Question: How do I know if my 86-year-old father is a good driver and should still be on the road? His doctor is starting to question whether he should be driving.

First, you’ll want to take seriously any concerns that your dad’s doctor is expressing. Have a candid discussion with your father. Make sure he has a valid driver’s license and check the laws in your state. Some require driving tests and physicals for those over a certain age and shorter renewal periods. Then make it a point to ride with your dad to see how he’s doing. If he is hard of hearing, encourage him to always wear hearing aids when he gets behind the wheel.

Question: I would like to get my 82-year-old mother a cell phone, but she remembers all that speculation in the early days about how these phones could cause cancer. Is there any new data on this topic?

Indeed there is. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that available scientific evidence, including World Health Organization (WHO) findings released in May, shows no increased health risk due to radiofrequency (RF) energy, a form of electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by cell phones.

Inner ear disorders – often called vestibular disorders – are a common cause of dizziness in older adults, which can lead to imbalance and place seniors at a higher risk for falls, according to a recent study.
An estimated 35 percent of U.S. adults age 40 and older have vestibular dysfunction and it only gets worse with aging, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Is drinking a few glasses of wine a week good or bad for us?

A doctor is always the definitive answer on subjects such as this. But here’s news that should make you happy. Earlier research had shown that moderate drinking of alcohol, particularly wine, can reduce dementia among middle-aged adults. A new study says the same is true for senior citizens. The moderate drinkers in this study – all age 75 or older – saw their dementia risk drop by 37 percent over six years.

August is Cataract Awareness Month Cataracts, a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision, impacts more than half of all Americans by the age of 80, according to the National Eye Institute. A cataract can occur in either or both eyes.  It cannot spread from one eye to the other.  Common symptoms, [...]

Local, state and national figures lauded the principal donors, Paul and Lori Hogan, as well as the other benefactors and the University of Nebraska Medical Center for partnering to help seniors age better and live healthier lives. The center is the only geriatric center in the state that offers comprehensive care for older adults. Services include a geriatric medicine clinic, geriatric psychiatry clinic and clinical trials involving geriatric-specific disorders.