Career coach Jeff Altman in Forbes offers five examples of career mistakes made by many baby boomers that members of Generation X should avoid. His first warning is to approach reporting to someone from a younger demographic with caution, as it may signal the loss of advancement opportunities. "Freely giving away loyalty to your employer rarely leads to a good outcome," Altman adds, continuing that "people get ahead by being alert to opportunities that generally arrive from outside of their organization." Meanwhile, employees should not take praise by managers as an implicit acknowledgement of their worth to the employer. Instead, they should request written feedback to refer back to if ever a discrepancy arises. Altman's fourth lesson is to take serious responsibility for one's career. "If you step aside and allow your employer to be in charge of your life like many boomers have, you may have to learn the hard way that being nice, being a 'team player' and 'going along' is an abdication of your power and can be viewed as permission to pass you over," he writes. Altman's fifth recommendation is that Gen X workers should maintain and cultivate their industry networks so there are opportunities available should a layoff occur.

A study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease explores how a known genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) impacts memory and brain function in cognitively intact older adults with a family history of the disorder, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers probed the gene apolipoprotein E (APOE), which has three allelic variants — e2, e3, and e4. Of these variants, previous studies demonstrated that adults with a single APOE e4 (+APOEe4) gene are more likely to develop AD. The new study applied functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate whether carrying a +APOEe4 genotype changed brain activity during memory task performance in older adults who may be at risk of AD. "It turns out that the +APOEe4 variant . . . doesn't directly affect memory performance or brain activity in cognitively intact older adults," said McGill's Sheida Rabipour. "Rather, +APOEe4 seems to influence the brain regions and systems that older at-risk adults activate to support successfully remembering past events." Older adults with APOEe4 use different brain regions, such as the parietal cortex, to support successful memory encoding, while those who lack APOEe4 utilize traditional memory-related brain regions, like medial temporal lobes and prefrontal cortex, for the same process. The implication is that +APOEe4, when examined to the exclusion of family history, has a subtle effect on the correlation between brain activity and memory performance.

A study in Alzheimer's & Dementia suggests that Alzheimer's disease may destroy cells needed to stay awake, which may explain why those living with the disease sleep so much during the day, reports WorldHealth.net . The researchers discovered a direct link between excessive daytime napping and Alzheimer's disease, and that tau protein tangles play a larger role in the disease than amyloid plaques. Postmortem analysis of 13 brains of people with Alzheimer's compared to six healthy brains found the lateral hypothalamic area, the tuberomammillary area, and the locus coeruleus in the former cohort had significant tau accumulation that killed off up to 75 percent of the neurons in those regions. "It's remarkable because it's not just a single brain nucleus that's degenerating, but the whole wakefulness-promoting network," said the University of California's Jun Oh. Meanwhile, analysis of brain samples from seven individuals with different forms of tau-related dementia indicated that tau buildup did not affect the neural networks associated with wakefulness. The implications are that wakefulness-promoting neurons may be especially prone to the harmful effects of tau aggregation only in Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that excessive daytime napping may be an early symptom, especially if unaccompanied by or caused by significant nighttime sleep problems.

A new peer-reviewed study published in Aging has demonstrated for the first time that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can significantly improve the cognitive performance of healthy older adults, reports ScienceDaily . The primary enhancements are in the areas of attention, information processing speed, executive function, and global cognitive function. Researchers also noticed a significant correlation between cognitive changes and better cerebral blood flow in specific brain regions. During HBOT, the subject inhales pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber where the air pressure is upped to twice that of normal air, boosting oxygen solubility in the blood. The additional oxygen stimulates the release of growth factors and stem cells, which promote healing. The investigators showed that this leads to significant improvement in tissue oxygenation while focusing on both oxygen- and pressure-sensitive genes, inducing restored and enhanced tissue metabolism. These targeted genes also activate stem cell proliferation, lower inflammation, and generation of new blood vessels and tissue repair mechanisms. "We found that HBOT induced a significant increase in brain blood flow, which correlated with cognitive improvement," said Tel Aviv University Professor Shai Efrati.

Businesses are adopting more automation in an effort to reduce costs and boost efficiency amid the pandemic. To stay ahead of the automation wave, U.S. workers are being encouraged to move up the skills ladder, reports the New York Times . A 2019 Markle Foundation report found that jobs in health care, retail, and warehouses saw the fastest rates of digitization. Nonprofit programs have seen some success in training low-income adults for careers in health care, manufacturing, and business. Experts say digital-only institutions are well-positioned to help upskill workers. Said Stanford University Digital Economy Lab's Erik Brynjolfsson, "There are various ways to do it, but ultimately you are going to need public investment."

