San Francisco Mayor London Breed and several supervisors announced that City Hall will intervene to save local classes for seniors formerly hosted at City College, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . According to Breed, the city will invest $216,000 from the Dignity Fund to cover the courses this spring, while continuing to seek funding for additional classes. "City College is having to make some tough choices to address ongoing structural financial issues, and while that is happening we can lessen the impact for our seniors who visit our community centers to enrich their lives," Breed stated. "Many of our older adults rely on these classes, which keep them active and connected to the community, and I'm glad we're able to find a way to ensure that they can continue." Community organizations offer the courses to roughly 2,000 adults at senior communities and other locations. These organizations will assume responsibility for the classes, oversee hiring instructors, and manage enrollment. The Older Adults Program is free to participants, with courses including tai chi, music, figure drawing, theater, literature, writing, and computer skills.

Pittsburgh's Port Authority has issued about 27,000 photo ConnectCards for Pennsylvania seniors to use for free transit rides instead of their Medicare cards Jan. 1, but the agency will not know if everyone who should have the cards has received them until after the new year, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Starting Jan. 1, seniors who previously showed drivers their Medicare cards will have to tap the ConnectCard with their photo on the fare box to get free transit. This is due to a revised rule requiring seniors to use either a card with their photo or the state-issued cardboard transit cards. Medicare cards will no longer be accepted for free rides because the state Department of Transportation said too many seniors permitted people under 65 to use their Medicare cards to get free rides. "The fact that we have processed 27,000-plus cards is a testament to the state legislators who want to distribute them through their offices, at senior centers, and at community events," said authority spokesperson Adam Brandolph.

Ohio's Animal Charity is trying to get older dogs adopted by having them visit seniors living in nursing communities, reports WKBN . The organization launched the Senior for Seniors Program last month in collaboration with healthcare providers and Three Wishes for Rubies. The initiative not only helps the dogs find homes, but also helps residents find companionship. "When you really think about the two populations of senior residents, they're often forgotten," notes program co-founder Kristin Dimidovich. "They're here and the joy that it brings to them when they are around pets and animals, it just lights up. Our biggest thing is to spread more joy and companionship and raise awareness for . . . both seniors in the different community settings and also senior pets." Six dogs have so far been adopted since the program's launch.

Washington University School of Medicine Professor Suzanne Schindler says anticholinergic medications can elevate the risk of dementia among certain people, according to U.S. News & World Report . "For example, people who take anticholinergic medications may notice that they become confused or groggy," she says. These drugs can impair memory and thinking, and long-term users may develop more severe and chronic problems like dementia. A study in JAMA Internal Medicine found antidepressants, anti-Parkinson's disease medication, anti-psychotics, medication for an overactive bladder, and anti-epileptic drugs were all associated with a risk of dementia. Schindler says anticholinergics probably do not cause the structural brain changes associated with Alzheimer's, but she warns such medications may exacerbate Alzheimer's symptoms. Experts recommend that people considering or using anticholinergics should speak to their primary care physician and pharmacist, and review their medication annually. Also advised is discussing how to minimize use of anticholinergic drugs that can cause cognitive symptoms and discontinuing drugs that are no longer effective.

There is overwhelming support for allowing American seniors to access Health Savings Accounts, according to an editorial by the American Bankers Association's Health Savings Accounts Council Executive Director Kevin McKechnie in The Hill . He writes that the bipartisan Health Savings for Seniors Act "would serve as a strong supplement to Medicare and offer a commonsense healthcare boost for our seniors. This is a different approach than Medicare for All, the public option, or Medicare buy-in that will help some of our most vulnerable citizens." Seniors covered by Medicare are not currently permitted to set up or continue contributing to their Health Savings, which helps lower out-of-pocket costs while boosting efficiency in the healthcare system. "Health Savings Accounts also incentivize saving for healthcare expenses by providing critical tax benefits, just as we do for saving for retirement or college," McKechnie notes. "These tax benefits have become even more important as deductibles and other healthcare costs continue to skyrocket." Deductibles can be nearly $2,000 combined, and other out-of-pocket Medicare expenses constitute a percentage of the charges. "Seniors deserve access to the healthcare they have worked their whole lives to secure and Congress should expand Health Savings Accounts to help them do that," McKechnie concludes.

