Category Archives: Ageing

World’s longest-married couple reveals key to a lasting relationship: ‘We love each other’

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Eleanor Gittens, 107, and Lyle Gittens, 108, of Miami met at a basketball game in 1941 and have been married for 83 years

A Miami husband and wife who recently attained the title of world’s longest-married couple say they managed that feat just by loving one another.

“We love each other,” Eleanor Gittens, 107, said to LongeviQuest when the website specializing on people who are in their second century of life asked what was the secret to her 83 years of marriage to her husband, Lyle.

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Italy’s centenarians grow in number as another 2,000 reach the milestone

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Southern European country has more than double the number of people aged over 100 than it did in 2009

The number of people in Italy living to 100 continues to grow sharply, with more than 2,000 reaching the milestone age in 2025, the vast majority of them women.

There are now 23,548 residents in Italy who are 100-years-old or over, compared with 21,211 in 2024, according to the latest figures from Istat, the national statistics agency. Italy has more than double the number of centenarians than it had in 2009, Istat said.

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Nearly 150,000 aged 90 and above wait 12 hours in England’s A&Es each year

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Older people left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours and forced to watch others die, Age UK report finds

Almost 150,000 people aged 90 and over in England are forced to wait longer than 12 hours in A&E every year, with some experiencing “truly shocking” waits of several days stuck in corridors, a report warns.

Older people are also being left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours, denied pain relief and forced to watch and hear other patients die next to them because they end up waiting so long for care, according to Age UK.

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Supercentenarian gives scientists insight on secrets of healthy old age

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Tests on Maria Branyas Morera, who was world’s oldest person before she died last year aged 117, gave doctors a trove of discoveries

The nonagenarian actor Dame Joan Collins may have been on to something when she declared “age is just a number”.

The deepest dive yet into the biology of a supercentenarian has revealed that even extreme old age can be reached without the brain necessarily faltering or the usual illnesses mounting up.

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Japanese man becomes oldest person to reach Mount Fuji summit at 102

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Kokichi Akuzawa climbed with 70-year-old daughter to break record for oldest person to make ascent – a second time

Kokichi Akuzawa has become the oldest person to climb to the top of Mount Fuji at the age of 102 – despite almost giving up during his trek.

“I was really tempted to give up halfway through,” Akuzawa said. “Reaching the summit was tough, but my friends encouraged me, and it turned out well. I managed to get through it because so many people supported me.”

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Dinner or a shower? Elderly people fear tough choices when Australia’s new aged care changes are rolled out

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Advocates warn increased costs for basic assistance like showers and wound cleaning will push older people into aged care or hospital

Margaret Duckett is scared for her friends.

The 77-year-old pensioner is the recipient of a home care package – which allows her to get support with cleaning, gardening, transport, physiotherapy and podiatry – and some personal care, so she can continue living independently at her home in Sydney’s Riverview.

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Pension age debate threatens to splinter Germany’s fragile coalition

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Merz walks fine line as ‘lazy Germans’ debate sparks protest and economy minister calls to raise retirement age to 70

The fact that ageing Germany’s generous pension system is unsustainable is political Berlin’s worst-kept secret, but a controversial call to save it by hiking the retirement age to 70 has sparked howls of protest and threatened to destabilise the fractious government.

The chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has largely sidestepped the ticking timebomb of the greying population since taking office in May, preferring instead to announce sweeteners such as tax breaks for older Germans to continue working past the retirement age.

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‘Still some fuel in the tank’: the perks and perils of launching a business after 60

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Growing numbers of older people are creating enterprises in everything from baking to biodiversity – but does the freedom make up for the graft?

Kari Johnston felt ready to retire after 45 years in nursing when, at 63 years old, she decided to launch her own business – a professional decluttering and organising service.

She had read about decluttering and, fascinated, quickly created a website and advertised. Her first clients were friends. Three-and-a-half years later, Johnston, from St Monans in Fife, is now fully retired from nursing, and feels delighted with the success of her new venture.

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‘I’m still dancing’: Derbyshire woman has 105th birthday rave at care home

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Hilda Jackson and fellow residents partied with strobe lights, glowsticks and drum’n’bass from festival-headliner

It was a birthday party that would do even the most seasoned raver proud, with strobe lighting, glow sticks and a headline act who has played some of the biggest festivals in the UK.

The birthday girl sipped on champagne, while guests helped themselves to free-flowing cocktails from a pop-up bar run by Jägermeister. This was not an Instagram influencer’s Ibiza pool party, however – it was Hilda Jackson’s 105th-birthday rave in her Derbyshire care home.

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Scientists explore longevity drugs for dogs that could also ‘extend human life’

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Researchers say drugs may be able to increase lifespan by extending health and thus shortening the rate of ageing

Not for nothing are dogs called man’s best friend: they are good for their owners’ mental and physical health, and some studies have shown that if you’re looking for a date and want to seem more attractive, it might be time to get a canine companion.

So what would it be like if dogs could live for ever – and what if that secret could help their owners live longer, healthier lives too?

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Queensland fails to crack down on ‘rebranded sunbed’ that claims to stimulate collagen but accelerates ageing

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Collariums, which emit UVA radiation, are often advertised on private social media accounts, thwarting search warrant efforts

Queensland Department of Health investigators are struggling to prosecute sunbed operators claiming the devices are “safe” because inspectors do not have the necessary UV detection equipment, and because services are being advertised on private social media accounts.

