One of the most common questions I get asked is “How can I get care for my aging parent and how much will it cost?” The answer generally depends on these factors: What kind of elder care does the older person need or want? What are the available options for providing the needed elder care? How much do the different options cost? What are the options for paying for the desired type of elder care? These are important questions to consider. If your aging parent seems to need help, it’s imperative to find out what are your options for providing the needed support. And finances do often determine ..read more

In a previous post, I’ve written about some of the key reasons that I recommend older adults and their caregivers have a blood pressure (BP) monitor at home. To very briefly recap: Many of the problems of older adults (including falls) can be related to blood pressure. Home blood pressure measurements can help: evaluate for drops in blood pressure with standing (a common cause of dizziness in elders) check for serious illness, since these often (but not always) cause the blood pressure and pulse to be very different from usual follow-up on blood pressure after a change in medication, which c ..read more

If I had to recommend one key piece of healthcare equipment that older adults & caregivers should have at home, it would be this: a good home blood pressure (BP) monitor. Why? Because BP measurements (and pulse measurements, which machines check at the same time) are an incredibly useful tool when it comes to assessing and optimizing an older person’s health and well-being. This is true even for those older people who aren’t being treated for hypertension (chronic high BP). As I’d love for more older adults and families to understand how home BP monitors can help them, in this article I’ll ..read more

It used to be that influenza was the main respiratory virus that got a lot of attention during the wintertime. But now there’s another one that’s become known for its potential to cause serious illness in older adults: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Unlike COVID-19, which only appeared in the U.S. in 2020, RSV has actually been around for decades. However, until recently, many doctors treated it mostly as a pediatric concern, because RSV is a top cause of hospitalization in young children. This is now changing. RSV is actually similar to the flu, or even COVID, in that it’s older adults (a ..read more

Worried about falls in an older parent or relative? If so, do you know if their doctor has considered the most useful fall prevention approaches? Fall risk can be reduced, but it generally takes some thought and effort. That’s in part because most older adults have multiple factors making them vulnerable to falls. In a related article on this site, I’ve explained that best fall prevention plans involve identifying an older person’s particular risks — especially risks related to health conditions — and trying to counter those. Get Your Free Fall Prevention Resource Guide! A handy short PD ..read more

Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in early 2020, COVID has become one of the top causes of illness and death in the US, and has especially impacted aging adults, for both health and social reasons. Older age is one of the top risk factors for severe COVID; it’s even a stronger risk factor than vaccination status. So this is an important issue for us to follow in geriatrics. On this page, I’ll be posting updates related to COVID and older adults, for 2023. I’ll be focusing on important developments and what I think is most important for older adults and their families to know, to be safer an ..read more

Image Credit: DepositPhotos. Have you ever wondered how to maintain your brain health as you age?  Or wanted to know what are the best things to do, to prevent memory loss, cognitive decline, or even diseases such as Alzheimer’s dementia? I get asked about this quite a lot. And after spending years following the research on cognitive health and cognitive decline, I’ve settled on ten suggestions. Maintaining brain health is not just about what you do, it’s also about learning what to avoid. Here’s what to avoid, and what to do: 1. Avoid brain-slowing medications.  Why: Several types o ..read more

“Doctor, what do you recommend for healthy aging?” “My mom is getting older and I want to help her stay healthy. What should we be doing?” On this site, I usually write about how to manage or avoid specific aging health challenges. But in real life, I often get asked the questions above. After all, many people want advice on how to be healthier, or stay healthy. That’s because we all intuitively know that maintaining good health is key to maintaining what is most important to us as we age: our ability to be physically and mentally capable, so that we can remain active, engaged in our liv ..read more

Image Credit: DepositPhotos. By now you’ve probably heard that older adults are often taking “too many” medications. You also hopefully know that older people are often prescribed medications that may be harmful, or no longer necessary. The CDC has estimated that adverse drug events send older adults to the emergency room 450,000 times per year. Why does this happen? Research has shown that “inappropriate prescribing” is common in older adults. Meaning that, when patient charts are carefully reviewed, experts often find that older adults are receiving medications that are i ..read more

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