Parents without Children By Jane Farrell blog When my mom was still alive, my sister and I often visited her in assisted living and later in memory care. Many times, we would be the only outside visitor. In fact, there were many residents whose family didn’t visit them. Sitting hour-after-hour in the lobby, these aging seniors would watch the front entrance intently. They looked as though they were constantly waiting. Waiting for someone who rarely or never came to visit. Their waiting and obvious loneliness made me incredibly sad.
_ After Antibiotics Stop Working, What's Next? By Jane Farrell article By Paul DiCorleto, Ph. D. Each year in the United States, 23,000 people die from drug-resistant bacterial infections. Antibiotics, designed to fight infections, have been one of the greatest medical advances of the past 100 years. But many health experts warn that we are entering a postantibiotic era, where drug-resistant “superbugs” threaten our health and economy. Our behavior — how we use antibiotics and antibacterial products — may be part of the problem. How superbugs survive
_ Molecule Linked to Reawakened Prostate-Cancer Cells By Jane Farrell article Dormant prostate-cancer cells in bone tissue can be reawakened, causing the disease to spread to different parts of the body. The discovery, by researchers in the Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, in Los Angeles, could lead to new ways to intervene before the disease progresses.
_ Fructose vs. Glucose: Not Much Difference By Jane Farrell article Fructose has a reputation for causing obesity, but replacing it with glucose doesn’t seem to make much difference. The findings, published in the journal Current Opinion in Lipidology, show that when portion sizes and calories are the same, fructose does not cause any more harm than glucose.
_ Weight Loss Weight Loss and Weekend Splurges By Jane Farrell article If you want to lose weight, eating well during the week may be more important than avoiding weekend splurges. Researchers from Cornell University, in collaboration with researchers from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Tampere University of Technology, examined the impact that the seven-days-a-week human cycle has on weight.
_ How to Eat Healthy with Other Cultures By Jane Farrell article As a diverse nation, we can embrace our cultural traditions for the foods we love and still prepare them in healthier ways. Here, from the program MyPlate, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is how to eat the best of other cultures’ cuisine without abandoning your health goals:
_ What You Need to Know About COPD By Jane Farrell article Along with lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, affects a patient’s very ability to breathe. COPD, which is also called emphysema or chronic bronchitis, is a progressive lung disease in which the airways of the lungs become damaged, making it hard to breathe. COPD is also known as emphysema or chronic bronchitis. According to the National Institutes of Health, COPD is a major cause of death and illness worldwide. In the U.S., it kills more than 120,000 Americans every year, or one every four minutes.
_ Database of ΓÇ£Health Legacy FoundationsΓÇ¥ By Jane Farrell article A new database of philanthropic foundations has been created by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The team suggests that consideration of the adoption of the more comprehensive generic term "health legacy foundation" would be a way to foster more precise thinking of the variation in the diverse but related phenomena occurring in health care mergers and other consolidations. The goal of the database is to help communities nationwide better understand local resources.
_ Caregiving Doesn't Cause Depression By Jane Farrell article A caregiver’s depression appears to be related to family and genetic factors more than the difficulty of the caregiving itself, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Washington analyzed 1,228 female twins. Some were caregivers and some were not. When it comes to life's stressors, most people would put caregiving at the top of the list. But according to Peter Vitaliano, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at UW, there never have been data actually showing caregiving causes psychological distress.
_ Video Game Teaches Kids to Call 911 If YouΓÇÖre Having a Stroke By Jane Farrell article The grandchildren could save your life if you let them play a video game called “The Stroke Hero” that teaches them to recognize stroke symptoms and quickly call 911, according to an article published in in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.
_ Some Women May Need More Hormone Therapy By Jane Farrell article Researchers have found that for a substantial percentage of women, moderate to severe hot flashes last up to ten years or more after menopause, and that may mean hormone therapy should be prescribed for a longer period of time. Investigators from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine discovered that for most women, moderate to severe hot flashes continue, on average, for just five years after menopause, but more than one third of women have hot flashes for a decade or beyond.
_ Watch: How to Cut Costs on Presciptions By Jane Farrell article Here's another video from our Third Age Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
_ Slow Reaction Time Can be Deadly By Jane Farrell article Having a slow reaction time can be fatal: a new study shows that people who have that in midlife increase their risk of death 15 years later. The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers from University College London and the University of Edinburgh looked at statistics from more than 5,000 participants (age 20 to 59). The figures were collected from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-III) in the US.
_ Improving Ultrasound for Cancer Detection By Jane Farrell article Researchers have made a breakthrough in the use of ultrasound to detect and monitor cancer, and the discovery could provide a safer method than the ones already in use. Ultrasound has some advantages over other detection and monitoring methods such as X-rays, CT scans and MRIs: It’s less expensive and is radiation-free. But it hasn’t provided as clear an image as have the other methods.
Exercise The Superior Fat Burning Power of Cold Weather Workouts By Jane Farrell article By Joe Vennare, PT & Fitness Program Director at LeanonLife.com When winter rolls around and temperatures begin to fall, do you shut down or layer up? Hibernating until spring might sound like a good plan -- that is, until cabin fever sets in and extra pounds start to creep on. There’s no reason to let all of the fitness gains you’ve made during the summer slip away.
_ 7 Ways to Traverse Through Any Transition By Jane Farrell article By Servet Hasan None of us can escape loss. Life's challenges are universal and eventually will find us. Whether you're moving to a new city, leaving for college, or experiencing a divorce in your family, having life throw a major curve ball can leave us longing for the way things used to be.
_ A Good Inflammatory Substance? By Jane Farrell article It’s well known that inflammation is frequently a cause of disease, but new research indicates that low levels of a pro-inflammatory substance in the brain are crucial for cognition. Researchers from the University of Texas, San Antonio, found that found that blocking the substance, interleukin-6 , impaired learning in rats. The learning area affected was cognitive flexibility – the ability to change learned thoughts and behaviors in response to a changed environment.
_ The Letter that Can Make You Healthier By Jane Farrell article Patients at high risk of osteoporosis can be identified via an automated letter-generating system that encourages them to follow up on their care, according to researchers. Investigators from the Penn State College of Medicine say that the system effectively promotes osteoporosis intervention and can help prevent future fractures.