Seniors Archive for The Checkup - Health and Wellness Blog

The dangers of walking and talking

Remember the old joke about walking and chewing gum at the same time? Well, there's new evidence out today about what might be the modern equivalent: Walking and talking on a cell phone. And it's no laughing matter. Researchers at the University of Illinois studied 36 college students as they...

Preventing Falls Among the Elderly

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) (Getty Images) Senator Byrd, meet Mary Tinetti. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), 91, reportedly lost his balance and fell down in his home Tuesday morning. It happens all the time to older people, for whom falling down can pose serious health issues. But falling down isn't...

Five Facts about Aortic Valve Surgery

Former First Lady Barbara Bush had it the other day. And actor/comedian Robin Williams is about to have it, too. "It" is aortic valve surgery, a procedure in which one of the four valves that regulate the passage of blood in and out of the heart is replaced. Here are...

Older Drivers, Vision Screening, and Traffic Fatalities

Does screening older drivers' visual acuity translate to fewer traffic fatalities? That's what Gerald McGwin's been trying to figure out. In two studies published this year, McGwin, of the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, examined the impact of a 2004 Florida law requiring all...

Is Googling Good for Your Brain?

Surfing the Web may seem mindless at times, but new research indicates googling may help keep your brain sharp. A growing body of evidence is supporting the "use-it-or-lose-it" hypothesis of aging well. It says staying mentally active helps keep the brain spry. So far, research has focused on reading, doing...

Knee Surgery Useless, Study Shows

Bad news for creaky Baby Boomers: There's strong new evidence out that arthroscopic surgery is useless for arthritis of the knee. Researchers at the University of Western Ontario in Canada studied 178 men and women suffering from moderate to severe arthritis in their knees. The patients all got standard...