Japanese car maker Toyota plans to sell a “companion robot” next year for about $400 in the hopes it will serve as a friend to lonely people. [1]
At just 4 inches tall, the robot – Kirobo Mini – speaks in a high-pitched baby voice, and will hit the market in Japan in 2017. [2]
Who wants to live forever? Well, you can’t. Not yet, anyway. Science hasn’t reached that point. And according to researchers, humans can only live so long, and our species has just about reached its biological limit.
A new study suggests that you’re never too old to get moving, showcasing how exercise can help improve memory and reverse muscle loss in older adults – ultimately helping them to recover from disability and regain independence.
Dr. Thomas Gill, a professor medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, and a team of colleagues followed more than 1,600 elderly adults who were mostly sedentary at the beginning of the study. [1]
Food insecurity in the United States may be declining, but many families are still unsure of where their next meal will come from.
According to the USDA, the number of households that were food insecure at some point during 2015 was down to 12.7% from 14% in 2014. However, food insecurity is more pervasive now than it was in 2007 when it was around 11%, almost a full 2% lower than it is today.
Ivena Smailes may have just turned 105, but that hasn’t stopped her from having a lively spirit. The birthday girl told friends that she had one wish for her birthday: for a “burly, tattooed firefighter” to hand deliver her birthday cake. And boy, did she get her wish! [1]
Smailes, who lives in Crawcrook in the northeast of England, was delivered her cake by a fireman from the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service. He even climbed up to to the third floor of Addison Court Care Home in Wesley Grove where she has resided for the past 3 years.
Morrie Boogart, 91, may be in hospice care in his hometown of Grandville, Michigan, but that hasn’t stopped him from thinking of others.
Boogart is well aware that soon the summer weather will give way to a harsh Michigan winter, and he wants the homeless population to be well prepared for it. So in order to do his part, Boogart has been knitting hats for them–to the tune of 8,000 total. [1]
A new report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that although older people are mostly likely to need medical care, they are least likely to turn to the Internet for information.
Older adults who suffer from memory loss may be helped by something as simple as sniffing rosemary essential oil, according to researchers at the University of Northumbria. Peppermint may help seniors regain lost memories, too.
Filling a home with these pleasant, natural scents could be life-saving for seniors who sometimes forget to take their medications.
Seniors represent only 13% of the population, but they take over 40% of pharmaceutical drugs in the US. In the UK, 45% of prescriptions are doled out to individuals over the age of 65 years. The practice of polypharmacy has never been more acute than it is in the modern era. So why are we drugging the elderly so profoundly?
Around 90% of people aren’t getting enough of an important nutrient that could prevent Alzheimer’s and other degenerative neurological diseases. It is an easy vitamin to get if you are eating the right foods, and of course you can supplement, but many people don’t realize how simple and effective it can be for treating brain disease.
