Page 2 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012
Boomers’ anxiety about retirement grows JENNIFER C. KERR Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A majority of baby boomers say they have taken a financial hit in the past three years and most now doubt that they will be financially secure after they retire, according to a new poll. So much for kicking back at the lake house, long afternoons of golf or pretty much anything this generation had dreamed about in retirement. The Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll found a baby boom generation planning to work into retirement years — with 73 percent planning to work past retirement, up from 67 percent this spring. In all, 53 percent of boomers polled said they do not feel confident they’ll be able to afford a comfortable retirement. That’s up from 44 percent who were concerned about retirement finances in March. “I’m not confident at all,� says 63year-old Susan Webb of West Liberty, Iowa.
AP PHOTO
SUSAN WEBB AND HER HUSBAND BOB hold their dog Max in their West Liberty, Iowa, home. An Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll finds a baby boom generation planning to work into retirement years — with 73 percent planning to work past retirement, up from 67 percent this spring.
Webb — one of the 77 million boomers born between 1946 and 1964 — had long hoped to retire at 65 from her job as a real estate broker. Not anymore, not since the economic downturn that led to depressed housing prices, wild stock market swings and an unemployment rate hovering at or above 9 percent for all but two months since May 2009. Webb and her husband, who’s 67, are both still working full time. They hope to ratchet back to part time at some point, but plans for a scenic lake house where they can go fishing and spend time with their two grandchildren will likely mean selling their current home — not part of the original plan. At 50, Cheri Hubbs of Norfolk, Va., is on the younger side of the boomer spectrum. Even so, she knows she’ll work in retirement. “I just feel like I’m going to work until the day I die,� says Hubbs, an administrative assistant. Hubbs had little saved for retirement when she went to see a financial planner
See ANXIETY, Page 3
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Anxiety ... Continued from Page 2 a few years ago. Now, she and her husband are socking away as much money as they can. She’s also cut back drastically on her little luxuries — trips to the nail salon and Starbucks. In the poll, 41 percent of boomers said they are expecting to have to scale back their lifestyle in some way in retirement and 31 percent believe they will struggle financially. Retirement expert Olivia Mitchell says working longer and cutting back are two practical ways for boomers to save more. “It’s a kind of downscaled consumer society that I see in the next five years at least,” said Mitchell, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and executive director of the Pension Research Council. “Consume less and tighten the belt.” Downsizing is part of the plan for software designer Greg Schmidt of Carlisle, Mass. Schmidt, 53, says there’s no doubt he’ll be working longer, likely into his 70s. With a daughter in high school and twin 12-year-old boys, he’s got college tuitions to worry about as well as an aging father and father-in-law. He plans one day to move to a smaller home, maybe in the mountains of Vermont. Almost one-quarter of boomers in the poll — 23 percent — said retirement will
mean they’ll have to move. For Schmidt, the stock market is another source of anxiety. “I am most concerned that we’re going to be entering a different time and equities aren’t quite as valued,” he said. “I am afraid I’m a little heavy into equities.” The span between the two AP-LifeGoesStrong.com polls coincided with a 10 percent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average, which recovered most of those losses by climbing this week to above 12,000 before plunging again amid concerns about Europe’s debt crisis. In all, 62 percent of the boomers polled lost money on at least one of four core parts of retirement savings: ■ A workplace retirement savings plan, 42 percent. ■ Personal investments outside of an IRA/workplace savings, 41 percent. ■ An IRA (individual retirement account), 32 percent. ■ Real estate, 29 percent. The AP-LifeGoesStrong.com poll was conducted Oct. 5-12 by Knowledge Networks of Palo Alto, Calif. It involved online interviews with 1,095 baby boomers, as well as companion interviews with an additional 315 adults of other age groups. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points for baby boomers and 4.8 percentage points for all adults. Knowledge Networks used traditional telephone and mail sampling methods to randomly recruit respondents. People selected who had no Internet access were given it for free.
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE / MCT
KATHY DEYOUNG has chosen to work past the normal retirement age and is in sales at the Coach store in Edina, Minn.
