Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Computer, Cell Phone Use Linked To Better Health Among Older Generation
Forget bingo and shuffleboard. Use of computers and cellphones is linked to higher levels of mental and physical well-being among those over age 80, according to new Stanford research. And these elders 鈥 dubbed 鈥渢he oldest old,鈥 a generation typically ignored by the youth-obsessed tech industry 鈥 are motivated for the same reasons as digital-savvy millennials: to stay connected. (Krieger, 11/28)
For millions of Americans, this is their everyday reality. These people typically have some form of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, a type of dementia that affects cognitive functions such as memory, judgment and perception. Alzheimer鈥檚 disease has been rising since 1983, the year President Ronald Reagan named November as National Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Awareness Month. Fewer than 2 million Americans had the disease then, but today over 5 and a half million Americans live with Alzheimer鈥檚. (Hansen, 11/29)