Healthy Aging

Swapping 30 minutes of daily TV or home computer use (leisure screen time) with activities like leisurely walking, gardening, home improvement projects or formal exercise was associated with a 3 to 13% decreased risk of premature death.

Could carrying a little extra weight protect you from an early death - perhaps by giving you an energy reserve if you fall ill? Past studies have suggested this might be the case, but new research published in Annals of Internal Medicine challenges this thinking.

Gout is so painful that its sufferers say you can't really grasp how bad it is unless you've experienced it. A form of arthritis, gout is marked by attacks of severe joint pain, swelling, warmth and redness. Although medication is often used to help manage gout, dietary changes may help, too.

Could a sugary-drink habit - or the diet beverages you may consume instead - harm your brain? One recent study showed that regularly drinking sugary beverages, like soda and fruit drinks, was associated with signs of brain aging and declining memory.

As people age, they're even more afraid of losing their vision than their memory, says a survey by the American Optometric Association. Risk of potentially sight-robbing eye diseases does increase as we get older. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts and glaucoma are three top concerns.

It can seem overwhelming to lose weight or get fit, but it doesn't have to be. How you approach behavior changes to help you reach your health and wellness goals can make a big difference. A key is to gradually change your habits.

Getting more physically fit may help reduce risk of dying prematurely. Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, followed 10,854 men and women (average age, 54) who had completed two doctor-ordered exercise stress tests at least 12 months apart.

Too much sitting and too little exercise may speed biological aging by as much as 8 years, suggests an American Journal of Epidemiology study. A group of 1,481 women (average age, 79) from a nationally-representative sample wore motion sensors for one week.

Seeing you're down several pounds or finding your clothes are fitting looser may sound like a good thing - but not when you aren't trying to lose weight. Unwanted weight loss is of special concern in aging since it could point to an undiagnosed illness, leave you prone to infections or decrease your independence.

Hearing loss increases with age, affecting 40 to 66% of adults over age 65 and 80% of adults over age 85. Scientists are exploring whether iron deficiency contributes to the problem. Using clinical data from electronic medical records of 305,339 young to elderly adults, scientists examined the relationship between hearing loss and iron deficiency anemia.