Six symptoms you should never ignore As we get older, even those of us in the best of health will have various unusual symptoms. Some boomers and seniors ignore these problems or dismiss them as part of aging. But these six symptoms should never be ignored; they should be diagnosed as soon as possible: ■ SHARP PAIN IN A JOINT: It could be nothing. Maybe you bumped your elbow or knee without even noticing it. But sudden sharp pain in a joint, especially if it gets worse or doesn’t go away after a day or two, could be something more serious. If the pain occurs more than once, see a doctor. ■ SUDDEN HEADACHES: If you suddenly begin experiencing frequent headaches for the first time in your life, see your regular physician first. He or she can help decide whether the symptom is serious enough to see a neurologist. Even if aspirin or ibuprofen relieves the headaches, don’t rely solely on such medication. Find out the cause. ■ UNEXPLAINED BLEEDING: If you pass blood from the rectum or genitals on more than one occasion, or if you suddenly begin having nosebleeds or spitting up blood, that symptom needs
an immediate examination. If the bleeding comes from a body opening below the waist, you probably will need to see a gastrointestinal specialist. ■ EXTREME TENDERNESS IN ANY BODY PART: If you experience a new and somewhat constant pain in a fleshy body part, and it doesn’t stop within a week, have a doctor examine the site. In fact, this can actually be an emergency if the pain is located between the ribs and hips. You may have swallowed a sharp object that is piercing tissues or there may be an intestinal blockage. Never dismiss lingering mid-body pain. ■ STRANGE LUMPS UNDER THE SKIN: The appearance of a lump under the skin, no matter where it appears on your body, is suspicious. Don’t ever ignore it. It probably isn’t a malignant lump, but it’s always best to make sure. ■ STRANGE MARKS ON THE SKIN: Most people know that changes in a mole need to be diagnosed. But moles aren’t the only thing on skin that could be serious. An annual skin examination of your entire body is a good thing. But if a patch of skin becomes red and flaky, or turns white or darkens, don’t wait.
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Page 4 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, SATURDAY, SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012
New treatments keep aging voice spry BY THOMAS GOLDSMITH McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Aging baby boomers have long used exercise, surgery and collagen as they try to slow the natural bodily processes of aging. Now, some are flocking to do the same with something that’s usually a dead giveaway: a voice that sounds “old.” Research shows that older peoples’ voices often develop breathiness, weakness and loss or range or quality from causes that include disease, changed use of their voices, and the conition called presbylaryngis, also known as “aging of the larynx.” As the baby boomers grow old, the estimated 30 percent of older folks with speech disorders will roughly double over the next two decades. Those born between 1946 and 1964 will likely object even more than today’s patients to a lessened ability to speak and be heard clearly, said Dr. Robert Buckmire, a University of North Carolina Chapel Hill otolaryngologist. “There’s a significant social cost to not being able to communicate,” said Buckmire, who works with a team that includes speech therapist Ellen Markus. “Our age population is more active, they are working, they are more active socially. There’s a much higher stake in the effectiveness of the voice for personal and professional reasons than there was five or 10 years ago.” From precise vocal-function exercises to laryngeal surgery to collagen injections that plump thinning vocal cords, doctors and therapists use a variety of approaches to ward off the effects on aging of patients’ voices. Self-image, basic communication and professional reputation are at stake for the increasing number of patients who have sought help from the UNC Voice Center and other medical facilities. An often-cited study from the ‘90s found that listeners tended to rate an older voice as “doddery,” “vague,” and “rambling,” while giving more credibility to the same words from a younger speaker. Buckmire keeps all of this in mind when he refers patients such as UNC Chapel Hill retiree Ray Carpenter to the center for therapy. Carpenter is of an older generation than the boomers, but like them wants to stay communicative.
