_ Avoiding Hospital Readmission After Surgery By Jane Farrell article Patients with post-surgical complications are likelier to be readmitted within 30 days than are those that don’t have the complications, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery. The research also found that using a simple online tool can help health-care practitioners predict which patients are at high risk of readmission.
Women's Health and Wellness Post-Menopausal WomenΓÇÖs Fall Risk By article A study published in the March 2014 issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) showed that women with distal radius (wrist) fractures had decreased strength compared to similar patients without fractures. The authors suggest that this fact could explain why these women were more likely to fall and might sustain future fractures.
_ Protect Yourself Against Colon Cancer By Jane Farrell article Colon cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, is often preventable and highly curable. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and it’s important to find out all about the illness that overwhelmingly affects people 50 and older. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 90 percent of people with the illness fall into that age category.
_ Alzheimer's in a Petri Dish By article Pearse, PhD, confirmed what had long been observed in mouse models—that the mutations associated with early-onset Alzheimer's disease are directly related to protein cleavage errors that cause a rise in amyloid-beta (Aβ) protein 42, which all people produce but somehow clump together to form plaques in Alzheimer's patients.
_ Weight Loss Food and Exercise for Weight Control By article By Jana Klauer MD A large study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, surveyed diet and exercise patterns of U.S. men and women over a 20-year period. The participants were evaluated at 4-year intervals for diet, physical exercise, and body weight. Here’s what the researchers found about diet: Higher amounts of vegetables and fruit, whole grains (instead of refined grains), nuts and yogurt protect against weight gain.
_ FDA Wants to Update Nutrition Labels By article The Food and Drug Administration wants to update the look and content of the Nutrition Facts Label to help consumers make better food choices and follow healthy dietary practices. The proposed changes include:
_ A New Treatment for Diabetic Ulcers By Jane Farrell article A tissue repair drug could help heal dangerous foot ulcers in diabetics, according to a new study. The study, accepted for publication in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), involved two groups of people with who had the ulcers.
_ Heart Health Pulling Teeth May Not Reduce Cardiac Infection Risk By article When patients have the potentially dangerous combination of abscessed or infected teeth and the need for heart surgery, the problem teeth often are removed before surgery to reduce the risk of infections including potentially lethal endocarditis. However a study done at the Mayo Clinic and published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery found that roughly 1 in 10 heart surgery patients who had teeth extracted before surgery died or had adverse outcomes such as a stroke or kidney failure.
_ Comprehensive Care Needed for Breast-Cancer Survivors By Jane Farrell article Older breast-cancer survivors need comprehensive care to help them fight heart disease, osteoporosis and high blood pressure, according to new research. Women in this category are likely to face these illnesses after their diagnosis of breast cancers. Because of that, they should watch their weight and get regular exercise. The kind of cancer treatment the women received may be a factor, as well as their weight and age.
_ The 12 Habits of Highly Healthy People: #1, Physical Activity By article By Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D. The Mayo Clinic has created a program modeled on the same on that Mayo Clinic employees follow. It’s called "12 Habits of Highly Healthy People." The 12 habits are: 1) Physical activity 2) Forgiveness 3) Portion size
Women's Health and Wellness Diabetes & Stroke Linked for Women By article New research done at at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and published in the journal Diabetologia shows that diabetes in women is associated with an increased risk of stroke. Yet the data do not show the same association among men. Also, the researchers found the risk of stroke among diabetic women was substantially raised for women aged 55 years and over compared with younger women.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Fighting Mild Forgetfulness By Jane Farrell article Editor’s note: Dementia, including Alzheimer’s, is one of the most frightening health problems, especially as we age. It cannot be prevented or cured, and it is marked by a humiliating mental decline. Because it affects primarily older people, many of us are frightened by signs of forgetfulness or memory loss. Here, the experts from the National Institute on Aging explain the issue of mild forgetfulness and how you can handle it: What is mild forgetfulness?
_ Blood-Pressure Meds and Serious Falls By Jane Farrell article Blood-pressure medications have an unintended and potentially deadly side effect: they increase the risk of serious fall injuries by up to 40 percent. Yale School of Medicine researchers looked at 4,961 patients older than 70 who had hypertension. Among the participants, 14 percent didn’t take any medication, 55 percent took moderate doses and 31 percent took high doses.
_ BP Drug Enhances Chemotherapy By article Chemotherapy treatment for cancer work by inducing lesions in the DNA of tumor cells in order to inhibit their proliferation. However, according to a release by INSERM (Institut National de de la Santé et la Recherche Médicale), the body naturally tries to repair these lesions,and thus reduces the efficacy of chemotherapy. Blocking the mechanisms for DNA repair would help to improve chemotherapy by reducing the resistance of cells to treatment.
Men's Health Vitamin E, Selenium Linked to Increased Prostate Cancer Risk By Jane Farrell article Selenium or Vitamin E can sharply increase the risk of prostate cancer, according to a new study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Taking Vitamin E can raise the chances of getting prostate cancer by as much as 63 percent in some men. Taking selenium can double the risk of getting a high-grade form of the same illness. The findings, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, are the latest to show that supplements don’t always have a positive effect.
_ Widowhood Bereavement Ups Heart Attack & Stroke Risk By article We really can die of a broken heart – or at least suffer serious adverse health events. The risk of having a heart attack or stroke increases significantly during the 30 days after a partner's death, according to a study done at St. Georges College in London and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on February 24th 2014.
_ Pets The ASPCA Offers 9 Cold Weather Tips for Pets By Jane Farrell article Here, adapted with permission from an article by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, are guidelines for protect your pets when it’s cold outside:
Aging Well Restoring Strength in Aging Muscles By article A stem cell based method may restore strength to damaged skeletal muscles of the elderly, according to a study done at the University of Toronto and published in a February 2014 issue of the journal Nature Medicine describes. A release from the university notes that skeletal muscles are some of the most important muscles in the body, supporting functions such as sitting, standing, blinking and swallowing. In aging individuals, the function of these muscles significantly decreases.