On Aging

Mice that exercise produce more of an enzyme that can improve memory and other brain functions.

An Enzyme That Increases With Exercise Can Improve Memory In Mice, And Maybe People

6:49pm July 09, 2020

by Richard Harris

When scientists revved up the production of an enzyme called GPLD1 in older mice, it stimulated nerve growth in their brains and the animals navigated a maze better.

This image shows the buildup of toxic tau proteins in the medial temporal gyrus of a human brain. Though some drugs can now remove these proteins, that hasn't seemed to ease Alzheimer's symptoms. It's time to look more deeply into how the cells work, scie

Alzheimer's Researchers Go Back To Basics To Find The Best Way Forward

11:28am June 25, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

After a decade of failure in treating Alzheimer's with drugs, the National Institutes of Health is funding a five-year effort in Seattle to learn more about how the disease starts in the brain.

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Before you visit older relatives this summer, plan ahead.

Taking A Trip To Visit Grandparents Or Older Relatives? Tips To Reduce The Risk

4:43pm June 24, 2020

If you miss your mom and dad — or they miss their grandkids — how safe is a summer trip? Older people are more likely to get seriously ill from the coronavirus, so consider these tips to reduce risk.

Mark and Janet Shaver assist Betty Shaver, 96, back to the door at the Mapleshire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Morgantown, W.Va.

Nursing Homes Are Reopening In West Virginia, But Not Everyone Can Visit Yet

11:15am June 22, 2020

After three months of restrictions, nursing homes in the state are beginning to allow visitors again. Families are learning that the experience of reopening won't be the same for everyone.

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Kelly Womochil, an aide at Enterprise Estates Nursing Center in Enterprise, Kan., tries on a poncho that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending to nursing homes to protect against the coronavirus.

Health & Safety

Nursing Homes Run Short Of COVID-19 Protective Gear As Federal Response Falters

7:39pm June 11, 2020

by Jordan Rau

At least 711 nursing homes reported running out of N95 masks at the end of May, and 1,963 said they had less than a week's worth. "The federal government has got to step up," says one advocate.

Elevator safety measures that take COVID-19 into account are posted at Cambridge Discovery Park, a life sciences office development in Cambridge, Mass.

Health & Safety

The Office Elevator In COVID-19 Times: Experts Weigh In On Safer Ups And Downs

12:03pm June 08, 2020

by Lauren Weber

As more and more people filter back to the workplace, many face a tiny space that can create a large logjam: the elevator. Even the lobby is fraught with coronavirus questions. We have answers.

Dr. Daniel Colon Hidalgo is a physician in the intensive care unit of a Chicago Hospital, where many of the COVID-19 patients he's tending are unconscious and terribly Ill from the minute he meets them.

On Dying Alone: 'Behind Every COVID-19 Case, There Is A Story'

7:00am June 06, 2020

The unconscious man was a Beatles fan, his sister said. When she couldn't be with him in his final ICU hours she asked Dr. Daniel Colón Hidalgo to play music and say the words she wanted him to hear.

Maria Banderas, left, answers questions from medical assistant Dolores Becerra on May 18 before getting a coronavirus test at St. Johns Well Child and Family Center in South Los Angeles, one of the LA neighborhoods hit hard by COVID-19.

Health & Safety

New Coronavirus Hot Spots Emerge Across South And In California, As Northeast Slows

8:45pm June 05, 2020

Nationwide, coronavirus infection numbers are trending down, but several states are seeing upticks, with the heaviest impact falling on communities of color and nursing home residents.

Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat autoimmune diseases like lupus and is being studied for use in treating and preventing COVID-19.

Authors Retract Hydroxychloroquine Study, Citing Concern Over Data

8:06pm June 04, 2020

by Jane Greenhalgh

A paper suggesting hydroxychloroquine increases the risk of death for patients with COVID-19 has been retracted by three of its authors because they were not able to verify the data used in the study.

The first patient enrolled in Pfizer's COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine clinical trial at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, receives an injection in May. Pfizer's candidate for a coronavirus vaccine is one of number that are in vario

NIH Director Hopes For At Least 1 Safe And Effective Vaccine By Year's End

5:00am June 04, 2020

by Sarah McCammon

Dr. Francis Collins says some candidates for a coronavirus vaccine will be ready to start large-scale human trials as early as next month. Scaling up production may start before tests are complete.

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