JOE HICKMAN of Wilmington, 60, works on his voice during a therapy by Dr. Ellen Markus in Chapel Hill, N.C., recently. RALEIGH NEWS OBSERVER / MCT
“I am dealing with voice problems, hearing problems and vision problems, but I’m smart as a whip,” joked Carpenter, 85, as he began a session Monday in Markus’ office at the Voice Center. Markus, a graduate of the prestigious Eastman School of Music, works daily with both singers and talkers on the three elements that produce vocal sound: the respiratory system, or the breath behind the sound; the vocal cords, which open and close to produce sound and the resonance system — the throat, tongue, teeth and lips — which amplify and articulate the sound. “You’ve been practicing; I can tell,” Markus said to Carpenter, whose wife Pat, 73, sat nearby. Therapist and patient got right down to the task in a treatment room. “OK, let’s say, ‘Hello, he, he,’” she said. “Now, say ‘Hope he will.’ “‘Heap it on. Hit the wall. Hop on.’” Carpenter dutifully repeated the phrases, emphasizing the ‘h’ sounds as Markus had. “I want you to use those belly muscles; the belly is supporting all of this,” she said.
See VOICE, Page 5
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Voice ... Continued from Page 4 Just as trained singers use their diaphragms, Markus said, Carpenter should be able to feel the organ supporting his lungs as he pushed air upward towards speech. She took him through a series of nonsense syllables designed to improve his volume, tone and endurance. “I keep exploring, and I make it a little longer,” she said of one exercise. “Does it break down as it goes a little longer? “They’re supposed to be like lowimpact aerobics; you shouldn’t be hurting yourself.” Buckmire, the physician, pointed out that the muscles of the larynx and other organs involved in speech can’t be bulked up by exercise the way the body’s large muscles can. “When you talk about the voice, there are changes with muscles, change in connective tissue with age, and that’s a very natural change,” he said. “The larynx, the vocal tract, including the lungs, the throat, the tongue — there are somewhat predictable changes in all those muscles with age.” A person recorded at age 30 and again at age 70 will sound noticeably different because of the diminished bulk of the vocal cords, he said. Lung capacity also tends to diminish with passing years, leading to a weaker voice. Sometimes a singer or speaker will produce a breathy sound through vocal cords that aren’t closing properly.0x160 Changes in the brain can bring tremors and other signs of aging. But there’s a bright side to the picture as well. “Although things change and do age, the voice output is not condemned to change,” Buckmire said. “When we get to strategies to improve the voice or maintain the voice, it’s about maintaining all processes and gaining endurance. We know that people can successfully sing at a very high level into their eighties, but it takes more technique and practice.” Vocal quality is closely affected by the suppleness of vocal cords, which can lose elasticity in old age, just as skin does. “When you change laxity, you change how the voice vibrates,” Buckmire said. “You can’t either stave off the changes, or reverse them. Then we really rely on technique and vocal hygiene, how you use the voice and hydration.”
RALEIGH NEWS- OBSERVER / MCT
RAY CARPENTER, 85, of Chapel Hill, warms up his voice during a vocal therapy by Dr. Ellen Markus, of UNC Vocal Center, in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Learning to energize the voice with more breath and resonance can minimize the effects of aging, he said: “We can relieve the impression of a weak voice, a tired voice.”
TIPS FOR PRESERVING SPEECH According the National Center for Voice and Speech, most behaviors recommended for general health also keep people’s voices in good shape. The research and teaching organization adds the following tips: ■ Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day to maintain hydration. ■ Support the voice from abdominal muscles when speaking or singing. ■ Avoid “vocally abusive” activities such as yelling, screaming, coughing and throat-clearing. ■ Warm up the voice before using it. ■ Don’t talk or sing at unnatural pitches. ■ Stay away from over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, which thin the blood and increase the risk of bleeding of the vocal folds. ■ Drinks including caffeine and alcohol remove moisture from your system and should each be counteracted with an equal-sized glass of water.
