Health
As solo aging becomes more common, here's how to thrive on your own
As the population continues to get older, more adults are becoming solo agers during their golden years.
“Solo agers have been shown to be as healthy and happy as other older adults and live just as long,” Sara Zeff Geber, PhD., an aging expert and author of “Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers,” told Fox News Digital.
Some of them, however, face unique challenges that can significantly impact their quality of life and well-being.
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Below, experts offer advice on how to be a successful solo ager.
What is solo aging?
“My definition of a solo ager is someone who does not have family nearby who are able and willing to intervene in a crisis and who will be available to provide support as the solo ager requires it,” Geber said.
More adults are becoming solo agers, but they may face unique challenges. (iStock)
Some people become solo agers by choice — through opting not to have children, for example — or by circumstance, such as the death of a spouse or a child moving away, the expert added.
About 28% of people 65 and older — or 22 million older adults — live alone, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Among adults aged 50 or older, approximately 12% of them are considered “solo agers,” according to a 2021 AARP report.
“Solo agers have been shown to be as healthy and happy as other older adults and live just as long.”
“While the idea of aging without family support has always existed, especially in cases of widows or childless individuals, solo aging as a distinct concept with its own set of challenges and considerations has emerged more prominently in recent decades,” Bei Wu, PhD, vice dean for research at the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, told Fox News Digital.
Solo agers are more likely to lack support from friends and family, which can make it difficult to access social, emotional and practical support. (iStock)
Different cultures also view autonomy differently as adults get older.
“In China, the ‘three no’ older adults — those with no children, no ability to work and no income — have faced significant challenges and garnered considerable attention in gerontological research,” said Wu, who has studied social isolation and aging.
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Solo agers are more likely to lack support from friends and family, which can make it difficult to access social, emotional and practical support, the expert added.
Not having a caregiver to provide assistance when the person is sick can also lead to delays in receiving necessary medical attention.
Not having a caregiver to provide assistance when the person is sick can lead to delays in receiving necessary medical attention. (iStock)
Only an estimated one-third of solo agers have someone to help manage their households or handle day-to-day expenses if they are unable to do so, according to the AARP report.
Solo agers also face increased financial vulnerability as they grow older, as they have fewer resources to manage health care, housing and daily living expenses, Wu noted.
Importance of planning ahead
“For solo agers, the key resources I suggest focus on three main areas: community engagement, financial and estate planning, and health care advocacy,” Ailene Gerhardt, a solo aging educator and patient advocate in Massachusetts, told Fox News Digital.
Among adults aged 50 or older, approximately 12% of them are considered “solo agers,” according to a 2021 AARP report. (iStock)
Gerhardt, who is also the founder of The Navigating Solo Network, a free resource library that aims to foster a sense of belonging for older adults, recommends developing two types of networks.
One should consist of professionals who can advocate for legal and medical needs. The other might contain friends and acquaintances who provide additional support.
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“Solo agers should prioritize getting their plans in order, for every day and the long term, including reviewing what kind of care and support they want — and do not want — if they are unable to advocate for themselves,” Gerhardt advised.
That might mean filling out a will that specifies in detail how to distribute assets and having an advance directive, which details the person’s wishes for life-sustaining treatment if they are too ill to make the decision, the expert said.
“In China, the ‘three no’ older adults — those with no children, no ability to work and no income — have faced significant challenges,” an expert said. (iStock)
Approximately half of solo agers have an advance directive — and only 44% have shared it with their primary care doctor, according to AARP.
Part of creating an advance directive is designating a durable power of attorney (DPA), who can speak for the person in periods of illness or incapacitation.
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Experts recommend choosing someone trustworthy who is a generation younger — mature enough to handle a serious end-of-life issue but young enough that they’re not yet experiencing the same aging issues.
Cultivating social connections
Those who place a high value on friendships often have better health and happiness, past research shows.
Older adults who don’t cultivate friendships may be less likely to receive help from friends, which exposes them to more negative emotions triggered by changes in their lives, according to a previous study.
An organic way to foster social connections is to move to a neighborhood with an existing support structure, experts recommend.
An expert encourages solo agers to engage in local activities at senior centers, community organizations and churches as a means of staying active and socially connected. (iStock)
One example is Village to Village Network, a national organization that provides resources and support to help older adults age in their communities.
Members become part of a local “village” that offers support services and opportunities to make social connections.
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“These services range from social and educational programs to health and wellness activities, as well as practical support like transportation, home maintenance and technology coaching,” Barbara Sullivan, national director of the Village to Village Network in New Jersey, told Fox News Digital.
“By providing a variety of resources and services, they help foster a sense of belonging and independence.”
Technology can help solo agers foster connections with others. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Technology can also help enable these connections, according to Wu, the NYU gerontologist.
“Video calls and social media platforms enable older adults to stay connected with family and friends, regardless of distance,” she told Fox News Digital.
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Wu encourages solo agers to engage in local activities at senior centers, community organizations and churches as a means of staying active and socially connected.
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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