Have you ever wondered whether it's worth your while to encourage an older person to start exercising? In 2014, the top-notch journal JAMA published the results of a fantastic research project: a study in which 1635 sedentary older adults (aged 70-89) were assigned to get either a structured exercise program, or a program of "successful aging" health education. The researchers called it the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) study. (You can read the full study here.) During the LIFE study, the two groups were followed for a little over 2.5 years. And by the end of the study, guess which group of volunteers was more likely to still walk a quarter of a mile (without a walker)? That's right. When it came to avoiding "major mobility disability" which the researchers defined as becoming unable to walk 400 meters or more a structured exercise program was better than a program of healthy aging education. Specifically, the researchers found that 30% of the exercisers experienced a period of major disability, compared to 35.5% of the seniors enrolled in the healthy aging education program. This is a very encouraging finding! That said, it's also a bit sobering to realize that even with exercise, almost 1 in 3 older adults experienced a period of limited mobility, of which half lasted 6 months or more. In this post, I'll share some more details on this study, because the results provide a wonderful wealth of information that can be helpful to older adults, family caregivers, and even geriatricians such as myself. Want to know how often the exercisers experienced "adverse events"? (Hint: often!) Wondering just what the structured exercise program involved? (Hint: more than walking!) Let's dig into the details! At the end of this post, I'll share my list of key take-home points for older adults and family caregivers. Who were the study volunteers? Whenever you read about a research study, it's important to understand how the study volunteers compare to the older adults in *your* life. One of... Question: When were older people able to decrease the likelihood of suffering a major mobility disaster? === The answer to the above question is
OPTIONS:
- After using a life study.
- After using a successful aging health education program.
- not enough information
- After using a structured exercise program.
After using a structured exercise program.

The Trump administration's decision to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census divided Capitol Hill on Tuesday, with Democrats saying the addition could skew the results and alter millions in government funding, while some Republicans praised it as a "commonsense" move. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced late Monday the next effort to count every resident in the country will include a question about citizenship status. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the survey every 10 years, with the next set for 2020. The deadline for finalizing the questions is Saturday. In a memo late Monday, Ross said he chose to include the query at the urging of the Department of Justice, which said it needed the citizenship data to better enforce a law protecting minority voting rights. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the addition of the question, rejecting the notion that it might result in less federal aid to immigrant communities in the U.S. if immigrants are undercounted. Republicans on Capitol Hill welcomed the decision, which revives a practice that was abandoned in 1950, after being in place for more than 100 years, according to the Commerce Department. "It is imperative that the data gathered in the census is reliable, given the wide-ranging impacts it will have on U.S. policy. A question on citizenship is a reasonable, commonsense addition to the census," Senator Ted Cruz said in a statement Tuesday. But Democrats said the question would have the opposite effect discouraging undocumented immigrants and citizen family members from responding to the census, undermining the accuracy of the results. "We cannot accept an incomplete or unfair count in 2020 too much is at stake," Rep. Carolyn Maloney, co-chair of the Congressional Census Caucus, told VOA. "The census mandated by the [U.S.] Constitution affects the way that Federal and state funds are distributed and how district lines are drawn for both the city, state and Federal level." Question: Who announced the addition of the immigration question to the census? === The answer to the above question is
OPTIONS:
- Ted Cruz.
- Carolyn Maloney.
- Wilbur Ross.
- not enough information

Answer: Wilbur Ross.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Lindsey Graham have joined a growing chorus of Republican leaders to disavow comments by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump about the Mexican heritage of a judge in a class-action lawsuit against Trump University. Questioned Tuesday about Trump's comments, Ryan said "I regret those comments he made. Claiming a person can't do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of racism." But he did not retract his endorsement of Trump, made last week, and he said he does not believe Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton is "the answer." Ryan made his comments during an appearance at a women's shelter in Washington, D.C. In a New York Times interview, Graham, also a former presidential candidate, said Trump's remarks were "the most un-American thing from a politician since Joe McCarthy," referring to the ultra-conservative senator of the 1950s who fueled fears of widespread communist subversion in the United States. Graham also suggested that Republicans who have endorsed Trump reconsider their choice. "If anybody was looking for an off-ramp, this is probably it," he said. The backlash appears to be mounting against the candidate, who has repeatedly said he believes U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, because of his "Mexican heritage," would not rule fairly in the case charging Trump with fraud. Curiel is an American who was born and raised in the Midwestern U.S. state of Indiana. U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska who has criticized Trump on multiple occasions during the campaign, tweeted: "Saying someone can't do a specific job because of his or her race is the literal definition of 'racism.''' Sasse was joined Monday by two former rivals for the Republican nomination. Ohio Governor John Kasich tweeted that Trump's offensive "is flat out wrong.'' Trump, Kasich wrote, should "apologize to Judge Curiel & try to unite this country.'' Question: What is probably true about U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel? === The answer to the above question is
OPTIONS:
- not enough information
- Curiel is probably going to call Trump and say things are okay with him
- Curiel is probably forgiving to Trump's comments
- Curiel is probably upset with Trump's comments
Curiel is probably upset with Trump's comments