Online: ncvs.org Source: National Center for Voice & Speech
Page 6 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, SATURDAY, SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012
Exercises help maintain quality of life BY WINA STURGEON Adventure Sports Weekly (MCT)
With the big emphasis on youth in the pop media, one would think the desire to be younger is mostly about looks. But those over 50 know the truth: bodies change after half a century of living, in ways that make life less comfortable. Many boomers (those 50-plus) are reminded of those changes every time they put on a pair of pants. It’s no longer a quick task of standing on one leg while pulling up one side of the pants, then standing on the other leg to put on the remaining side and pulling them up in one effortless motion. Instead, it’s a much more laborious effort of sitting down, reaching, wriggling and finally standing up again, yanking the pants up. That’s what happens when one of the biggest parts of a good quality of life — balance — deteriorates. Here’s a simple exercise that will restore enough balance to make putting on a pair of pants a lot easier. Stand beside a dresser or table and lift one foot as high as the knee on the other leg. If you wobble and need support, touch the dresser or table. Slightly bend the knee and ankle of the standing leg so it’s relaxed, not stiff. Time how many seconds you can stand on one foot without support. Next, do the same on your other foot. Do this exercise daily, until you can stand one-legged,
stable and balanced, on each foot for at least 30 seconds. This will affect your entire life — you’ll definitely notice how much more sure-footed it makes you. Another quality-oflife issue for boomers is flexibility. When you stop being as active, when you don’t physically use your body as much, your tissues contract and get stiff. You can’t reach as far or bend as easily. That makes it harder to do STRETCHING your shoulders something as simple as helps to maintain your reach. putting on a pair of socks. While every boomer should do a full daily stretching routine to remain flexible (which helps prevent injury in a fall), here’s an exercise that will give your hips and lower back more range of motion, so you can put on socks or stockings quickly and easily. Sit on a bed or
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THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, SATURDAY, SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012 Page 7
Fear dementia? BY MARNI JAMESON
have a two to three times greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s, said Ira Goodman, a neurologist at Orlando Health. “We believe that’s because their impaired ability to use or make insulin contributes to neuro-degeneration” — in other words, brain breakdown. Goodman, like other neuroscientists, recommends eating fewer carbohydrates, which keeps insulin levels down. He cited a study out of the University of Cincinnati that found that carbohydrate restriction helped participants who had mild cognitive impairment regain mental function. Researchers divided the 23 participants into two groups. One group went on a typical diet consisting of 50 percent of calories from carbohydrates for six weeks. The other group went on a low-carbohydrate diet, where fewer than 10 percent of calories came from carbohydrates. Afterward, cognitive function stayed about the same in the first group, while in the low-carb group, function improved, according to the 2010 study, published in
The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)
Anyone who has a close relative with Alzheimer’s shares the same worry: Am I next? However, a growing body of research indicates that our lifestyles — particularly what we eat and whether we’re obese — play a greater role than our genes in determining our brain health as we age. “For years, scientists thought that Alzheimer’s was primarily genetic,” said Gary Wenk, professor of neuroscience at Ohio State University. “We now believe that, while there’s a genetic component, Alzheimer’s is primarily a lifestyle disease.” People do carry genes, including APOE-4, that predispose them toward the disease, but whether they activate those genes depends heavily on their lifestyles, said Dr. Stuart Lipton, professor at Sanford-Burnham Research Institute, where he’s scientific director of neuroscience, aging and stem-cell research. “A myth exists that if the Alzheimer’s gene is in your family, you’re going to get it. But that only affects 1 percent of cases,” Lipton said. “What matters most is how you superimpose your lifestyle on top of your genetic background.” A degenerative brain disorder that causes progressive loss of memory and intellectual and social skills, Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, affecting 5.4 million Americans, nearly half a million in Florida alone, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Though no cure exists, medications can slow progress. Although Americans may have more control over whether they develop Alzheimer’s than they thought, the
Diet, weight more important than genes, experts say
DALLAS MORNING NEWS / MCT
BRONWEN ZILMER, pictured recently in her Highland Village neighborhood, has a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. She is doing what she can to minimize her risk, including running.
