by BBC News

Women become more lonely and depressed with age, but men grow more content with their lives in retirement, a study has found.

This may be because men are happier once they stop working, but older women are more likely to feel lonely or be living alone.

University College London researchers tracked more than 11,000 men and women aged over 50 from 2002-09. Their findings form part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

This major study regularly monitors a number of factors, including health, well-being, financial circumstances and social engagement. Regarding well-being, researchers discovered that life satisfaction and quality of life had deteriorated in the past four years in this age group.

Women were particularly affected by this change with 18.7% having depressive symptoms above the threshold. Only 11.5% of men had similar symptoms.

“Women aged 75 and older have particularly poor well-being, with high rates of depressive symptoms, low life satisfaction, poor quality of life and high ratings of loneliness,” the study says.

by Penne Cole for Helium

Alzheimer’s is arguably one of the most tragic diseases known to man. Quietly, insidiously, the disease steals a person’s very soul. It starts with the inability to form short term memories then progresses to robbing a person of his longer term memories. Confusion follows, with irritability and even aggression hard on its tail. Symptoms vary from person to person but inevitably, this degenerative disease that affects almost 27 million people worldwide will lead to death.

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, one of society’s most expensive diseases. Hundreds of clinical trials have been run to try and find a treatment with little to show for it. But a recent study suggests that something as simple as vitamin B could be the key.

by Suzanne Rose for Helium

There are many challenges to being an Alzheimer’s or dementia caregiver.  Certain strategies can help you deal with this difficult yet necessary job.  Consider the following helpful tips.

Be patient

It can be difficult to see a person that you cared about affected by Alzheimer’s or dementia.  You may start to lose patience when you have to repeat yourself.  Also, many Alzheimer’s and dementia patients do not act like themselves. They may be very aggressive or say things that are inappropriate or unkind.

As much as you struggle with this, try to be patient with them.  They did not ask for the disease.  In many cases, they do not understand that they are saying something inappropriate.  They do not remember repeating the same question ten times in five minutes.  Instead of getting angry or upset, try to think about what is still there of them.  Even their smile can remind you of who they truly are.  You will often feel better as well.