Aged

Contrary to the prevailing belief among cardiologists, reducing blood pressure in people over the age of 80 can sharply reduce the number of heart attacks, strokes and deaths, researchers said Monday. Treatment with one or two inexpensive, well-tolerated drugs produced a 21% drop in overall mortality -- such a significant decrease that the study was ended prematurely so that all of the participants could benefit from the treatment, British researchers said.

In the courtyard of a low-slung convalescent hospital west of USC, Gertrude Baines was inaugurated Sunday into one of the world's most exclusive sororities. She turned 114 years old. There was cake. Singing. Proclamations. Superlatives. Because only two other people in the world are 114. There is no one older.

His "100th" birthday party last year was covered by the BBC and his run in the London Marathon on Sunday is being touted by one of the country's best-known public relations firms. Pierre "Buster" Martin and his backers say that if he completes the race, he will be the oldest person to ever finish a marathon. The only problem: He may be no older than 94.

Women age 65 and older can improve their fitness through yoga classes, according to a small, preliminary study. Researchers from Temple University in Philadelphia studied 24 older women to see if a nine-week modified Iyengar program would produce benefits. Presenting at a recent meeting, they reported a variety of gains. Participants' average gait speed went from 1.04 to 1.09 meters per second, and stride lengths went from 1.11 meters to 1.16 meters on the left foot and from 1.12 to 1.

They have sat at the defense table frail as birds, their faces papery and gray, their hands brittle. The combination of their advanced years and sex makes Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, among the rarest of murder defendants. As stereotypes go, the demographic they represent defies the coldblooded nature of the killings they are charged with.

The American medical system is woefully unprepared for the flood of aging baby boomers, according to a sweeping federal study released Monday, which predicted crisis-level shortages in healthcare workers and serious gaps in training.

Police asked Monday for the public's help to find a 68-year-old man missing since May 3 from South Los Angeles. David Penton was last seen at 1500 W. Vernon Ave. in South L.A. during the grand opening of a family friend's board and care facility, said Zina Moorhead-Stepter, Penton's daughter. Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Sara Faden said Penton is a black man with a white beard, black hair and brown eyes. He is 5 feet 9 and weighs approximately 135 pounds. He last seen wearing a blue and white checkered shirt, light blue jeans, black shoes, a white hat and eyeglasses.

Their hips and knees feel fine at the moment, but Jomari and Russell Anderson think about them constantly as they shop for a new house in Orange County. The Aliso Viejo couple want their next home to be a keeper, a place they hope to maintain well into their 70s. So they're considering only floor plans with downstairs master bedroom suites. "If you get a downstairs master now, you don't have to redesign your house in the future. I don't plan on moving anymore," said Russell, 50.

The "Stairway to Heaven" generation may soon have to make room for elevators. Builders are. And eventually, so too will baby boomers who decide to stay put in their homes. Retirees who choose new retirement and resort-style communities will increasingly find elevators (and walk-in showers) in the homes, as builders give buyers the square footage they want but with an eye toward long-term needs, said Dave Kosco of Bassenian Lagoni Architects.

Five days a week, Max Gumbert drives up to the 95,000-square-foot Home Depot store in this leafy suburb at the northern edge of Silicon Valley, straps on an orange apron sagging with customer service badges and gets to work. For eight hours every day, in a shift that often ends at 10:30 p.m., the flooring specialist answers questions: Hardwood or laminate? Ceramic tile or sandstone? Nylon or wool? Pergo or bamboo? Does cork absorb sound better than carpet?