China's Ministry of Civil Affairs predicts that there may be as many as 300 million seniors living in the country by 2025, reports That's Online . A report recently released by the ministry said that 12.57 percent of China's population were aged 65 or above as of Dec. 31, 2019. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the dependency ratio of the senior population has climbed to 17.8 percent over the last three decades. That figure signals that each senior resident needs to be supported by six people. Several consequences of an aging population are feared. For one, China's massive pension system will take a hit as the number of people drawing from the account will surpass those paying into the system. In addition, labor costs will rise with a shrinking total supply of workers. Finally, the increase in the aging population will cause a change in consumption structure, warns a population report by Tsinghua University's Evergrande Research Institute.

The pandemic has worsened older Americans' struggles to find employment, with those nearing retirement in especially dire straits, reports CNBC . "The only way that people were able to prepare for retirement was to stick around," said research fellow Matthew Rutledge at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. "That doesn't work if the jobs aren't there. Even if this is all temporary — there are still months of bills that have racked up, credit card debt, deferred mortgages, and loans." Older workers have few options when confronted with long-term unemployment before they are ready to retire. Although people over 65 may start receiving Social Security, wealth-management firm Lassus Wherley co-founder Diahann Lassus advises holding off if possible. TAMMA Capital President Paul Fenner suggests people who are in a position where they have to tap Social Security early should call the agency directly to request aid.

An artificial intelligence (AI) program analyzing language has been successful at predicting whether people with no memory or thinking problems would develop Alzheimer's disease later in life, reports USA Today . The study was conducted by IBM and funded by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. It found a computerized model analyzing language patterns accurately predicted up to 74 percent of participants diagnosed with Alzheimer's later in life. The study , which appeared late last month in the journal EClinicalMedicine , is the latest in an emerging research field focusing on early detection of a memory-robbing disease that afflicts approximately 5.8 million Americans.

Forbes contributors Ken Dychtwald and Bob Morison explain how to improve the health of older Americans and enable healthspan to close the gap with lifespan. Dychtwald and Morison state that ways must be found to motivate healthier behaviors among Americans of all ages. Their recent research found older Americans close to unanimous in saying that it's never too late to improve your health. "Yet barely half say they maintain a healthy diet (55 percent) or exercise regularly (52 percent)," Dychtwald and Morison write. "It's great when people take the opportunity to improve their health in retirement. Better still if they enter retirement already in shape because they've been taking good care of themselves as a life-long pursuit." The co-authors of "What Retirees Want: A Holistic View of Life's Third Age" urge that basic health care to be more accessible and user-friendly in the years to come. Americans 65 and over have the safety net of Medicare, they add, but it's hardly a complete package. "Care must be available locally or, increasingly, remotely. The rapid rise in telehealth services precipitated by the pandemic represents real progress on this front. Care must also be affordable," they conclude.

U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) has announced a COVID-19 vaccine plan for seniors, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) promising to distribute it for free once approved by the Food and Drug Administration. WIBW 13 reports that his announcement builds on previous frameworks to give the vaccine to residents in nursing and assisted living communities. Marshall said that beyond Medicare, the interim rule will additionally tackle vaccination coverage for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program beneficiaries. He added that CMS has also taken action to guarantee most private health plans cover the vaccine with no cost share for both in- and out-of-network providers. Marshall further said CMS will provide hospitals additional Medicare payment to cover and encourage the use of innovative COVID-19 treatment and therapies in both inpatient and outpatient environments.

Tokyo Metropolitan University researchers have discovered a new mechanism by which clumps of tau protein are created in the brain, killing brain cells and causing Alzheimer's disease, reports EurekAlert . A specific mutation to an enzyme known as MARK4 changed the properties of tau, usually an important part of the skeletal structure of cells. The mutation makes it more likely to aggregate and more insoluble, the researchers state. They add that better understanding mechanisms such as this may ultimately lead to breakthrough treatments. A team led by Associate Professor Kanae Ando of Tokyo Metropolitan University has been exploring the role the MARK4 (Microtubule Affinity Regulating Kinase 4) enzyme plays in Alzheimer's disease for some time now. When everything is working properly, the tau protein is a vital part of the structure of the cytoskeleton. Problems occur when a mutation is present in the gene that provides the blueprint for making MARK4.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of federal data indicated that caregivers at dozens of nursing communities declined to very low levels on some of the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Up to 127 hard-hit communities on a single day had nurse-staffing levels that fell at least 25 percent below their levels for the comparable days last year. For many days in April, the number of communities with virus outbreaks that had such shortages was over twice typical levels at those same communities in the months prior to the pandemic. More than 300 communities with virus outbreaks reported at least one day in the second quarter of this year in which staffing levels slipped more than 40 percent below their levels for the comparable day in 2019. Shortfalls during the April peak were triggered by waves of sickness among staffers, quarantine requirements for people potentially exposed to the coronavirus, and call-outs spurred by fear of infection and lack of child care. Experts say those factors exacerbated nursing communities' difficulty in providing care to residents. American Health Care Association Chief Medical Officer David Gifford said reduced staffing may have ensued from nursing communities' precautions. Journal data analysis showed some hard-hit communities saw their staffing ratios improve by late August, and experts say declining numbers of residents — mainly on account of COVID fatalities and a lack of new admissions — was likely the cause.

Healthy aging experts often cite the importance of leisure activities in maintaining seniors' cognitive health, states U.S. News & World Report (Oct. 30, Thompson). But new research calls into question whether enjoyable pursuits like socializing and taking classes actually protect you against dementia. According to findings published this week in the journal Neurology , researchers found no link between middle-aged folks participating in leisure activities and their risk of dementia over the next two decades. However, they did discover that some people later diagnosed with dementia will stop taking part in leisure activities years before their diagnosis. Lead researcher Andrew Sommerlad, a principal research fellow in psychology at University College London, comments, "We found a link between low level of activity in late life and dementia risk, but that this is probably due to people giving up activities as they are beginning to develop dementia. Dementia appeared to be the cause, rather than consequence, of low levels of leisure activities."

The Highland House assisted living community in Alleghany County, Va., wanted to provide a fun autumn activity for its seniors after a difficult year, reports WSLS-TV 10 . So, it recently scheduled a Fall Picture Day with Jane & Mae Photography. The photos, many of which show seniors smiling and whimsically throwing leaves in the air, are being given to family members as keepsakes. Highland House interim administrator Schuyler Fury remarks, "This was one opportunity we could really get back to having fun and it was so awesome to see the residents . . . in kind of a more youthful state."

A new study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism looked at 216 people with COVID-19 and found that 80 percent lacked adequate levels of vitamin D in their blood, reports Healthline . The research further found that people who had both COVID-19 and lower vitamin D levels also had a higher number of inflammatory markers such as D-dimer and ferritin, both of which have been linked to poor COVID-19 outcomes. A different survey found that COVID-19 patients who had adequate vitamin D levels had both a 51.5 percent lower risk of dying from the disease and a significant reduced risk for complications. Study co-author Dr. Jose L. Hernández of the University of Cantabria in Spain says the goal should be to "identify and treat vitamin D deficiency, especially in high-risk individuals such as seniors, patients with comorbidities, and nursing home residents who are the main target population for the COVID-19."