As people get older, they become less likely to share memories of past experiences, according to published research out of the University of Arizona. And when they do share those recollections, they provide fewer details than younger people do.

Researchers wanted to know how often older adults spontaneously bring up memories in the course of daily conversations — as opposed to a controlled laboratory setting. They used a smartphone app on 103 cognitively healthy older adults ages 65 to 90, who consented to have the app randomly record 30-second snippets of conversation every six to 18 minutes each day.

It wasn't clear why memory sharing seemed to decline with age, but the study authors suggested it might be linked to age-related changes in the brain. "There are a number of regions in the brain that seem to play an important role in how often we think about our personal past or future," they said. "These brain areas tend to show change with older age, and the idea is that because of these changes, older adults might reflect less on their personal past and future when they're talking with other people."

Wishing Upon a Pandemic

A published paper in JAMA Network reports that the pandemic has spurred a fivefold increase in advance directives — legal documents that indicate a person's wishes for medical treatment should the person not be able to communicate.

Still, less than one-third of Americans have completed advance directives on file.

Body of Knowledge

Wrinkles may be more than a sign of aging. French research suggests people with numerous deep forehead wrinkles are more likely to die from heart disease than those with smooth frontal pates. The exact reason for the link isn't known, but some factors that lead to premature aging of the skin may also contribute to aging of the arteries.

Get Me That, Stat!

The percentage of older adults who received shingles vaccines in the past decade has increased nearly fivefold, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease, which can affect all age groups, poses a higher risk to older individuals.

Shingles produces a painful rash, usually on one side of the body. The rash typically goes away with treatment, but in older persons with weakened immune systems, it can lead to long-term nerve pain, blindness, pneumonia, brain inflammation and death.

Counts

24: Times higher the actual number of COVID-19 cases could be in the U.S. over what's currently reported

Source: CDC

Stories for the Waiting Room

People who decrease their rates of smoking and heavy drinking appear to also reduce their risk of hip fractures, say researchers in a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Although experts have attributed reduced hip fracture rates to improved treatments for bone health, the new findings, derived from 40 years of data gathered in the Framingham Heart Study, suggest smoking and heavy drinking impair bone health and make hip fractures more likely. The study correlated a drop in smoking and drinking rates from 1970 to 2010, with a 4.4% drop in hip fractures.

Phobia of the week

Acerophobia: fear of sourness

Best Medicine

This old guy goes to a new doctor for a checkup.

Doctor: "You're in great shape for a 60-year-old."

Guy: "Who says I'm 60?"

Doctor: "How old are you?"

Guy: "I turn 80 next month."

Doctor: "Wow, 80! Can I ask how long your father lived?"

Guy: "Who says he's dead?"

Doctor: "He's not dead?"

Guy: "Nope, Dad just turned 104 this year."

Doctor: "That's incredible. With such good genes, your grandfather must have been very old when he died."

Guy: "Who says Gramps is dead?"

Doctor: "Your grandfather isn't dead?"

Guy: "Nope. He'll be 129 this year, and he's getting married."

Doctor: "Amazing! Why, at his age, would your grandfather want to get married?"

Guy: "Who says he wants to?"

Observation

"You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake." — comedian Bob Hope (1903-2003)

Medical History

This week in 1960, the first oral contraceptive was marketed by the Searle Drug Company of America.

Self-Exam

Q: How many blood types are there?

A: There are four main blood groups: A, B, AB and O. Each of these groups can be RhD positive or RhD negative, so the mostly correct answer is eight. However, within these eight groups are many known variations. At last count, there were 30 recognized blood types.

Epitaphs

"Here Lies

"Ezekial Aikle

"Aged 102.

"The Good

"Die Young." — headstone in East Dalhousie, Nova Scotia

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: soyfigarella at Pixabay