Why Do Old Cells Refuse to Die?
For most of our lives, we are taught a fairly simple story about aging. We get older. Our hair turns gray. Our joints become stiffer. Our skin changes. Our muscles weaken. Eventually, the machinery of the body begins to wear down. But modern biology is discovering that aging is much more complicated than simply “wear […]
The New Elderhood: Why Aging Today Is Not What It Was 30 Years Ago
There was a time when turning 70 meant people expected you to slow down, sit down, and perhaps spend a suspicious amount of time discussing the weather. Not anymore. Today, people in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s are working, traveling, dating, exercising, learning new technology, starting businesses, using artificial intelligence, taking online classes, and […]
Your Future Self Is Counting on You
There is someone depending on you today. Someone whose health, independence, finances, friendships, mobility, and quality of life will be influenced by the decisions you make right now. That person is not your spouse. Not your children. Not your doctor. It is your future self. The person you will be five years from now. Ten […]
We Are Becoming a New Kind of Older Person
For most of history, growing old came with a fairly predictable script. You worked. You retired. You slowed down. You became less involved. Eventually, the world moved on without you. That was the expectation. But something has changed. People are living longer. Medicine is improving. Technology is giving older adults tools that previous generations never […]
The New Reality of Aging: Why Adaptation May Be the Most Important Skill of Elderhood
There was a time when getting older followed a fairly predictable script. You worked. You retired. You collected Social Security. You slowed down. The children worried about you. Eventually somebody started asking whether you should still be driving. That was the script. But something very interesting is happening. The script is being rewritten. People are […]
The Danger of Growing Old and Set in Your Ways
There is an old expression that says, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” It may be catchy, but it is also a terrible philosophy for growing older. One of the greatest dangers of the senior years is not simply physical decline. It is the possibility that we gradually stop changing. We stop trying […]
The Future of Alzheimer’s: Real Progress or False Hope?
For decades, Alzheimer’s disease has seemed like one of medicine’s most stubborn enemies. Cancer treatments improved. Heart disease became more preventable. Hepatitis C went from a lifelong infection to something medicine can often cure. But Alzheimer’s? For millions of families, the answer seemed to remain the same: We can diagnose it. We can manage some […]
Vaccines That May Prevent Cancer: The Future of Cancer Prevention Is Already Beginning
For most of our lives, the word vaccine has meant preventing an infectious disease. Polio. Measles. Flu. COVID. But scientists are now asking a remarkable question: Could we someday vaccinate people against cancer? The answer is more complicated—and more exciting—than it may first appear. In fact, vaccines already prevent some cancers today. Researchers are also […]