A study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says federal guidelines would help states better address nutritional needs of older adults, reports the News Tribune . The report found most older adults have chronic health conditions, like diabetes or heart disease. "As older adults age, they may also face barriers, such as a reduced appetite, impairing their ability to meet their nutritional needs," the study noted. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) should thus devise a plan for updating its nutritional guidelines to focus specifically on the senior population. The GAO cited a study by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which found physiological changes related to aging — like decreased metabolism and less muscle mass and nutrient absorption — make meeting nutritional needs difficult. Age-related physical impairments, as well as medications, also may affect older adults' food preparation and nutrient consumption. The GAO study recommended DHHS update its Dietary Guidelines to focus on older adults' needs, and detect current information gaps on those needs; improved meal supervision for adult day-care communities; centralized data on promising strategies for making meal accommodations for nutritional meal programs; and, finally, better dissemination of information to help state and local entities involved in providing Child and Adult Care Food Program meals meet nutritional needs of older adults.

A survey of 675 people 55 and older in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine found 57 percent of older adults said their back pain had not gotten better in the five years after initially presenting to their general practitioner, reports Healio . Most subjects also discontinued advice from their medical professional during that period. University of California, Los Angeles Professor Obidiugwu K. Duru suggested some subjects may simply give up and accept their pain rather than seek alternative therapies. Duru said doctors must encourage more healthy living among older people to avoid constant pain throughout their lives. Meanwhile, the Tufts Medical Center's Ron Riesenburger said general practitioners "should strongly consider referring persons with back pain of over three months to an institution with a spine center, which typically consists of a team of non-operative and operative spine specialists working together to treat back pain."

Baby-boomer entrepreneurs who pioneered the modern European economy are determined to hold onto their clout, reports the Wall Street Journal . Researchers at the Bank of Italy say their behavior includes avoidance of risk compared to younger peers, as well as aversion to outside investors, non-family managers, and nonbank financing to underwrite growth. However, if these entrepreneurs — especially older ones — do pursue change, Europe's small-business sector could prosper. Bocconi University Professor Guido Corbetta says 25 percent of those who lead Italian family-owned businesses are older than 70 versus 17 percent 10 years ago. Meanwhile, the number of company heads under 50 years old is in decline — a trend repeated across the advanced EU economies. Baby boomers shunning outside investment and mergers typically keep their businesses smaller, but they are less capable of innovating and competing in global trade. Without new management, studies have shown aging entrepreneurs are exposed to fewer fresh perspectives, including ways to secure financing beyond traditional bank loans.

Checking one's balance can help older adults avoid falls, reports U.S. News & World Report. The first step before prescribing an appropriate exercise regimen is to perform the single leg stance test: a person stands barefoot before a chair without touching it, lifts a leg fof the floor and starts a stopwatch timer; the person steadies him- or herself with the chair when they start to sway, and halts the timer. A doctor consultation is recommended if the person starts to feel unsteady before the average time they are supposed to be in balance for their age. Balance can be improved by practicing the one-leg stance, but as a training exercise, persons should hold onto the chair and not let go. The regimen calls for lifting one leg for 15 seconds, resting and repeating three times, and then switching legs. Someone should always be with the person when trying the exercise for the first time, while taking a balance class might be a good suggestion.

The San Diego Union Tribune has learned that "Ionis Pharmaceuticals is selling a license to one of its Alzheimer's research programs to its longtime partner, Biogen." The deal brings the California-based drugmaker an infusion of cash, as well as a deeper relationship with the biotechnology giant. The deal got Ionis a $45 million upfront payment from Biogen in addition to the potential to earn another $155 million should the program reach certain commercial and scientific milestones. In return, Biogen receives a license to an experimental drug that is designed to reduce the production of tau, a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease. The experimental drug is currently being tested on patients with mild cases of Alzheimer's.