Letting Older Adults Work Longer Saves Medical Costs, Senate Told

Harvard Medical School Neurology Professor Rudolph Tanzi informed the U.S. Senate Aging Committee that healthy lifestyles could delay Alzheimer's by years or decades in more than 95 percent of people at genetic risk for the disease, reports Forbes . His prescribed lifestyle includes sleeping seven to eight hours daily, de-stressing via meditation or some similar practice, interacting with friends, exercising to strengthen brain regions affected by the disorder, learning new things to boost synaptic activity, and proper dieting — specifically the Mediterranean diet. Tanzi and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also agreed that staying physically, socially, and cognitively engaged can add to financial strength by allowing seniors to work longer and trim medical bills. "The cost of this disease to our country is approaching $300 billion per year," Tanzi warned. "With the American lifespan up to nearly 80 years, this disease is a burgeoning epidemic that could someday single-handedly collapse our healthcare system."