Best Practices for Successful Online Dating at Midlife and Beyond By blog Online dating can be intimidating, especially for those of you who have been out of the dating game for a while. You may wonder if it’s safe, how comfortable you feel competing in such an open forum, how you will handle potential rejection, or how you will feel if you don’t any attention at all. All these concerns are valid. You no doubt feel more vulnerable than you did at 16. Here are my best practices for successful online dating. 1) Do keep it light
_ Mental & Emotional Health Diagnosing Parkinson's-Related Dementia By Jane Farrell article Researchers have determined that it may now be possible to identify Parkinson's patients who will go on to develop dementia. A study conducted by researchers from the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal used magnetic resonance imaging in reaching its conclusion. The findings were published in the journal Brain. Parkinson’s is usually associated with problems such as trembling, but patients also have a six times greater risk of developing dementia than do those who don’t have Parkinson’s.
_ Osteoporosis Osteoporosis and Strength Training By Jane Farrell article By Neil Short, Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach Osteoporosis is called the “silent disease” and for good reason. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), more than 50% of women over the age of 50 have it, and few will know until they fall and break a bone. And it doesn’t stop there. The NOF estimates that a full 20% of seniors who break their hip will die within one year from complications due to surgery or recovery, and most end up in nursing homes well before their time.
_ A Blood Test for Alzheimer's By Jane Farrell article There’s an Alzheimer’s blood test now – a procedure that can detect whether a healthy person will develop mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s within three years. The test has a 90 percent accuracy rate. Described in the April issue of Nature Medicine, the test could lead to the development of treatment for early-stage Alzheimer’s, when therapy would be more effective at slowing or preventing onset of symptoms.
_ 10 Things Docs & Older Patients Should Question By article “Choosing Wisely”, and initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, has released a 2014 update from the American Geriatrics Society listing 10 procedures and tests that should not be routinely performed or prescribed for older patients:
_ 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.
10 Things You Should Expect From Your Doctor By article By David Longworth, MDof the Cleveland Clinic You just waited two hours for a doctor who’s running late. Once in the office, the doctor zips through a jargon-filled speech, orders a test, writes a prescription and sends you on your way. You leave in a cloud of confusion, realizing that you never even asked a question.
_ Sleep Health Restless Legs May Signal Heart Problems By article A nationally recognized sleep expert has published an editorial describing Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) as a possible biomarker for underlying disease. The editorial appears in the March 5th 2014 issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology and was written by Boston Medical Center neurologist Sanford H. Auerbach, MD. RLS is a disorder of the nervous system. Patients with RLS have uncomfortable sensations in their legs that lead to an overwhelming urge to move them – most often at night or whenever the patient is resting.
_ Heart Health The ΓÇ£DemonizationΓÇ¥ of Saturated Fats? By article After President Eisenhower had a heart attack in his 50s, the erroneous belief that diets low in saturated fat curb heart disease risk was strengthened, according to Dr, James DiNicolantonio, a cardiovascular research scientist and doctor of pharmacy based in Ithaca, New York. His editorial appears online in the March 2014 issue of Open Heart, a journal published by the British Medical Association. Dr.
_ 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.
_ Aging Well Over 65? High Protein Diet Is Protective By Sondra Forsyth article This morning a news release from the University of Southern California entitled “Meat and cheese may be as bad as smoking” hit my inbox. Since then, numerous sites around the web have picked up the eyeball-grabbing headline and the accompanying story. If you encountered any of those posts and you’re over 65, don’t be alarmed and don’t cut back on the percentage of protein you eat.
_ Heart Health Anger and Heart Attacks By Jane Farrell article For some people, anger could literally be a killer. A new study has found that there’s a nearly fivefold increase in heart attack risk in the two hours following an outburst. “There has been a lot of research on anger; we already know it can be unhealthy, but we wanted to quantify the risk, not just for heart attack, but for other potentially lethal cardiovascular events as well,” said lead author Elizabeth Mostofsky, MPH, ScD, a post-doctoral fellow in the cardiovascular epidemiological unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Can Skype Make You Happier? By article By Hilary Young Loneliness and depression are not uncommon within the senior community. While the Centers for Disease Control reports that “depression is a true and treatable medical condition, not a normal part of aging,” the CDC also acknowledges that older adults do face a higher risk than other age groups of experiencing depression and anxiety. According to the CDC, about 80 percent of older adults are living with at least one chronic health problem, which could play a major role in the development of depression.
_ How Robotic Surgery Helps Prostate-Cancer Patiets By Jane Farrell article Prostate-cancer patients who have robotic-assisted surgery have less need for treatments such as hormone or radiation therapy, according to a new study. Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center also found that the robotic-assisted surgery left fewer instances of cancer cells at the edge of the surgical specimen. The study, published in the journal European Urology, was led by Dr. Jim Hu, director of robotic and minimally invasive surgery in the urology department at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
_ 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:
_ Proposed 2015 Medicare Part C Updates By article Medicare beneficiaries can get greater protections, value, and care in the Medicare services they receive through the proposed policies in March of 2014 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The 2015 Advance Notice and draft Call Letter takes important steps to improve payment accuracy for Medicare Advantage (Part C) for 2015.
_ Experts Have Overlooked Binge-Drinking Patterns By Jane Farrell article Studies linking moderate drinking to potential health benefits may have failed to take into account the issue of binge drinking among older “moderate” drinkers, a new study shows. Previous research, the investigators say, has focused on average drinking levels rather than drinking patterns. And that, the investigators say, hides underlying factors such as heavy episodic or weekend binge drinking.
_ Breast Cancer 14 Questions About Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis By article prognosis and medical choices.