(NAPSI)—Over 70 million Baby Boomers grew up playing board games and watching game shows together—and they still love doing both.

A new pop culture trivia game is taking Boomers on a nostalgic road trip back to the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Designed to be played by two teams, Boom Again features thousands of questions drawing upon Boomer’s memories of advertising slogans and jingles, politics and social movements, movies, music, television, and more.

Groups of Baby Boomers are laughing their way through memories on a wide variety of their experiences: from The Twist to Disco; American Bandstand to Soul Train; Doris Day all the way to Janis Joplin, and on to Steve Martin; Hula Hoops to The Pill; and poodle skirts to mini-skirts. And they are singing their way through all the music of their youth, too.

This game is clearly not an S.A.T. test with questions like:

• Name three of the most popular episodes of “I Love Lucy.”
• Name the original main courses from Swanson’s TV Dinners.
• What did Silly Putty have to do with the Sunday comic strips?

The wide array of material is organized into easily remembered categories:

Things We Heard—Music, jingles, famous speeches, lyrics, catchphrases

Things We Saw—TV shows, movies, commercials, magazines, sporting events

Things We Learned in School—The “3 R’s,” clubs, dances, school yard games

In The News—Politics, sports, world events, Sunday comics, murder, war

Stuff We Learned On the Street—Toys, Fashion, Cars, Social Movements, Dances, etc.

A Box Full of Memories

The game comes packaged in a “cigar box” familiar to Baby Boomers who stashed their stuff in those as kids. It has two boxes of cards with 2,244 questions, and Boomer era tokens including a Metal Skate Key, a “Students For Kennedy” Button, a center insert for a 45-RPM Record, and more.

There’s even a “Boomers’ Little Helper” magnifier in case someone forgets their readers.

An Antidote to Pandemic Isolation

Apparently nothing can keep a social Baby Boomer from hanging out with their friends. Party games have always brought people together. Now, even when friends and families haven’t been together in person, they have been playing Boom Again together on Zoom. It’s become known as a Boom Zoom!

Learn More

For MORE facts and to order the game, go to http://www.boomagain.com.

(NAPSI) — The 55-plus crowd is more active than ever, continuing to stay in the workforce longer, growing in numbers—to the tune of 73 million and counting—and exerting an even greater economic impact. In fact, 55+ers are responsible for over half of U.S. consumer spending, according to AARP, contributing to the huge upsurge in online spending during the pandemic.

If you are one of these lucky ones—as in 55 or older—you may not realize that you are actually the envy of many. People in this age group can save thousands of dollars a year on everyday goods and services so make sure you know about ALL of the discounts available to you.

Whether planning for long-term savings for retirement or for short-term expenses like a post-pandemic vacation, saving money is front and center in today’s world. The good news is that there are so many great discounts created just for you that it makes it easy to save tons by paying attention to where you’re spending your money each month.

Here are some “55 and over” discounts to be on the lookout for — that you might not know about:

• Auto insurance: Insurance companies sometimes offer discounts for good drivers over a certain age.
• Travel: It’s almost time to travel again so be sure to check for age-related discounts with major airlines, hotel chains, and rental car companies.
• Restaurants: Over 55? Ask about special days, nights or menu items at your favorite fast-food or fancy restaurant—even if it’s takeout.
• Wireless plans: Make sure you are on a discounted 55+ plan — a failsafe way to save money each month.

Given that 55+ consumers are spending 30 percent more time on mobile devices than they did a year ago, having an affordable wireless plan that provides unlimited text, talk and data with additional valuable perks is huge. Take a look at T-Mobile’s 55+ plans that it offers to customers across the United States. Verizon and AT&T, on the other hand, only offer 55+ plans for customers who live in Florida (even though 92 percent of people in the United States who are 55 and older live outside of Florida). And T-Mobile recently announced that customers on a Magenta 55+ or Magenta MAX 55+ plan can have up to four voice lines on their account.
Always pay attention to details when considering your choice in wireless plans.

T-Mobile’s Magenta 55+ and Magenta MAX 55+ plans offer unlimited text, talk and data combined with:

• A guaranteed monthly rate that includes taxes and fees in the plan price—your price stays the same each month.
• Netflix on Us — Magenta 55+ plan includes Netflix on Us for families and its Magenta MAX 55+ plan includes Netflix Basic with one line or Netflix Standard with two lines.
• Scam Shield that helps protect people from phone scams, hacks and robocalls.
• Free stuff and discounts every Tuesday with T-Mobile Tuesdays.
• Unlimited texting and 2G data without roaming charges in 210+ countries & destinations.
• America’s largest and fastest 5G network—which is like having WiFi on the road to send pics and stay connected.

Added bonus: the MAX tier includes unlimited premium data, so you can’t be slowed down no matter how much data you use.

It’s important to highlight that T-Mobile’s 55+ plans include Scam Shield because recently scammers have become even more aggressive, targeting people with phony COVID-19 vaccine information. Scam Shield protects its users against phone scams and robocalls—and it’s free for T-Mobile customers.

Learn More

For more information about the plans, visit www.t-mobile.com/55.

(NAPSI)—There is good news for many individuals who care for a loved one living with an injury or illness connected to military service. They’re now eligible for free professional assistance.