A study of 135,000 people living in Britain published in Population Studies suggests that although they are living longer, they are not necessarily living healthier, reports CNN . The researchers looked at men and women between 25 and 64 whose health was monitored between 1991 and 2014 as part of the annual Health Survey for England. Later-born subjects reported the same or higher prevalence of bad general health, long-term illness, and high blood pressure than those born earlier — and they were more likely to have diabetes, circulatory illnesses, hypertension, and weight problems. "For those born between 1945 and 1980, the overall trend is towards an increasing proportion of years in poor health, with some health conditions beginning at an earlier age," said University College London Professor Stephen Jivraj. "This has worrying implications for healthcare services, which already face increased demand because of an aging population." In addition, more than half of the years of additional longevity gained by men and women who were 25 between 1993 and 2003 were expected to be spent in poor health. Jivraj said this trend was likely associated with diet and less physical exercise, while escalating social inequality over the generations studied could be a contributor.

An analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that about 6 percent of people 65 or older — about 3.3 million — were living in a household with a school-age child in 2018, while 4.1 million school-age children, about 7 percent of those between five and 18 years old, live with someone 65 or older. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacts people of color, who would be at higher risk of exposure through school-age children if schools become infection hotspots. While almost half of older adults living with a school-age child are white, older adults of color are more likely to live with a school-age child. Nineteen percent of Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander older adults live with a school-age child, as do 17 percent of Hispanic older adults, 13 percent of American Indian or Alaska Native older adults, and 11 percent of black older adults. Meanwhile, 4 percent of older white adults live with a school-age child. The study also found that the portion of older adults living with a school-age child across the country varies significantly, with California, Texas, and Florida each having relatively large numbers of seniors cohabiting with a school-age child. Hawaii tops the list as 15 percent of seniors in that state live with a school-age child, and 20 percent of school-age children live with an adult age 65 or older.

Routine pedicures are critical for some older Californians to help prevent infections, and the closure of nail salons because of the COVID-19 pandemic could threaten their foot health, reports the Palm Springs Desert Sun . The physical infirmities of age can make trimming one's toenails difficult or even impossible, and the risk of infection is higher because family members are usually hesitant to administer foot care to seniors during the pandemic. Infections in people with diabetes can spread, with results that include nerve damage, pain, tingling, and numbness in the extremities — which can lead to amputation in some cases. Anthony Mai with the Sunshine Nail Salon in Palm Springs said even before salons were forced to close again due to resurgent infections, many seniors were not ready to return for pedicures. Meanwhile, podiatrist offices remain open with additional precautions like reduced capacity, more distance between visitors in waiting rooms, and air filters in waiting rooms.

The state of Illinois is launching a $2.1 million campaign to prevent abuse, neglect, and exploitation of seniors and adults with disabilities, reports the Associated Press . The Illinois Department on Aging's Office of Adult Protective Services received federal funding for the three-year Engage2Change campaign, which will place ads on TV, online, and in e-mails to encourage people to report suspected abuse of those 60 and older and of disabled adults. Some funds also will be used to train caseworkers and legal professionals. Department of Aging Director Paula Basta said abuse directly dovetails with social isolation, as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people to stay in hazardous situations because they have nowhere else to go. The campaign offers information on spotting and reporting suspected abuse and the type of help available. "Victims of abuse or neglect may not be able to call for help because they are not alone or are likely to be overheard," Basta said. "We cannot assume that someone else will report it."

A caregiver survey published in JAMA Network Open found that about one-third of people with Alzheimer's disease have access to a firearm in their home, yet few caregivers have talked about what should be done when their loved ones are unfit to handle guns, reports CNN . Less than 20 percent of polled caregivers were concerned about their loved one intentionally injuring themselves or others, with nearly 70 percent saying their greatest fear was of accidental injury. Although most respondents said they would welcome discussing gun safety with doctors or other healthcare providers, just 5 percent said their providers had raised the issue. "As healthcare providers, family members, and friends, we can help older adults think about what they would want to happen with their firearms, if they become unsafe to use them," said University of Colorado School of Medicine Professor Emmy Betz. "This approach promotes respect for independence and preferences while also ensuring safety."