Osteoporosis Calcium Supplements DonΓÇÖt Up Heart Risk for Women By article Previous studies have suggested that calcium supplements, which many women take to prevent osteoporosis, may increase risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the data has been inconsistent. A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) did not find that calcium supplement intake increases risk of cardiovascular disease in women. The article was published online in May 2014 in Osteoporosis International.
_ AFib = Dementia Risk If Meds Are Out of Range By article A study done by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City has found that atrial fibrillation patients who are on blood thinning medications are at higher risk of developing dementia if their doses are not in the optimal recommended range. The findings presented at the 2014 Annual Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Session on Friday, May 9th, 2014 in San Francisco.
_ Mental & Emotional Health A Healthcare Team Helps Women Beat Depression By article A collaborative approach to depression counseling for women at obstetrics and gynecology clinics involving psychiatrists, clinicians, specialists, and depression care managers is an improvement over typical of mental health care at specialty clinics. That is the finding of a study done at the University of Washington and published May 7th 2014 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. A release from the university notes that approximately one-third of American women list an obstetrician/gynecologist as their primary physician.
"Energy Source" Implicated in Dementia By Jane Farrell article Researchers now know that a specific energy source is crucial to cells that maintain cognitive function. That discovery could lead to a better understanding of the cognitive decline in illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. The source, NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), is a molecule that harvests energy from nutrients in food and converts into a usable form for cells.
Happily Ever After: 7 Secrets from The New Science of Love for Women and Men Over 50 By blog My wife, Carlin, and I have been married now for nearly 35 years and our love life seems to be getting better and better through the years. But it hasn’t always been so. This is the third marriage for each of us and there were times in our marriage that we wondered why we were so miserable and whether we should stay together or call it quits. We became angry, depressed, and overstressed. We had sexual problems and were confused about how to improve things.
_ Women Recover Faster from Concussions By article A study of concussion patients at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that males took longer to recover after concussion than females did. The study, which shows that using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as a bias-free way to predict concussion outcome, was published online May 6th 2104 in the journal Radiology.
Caring for Horses Can Help Dementia Symptoms By Jane Farrell article Spending time with horses eases dementia symptoms for Alzheimer’s patients, according to the first study of its kind. The research, a collaboration between The Ohio State University and an adult daycare center, revealed that patients could groom, feed and walk horses under supervision. That experience improved patients’ mood and made them less likely to resist care or become upset later in the day.
_ Women's Health and Wellness Women & Peripheral Artery Disease By Sondra Forsyth article Women, especially older women, face greater limits on their lifestyle and have more severe symptoms as a result of peripheral artery disease (PAD) than men do. The condition happens when fatty deposits build up in arteries outside the heart, usually the arteries supplying fresh oxygen and blood to the arms, legs and feet. About 8 million Americans have peripheral artery disease.
_ Better Medicine for Serious Ailments By Jane Farrell article Scientists have discovered a crucial element in a cellular process that could help develop a new class of drugs for treating epilepsy, heart disease and cancer. Researchers from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, found that T-type channels can shift the way they generate electrical signals to cells. The rhythmic signals produced by a normal action of this process support the contraction of heart muscles as well as “firing” in parts of the brain
_ Of Mice and Men ΓÇô But Not Women By Jane Farrell article Laboratory mice are stressed by male experimenters but not by women and the reaction of the rodents may skew research findings. The reason is that the mice pick up on the human male pheromone scent but not that of human females. This may turn out to be the reason that scientists typically have trouble replicating research findings using mice and rats, a fact that has contributed to mounting concern over the reliability of such studies. These are the findings of an international team of pain researchers led by scientists at McGill University in Montreal
Why Do More Women Develop Alzheimer's Disease? By blog Recently, I turned on the radio in my car and heard the last few minutes of an MPR [Minnesota Public Radio] All Things Considered segment about Alzheimer’s disease. A few days later I googled the subject matter and found this MPR link to the audio and an accompanying online story. Take a few minutes to read or listen to the broadcast.
Men's Health Risks of Testosterone Tx for Older Men Not Known By article Physicians do not have sufficient information from clinical trials to understand the risks associated with the prescription of testosterone in older men, according to a Comment in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, written by Professor Stephanie Page, of the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, USA. A release from the publisher notes that while the benefits of testosterone therapy in younger men with a deficiency of the hormone are well established, testosterone is now widely prescribed to older men, particularly in the USA.
_ Women's Health and Wellness Proof of WomenΓÇÖs Intuition By article If you suspect that you have what is popularly called women’s intuition, you may be right. Researchers at the University of Granada, the Barcelona Pompeu Fabra University, and the Middlesex University of London have shown that the tendency to be intuitive could have a biological component related to the lower prenatal exposure to testosterone females receive in the womb. This team says this would lead women to have a "more intuitive and less reflective" attitude to life than men. The study was published in 2014 in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
_ The Right Treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome By Jane Farrell article Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects an estimated 3 to 20 percent of the population, according to the federal National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC). According to the NDDIC, IBS is a collection of symptoms, not a condition. It’s been known by a number of other names in the past, including colitis and spastic colon.
_ 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.
_ More Effective Kidney Stone Treatment By article Researchers in France have hit on a novel method to help kidney stone sufferers ensure they receive the correct and most effective treatment possible. Kidney stones represent a major medical problem in the Western and developing world. If left untreated, apart from being particularly painful, they can lead to renal failure and other complications. In many patients treated successfully, stone recurrence is also a major problem. Clearly a more effective pathological approach to diagnosis and treatment needs to be identified to ensure successful eradication of stones.
_ 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:
Aging Well Resilient Older Women Show Compassion By Sondra Forsyth article If you’re 50+ and you’ve recently been through a tough time but you’ve bounced back, chances are you would score high on a compassion test given by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. The study, published in the April 2014 issue of the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, reported that resilient older women who have suffered a recent major loss are more likely to be compassionate toward those they don’t even know than are other older adults.