Who Helps

A new program offered by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation provides veteran caregivers with trained professionals to perform daily tasks, including housekeeping, meal preparation, grocery shopping, and grooming.

Military caregivers nationwide can apply for 24 hours of services free through the Foundation’s website hiddenheroes.org/respite. The number of available hours is limited, so caregivers are urged to apply right away.

“Military caregivers have always struggled with the enormous responsibility on their shoulders, but the risks and restrictions of COVID-19 have sent rates of caregiver burnout, depression and isolation soaring,” said Steve Schwab, CEO of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. “We developed this emergency assistance program to give America’s hidden heroes the precious time they need to rest, relax and recharge.”

The Foundation is managing the program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, CareLinx, Wounded Warrior Project, AARP, and Bob Woodruff Foundation. The professional caregivers are provided by the trusted and licensed professionals of the CareLinx network and follow CDC guidelines to ensure everyone’s safety.

“I was skeptical that using respite care would actually help—I thought it might be more work than it was worth,” said veteran caregiver Jennifer Mackinday. “But it was game-changing. It was the first step for me to start taking better care of myself mentally and physically.”

Who Can Get Help

If you assist a service member or veteran with dressing, bathing, transportation, managing medication, physical therapy, or dealing with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress, you may be a military caregiver.

Learn More

For more information about military caregiving and available services, visit hiddenheroes.org/respite.

by Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Feb. 23, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Researchers may have uncovered a key reason some people remain sharp as a tack into their 80s and 90s: Their brains resist the buildup of certain proteins that mark Alzheimer’s disease.

The study focused on what scientists have dubbed “super agers” — a select group of older folks who have the memory performance of people decades younger.

Compared with older people who had average brain power, super agers showed far less evidence of “tau tangles” in their brains, the researchers found.

Tau is a protein that, in healthy brain cells, helps stabilize the internal structure. But abnormal versions of tau — ones that cling to other tau proteins — can develop as well.

In people with Alzheimer’s, the brain is marked by a large accumulation of those tau tangles, as well as “plaques,” which are clumps of another protein called amyloid.

For years, amyloid plaques have gotten most of the attention as a potential target for Alzheimer’s treatment, said researcher Tamar Gefen, who led the new study.

But a body of evidence tells a different story: It’s the buildup of tau — not amyloid — that correlates with a decline in memory and thinking skills, said Gefen, an assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago.

These latest findings on super agers, she said, are in line with that research.

It’s not clear how many super agers are out there. One reason is that there’s no single definition of the term, said Claire Sexton, director of scientific programs and initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association.

This study involved people aged 80 and older. But other research, Sexton said, has narrowed the focus to unusually sharp 90-somethings, or even centenarians.

The million-dollar question is: What does it take to be a member of this elite group?

It’s likely super agers have genetics to thank, in part, according to Sexton.

But in all probability, she said, it’s a mix of good genes, lifestyle factors and exposures over a lifetime, from physical activity, to social engagement, to mentally stimulating experiences.

In fact, previous research at Northwestern has shown those are common habits of super agers.

Gefen and her colleagues have also found brain differences between super agers and their peers with typical brain power: For example, super agers have more tissue volume in a brain region involved in processes like motivation and decision-making. Super agers also show a greater density of cells called Von Economo neurons, which are linked to social intelligence.

For the current study, Gefen’s team analyzed brain tissue from seven super agers — all women — who had died in their 80s or 90s. The results were compared with brain studies from six elderly adults who’d had normal thinking skills before their deaths.

The super agers had all taken standard memory tests, and scored at or above the norm for people 20 to 30 years younger.

The researchers found that both super agers and their peers harbored similar amounts of amyloid plaque in the brain.

They differed, however, when it came to tangles: People with average memory and thinking skills had three times the amount of tau tangles in a memory-related brain region called the entorhinal cortex.

Sexton agreed the findings align with other evidence on the importance of tau.

“It’s been understood for a while that tau tracks better with cognitive performance than amyloid does,” she said.

These findings, Sexton said, suggest a role for tau in the “secrets” to super-aging.

That does not mean plaques are unimportant, however. Abnormal amyloid and tau may interact with each other, and with other factors, to fuel Alzheimer’s brain changes, Sexton said.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, it’s thought that as amyloid increases in the brain, it hits a tipping point that triggers abnormal tau to spread throughout the brain. And that’s when memory and thinking skills head downhill.

Gefen agreed that it’s probably a complex mix of factors — nature and nurture — that allows super agers to resist typical age-related declines in brain power.

It’s unlikely to be a magic something that can be turned into a pill, she said.

More broadly, Gefen said far more work is needed to understand tau tangles, including why they zero in on memory cells.
Suggested

That’s not to say tau has been completely ignored: Tau-targeting therapies for Alzheimer’s are under development, Sexton said.

For now, it seems clear that few people will become super agers. But, Sexton said, there are ways for everyone to support their brain health, including controlling heart disease risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes, getting regular exercise, eating healthfully and staying mentally and socially engaged.

The findings were published Feb. 17 in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more on super agers.

SOURCES: Tamar Gefen, PhD, assistant professor, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago; Claire Sexton, DPhil, director, scientific programs and initiatives, Alzheimer’s Association, Chicago; Cerebral Cortex, Feb. 17, 2021, online