Women age 65 and older who drank more than three cups of coffee (or the equivalent in tea) every day had less loss over time on memory tests than women who drank one cup or less per day, according to a study published in Neurology. This benefit of the buzz was greatest for the oldest women (70 percent less likely over age 80), compared to women at age 65 (30 percent less likely to have memory decline). But curiously, caffeine does not have the same benefit for men.
The results of the study of 7,000 people held up even after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect memory abilities, such as age, medication usage and depression. "Caffeine is a psychostimulant that appears to reduce cognitive decline in women," said study author Karen Ritchie, Ph.D., of INSERM, the French National Institute for Cognitive Decline, "and it requires a relatively small amount for a beneficial effect."
Older white men who are better able to cope with stress have higher levels of "good cholesterol," called HDL, than men who are more hostile or socially isolated, according to the VA's Normative Aging Study. (HDL protects the heart.) But dealing well with stress had no effect on "bad cholesterol" levels (LDL). The study gathered data from 716 men to look at the complex interrelations among cholesterol levels and hostility, stress and coping processes.
Medicare will stop paying hospitals for their goofs beginning in October 2008. Hospitals will not be reimbursed for eight conditions, including injuries caused by in? hospital falls, pressure ulcers, urinary-tract infections, and infections following heart surgery. In addition, Medicare will no longer pay hospitals to recover instruments left in a patient after surgery or to treat patients harmed by incompatible blood or air embolisms. Medicare said it would add more conditions next year. So far, Medicare has not said that it will apply penalties to hospitals that commit these errors.
Here is a Medicare Part D success story: More than 90 percent of Americans age 65 and older now have prescription drug Coverage, compared to more than 75 percent who were covered in 2004, according to a University of Michigan analysis. And poor seniors arc as likely to have coverage as the rich.
Seniors enrolled iii Medicare Part D are more likely to pay at least $300 a month for medicines than people insured by other plans, according to a survey pub lished in Health Affairs. Eight percent of seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D spent a minimum of $300 out of pocket for prescriptions, compared with 5 percent of those covered by employee insurance or the Veterans Affairs Department. Medicare recipients were also more likely to delay or forgo filling prescriptions because of the cost. n
The monthly premium in 2008 for Medicare Part D will be approximately $25, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This is nearly 40 percent lower than originally projected in 2003.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ranks of the self- employed aged 55 to 65 rose 33 percent in 2006 to more than 2 million people, while the number of self-employed 25- to 35-year-olds fell 2 percent to about 1.5 million people.
More seniors are staying in the labor force than in the past. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), this trend is a significant change, and it is likely driven by a senior's need to obtain affordable employment-based health insurance and the need to continue to accumulate savings in employment-based defined contribution retirement plans.
According to EBRI:
The HSBC Bank, one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world, surveyed 21,000 people age 40 to 79 in 21 countries for its annual Retirement Report and found that people in their 60s and 70s are vitally important to families, communities and workplaces. Highlights of the report are: Around a third of all surveyed are current volunteers or have Volunteered in the past. Of the volunteers, more than 50 percent give at least a day each week. This activity is worth about $23 billion a year in the United States and the United Kingdom alone.
Worldwide, large shares of people over age 60 remain in the workforce. In mature economics, between a fifth and a half of people are still employed in their 60s. In the United States, a fifth of those in their 70s are still working. Seniors provide a great amount of care to their family and friends. They also make substantial financial transfers to the younger generation.
According to a Harris Poll conducted by telephone among 1,010 U.S. adults between July 10 and 16, 2007, seniors are the most satisfied of all age groups. For people age 62 and older, more than two-thirds (69 percent) are very satisfied, while just one-quarter (24 percent) are somewhat satisfied with the life they are leading. On the other hand, only 48 percent of "echo boomers" (aged 18 to 30) are very satisfied.
More than three-fourths of seniors (78 percent) believe that the caregivers they hire have caregiver training, although they do not. In fact, the United States has no national training requirements for professional in-home caregivers. The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive for the Caregiving Project for Older Americans.