This month’s article excerpts include the controversy around Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug, feeling younger to help elders live longer, reducing dementia risk, health insurance trends, and a geriatrician who learns caregiving firsthand.
Study: Healthy Behaviors Curb Dementia Risk
Older adults who followed healthy lifestyle behaviors, including eating healthy, not smoking, or drinking excessively, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy body weight, and practicing good sleeping habits—had a lower risk of developing dementia, even if they had a family history of the disease, according to a study presented at an American Heart Association conference. The findings are based on data from more than 302,000 adults age 50 to 73. They show that practicing at least three of the healthy behaviors are associated with a 30% lower dementia risk.
Thanks to the American Society on Aging’s Generations SmartBrief for this article.
Older Adults Who ‘Feel Younger’ Tend to Live Longer
[TCV update 11/22/2023 This HealthLine article is no longer available.] Feeling younger means having energy for recreation, fitness activities, and creativity. To feel younger take time to meditate, laugh, and learn a new topic. Live longer and in better health.
Health Insurance Trends Report
Key public policy findings from a survey of more than 4,700 consumers and dozens of insurers found that 60% favor expanding access to Medicare in some form, including lowering the eligibility age to 60 (18%). Insurers provide insights regarding plan benefits and rate increases (no more than 5%). Fifty-four percent of the respondents believe that the COVID vaccination should not be required by law.
A Geriatrician Learns Firsthand All that Caregiving Entails
Oftentimes, we look to the experts to advise us. Yet, while geriatrician, Dr. Rebecca Elon was involved in the field of aging for many years, she discovered firsthand the emotional and physical toll of caregiving while caring for her husband. Dr. William Henry Adler III was living with frontotemporal lobe dementia. Dr. Elon learned that “caregiving is a manifestation of love and that love means being present with someone even when suffering seems overwhelming.”
The New Alzheimer’s Drug – Biogen’s Aduhelm
Prior to 2021, the last drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of Alzheimer’s was in 2003. The drug—aducanumab, brand name Aduhelm—uniquely targets and slows the progression of the disease in the early phases. Currently available medications try to ease one’s symptoms. The FDA’s approval was controversial due to mixed study results and not enough evidence to support the treatment’s effectiveness. The controversy is ongoing: Biogen faces tough questions over $56K-a-year price of newly approved Alzheimer’s drug. Some argue, the price will raise Medicare premiums.
If aducanumab does consistently slow the progression of Alzheimer’s early on, people will remain independent longer. This means instead of the high annual cost of care, people with Alzheimer’s will be able to function independently, or with minimal care, far longer.
