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If you want to live to your 100th birthday, healthy habits can only get you so far. Research is making clearer the role that genes play in living to very old age. Habits like getting enough sleep, exercising and eating a healthy diet can help you stave off disease and live longer, yet when it comes to living beyond 90, genetics start to play a trump card, say researchers who study aging. “Some people have this idea: ‘If I do everything right, diet and exercise, I can live to be 150.’ And that’s really not correct,” says Robert Young, who directs a team of researchers at the nonprofit scientific organization Gerontology Research Group.  (Janin, 10/11)

Paul Snyder walks around Kensington, Md., wearing a hat that reads: “MADE IN 1921.” It’s a good conversation starter. At almost 102 years old, Snyder believes the secret to successful aging is making new friends. He befriends people wherever he goes: the grocery store, the doctors’ office, church, the nail salon. Most people in his Parkwood neighborhood call him “Grandpa Paul.” (Page, 10/11)

Family medicine physician Olusunmisola Oyesiku always thought she would practice in a big city, but after going through her family residency program at the University of Alabama in Selma, she ended up falling in love with rural medicine. The Selma program is one of a small, but growing, number of residencies in the country that places residents entirely in rural medical settings. (Empinado, 10/12)

In the mid-1930s, when Portuguese neurologist António Egas Moniz pioneered a method for severing brain tissue to treat psychiatric disorders, he was seen as a visionary. Treatments for severe mental illnesses were limited, and the “leucotomy” offered so much hope that in 1949, Moniz was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine. (Ables, 10/9)

When Lianor da Cunha Hillerstrom of Lexington, Massachusetts, learned her now 9-year-old son Oskar had Down syndrome, she was concerned but not panicked. As a child, Lianor lived for a time in Santo Amaro de Oeiras, Portugal, near her aunt Teresa who had Down syndrome, which causes intellectual disability. Had Lianor, who is 47, stayed in Portugal, she would have witnessed her aunt decline and then die at age 60 of Alzheimer's - the most common cause of death for people with Down syndrome. (Steenhuysen, 10/10)

Staying in hotels can be a harrowing experience for people with disabilities. When Julie Reiskin, 58, tried to book an accessible room in Chicago, she got one with no roll-in shower. In D.C., the bed was too high. Throughout her travels, she’s often had to go days without bathing and has had to sleep in her power wheelchair. This is a common experience for disabled people like her, many of whom say they regularly experience problems staying in hotels and using their amenities. (Morris, 10/9)

There’s no question that noise can be a nuisance. It can distract you from what you’re doing, interfere with your sleep, put you in a bad mood, ratchet up your stress level or affect you in other disruptive ways. But not all noise is problematic. In fact, different colors of noise (yes, you read that right) could actually help you feel and function better. Which may be why YouTube videos and other social media posts about the benefits of exposure to pink, green, brown, white and other types of noise are trending. Colored noises are having a major moment. (Colino, 10/9)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates medical emergencies occur on about one of every 604 flights, with 10 percent diverted for severe cases such as cardiac arrest. With an average of 45,000 flights in the air on a daily basis in the United States, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, airlines are required to know how to respond and prepare for potential incidents. Flight attendants are required to undergo medical training for handling situations. Airlines are prohibited from departing unless there is a sealed emergency medical kit on board, the FAA said. Even then, aircrew will often call on medical practitioners that might be on a given flight, in hopes they can lend a hand. (Perez-Moreno, f10/11)

Unlike philanthropists whose names are publicized, celebrated at banquets and emblazoned on building facades and museum wings, Mr. Feeney gave anonymously to universities, medical institutions, scientific endeavors, human rights groups, peace initiatives and scores of causes intended to improve lives in the United States, Vietnam, South Africa, Australia, Israel, Jordan and other lands. (McFadden, 10/9)