Judith Graham - Kaiser Health News

About half of adults 65 and older have above-normal blood sugar levels that put them in the prediabetes category. Although that is a signal to improve your eating habits and get more exercise, researchers say only a small percentage of the group will develop diabetes.

Although identifying long COVID in older adults can be tricky, experts say there are good strategies for getting medical advice and fighting the impact of the virus.

Relatives who often provide vital caregiving for nursing home residents say the lockdowns during the pandemic showed the need for family members to visit in person with loved ones. About a dozen states have passed laws guaranteeing that right.

Membership-based villages help arrange services for seniors — such as handyman help or transportation to appointments — and provide social connections . Despite great promise, they have been slow to expand.

Medicare has proposed limiting coverage of Aduhelm and several prominent groups representing patients and families are pressing to make it more widely available. But among individuals facing the disease, the outlook is more nuanced.

Home health and hospice agencies are experiencing extreme worker shortages, which means they can’t provide services to all the patients seeking care.

Ageism in health care settings, which can result in inappropriate or dangerous treatment, is getting new attention during the COVID pandemic.

The condition can be an early signal of Alzheimer’s but not always. Other health concerns could be causing thinking or memory problems, and the new drug, Aduhelm, would not be appropriate for those patients.

Far more older adults who perished with COVID lived outside of institutions. People with dementia and other severe neurological conditions, chronic kidney disease and immune deficiencies were hit hard.

The FDA approves new prescribing instructions for Aduhelm to address confusion over who should get the drug, saying it is appropriate for patients with early or mild Alzheimer’s.