Delaying retirement for just three to six months does to the standard of living after retiring what an entire percentage point of 30 years of earnings would do, reports MarketWatch . "Working longer is relatively powerful compared with saving more for most people," states a new report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Working longer has such an impact on the standard of living in retirement because it bolsters two types of retirement income — Social Security benefits and 401(k) withdrawals, researchers say. The longer a person works, the longer Social Security is deferred, which means a higher benefit check. The worker's 401(k) withdrawal will also be higher from more money in the account. Social Security makes up 81 percent of retirement income in this case, the researchers said, and 401(k) payments make up the rest.

The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) applauds President Trump's signing of the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act into law, and is looking forward to working with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement its provisions. Under the RAISE Family Caregivers Act, HHS must develop, maintain, and keep up to date a National Family Caregiving Strategy that will provide resources and educational opportunities to family caregivers throughout the U.S. The National Family Caregiving Strategy is to be developed by HHS in consultation with a new Family Caregiving Advisory Council. The RAISE Family Caregivers Act advances C-TAC's mission to support family caregivers, and the organization praises the leadership of Congress, AARP, and the many stakeholders and C-TAC members who contributed to the law's enactment.

A new report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimates women have comprised nearly half of U.S. medical student applicants for the past 15 years, according to the Washington Post . The percentage of male applicants was slightly higher last year, but since 2015, male applicants declined nationally while female applicants increased. In 2017, women constituted 54 percent of entering students at the Howard University College of Medicine and 53 percent at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Meanwhile, women made up 48 percent of entering students at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, but Dean for Medical Education Stephen Ray Mitchell says women claimed a majority for the first time in 2002 and classes since then "generally run about 53 percent women." Medical proponents see the increase in women entering medical schools as a result of growing emphasis on pipeline programs encouraging girls to pursue math and science from the time they are in grade school. "Many of these programs show that women are just as talented and capable in the sciences," says the AAMC's Geoffrey Young. "We are pleased to see this increasing diversity in what has been a white male-dominated profession." The AAMC hopes the growing ranks of women, along with more underrepresented racial minorities, will help fill an expected shortfall of physicians needed to serve the senior U.S. population.

A post hoc analysis of a randomized clinical trial presented at the Crohn's & Colitis Congress found older adults diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) and treated with extended-release budesonide tablets appear to have a safety and tolerability profile similar to that of younger individuals, reports MedPage Today . A total of 254 individuals were assigned to receive a 6 mg dose, 255 were assigned to a 9 mg dose, and 258 were assigned to get a placebo. The researchers stratified participants by those 60 or younger and those older than 60 and determined UC exacerbations occurred in 15.8 percent of the younger cohort receiving the 6 mg daily dose of budesonide, versus 21.9 percent of the older group. Among those taking the daily dose of 9 mg, 13.6 percent of the younger participants had exacerbations, compared with 5.6 percent of the older participants. The exacerbation rates for those on a placebo were 13.8 percent and 14.7 percent for the younger and older groups, respectively. "That basically shows there is no major difference by age group," noted Gary Lichtenstein with the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. "What we showed with this analysis is that with this drug, one-size does fit all." Lichtenstein also said no differences in safety concerns were observed in terms of gender.

A new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggests elevated levels of amyloid beta combined with symptoms of anxiety and depression that escalate over time may indicate preclinical Alzheimer's disease, reports Medscape . "Alzheimer's disease begins with a long 'preclinical' phase defined by the accumulation of brain deposits of fibrillar amyloid and pathological tau," the researchers note. They also say preclinical observations found cognitively normal older persons with biomarker indications of amyloidosis are more likely to experience increasing depression symptoms over time. "These preliminary observations raise more pointed questions as to the quality, severity, and time course of depressive symptoms that are most characteristic of preclinical Alzheimer's disease and the specificity of their associations with Alzheimer's molecular markers," the investigators point out. The team examined the relationship between cortical aggregate amyloid beta and longitudinal measures of depression in a cohort of cognitively normal older adults whose levels of amyloid beta showed wide variance. They focused on 70 cognitively normal community-dwelling men and women without major psychiatric disorders at the time of participation. The team found a significant difference in mean Pittsburgh compound B binding between participants who lacked a history of depression, compared to those with current depression, but not compared to those with past depression.

