New air standards issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December are expected to have far-reaching effects on both pollution and public health. The new standards fall under the Clean Air Act’s power to control pollutants from coal and oil-fired power plants, and slashes allowable emissions of all hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) including metals like mercury and arsenic, acid gases, and particulate matter. Power plants have 3 years to conform to the new requirements and once fully in effect, the EPA estimates that the standards will reduce mercury emissions alone by as much as 90%.

Older Americans make up 13% of our population but account for 34% of all prescription medication use and 30% of all over-the-counter (OTC) medication use. This is due in large part to the fact that 4 out of 5 older Americans has 1 or more chronic conditions—often requiring multiple medications at once.

We are really excited at the Alliance to announce the addition of five new members to our Science Advisory Board including a prominent bioethicist, a world-renowned neurologist, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, a leading longevity researcher, and the only cardiologist to receive all four major cardiovascular research awards. Our Science Advisors are actively engaged in understanding the aging process, age-related disease, and the implications of an aging society. They offer us scientific insight, guidance, and expertise and help ensure that our health education and policy efforts meet the highest standards.

In a time where health care spending is sky-rocketing, where will the public draw the line? Evidence from comparative effectiveness research (CER) is increasingly being used in health-care treatment decision-making around the globe, yet there is still a lot to be learned about how the public feels and where they think the lines should be drawn.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in people over the age of 65. Until relatively recently, people diagnosed with AMD faced an almost certain road of progressively worsening vision. For many, that road led to legal blindness. Thanks to new drugs, much of the vision loss from wet AMD can now be prevented—or at least slowed. In many cases, it can even be reversed.

New Competition from the X Prize Foundation Aimed at the Genomes of Centenarians

The Archon Genomics X Prize Presented by medco® offers $10 million to the first team of researchers that can quickly and affordably sequence 100 genomes—of people at least 100 years old that is!

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the U.S.—yet in most cases, catching it early and treating it properly can mean saving sight. So why aren’t people taking the steps to find out if they have the disease, and treat it if they do?

Even though it’s a serious condition that typically leads to death after the onset of serious symptoms (such as angina and syncope), aortic stenosis (AS) is under-diagnosed—and even more scary—under-treated.