_ Medical Care Outpatient Urology Surgery Ups Deaths Risk By Sondra Forsyth article As hospitals have shifted an array of common urological surgeries from inpatient procedures to outpatient, potentially preventable deaths have increased following complications. Those were the primary findings of a study led by Henry Ford Hospital researchers in Detroit. The paper was published online in August 2014 by BJUI, the official journal of the British Association of Urological Surgeons. The investigators initially expected that improved mortality rates recently documented for surgery overall would also translate to commonly performed urologic surgeries.
_ Caregiving Daughters, Not Sons, Are the Caregivers By Sondra Forsyth article Researchers at Princeton University found women appear to provide as much elderly parent care as they can, while men contribute as little as possible. The study was presented in August 2014 at at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco.
_ The Newest IBS Medicines By Jane Farrell article Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is an often misunderstood and underdiagnosed condition that affects about 15.3 million people in the United States. No one remedy works for all patients, so thereΓÇÖs a great medical need to develop new therapies for IBS, Andrew Mulberg, M.D., a gastroenterologist with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said in one of the agencyΓÇÖs ΓÇ£Consumer UpdateΓÇ¥ articles.
_ Making Surgery as Easy as Possible By Jane Farrell article Have you been told by your doctor that you need surgery? If so, you're not alone. Millions of older Americans have surgery each year. Your primary care doctor may suggest a surgeon to you, and your state or local medical society can tell you about your surgeon's training. Try to choose a surgeon who operates often on medical problems like yours.
_ Heart Health Crucial Heart-Disease Devices Benefit People of Color By Jane Farrell article Racial and ethnic minorities who get implantable devices to treat heart failure derive the same survival benefit as white patients, new research shows. But non-white patients are getting the devices at a much lower rate. The study, one of the largest to compare the survival benefits of the devices by race and ethnicity, looked at 15,000 patients from 167 medical practices across the U.S. The findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
_ Medical Care Those with Not Long to Live Still Get Screenings for Cancer By Sondra Forsyth article A substantial number of older patients with limited life expectancy continue to receive routine screenings for prostate, breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer although the procedures are unlikely to benefit them, according to the authors of a study done at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by Trevor J. Royce, M.D., M.S. and colleagues.
_ Heart Health Good Neighbors May Curb Heart Attack Risk By Sondra Forsyth article Although some studies suggest that the factors such as area violence and noise can negatively affect cardiovascular health, few studies have looked at the potential health enhancing effects of positive local neighborhood characteristics. This prompted the authors of an article published in 2014 in BMJ to track the cardiovascular health of over 5000 US adults with no known heart problems over a period of four years, starting in 2006. Their average age was 70, and almost two thirds were women and married (62%).
Camp Reunion in Paradise By blog New Hampshire in the summer. Wolfeboro, on Lake Winnipesaukee to be exact. Picture if you will a pristine setting of pines and large granite boulders along the edge of a lake that is so clear you can see the white sand bottom until you run out of sunlight. It has 228 islands, it is 182 miles around the lake but only 63 miles if driving. The road cuts out a lot of coves and peninsulas. And it is 20.8 miles long and at the widest 9 miles. The surface area is 72 square miles. Found in the central part of New Hampshire, the lake is about 504 feet above sea level.
Why Our Minds Are Velcro for the Bad, but Teflon for the Good By blog Most everyone has at least one traumatic memory embedded in their brains. One that still resonates for me was the time my mother left me alone when I was six years old to take the baby sitter home. When I looked apprehensive, she told me not to worry. ΓÇ£IΓÇÖll be right back,ΓÇ¥ she said smiling brightly and drove off. As it got dark I became more and more frightened that something had happened to her and she wasnΓÇÖt coming back. By the time she returned I was totally terrified. She found me standing outside wailing. She scolded me and took me inside.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Older Adults Weathered the Recession Well By Sondra Forsyth article The "Great Recession" may have put a dent in many older adults' pocketbooks, but a study presented at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in August 2014 in San Francisco found that more than 40 percent reported a decrease in "financial strain" between 2006 and 2010.
_ Menopause Many Menopausal Women Go to Anti-Aging Docs By Sondra Forsyth article Feeling that conventional doctors did not take their suffering seriously, women instead sought out hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms from anti-aging clinicians, according to a sudy done at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
_ Heart Health Mayo Clinic Challenges Cholesterol Guideline By Sondra Forsyth article A Mayo Clinic task force has challenged some recommendations in the updated guideline for cholesterol treatment that was unveiled by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) in 2013. The task force concludes, based on current evidence, that not all patients encouraged to take cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins may benefit from them and that the guideline missed some important conditions that might benefit from medication.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Risky Work Scenarios Make Women Anxious & Less Competent By Sondra Forsyth article Risky situations at work increase anxiety for women and hurt their job performance, according to a study done at Stanford University and presented at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in August 2014 in San Francisco. On the other hand, study author Susan R. Fisk found that anxiety did not raise anxiety levels for men and that menΓÇÖs job performance was unaffected.
_ Osteoporosis Oxidative Stress Predicts Hip Fracture By Sondra Forsyth article Oxidative stress -- a disruption in the balance between the production of free radicals and antioxidants -- is a significant predictor for hip fracture in postmenopausal women, according to research led by University of Cincinnati epidemiologists and published online ahead of print in August 2014 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
_ Exercise More Exercise Is Not Always Better By Sondra Forsyth article Did you do about a half hour of exercise today? If so, donΓÇÖt feel guilty about sitting down and putting your feet up ΓÇô especially is if you have heart disease. Working out too much is probably bad for you. ThatΓÇÖs the finding of a study published in August 2014 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. A release from the clinic notes that there is clear evidence of an increase in cardiovascular deaths in heart attack survivors who exercise to excess.
_ Osteoporosis Progress in Preventing Osteoporosis By Jane Farrell article Researchers are progressing in the development of a more effective treatment of osteoporosis, a widespread and serious health problem in the U.S. The investigators, from the UCLA School of Dentistry, are working on a treatment that both slows down the destruction of bone and promotes bone formation. The researchers found that a growth factor, Wnt4, which is secreted in the bone marrow, prevented bone loss in mice with osteoporosis. Wnt4 does that by blocking a signaling pattern that would otherwise promote inflammation.
_ Highly Drug Resistant Pathogen in Ohio By Sondra Forsyth article A team of clinician researchers has discovered a highly virulent, multidrug resistant form of the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa in patient samples in Ohio. Their investigation suggests that the particular genetic element involved, which is still rare in the United States, has been spreading heretofore unnoticed, and that surveillance is urgently needed. The research, which was done at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was published ahead of print in August 2014 in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
_ Grandparenting Kid's & Teen Health Mental & Emotional Health Parenting Can Fiction Heighten Empathy? By Sondra Forsyth article If you read stories to your grandchildren and also read fiction for your own pleasure, you may be improving the ability of both the children and yourself to understand what other people are thinking or feeling. ThatΓÇÖs the finding of a study presented on August 7th 2014 at the American Psychological Association's 122nd Annual Convention in Washington D.C. by psychologist Raymond Mar from York University in Canada.