Many Americans harbor a bleak view of the future, expecting the standard of living to decline by 2050, while healthcare costs will grow and people will be forced to work into their 70s, reports Axios . According to the Pew Research Center, 85 percent of Americans expect to receive no benefits or fewer benefits from Social Security by the time they retire. More than 50 percent said seniors outnumbering children in the United States will not be good for the nation's economy, and most expect responsibility for their care will fall on family members and older people themselves. Other highlighted sources of worry include increasing automation and incompetent politicians.

A study published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management suggests the passage of medical marijuana laws helps reduce pain levels and increase the number of hours worked by older adults, reports MarketWatch . The researchers observed that active state medical marijuana laws lead to lower pain and better self-assessed health among older men and women, as well as increases in the older adult labor supply. A third trend noted the effects of medical marijuana statutes are most significant among older adults with a health condition that would qualify for legal medical marijuana use under current state laws. Among persons whose health issues would qualify them for medical marijuana in their state, there was a 4.8 percent decrease in pain and a 6.6 percent increase in reported good or excellent health. A 7.3 percent gain in levels of full-time work among people who qualified for medical marijuana also was noticed. "Medical marijuana laws increased hours worked by those who were already working ... and increased the share of older adults who were working full-time versus not working or working part-time," reported Bloomberg School Professor Lauren Hersch Nicholas.

A Finnish study published in The BMJ suggests women who take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to ease menopause symptoms may have a slightly greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease, reports Reuters Health . The researchers examined some 85,000 women diagnosed with Alzheimer's between 1999 and 2013, and about 85,000 controls without this diagnosis. About 30 percent of subjects in both groups took hormones, with most using "systemic" hormones in tablet or pill forms, while fewer took vaginal treatments. In comparison with women who did not use systemic hormones, those who did were 9 percent to 17 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer's, while older women who used HRT for more than 10 years had the highest risk. Almost all study participants who had Alzheimer's were diagnosed at age 60 or older, and 56 percent of them were older than 80 when diagnosed. Three out of four women with Alzheimer's who were taking HRT had been on hormones for more than a decade when they were diagnosed. The researchers estimate that HRT is associated with nine to 18 additional cases of Alzheimer's annually in every 10,000 women 70 to 80.

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry notes some researchers are beginning to consider Alzheimer's as a whole-body problem that arises in the brain, reports WorldHealth.net . A team at the University of British Columbia suggests the disorder may be induced by beta amyloid proteins from the liver and kidney, which migrate to the brain through the bloodstream and accumulate into plaques in nerves that disrupt electrical signals. They showed how beta amyloid circulates via parabiosis by attaching two mice together to share the same blood supply, with one mouse engineered to carry a mutant human gene that produces high levels of beta amyloid. The healthy mouse contracted Alzheimer's after one year, and both mice developed plaques and tangles of protein strands within their neurons that disrupted functions of the organ, and ultimately led to their deaths. The team thinks a method for biochemically tagging beta amyloids could enable kidneys and liver to process and flush them from the body before they can cause damage.

A study of more than 18,000 Britons published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found those suffering depression in their 20s, 30s, and 40s were more likely to suffer memory loss by their 50s, reports The London Economic . Based on these findings, the investigators have urged the U.K. government to invest in the mental health of young adults to protect their future brain health. "We found the more episodes of depression people experience in their adulthood, the higher risk of cognitive impairment they have later in life," said the University of Sussex's Darya Gaysina. "This finding highlights the importance of effective management of depression to prevent the development of recurrent mental health problems with long-term negative outcomes." The researchers observed that a buildup of symptoms experienced by participants supplied a strong indicator of reduced memory function by the time they were 50. Two or three depressive episodes over the course of the study period forecast a steady decline in cognitive ability, while only one had little impact. Episodes of depression and anxiety had little effect on verbal fluency, information processing speed, and accuracy scores.

