Senior Health: Getting to the bottom of aging ♦ Seniors at high risk for readmission after ambulatory surgery ♦ Many seniors overestimate their mobility

Picking up the phone to improve mental health in seniors Therapy provided via telephone for older adults in rural areas is effective in treating anxiety disorder, a new study has demonstrated. Experts write that the health-care system lacks the capacity to help the growing elderly population and that relying too heavily on sedative medications isn’t the answer.

Many seniors overestimate their mobility Many seniors who visit emergency departments require more assistance with physical tasks than they think they do, which may lead to hospital readmission later on.

Seniors at high risk for readmission after ambulatory surgery Patients 65 and older who have ambulatory surgery are 54 percent more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days than younger patients, regardless of their health before surgery, reports a large national study. The likely cause, based on previous research, is difficulty understanding medication dosing and discharge instructions, as well as cognitive impairment among older patients. About 9 million ambulatory surgeries annually are performed on patients 65 and older.

Out-of-home activities may promote older persons' physical activity It is beneficial to stimulate older people to leave home to increase their level of physical activity, suggests a new study that showed that older people were more physically active on the days when they left home and went further away

Getting to the bottom of aging The question of why we age is one of the most fascinating questions for humankind, but nothing close to a satisfactory answer has been found to date. Scientists have now taken one step closer to providing an answer. They have conducted a study in which, for the first time, they have shown that a certain area of the cell, the so-called endoplasmic reticulum, loses its oxidative power in advanced age. If this elixir of life is lost, many proteins can no longer mature properly. At the same time, oxidative damage accumulates in another area of the cell, the cytosol. This interplay was previously unknown and now opens up a new understanding.