The use of antibiotics is still prevalent among terminal patients who have chosen hospice care as an end-of-life option, despite little evidence that the medications improve symptoms or quality of life, and sometimes may cause unwanted side effects. That is the finding of a study done at Oregon State University and the Oregon Health & Science University and published on July 14th 2014 in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
Author: Sondra Forsyth
Sondra Forsyth is Co-Editor-in-Chief of ThirdAge.com. She is a National Magazine Award winner with scores of major magazine bylines and twelve books to her credit. Her most recent book is “Candida Cleanse: The 21-Day Diet to Beat Yeast and Feel Your Best”. Sondra was Executive Editor at “Ladies’ Home Journal,” Features Editor at “Cosmopolitan,” and Articles Editor at “Bride’s”. A former ballerina, she founded Ballet Ambassadors, an arts-in-education company in New York City, and served as Artistic Director for 16 years.
Supplements & OTCs May Hurt Your Kidneys
How well are your kidneys working?
Unless you’ve had problems in the past, you probably take for granted that your kidneys are working as they should. But more than one in 10 adults in the United States has kidney disease, and most people who have it don’t know it.
Health Issues Stress Americans the Most
Reports of great a deal of stress are more than twice as common among people in poor health, according to an NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) poll released ton July 8th 2014. The survey examined the role of stress in Americans’ lives and found that about half of the public (49%) reported that they had a major stressful event or experience in the past year. Nearly half (43%) reported that the most stressful experiences related to health.
A New Means to Erase Pain
A study published in the July 2104 issue of Nature Neuroscience by Yves De Koninck and Robert Bonin, two researchers at Université Laval in Quebec, reveals that it is possible to relieve pain hypersensitivity using a counterintuitive method that involves rekindling pain so that it can subsequently be erased. This discovery could lead to novel means to alleviate chronic pain.
Older Adults Can Safely Donate Kidneys
Previous studies linking older age with kidney and heart disease have raised concerns about the safety of living kidney donation among older adults. However, in the first study to look closely at this issue, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report that older kidney donors (55 years and above) enjoy similar life expectancy and cardiovascular health as very healthy older people who did not donate their kidneys.
Protect Yourself from Wildfire Smoke
Dry conditions in parts of the United States increase the potential for wildfires in or near wilderness areas. Stay alert for wildfire warnings and take action to protect yourself and your family from wildfire smoke.
When wildfires burn in your area, they produce smoke that may reach your community. Smoke from wildfires is a mixture of gases and fine particles from burning trees and other plant materials. Smoke can hurt your eyes, irritate your respiratory system, and worsen chronic heart and lung diseases.
Who is at greatest risk from wildfire smoke?
What’s Really Keeping You From Aging Well?
By Dr. Kevin J. McLaughlin
During my experience as a health care provider, I have realized that, when it comes to aging well, many older women are worried about developing cancer, especially breast cancer, more than any other age-related diseases.
Watch: 7 Sunscreen Facts That Will Save Your Skin
Here’s another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
Coming Next Week! July 14th to July 18th 2014
Here’s a sneak preview of the articles and blogs we’ll be posting during the coming week on ThirdAge, the biggest and best site for “boomer and beyond” women since 1997. As always, we’ll bring you the latest information from top experts about maintaining a healthy body, mind, and spirit as you navigate both the challenges and the joys of being a ThirdAger.
In addition, be sure to come back every morning to check out the ThirdAge Exclusives, We write them after culling the most important new academic and government studies from around the world that are making news that day.
Watch: Foods That Help Healing Post Surgery
Here’s another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
Are Your Skincare Products Making You Sick?
By Diane Blum
Most of us put on gloves when we clean our bathrooms, as we’re very aware of the dangers of toxic chemicals coming into direct contact with our skin. But what about all of the synthetic chemicals that we innocently apply to our bodies?
Every day we absorb self-applied toxins, and most are no further away than our bathroom make-up counter. Shampoos, soaps, deodorants, and all the many “de-aging” skincare products we women use. How do we know they are all safe?
Professional Post-Stroke Care From Head to Toe
By Marki Flannery
At the end of nurse Lorraine Williams’ recent home care visit to Professor Samuel Kaplan, he walked her to the apartment’s front door. “I was so surprised,” she marvels. Only a year earlier, the 70-something professor had a stroke and couldn’t walk.
Cheaper & Better Drug for Heart Attack Procedure
A study done in the UK and published in The Lancet on July 4th 2014 compares outcomes for two drugs used to prevent blood clot formation during emergency heart attack treatment. The study suggests that use of one of the drugs, heparin, could result in improved outcomes such as a reduced rate of repeat heart attacks, compared to the other drug tested, bivalirudin, which is in widespread use in high-income countries and is around 400 times more expensive than heparin.
A Good Night’s Sleep Boosts Brain Power as We Age
A University of Oregon-led study published in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that middle-aged or older people who get six to nine hours of sleep a night think better than those sleeping fewer or more hours.
The study reaffirms numerous small-scale studies in the United States, Western Europe and Japan, but it does so using data compiled across six middle-income nations and involving more than 30,000 subjects for a long-term project that began in 2007.
Watch: Why the Lazy Days of Summer Are Good for Your Health
Here’s another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
Sitting Pretty: How to Stay Fit Even If You Have a Desk Job
By Sondra Forsyth
Toolkit to Diagnose Menopause
The “Practitioner Toolkit for Managing the Menopause”, designed to guide physicians in the management of menopausal conditions for women from the age of 40 has been designed by researchers at Monash University in Australia. The kit, which includes a diagnostic tool as well as a compendium of approved hormone therapies, was published on July 6th 2014 in the journal Climacteric.
Painless AFib Treatment
A technique called cardiac optogenetics achieves defibrillation without the pain of electric shocks, according to research presented on July 4th at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. The meeting is organized by the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Science of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in collaboration with 13 European cardiovascular science societies.