A study published in Neurology found seemingly innocuous fluid-filled spaces around cerebral small vessels, typically visualized on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans in older adults, are now linked with worse cognitive health, reports ScienceDaily . In comparison with common markers of small vessel disease, study results revealed more frequent association between enlarged perivascular spaces and cognition than anticipated. "These areas contributed to worse cognitive health in a way that was distinct from the other markers of small vessel disease," says Vanderbilt University Medical Center Professor Angela Jefferson. The researchers investigated whether each of the imaging markers related to such cognitive activities as language, memory, visuospatial skills, information processing speed, and executive functioning, as well as whether each marker reflected a common or unique pathway of injury. White matter hyperintensities and cognition, including language, were most often associated with enlarged perivascular spaces. Surprisingly, the next most frequent connections were between enlarged perivascular spaces and information processing speed and executive functioning.

A study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports on the emotional impact of lifting weights suggests this regimen could improve motivation and confidence in older adults, reports the New York Times . For the study, 81 men and women between the ages of 65 and 75 agreed to start twice-weekly, supervised, full-body resistance training. Three months later, they were randomly assigned to continue training once, twice, or three times a week, while a separate, untrained cohort were controls. After six months, subjects lifting weights had mostly gained strength and improved various markers of their health, even if they had lifted only once a week. They were then left to continue the regimen on their own. Twelve months after the formal study's conclusion, nearly half the volunteers — rather than 30 percent as originally forecast — were still lifting weights at least once weekly. Subjects whose self-efficacy had climbed significantly during the study tended to maintain the workout.

A study published in Medical Care found both black and white Medicare beneficiaries have experienced reductions in stroke-related hospitalization and death, reports ScienceDaily . More black beneficiaries are enjoying fewer deaths following initial stroke, although the University of California, San Francisco's Margaret Fang cautions "black men and women continue to be at higher risk for stroke than white counterparts." The researchers analyzed Medicare data from 1988 to 2013 to characterize trends in hospitalization and mortality after an initial stroke in black or white men and women 65 or older. More than 1 million hospitalizations for ischemic stroke and nearly 150,000 hospitalizations for hemorrhagic stroke were included. Over 25 years, hospitalizations for stroke declined for both black and white beneficiaries. Adjusted for age, ischemic stroke risk fell from 1,185 to 551 per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries among black men, and from 932 to 407 per 100,000 among white men. Risk decreased from 1,222 to 641 per 100,000 for black women, and from 892 to 466 per 100,000 for white women. Death following ischemic stroke also slipped, with greater reductions among black beneficiaries. Finally, mortality dropped from about 14 percent to 9 percent in black women versus 16 percent to 15 percent in white women.

A study published in The BMJ warns delaying treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in older adults could significantly elevate the risk of bloodstream infection and all-cause mortality, reports the Pharmaceutical Journal . The researchers analyzed U.K. general practice data from 2007 to 2015 on 157,264 adults 65 years and older who had a total of 312,896 UTI episodes. Generally, 22,534 subjects went without antibiotics and 19,292 received a delayed antibiotic prescription within a week of diagnosis. In comparison to receiving immediate antibiotics, the risk of bloodstream infection within 60 days increased eightfold with no antibiotics and sevenfold with delayed antibiotics. The danger of all-cause mortality climbed by 118 percent and 16 percent in those respective cohorts. Men 85 or older were especially at risk for both bloodstream infection and 60-day all-cause mortality. "Early initiation of recommended first-line antibiotics for UTI in the older population is advocated," the researchers said.

STAT is reporting that Biogen and its Japanese pharma partner Eisai announced earlier today that they are stopping two Phase 3 clinical trials of aducanumab, a drug that was designed to slow the worsening of Alzheimer's by targeting brain-destroying protein fragments known as beta-amyloid. According to both firms, the decision to halt the trials was based on an interim analysis that an independent monitoring committee had conducted. The study concluded that aducanumab was not likely to benefit Alzheimer's patients compared to placebo when the trials completed. Biogen and Eisai join a long list of pharmaceutical companies that have attempted and been unsuccessful in developing viable treatments for Alzheimer's. Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos issued an official statement that read: "This disappointing news confirms the complexity of treating Alzheimer's disease and the need to further advance knowledge in neuroscience. We are incredibly grateful to all the Alzheimer's disease patients, their families, and the investigators who participated in the trials and contributed greatly to this research."