What can you do to prevent dementia?

It’s a condition that could strike any one of us, and there is still no cure. But evidence suggests that changing your lifestyle can help to reduce your risk

65-year-old German woman expecting quadruplets defends pregnancy

Annegret Raunigk, who has 13 children, says she is not scared by prospect of caring for young children at the age of 70 and beyond

Pensioners seven times more likely to have skin cancer than in 1970s

Rise of the cheap package holiday and desirability of tanned skin blamed for increase

Yoko Ono and Madonna both fight ageism – in radically different ways

Ono and Madonna have both felt the sharp edge of the ageism stick recently. Is it too much to hope that an artist can be loved for who she is?

How do you avoid being a bed-blocker?

Michele Hanson: The NHS does not need the added pressure of elderly patients trapped in hospitals. I plan to stay in my flat, shuffling about on my bum, until I fall off my perch …

Seven ways to end loneliness

Laura Ferguson: As Christmas approaches, not everyone will be among loved ones but individuals and authorities can all do their bit to help

‘If I didn’t come to the shed, I’d be alone, watching TV’

Emma Howard: Men’s Sheds, a communal woodworking project that started in Australia, has taken off in the UK and is helping men to combat isolation and loneliness

Let’s talk about sex for the over 60s

Sexually transmitted infections are on the rise among the older generation, writes Matthew Jenkin

Loneliness: a silent plague that is hurting young people most

For young Britons, loneliness is an epidemic – and they are even more likely to fall victim to its insidious dangers than the elderly. Natalie Gil reports

What can public service managers do to help alleviate loneliness?

Omar Khan: The health consequences of loneliness make it a modern social evil that we need to prevent and combat

Does life start at 45?

Open thread: A poll suggests that's when we start feeling happier. But tell us when you felt your life really began – and don't say 'at birth' …

‘Ageing is a mixture of gains and losses’: why we shouldn’t fear getting old

Today the rich, multi-faceted experience of getting older has been pathologised and reduced to shame about looking old. But it doesn't have to be this way, says Anne Karpf

Meet Britain’s oldest fitness instructor (probably)

Helen Pidd: Margaret Allen's fitness class is unusual. There's a halftime break for cake. And there's their age – the youngest is 60. Allen, 93, is the eldest and class leader