primary risk factors are all on the rise. “Looking at the rising rate of obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, we’re in a bad state of affairs,” Lipton said. Obesity is linked to Alzheimer’s because it’s a risk factor for diabetes, and diabetics
the Neurobiology of Aging. Brain experts also recommend a diet high in protein and rich in colorful fruits and vegetables. The latter are strong in polyphenols and anti-oxidants, which have proven to boost brain health. Controlling stress is also important for optimizing brain function. Stress increases cortisol, a hormone, in the blood, which increases blood sugar, which increases insulin, Goodman said. The neuroscientist also does research at Compass Research in Orlando, where studies are under way looking for medications to prolong brain health and slow mental demise. In a recent study at Yale, scientists found that stressful events appeared to cause gray matter — the brain tissue that contains dendrites, which transfer information between brain cells — to shrink. The cumulative effects of stress lead to cognitive impairment and probably to memory loss, said researcher Rajita Sinha, professor of psychiatry at Yale Medical
See DEMENTIA, Page 11
Page 8 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, SATURDAY, SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012
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Page 10 THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, SATURDAY, SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012
Joint replacement gives seniors leg up on activity, longevity BY ANITA CREAMER McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A lifetime of wear and tear on his joints caused Dick Pryor, a 77-year-old retired landscape architect, to undergo not one but two surgeries to replace his knees. Neither slowed him down for long. “With one knee replacement, I was back skiing three months later,” said Pryor, a Sacramento, Calif., resident who began skiing a half-century ago. “I could have gone skiing sooner, but the snow wasn’t any good.” Like Pryor, many of his 130 fellow members of the Sacramento, Calif., area 49er Ski Club — average age 72 — have dealt with chronic knee and hip problems, and many remain athletically active after joint replacement surgery. Pryor also walks every day to stay in shape. Bill Anthony, 83, a retired Roseville, Calif., family physician who had both hips replaced and, most recently, recovered from a broken back, likes to bike three times a week and lift weights when he’s not skiing. “We also do a lot of hiking,” said ski group member Judy Agid, 73, a hip replacement veteran and retired Sacramento State fencing coach who has hiked hundreds of miles through Spain and biked across America twice. “And we kayak in the summer,” said Anthony. While that level of activity might sound unusual, experts on aging say it hints at a new norm. For more energetic seniors today, knee and hip replacements provide a break from vigorous physical activity, not the end. In part, that’s because older adults have learned a key lesson: They expect to maintain a good quality of life, because they know that age does not equal infirmity and illness. “I’d say that age is irrelevant,” said Pat Beal, 74, Senior Center of Elk Grove executive director. “We have drivers for our Dial-A-Ride program who have hip replacements and
can’t wait to get back to volunteering. They tell me how many weeks they’ll be out, and I have to tell them to take their time recovering. “Seniors recognize that life is short, and they don’t want to take more time away from what they enjoy. They want to get on with life and have fun while they can.” Increasingly, that quality of life doesn’t include enduring the aches and pains of joint problems caused by osteoarthritis or previous injuries. Well before the tidal wave of the baby boom generation began hitting retirement age, the number of hip and knee replacement procedures more than doubled between 1996 and 2007, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Today, Americans undergo more than 1 million of these knee and hip procedures each year, and a growing number are performed on people in their 50s and 60s. For example, almost 5 percent of people aged 50 and older have had knee replacement surgery, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says — and so have 10 percent of people 80 and older. “A lot of our older people are trying to keep going and stay active until their maker calls them,” said Dr. Stephen Howell, a Methodist Hospital orthopedic surgeon who performs 420 knee replacement procedures each year. “I always tell people you only go around once. My father is 88, and he’s got two knee replacements. He swims laps every day. He plays golf. He still lives independently. Without having his knees done, he’d be in a nursing home now.” Mobility issues and the debilitating level of pain associated with chronic joint problems are two of the major reasons an estimated 210,000 elderly Californians reside in the state’s shortand long-term care facilities. Joint replacement procedures can
SACRAMENTO BEE / MCT
DICK PRYOR of Carmichael, Calif., walks a couple of miles every day when he’s not on the slopes. The avid skier has had two knee replacement surgeries.
