_ Internet Use Could Help With Depression By Jane Farrell article Internet use by elderly people can sharply reduce the likelihood of depression, a common ailment among older Americans, research shows. The finding comes from Michigan State University researchers, who followed the lives of thousands of older Americans for six years. They concluded that Internet use by elderly people can reduce the risk of depression by more than 30 percent.
_ Dementia Drugs Not Always Necessary By Jane Farrell article Experts say a team-based approach to handling undesirable behaviors in dementia patients could lead to a reduction in the use of psychiatric drugs. The approach is known as DICE – Describe, Investigate, Evaluate and Create. The researchers said they hope that using the DICE approach will create better teamwork among people who care for dementia patients at home, in hospitals and clinics and in residential facilities. The panel of experts published their analysis in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Childhood Bullying Still Hurts at 50+ By article Were you bullied as a child? You may still be feeling the negative social, physical and mental health effects. A studydone at King's College London and published in April 2014 in the American Journal of Psychiatry is the first to look at the effects of bullying beyond early adulthood. The findings come from the British National Child Development Study that includes data on all children born in England, Scotland, and Wales during one week in 1958. The 7,771participants were then followed up until the age of 50.
_ Avoiding Complications After Hip Replacement Surgery By article If you’re scheduled for hip replacement surgery, you’re in good company. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, 120,000 people have total hip arthroplasties annually in the United States. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons reports that most patients who undergo the operation are 50 to 80 years old. Here, from the National Institutes for Health’s Senior Health portal, is advice about how to remain complication-free following a hip replacement:
_ Health Searches Peak on Monday By Sondra Forsyth article Happy Monday! We’re glad you’re here on ThirdAge today to learn the latest about health. As it happens, you’ve probably got a lot of company. A study published on April 18th 2014 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that on average, searches for health topics were 30 percent more frequent at the beginning of the week than later in the week, with the lowest average number of searches on Saturday. This pattern was consistent week after week and year after year.
_ For Older COPD Patients, Common Meds Pose a Risk By article A group of drugs commonly prescribed for insomnia, anxiety, and breathing issues "significantly increase the risk" that older people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), also known as emphysema, need to visit a doctor or Emergency Department for respiratory reasons. That is the finding of research done at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and published online on april 17th 2014 in the European Respiratory Journal.
_ Reducing Cartilage Loss in Arthritic Knees By article Treating osteoarthritic knees with drug called sprifermin, also known as recombinant human fibroblast growth factor 18, reduces the loss of cartilage. That is the findings of a study study done at Lund Univeristy in Sweden and published in April 2014 in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology. The results showed that sprifermin dosed at 100µg reduced loss of cartilage thickness and volume in the total femorotibial (the thigh bone and the shin bone) joint and in the lateral knee compartment (the outside of the knee).
Pain Management Alternative Healing for Chronic Pain and Fatigue By article By Janet Komanchuk The numbers involved in America’s problem with chronic pain are staggering and probably larger than most realize. More than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, costing nearly $600 billion annually in medical treatments and lost productivity, according to the Institute of Medicine, which adds that the total surpasses that of all people affected by heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined.
Heart Health Predicting Heart Disease in Low-Risk Patients By article With growing evidence that a measurement of the buildup of calcium in coronary arteries can predict heart disease risk, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) researchers found that the process of "calcium scoring" was also accurate in predicting the chances of dying of heart disease among adults with little or no known risk of heart disease. Matthew J. Budoff, MD and Rine Nakanishi, MD, PhD presented the in March 2014 findings at Acc.14, the annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology, in Washington D.C
_ Vitamin D Deficiency & Cognitive Decline By article Vitamin D deficiency and cognitive impairment are common in older adults, but there hasn’t been a lot of conclusive research into whether there's a relationship between the two. Now a study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, published online ahead of print in April 2014 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, enhances the existing literature on the subject.
_ Chinese Herb for Rheumatoid Arthritis By article A traditional Chinese herbal remedy, dubbed the Thunder God Vine, relieves the joint pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis as well as methotrexate, a standard drug treatment for the condition. The Latin name of the herb is Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, or TwHF for short. Also, combining the herbal remedy with methotrexate was more effective than treatment with methotrexate alone, according to researchers led by Qian -wen LV at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Bejing. The team published their findings online in April 2014 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
_ Breast Cancer Doubling ΓÇ£Progression-Free SurvivalΓÇ¥ of Breast Ca Patients By article The amount of time patients with hormone-receptor–positive breast cancer were on treatment without their cancer worsening, which is called "progression-free survival", was effectively doubled in women with advanced breast cancer who took the experimental drug palbociclib. That was the result of the final clinical trials conducted by researchers from the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.
_ Heart Health Irrational Health Beliefs & Skipped Cardiac Rehab By article Heart patients with beliefs about health that aren’t based on medical evidence are more likely to skip sessions of cardiac rehabilitation, according to a study done at Ohio State Univeristy and available online in April 2014 in the journal Health Psychology and slated to be published in a future print edition. Among the irrational beliefs assessed were the following: *Doubting the preventive power of the flu vaccine
_ Doctors Say Malpractice System Is Better But Needs More Work By Jane Farrell article In a new assessment of the state of medical malpractice, the American College of Physicians (ACP) said that although the cost of liability insurance has leveled off, doctors still “fear litigation” and “expect lawsuits.” Molly Cooke, MD, FACP, president of ACO, also said that physicians feel “the psychological burden of navigating the complex medico-legal system.”
_ Needed: Better Decision Making for the Sickest Patients By Jane Farrell article A sick, elderly patient who is considering risky surgery needs comprehensive help in the decision process, according to an analytical piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Laurent G. Glance, M.D, professor and vice-chair for research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, said that a team approach would lead to better care that’s in accordance with the patient’s values.
_ Medicare's Flawed Adjustment Methodology By article The methodology Medicare uses to adjust the billions of dollars it pays health plans and hospitals to account for how sick their patients are is flawed and should be replaced, according to study by Dartmouth Atlas Project investigators published in the journal BMJ in April 2014.
_ Our New Secretary of HSS By Sondra Forsyth article In the wake of the error-plagued healthcare rollout that left millions of Americans struggling to log on to HealthCare.gov in order to get insurance, Kathleen Sibelius has resigned from the position of United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. On April 11th 2014, President Obama nominated Sylvia Matthews Burwell to be Sibelius’ successor. Burwell, who will turn 49 in June, served as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget beginning in April 2013 after a stint as president of the Walmart Foundation starting in January 2012.
_ Pets Do Therapy Animals Really Help Patients? By article While many people have an opinion on whether animals can help to improve wellbeing and care for patients in hospitals, does anyone really know whether there are benefits both for the patients and the animals themselves?