Why Get a Flu Shot? It’s Not All About You
You are a healthy person. You eat right and exercise. Whether you are still working or have retired, you are active, and — aside from the occasional cold — not much slows you down. So you really don’t...
View ArticleWhat’s New for the Flu in 2016
You probably know that the flu vaccine is a little different each year. Manufacturers alter it to make it as close a “match” to the currently circulating viruses as possible. There are some other...
View ArticleMary Tyler Moore: Victim of a Common Disease of Older Adults
Actress Mary Tyler Moore’s death earlier this year at age 80 of cardiopulmonary disease and pneumonia serves as a reminder that older adults are highly vulnerable to life-threatening infectious...
View ArticleFlu Virus Is Linked to Heart Attacks in a New Study
(This article ran previously on the website of the American Heart Association.) The flu doesn’t just cause aches, chills and debilitating fatigue. A new study shows it may also increase the risk of a...
View ArticleNew Shingles Vaccine Urged for Adults 50+
(Editor’s note: This newly updated story was originally published in 2017.) If you are in your fifties, there’s a new shingles vaccine recommendation for you. In January 2018, the U.S. Centers for...
View ArticleIs It Really Too Late to Get a Flu Shot?
(Editor’s Note: This story was previously published on the PBS Newshour site.) Remember how terrible the 2009 swine flu season was? This flu season is now as bad as that one, and public health...
View ArticleWhy the Flu Is Often Missed in Older Adults
(A longer version of this article appeared previously on BetterHealthWhileAging.net.) You’ve likely heard the news: the flu is pretty bad this year, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)...
View ArticleCDC: Flu Shot Still Best Protection, Despite This Season’s Low Effectiveness
(Editor’s note: The Centers for Disease Control — CDC — reported Thursday its estimate of the overall effectiveness of this season’s influenza vaccination is 47 percent. For people age 50 and older,...
View ArticleA New Anti-Flu Weapon for People at High Risk of Complications
Everybody’s best defense against influenza is vaccination. But if you do contract the flu virus this season, it’s good to know there’s more than one effective weapon to use against it, especially if...
View ArticleHow Important Is That High-Dose Flu Shot?
In case you missed it, the beginning of this winter’s flu season was heralded by a new TV commercial about a specific type of flu vaccine called Fluzone High-Dose. In the ad, an older woman runs into a...
View ArticleWhat Heart Patients Should Know About COVID-19
(This article appeared previously in American Heart Association News.) As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread around the world and in the U.S. — now a pandemic — it has shown to be a much...
View ArticleImmune Health and Aging in the Age of the Coronavirus
(Editor’s note: This article is part of an editorial partnership between Next Avenue and The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), a national nonprofit whose mission is to support and advance...
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