aging

Margarida Xavier came to Massachusetts in the 1960s, when the Portuguese community in New Bedford was a booming microcosm of life back home. As younger generations integrate, life for the most elderly immigrants, who still maintain the culture and language of their home, are feeling isolated.

When you go to the doctor you may get an eye test or a hearing test — but you never get a smell test. A new study from researchers at the University of Chicago may change that.

Writer Henry Alford has a new book called How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth). We sent Alford to Washington Square Park to ask strangers to share their hopes and fears about growing old.

When researchers gave old mice the blood of young mice, it seemed to kickstart their brains, boosting their ability to learn and remember, and strengthening their muscles. Would a similar thing ever work in humans? It’s too soon to say, really, but scientists are working on it.When researchers gave old mice the blood of young mice, it seemed to kickstart their brains, boosting their ability to learn and remember, and strengthening their muscles. Would a similar thing ever work in humans? It’s too soon to say, really, but scientists are working on it.

According to an American Medical Association survey, 17 percent of 9,000 doctors restrict the number of Medicare patients in their practice. Dr. Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital, joins us.