Aging

Older adults are dying from falls at a higher rate today than 20 years ago. But you can take simple steps to improve balance, vision and alertness — and keep from falling.

It turns out you aren't simply a clone of cells from the womb. Over a lifetime, mutations create a patchwork of tissues made with pieces that have subtly different genetic signatures.

Flo Filion Meiler was inspired to take up the event at 65 when she scoped out the competition. "I said to myself, you know, I think that I could do better than that."

A brief cognitive test can detect signs of Alzheimer's in older patients. Only half of primary care doctors routinely give one, despite coverage by Medicare as part of annual wellness visits.

Researchers say the metabolism of a woman's brain remains higher than a man's throughout a lifetime. And that may help with late-life creativity and learning.

Muscle cells may retain nuclei that helped them grow strong, even after muscles shrink from lack of use. This provocative contentious idea could have implications for public health and sports.

Whether it's exercise or housework, older Americans who move their bodies regularly may preserve more of their memory and thinking skills, even if they have brain lesions and other signs of dementia.

Black Americans are more likely than whites to develop Alzheimer's. Yet black people studied appeared to have lower levels of a toxic substance associated with the disease, researchers say.

This holiday season, the must-have item for people of a certain age is a vaccine to protect against shingles, the painful skin condition caused by a reawakening of the chickenpox virus.

Why develop an exercise habit now? Because 75-year-olds who've been doing it for decades may have the cardiovascular systems of people in their 40s and the muscles of 20-somethings, researchers found.

Health insurer UnitedHealthcare plans to cut SilverSneakers, a popular fitness benefit, for 2.5 million people with the company's Medigap and Medicare Advantage coverage.