make living independently in old age possible for many people. And research indicates it can make life itself possible, as well. According to a 12-year study of
135,000 Medicare patients, those who underwent knee replacement surgery
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Caregivers’ mental health may improve with short daily meditation
Joint ... Continued from Page 10 had half the risk of dying within the next seven years as patients who opted against the procedure. It’s an interesting equation that encompasses a lot of life beyond achy hips and knees: Joint replacement surgery enhances older adults’ chances of remaining physically active. In turn, being active not only helps mitigate difficulties with balance and falling; it also reduces the likelihood that seniors will become homebound and isolated, leading to a potentially deadly cascade of problems. “Everybody can be active at different levels,” said Lisa Cirill, who leads the state Department of Public Health’s California Active Communities program. “It’s crucial that they are.” In a real way, staying mobile — being at least able to walk, if not run and bike and ski — prolongs lives. “One of the doctors I went to told me, ‘You’re getting older, and you’re doing too much,’” said Agid. “So I changed doctors.” She’s still going strong. So is Bill Anthony, who likes to tell people that he met a group of really elderly skiers at Mammoth a few years back — people in their 90s. And so is Dick Pryor, who recently changed his goal of skiing until he hits age 80: Now, he said, he’s going to keep going to at least 85.
BY JEANNINE STEIN Los Angeles Times (MCT)
PHOTO COURTESY OF DICK PRYOR / MCT
DICK PRYOR skis Tahoe on the California-Nevada border recently.
A yoga meditation program could reduce depression symptoms and boost mental health, a study finds, and that’s not all — it may also show benefits at the cellular level. The study, published recently in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, involved 49 caregivers ranging in age from 45 to 91 who were taking care of family members with dementia. Caregivers are at risk for high stress levels, often with no outlet or relief, which can lead to health problems. The participants were randomly assigned to two programs: Kundalini yoga Kirtan Kriya meditation or passive relaxation with instrumental music. The yoga meditation program included breathing, chanting and repetitive finger movements, call mudras. Both were done for 12 minutes a day for eight weeks. At the end of those eight weeks the meditation group seemed to come out ahead. Among those men and women, 65 percent showed 50 percent improvement on a depression rating scale, and 52 percent showed a 50 percent improvement on a mental health scale. Among those who did passive relaxation, those numbers were 31.2 percent for depression and 19 percent for mental health. More evidence was found on the cellular level. The meditation group had a 43.3 percent improvement in telomerase activity, while the relaxation group saw only a 3.7 percent boost. Telomeres, the study explains, are repetitions of DNA sequences0x160at the end of a chromosome that protect it from damage that can lead to health problems. Higher telomerase activity can help improve the durability of immune cells. — Distributed by MCT Information Services
“These are people who raise the expectations of other people,” said Howell. “It’s very encouraging. We all do our part to mentor by example and to let other people know these things are possible.” Distributed by MCT Information Services
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Dementia ... Continued from Page 7
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School and director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Stress Center. Yale researchers asked 103 healthy volunteers ages 18 to 48 to fill out questionnaires to quantify the amount of stress they’d had in their lives. Then participants underwent brain scans. Subjects who had experienced recent stressful events, such as loss of a job, house or loved one, showed markedly lower amounts of gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, according to the study published in a recent issue of Society of Biological Psychiatry. “The dendrites shrink with high levels of stress,” Sinha said. “But all is not lost. The brain is dynamic and plastic. If the stress is dealt with in a healthy manner, dendrites grow back.” A healthful manner includes all the behaviors that help keep Alzheimer’s at bay: keeping blood-sugar levels steady, exercising, building good personal relationships and engaging in positive activities, Sinha said. Of course, another primary risk factor for Alzheimer’s is getting older. Today, the chances of having Alzheimer’s by the time a person reaches age 85 is 50 percent, Goodman said. That risk rises to 75 percent by age 100. “Even if you do carry a genetic predisposition, lifestyle modifications in midlife can greatly reduce the risk and delay onset,” Goodman said.
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