Guardian Australia called and messaged several wellness clinics and individuals operating out of their homes throughout New South Wales and Queensland, confirming that businesses are offering “collarium” treatments with rates starting at $25 for 20 minutes of use. Some of these businesses did not explicitly advertise collariums on their social media pages or websites but did offer collarium bookings over the phone.

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World’s oldest man celebrates 112th birthday in Merseyside

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John Alfred Tinniswood was born the year the Titanic sank and has lived through the tenure of 24 UK prime ministers

The world’s oldest living man has turned 112 at his care home in Merseyside.

John Alfred Tinniswood, who lives in Southport, put his long life down to “just luck”, and said he did not follow a special diet, except for eating fish and chips every Friday.

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Bereavement in early life may accelerate ageing, research shows

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Separate study shows poor diet and added sugar also linked to rise in biological age

The stress of bereavement may accelerate the ageing process, according to researchers who found evidence that losing a loved one early in life had an impact long before people reach middle age.

Scientists spotted biological markers of faster ageing in people who had lost a parent, partner, sibling or child, but the signs were absent in others who had not experienced the death of someone close to them.

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Biden wishes Trump a happy 78th birthday as campaign goes into offense over age

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Dogged by age issue, president, 81, is now highlighting Trump’s many peculiarities, from hair style to Bible sales

Taking a line out of Donald Trump’s playbook, Joe Biden offered his rival a tongue-in-cheek birthday greeting on X on Friday, saying: “Happy 78th birthday, Donald. Take it from one old guy to another: Age is just a number.”

The president then coupled his thoughts with a caustic video sarcastically touting “78 of Trump’s historic … ‘accomplishments’” before a Biden re-election campaign spokesperson added: “On behalf of America, our early gift for your 79th: making sure you are never president again.”

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US couple, 100 and 96, marry in Normandy, France: ‘We get butterflies’

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Second world war veteran Harold Terens and Jeanne Swerlin enjoy wedding party – with Macron and Biden

Together, the collective age of the bride and groom was nearly 200. But second world war veteran Harold Terens and his sweetheart, Jeanne Swerlin, proved that love is eternal as they tied the knot Saturday inland of the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France.

Their respective ages – he’s 100, she’s 96 – made their nuptials an almost double-century celebration.

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‘Almost beyond belief’: axing of UK teacher recruitment scheme will worsen crisis, say critics

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The government’s scrapping of the Now Teach scheme, which has overdelivered on targets for older workers, has sparked an outcry

Ministers have been accused of making a crisis in the recruitment of teachers even worse after axing funding to a much-praised programme helping older workers start a new career in the classroom.

An outcry is already beginning over the decision to axe the career change programme, with organisers complaining that there “will be barely anyone left to teach our children” unless Rishi Sunak lives up to his party conference pledge to prioritise education.

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Biden mistakes dead European leader for living one – for second time in a week

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President’s gaffes stoke concern over his age as election campaign against his presumptive opponent – also advanced in age – picks up

Joe Biden has twice made gaffes this week in which he told anecdotes wrongly identifying dead European leaders as having talked to him about the events of the attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

On Wednesday at a campaign fundraiser in New York, Biden reportedly referred to the former German chancellor Helmut Kohl as talking to him about European concerns about the attempt to stop the certification of his 2020 election win, when he apparently meant Angela Merkel. Kohl died in 2017.

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‘I just count the laps’: Canadian swimmer, 99, breaks three world records

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Betty Brussel sets records in the 100- to 104- year-old age class in Saanich, while inspiring members of local swim club

By the time an exhausted Betty Brussel finally swims to the finish and pulls herself from the pool, an Olympic athlete could have covered the same distance at least three times. But the 99-year-old Canadian’s quiet determination has led her to shatter world records and transformed her into an unlikely celebrity within the amateur swim community.

At a weekend swim meet in the British Columbia city of Saanich, Brussel broke the existing world record in the 400-metre freestyle, knocking nearly four minutes off the previous standard in the 100- to 104-year-old age class. She repeated her record-breaking performances in 50-metre backstroke and the 50-metre breaststroke that same day.

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Italy’s oldest man, Tripoli Giannini, dies at age of 111

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Giannini, nicknamed Tripolino, had said his secrets were light meals, no stress or smoking and taking each day as a gift

Italy’s oldest man, who credited “light meals and no stress” for his longevity, has died at the age of 111.

Tripoli Giannini, nicknamed Tripolino, died at his home in Cecina, near Livorno in Tuscany, on New Year’s Eve. He was the second-oldest man in Europe, after André Ludwig, a Frenchman who is 75 days older.

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Health concerns plague ageing Congress members returning to Capitol Hill

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Republicans Mitch McConnell and Steve Scalise join others in increased scrutiny over recent health issues

Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill as they race to reach a short-term funding deal by the end of the month to keep federal agencies open and avert a government shutdown. But worries about the health of two top Republicans loom over the high-stakes talks as politicians’ age has become a growing concern.

Speaking to reporters last week in Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, the 81-year-old Senate Republican leader, appeared to freeze for 30 seconds after calling the possibility of a shutdown “a pretty big mess”. The incident raised questions about his health and mirrored an earlier incident where he suddenly paused for several seconds while speaking to reporters at the US Capitol.

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