cool too.

The Shocking Truth About the Impact of Genes on Aging and Alzheimer’s

Rudy Tanzi is acknowledged as a major researcher and thinker on Alzheimer’s and aging. In 2015 Time Magazine listed him as one of 100 most influential persons in the US. In this interview of Rudy by John Zeisel, the founder of Hearthstone Institute, they explore how to successfully age based on the behavior of genes.  

Rudy has 4 behaviors that he sees as MANDATORY because they have such a profound impact on our genes and lead to healthy successful aging. The first two are 8 hours of sleep each day and a more Mediterranean diet. You will get the other two in the interview.

US Death Rate Rising

Preliminary data from the federal government shows an increase in the U.S. death rate for the last 10 years. The causes include an increase in deaths from Alzheimer’s disease, drug overdoses, suicide and a slight increase in death from heart disease.   

I have from time to time speculated that the “American lifestyle” will increase the death rate, which might solve some of the health care cost problems. It could also have impact on residents available to the senior living community.  

Retirement is Making People More Miserable Than Ever Before

It is hard to know exactly what to make of these numbers. Have expectations changed? Are retirees a lot different today? Is it an economic thing? I would suggest that numbers like this . . . stories like this offer a great opportunity for senior living communities to help redefine what living an optimum retirement life looks like.

Smell Test Could Identify Alzheimer’s

It seems like every week there is some news story that suggests new and better ways to detect Alzheimer’s or something that promises a cure. I am thinking I could do a curated article like this every week just on Alzheimer’s. Don’t worry I am not planning on doing that. But I found this one kind of interesting and intriguing.  

Being overweight makes brain ’10 years older’ than if you are slim

If there was ever a reason to lose some weight . . . a study done at the University of Cambridge found that brain structures of overweight folks looked like brains that were 10 years older. In the initial study in spite of the structural differences they did not find any differences in cognitive ability.

Do you have something that ought to be included in the feature? Please let us know.