Dalhousie University artist Mark Gilbert and Dalhousie Professor Kenneth Rockwood are investigating how painting portraits of people with dementia can help gain a better understanding of their condition, reports CBC News . "Done properly, art can help people with dementia and can help even the caregivers, including the formal caregivers, the healthcare professionals, to do a better job of caring, to better understand the care recipient's perspective," Rockwood says. The collaboration follows the artist-in-residence program at the memory clinic at Halifax's QEII Health Sciences Center. Rockwood thinks artists can be "independent, second eyes," and see things in people with disorders such as Alzheimer's that doctors may have overlooked. "These portraits will live hopefully way beyond any of us, and so there is that potential that pictures continue to communicate to future audiences, allowing them to reflect on their own experiences and gain access into the experiences of others," Gilbert says.

Workers looking forward to enjoying a long and leisurely retirement after years of working may need to think again. New research shows that brain function declines rapidly as soon as people stop work and put their feet up. A British study which tracked 3,400 retired civil servants found that short-term memory declines nearly 40 percent faster once employees become pensioners. It appears that the lack of regular stimulation takes a heavy toll on cognitive function and speeds up memory loss and dementia, the researchers said. The results, published online in the European Journal of Epidemiology , found verbal memory, which declines naturally with age, deteriorated 38 percent faster once volunteers had retired, reports the Telegraph .

Experts warn a shutdown of the federal government could carry serious consequences for public health, with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) furloughing about half of its employees, reports Kaiser Health News . The HHS shutdown contingency involves the suspension of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) flu-tracking program, which one expert says is bad timing, since the U.S. is at the height of a particularly severe season. The University of Michigan's Dr. Arnold Monto notes a shutdown also will impact the CDC's participation in key decisions about next year's flu vaccine. Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health will stop enrolling new patients in clinical trials during a shutdown, which could have grave outcomes for many with life-threatening illnesses. Medicare will be mostly unaffected by a shutdown, with enrollees continuing to receive insurance coverage and get their reimbursement payments to medical providers processed; however, a prolonged closure could delay the delivery of those checks. States already have their funding for Medicaid through the second quarter, so no curtailment of coverage for enrollees or payments to providers is anticipated. On the other hand, the Administration for Community Living will be unable to fund federal senior nutrition programs during a shutdown. This could delay federal reimbursements to independent Meals on Wheels programs, forcing programs to expand waiting lists for meals, reduce meals or delivery days, or suspend service.

A new study from Paychex estimated that 48 percent of 257 surveyed U.S. employers who employ between two and 500 employees said they would, to some degree, support legislation requiring paid leave, with millennials making up 71 percent of respondents, reports the Washington Post . Several U.S. states and numerous cities and jurisdictions already require some form of mandatory paid leave, while the president has supported paid time off for new parents and included the proposal as part of his most recent budget. In addition, the new tax reform bill that passed in December has a provision giving employers up to a 25 percent tax credit on wages voluntarily paid to employees under the Family and Medical Leave Act. However, Paychex determined 35 percent of small business owners "lack strong feelings" about mandatory paid time off, because mainly larger companies are fully in support of some type of legislation. "Whether it's having a key member of a small team out of the office for an extended period of time or the back-end administration of such a program, mandatory paid leave will introduce new dynamics small business owners will have to navigate," says Paychex CEO Martin Mucci. How such a measure would be underwritten is the biggest challenge, with 43 percent of business owners saying the federal government should pay, versus 40 percent saying funding should be employers' responsibility.

The first bill presented to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in the 2018 legislative session is bipartisan legislation revising the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) to the Enhanced NLC, which keeps many nurses from having to obtain a new state license, reports the Denver Channel . "Healthcare does not stop at state lines and we need to ensure our nursing staff don't have to either," said Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D-Colo.). "This current compact has been operational and successful for more than 17 years. Our bipartisan bill allows Colorado nurses to maintain their multi-state license and join the enhanced nurse licensure compact." Once approved by Hickenlooper, the bill will let the approximately 86,000 Colorado nurses who were already part of the NLC to be grandfathered in to the new compact and to skip an additional background check. Advocates say Colorado joining the updated program will put them in the same group with at least 25 other states that have already signed on, which let nurses from those states work across state lines where there is a compact. The agreement goes into effect on Jan. 19, and it is expected to clear a path for telehealth treatments and permitting nurses to work across state lines during natural disasters.