Breast Cancer Breast Reconstruction: Making the Decision By Jane Farrell article Every woman who has a mastectomy is then faced with another choice: whether to have breast reconstruction – surgery to rebuild the shape of the breast. There are other choices, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI): to wear a breast form, or padding, or to do nothing.
_ Heart Health Post-Stroke Surgery Increases Survival Rate By Jane Farrell article Stroke patients over the age of 60 benefit from a post-stroke surgical procedure that temporarily removes part of the skull, researchers have found. The findings involve people who have suffered a major stroke because of blockage to the middle cerebral artery. The procedure that benefits them is called hemicraniectomy – removal of part of the skull located above the affected brain tissue. It relieves increased pressure on the brain in the 48 hours after the stroke.
_ Depression and Lifestyle Changes By Jane Farrell article Discussing healthy eating habits with a nutrition coach was as effective as talk therapy in preventing major depression among older adults with mild symptoms of mood disorder, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Maryland. The findings, published in the journal Psychiatric Services, examined both black and white adults.
_ What You May Not Know About Preventing Heart Attacks, Strokes, and Diabetes By article By Bradley Bale MD and Amy Doneen ARNP with Lisa Collier Cool Have you ever wondered why someone could feel perfectly fine and then minutes later have a massive heart attack or stroke that either kills the person or causes a life-long disability? Even more challenging is the concept that some people can go in for a full medical exam, including cholesterol and blood pressure check and a stress test, and be told they are fine only to drop dead of a heart attack days or weeks later.
Breast Cancer Mammogram Risks for Age 70+ Outweigh Benefits By article Researchers from Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands report that their study suggests that breast cancer screening programs for older women results in a large proportion of women being over-treated, and at risk from the harmful effects of such treatment, because these women were more likely to die from other causes than from any tumors detected in the early stages of growth. The team presented the findings the European Breast Cancer Conference in Glascow UK.
_ Aging Well Helping Us Use Age-Friendly Technologies By article Both public and private entities must consider the needs of older adults in order to help them optimize the use of new technologies from smart phones to smart cars, according to the latest issue of Public Policy & Aging Report (PP&AR), entitled “Aging and Technology: The Promise and the Paradox.” A total of eight articles, all from authors affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, are featured.
_ Happy People Work Better By article Happiness makes people more productive at work, according to research done at the University of Warwick in the UK. Professor Andrew Oswald, Dr. Eugenio Proto and Dr. Daniel Sgroi from the Department of Economics were the study leaders. They found that happiness made people 12% more productive.
Contagious Yawning Decreases With Age By article If you’ve noticed that you’re less likely now to start yawning when someone else does, you’re not alone. A study from Duke University that was published in the journal PLoS ONE found that “contagious yawning” may decrease with age.
_ Sleep Health Get Back to Sleep - Without Drugs By Jane Farrell article From the Cleveland Clinic We’ve all been there. You are wide awake at 3 a.m., your mind racing with a rising sense of panic about the difficult day ahead if you don’t fall back to sleep. What you’re experiencing is a type of insomnia, says sleep disorders specialist Harneet Walia, MD, DABSM, of Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorders Center.
25 Tips to Stretch Your Mind At Any Age By blog The good news is your brain has plasticity. This means that the brain has a natural ability to remodel itself throughout life so that the phrase “stretch your mind at any age” resonates. The brain is always changing, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse. This neuroplasticity gives the brain the ability to change its neural pathways and synapses, which in turn affects changes in behavior, environment and neural processes.
_ Heart Health Millions More Adults Could Start Using Statins By Jane Farrell article Up to 12.8 million Americans may begin taking statins thanks to new guidelines for using the drugs, according to a research team led by scientists from Duke University. The finding is the first to make specific predictions based on the American Heart Association’s new guidelines, which were issued in November. The investigators, whose findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that most of the additional users would be people over 60.
Monitoring Reactions to AD Risk Status By article A new clinical trial will begin soon at the University of Pennsylvania to test whether early medical intervention in people at risk for Alzheimer's can slow down progression of disease before symptoms emerge. As part of the overall prevention trial, Penn Medicine neurodegenerative ethics experts will monitor how learning about their risk of developing Alzheimer's impacts trial participants. The trial was outlined in March 2014 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
_ Weight Loss Weight Loss Program in Sign Language Helps the Deaf By article A group of deaf adults using American Sign Language in a healthy lifestyle program successfully lost weight, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology & Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity & Metabolism Scientific Sessions in March 2014 in San Francsico.
_ Vision Health Exercise & Light Drinking = Better Vision By article Get moving and raise a glass now and then if you want to stave off the kind of vision problems that can’t be corrected with lenses. That’s what the results of a study done at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health suggest. The team found that a physically active lifestyle and occasional drinking are associated with a reduced risk of developing visual impairment. The article was published online in March 2014 in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Marriage 9 Tips for Emotional Intimacy By Jane Farrell article By Paul Dunion When I ask a couple in couples counseling, "So, tell me about the current status of your intimacy,” they inevitably start talking about their sex life. When I proceed to explain I am interested in their emotional intimacy, the male quickly turns his gaze toward his wife and the female typically speaks of the loneliness and isolation she experiences in the marriage. She may not know exactly what, but she does know something is missing in the marriage.
_ A Discovery That Could Help Control Blood Sugar By Jane Farrell article Researchers have found that a molecule may help control high blood sugar, and the discovery could lead to new targeted therapies for 25 million Americans who have type 2 diabetes. Scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center showed that lipid molecules called phosphatidic acids enhance glucose production in the liver. So inhibiting the production of phosphatidic acids could do the opposite, helping to control blood sugar.
_ Video-Game Technique May Help Avoid Patients' Falls By Jane Farrell article A device using technology similar to that found in video games may eventually help health care practitioners monitor and even prevent falls among hospital patients. Between 700,000 and 1 million people each year fall in U.S. hospitals, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. All patients are at higher risk of falls because they are sick or injured. Falls are especially serious for older patients.
Caregiving Caregiving Challenges: Bathing and Personal Hygiene By article By Diane Blum As Alzheimer’s progresses, poor hygiene can often become more than just an unpleasant issue. It can have medical consequences, such as bacterial infections including UTIs. Gastroenteritis and other health issues can also occur, some quite serious to an immune system weakened as Alzheimer’s progresses.