Certain Drugs Can Increase Chance of Falls

According to a Reuters article, a recent 4-year study in France of over 6,000 community-living elderly people determined that use of certain drugs increased these people's risk of falling. The study participants' average age was "nearly 74." Long-acting benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety drug), increased the risk, compared with short- and intermediate-acting benzodiazepines. Similar risks were reported among this age group for regular use of antispasmodics and muscle relaxants, tranquilizers, and a particular type of antihistamine (anticholinergics, which block nerve response).

Why No Sex in Nursing Homes?

In this editorial, a psychologist well versed in issues of aging points out the appalling lack of privacy people experience in nursing homes. He shows how sexual expression and relations there have gotten to be impossible for residents and calls for taking the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 seriously in its requirement that nursing homes help people attain and maintain their highest sense of physical, mental, and social well-being---which includes the right to self- and sexual expression.

Behavior and Ills in Mid-Life Predict Later Dementia

According to a study done over 12 to 14 years in the U.S. and summarized in a BBC article, smoking in mid-life increases one's chances of developing dementia. High blood pressure and diabetes also significantly increases one's chances of developing dementia. Similarly, another study done in the U.S. and summarized in a Reuters article determined that high cholesterol in study participants at ages 40 to 45 greatly increased those people's chances of developing Alzheimer's Disease or vascular dementia within 30 years. Researchers pointed out that changing behaviors and addressing risk factors, to help keep a healthy heart, seem to be important for people's brain health through their lives.

Walking in Nature Is Good for Your Brain

A recent University of Michigan study, as reported in an article for AARP, has found that walking in a natural setting, no matter what the weather, is good for people's attention and memory spans.