On Aging

After a stroke blinded one eye, Frank Bruni focused on the future

12:39pm March 22, 2022

by Terry Gross

The New York Times columnist says the stroke forced him to make a decision: He could focus on what had been lost or on what remained. He chose the latter. Bruni's new memoir is The Beauty of Dusk.

A condition called mild cognitive impairment may be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease.

This form of memory loss is common — but most Americans don't know about it

3:40pm March 18, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

Mild cognitive impairment, a common brain condition, can be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease. But most people don't know the symptoms. And some may mistake it for normal aging.

Family standing in front of a lemon tree.

Katrina Spade: Could our bodies help new life grow after we die?

9:47am March 11, 2022

We compost plants and livestock, so why not humans? Katrina Spade says that if you want to help the planet one last time, consider composting your body.

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Amy Bloom and Brian Ameche married in 2007. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019.

After an Alzheimer's diagnosis, her husband asked for help to die with dignity

1:20pm March 08, 2022

by Terry Gross

Novelist Amy Bloom talks about how, at her husband's insistence, she traveled with him to Zurich so he could legally terminate his life. Her new memoir is In Love.

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Nurse's aide Patricia Johnson has worked for the Ambassador Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on the north side of Chicago for nearly 24 years. The pandemic has been grueling on her and her colleagues. "The hardest part is watching people die alone withou

Health & Safety

The pandemic pummeled long-term care – it may not recover quickly, experts warn

10:34pm February 22, 2022

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Hundreds of thousands of nursing home workers have quit since the pandemic began, and the ones still working suffer from burnout. Industry leaders worry the system is fracturing.

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Health & Safety

Elderly people make up 75% of COVID-19 deaths — partially due to loneliness

8:01am February 19, 2022

by Scott Simon

Scott Simon speaks to Rachel Weiskittle, a psychologist specializing in the aging process, about the impact loneliness has had on elderly people during the pandemic.

Nurse Tami Hampson and Dr. Vinay Shah with DispatchHealth arrive at the Wiese family's apartment for a medical visit on January 3, 2022.

Health & Safety

Acute care at home brings the hospital to patients' living rooms

2:06pm February 15, 2022

by Katherine Davis-Young

Hospitals are starting to provide health care in patients' homes, including things like x-rays and bloodwork. The approach saves a hospital bed for more urgent needs and lets patients heal in comfort.

Paradoxical kinesia is a phenomenon familiar to Peter Strick, chair of neurobiology and scientific director of the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute. He and a team of other scientists hypothesize that there is a brain circuit that remains intact in

A brain circuit tied to emotion may lead to better treatments for Parkinson's disease

11:24am February 07, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

The symptoms of Parkinson's disease can vanish briefly in the face of stress or a strong emotion. Now scientists are searching for a treatment based on this phenomenon, a form of the placebo effect.

Abdul Alim, one of Pakistan's oldest COVID survivors, died of natural causes on Jan. 27. He was 104 years old.

A 104-year-old COVID survivor has died. He wanted to keep people safe until the end

5:14pm February 01, 2022

by Benazir Samad

In his final days, Alim asked people not to visit him or his family due to rising COVID cases in his community. "Even in death he wanted to keep people and our family safe," says his son.

Microglia, specialized cells like the one seen in the center of this image, can restrain the accumulation of beta-amyloid protein (plaques in orange) that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. But the cells sometimes contribute to the progression of the

How a hyperactive cell in the brain might trigger Alzheimer's disease

8:12am January 30, 2022

by Bret Stetka

Microglia are amoeba-like cells that scour the brain for injuries and invaders. But sometimes the usually helpful cells go into overdrive and damage the brain, researchers say.