_ Friendship Mind & Body Wellness Gratitude Can Win You New Friends By Sondra Forsyth article Parents have long told their children to remember to say thank you. Now the evidence is in on why it matters. A study led by the University of New South Wales, Australia has shown for the first time that thanking a new acquaintance for help makes the person more likely to seek an ongoing social relationship with you.
_ Heart Health New Statin Guidelines an Improvement By Sondra Forsyth article New national guidelines can improve the way statin drugs are prescribed to patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, a Yale University study has found. The research, published August 25th 2014 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, also showed the new guidelines produce only a modest increase in the number of patients being given the drugs.
_ A Good Way to Improve Nursing-Home Care By Jane Farrell article A ΓÇ£culture changeΓÇ¥ to a more residential atmosphere in nursing homes can lead to significant improvements in quality of care, according to a new study. Researchers from Brown University examined the effect of culture change ΓÇô an adjustment in nursing homes to allow a more flexible lifestyle for patients. Specifically, that means, among other adjustments, more resident choices in schedules and activities, and more input into care management from ΓÇ£front-lineΓÇ¥ workers who have close daily contact with residents.
_ Lung Cancer AHA E-Cigarette Recommendations By Sondra Forsyth article The American Heart Association issued new policy recommendations August 25th 2014 on the use of e-cigarettes and their impact on tobacco-control efforts. The guidance was published in the association's journal, Circulation. Based on the current evidence, the association's position is that e-cigarettes that contain nicotine are tobacco products and should be subject to all laws that apply to these products. The association also calls for strong new regulations to prevent access, sales and marketing of e-cigarettes to youth, and for more research into the product's health impact.
_ Study: Watch Out for Prescription-Level NSAIDs By Jane Farrell article Three widely used drugs, known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, alter the activity of enzymes within cell membranes and could lead to unwanted side effects. Those side effects could be the results of taking the drugs for a long period of time and/or at a higher-than-approved dosage level. The NSAIDS, sold over the counter as aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen, would have the effects primarily at prescription levels.
_ Medical Care Medical Research How Lizards Grow New Tails By Sondra Forsyth article The secret of how lizards regenerate their tails could offer hope that researchers may be able to develop ways to stimulate the regeneration of limbs in humans. A team of researchers from Arizona State University in Phoenix is one step closer to solving that mystery. The scientists have discovered the genetic "recipe" for lizard tail regeneration, which may come down to using genetic ingredients in just the right mixture and amounts.
_ Staying Smoke Free After Hospital Discharge By Sondra Forsyth article Smokers admitted to U.S. hospitals canΓÇÖt smoke during their stay and could use this time as an opportunity to quit, but few are able to stay smoke-free after returning home. Now a study done at Massachusetts General Hospital and published in the August 20th 2014 issue of JAMA describes a program that increased the proportion of hospitalized smokers who successfully quit smoking after discharge by more than 70 percent.
_ Medical Care Outpatient Urology Surgery Ups Deaths Risk By Sondra Forsyth article As hospitals have shifted an array of common urological surgeries from inpatient procedures to outpatient, potentially preventable deaths have increased following complications. Those were the primary findings of a study led by Henry Ford Hospital researchers in Detroit. The paper was published online in August 2014 by BJUI, the official journal of the British Association of Urological Surgeons. The investigators initially expected that improved mortality rates recently documented for surgery overall would also translate to commonly performed urologic surgeries.
_ Heart Health Crucial Heart-Disease Devices Benefit People of Color By Jane Farrell article Racial and ethnic minorities who get implantable devices to treat heart failure derive the same survival benefit as white patients, new research shows. But non-white patients are getting the devices at a much lower rate. The study, one of the largest to compare the survival benefits of the devices by race and ethnicity, looked at 15,000 patients from 167 medical practices across the U.S. The findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
_ Medical Care Those with Not Long to Live Still Get Screenings for Cancer By Sondra Forsyth article A substantial number of older patients with limited life expectancy continue to receive routine screenings for prostate, breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer although the procedures are unlikely to benefit them, according to the authors of a study done at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by Trevor J. Royce, M.D., M.S. and colleagues.
_ Sleep Health Poor Sleep Ups Suicide Risk in Older Adults By Sondra Forsyth article Reported poor sleep quality independent of a depressed mood appears to be associated with an increased risk for suicide in older adults, according to e study done by Rebecca A. Bernert, Ph.D. of the Stanford University School of Medicine, California and colleagues and published online in JAMA Psychiatry August 13th 2014.
_ Many Elderly ER Visitors Are Malnourished By Jane Farrell article In a new study, researchers found that more than half of elderly patients in a hospital emergency room were either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. Additionally, more than half of the patients who were malnourished hadnΓÇÖt been diagnosed with the condition. Researchers focused on patients 138 65 and older who were seen at the University of North Carolina hospitals over an eight-week period. The patients were not cognitively impaired or critically ill. None of them lived in a nursing home or skilled nursing facility.
Wise Words By blog Today I met with TimΓÇÖs doctor from Hospice. She has agreed to read my second book, ΓÇ£Life After Death on This Side of Heaven.ΓÇ¥ My hope is that she will write a blurb for the back of the book, or even better, write the foreword. She is an amazing doctor, her experience lies with helping to usher people into the next life, and like me, she has lost her husband.
_ Osteoporosis Oxidative Stress Predicts Hip Fracture By Sondra Forsyth article Oxidative stress -- a disruption in the balance between the production of free radicals and antioxidants -- is a significant predictor for hip fracture in postmenopausal women, according to research led by University of Cincinnati epidemiologists and published online ahead of print in August 2014 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
_ Osteoporosis Progress in Preventing Osteoporosis By Jane Farrell article Researchers are progressing in the development of a more effective treatment of osteoporosis, a widespread and serious health problem in the U.S. The investigators, from the UCLA School of Dentistry, are working on a treatment that both slows down the destruction of bone and promotes bone formation. The researchers found that a growth factor, Wnt4, which is secreted in the bone marrow, prevented bone loss in mice with osteoporosis. Wnt4 does that by blocking a signaling pattern that would otherwise promote inflammation.
_ Grandparenting Kid's & Teen Health Mental & Emotional Health Parenting Can Fiction Heighten Empathy? By Sondra Forsyth article If you read stories to your grandchildren and also read fiction for your own pleasure, you may be improving the ability of both the children and yourself to understand what other people are thinking or feeling. ThatΓÇÖs the finding of a study presented on August 7th 2014 at the American Psychological Association's 122nd Annual Convention in Washington D.C. by psychologist Raymond Mar from York University in Canada.
_ More Health Research Needed on Natural Gas Drilling By Jane Farrell article Projects involving gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, should be subject to public-health and community analysis before they begin, an expert panel says. The panel called for groundwater and air quality testing before, during, and after the drilling, saying that the analysis is a key component of guaranteeing the safety of communities near the drilling site.
_ Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias Brain Health Mental & Emotional Health Depression & Cognitive Decline = Faster Brain Aging By Sondra Forsyth article People who develop depression and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) after age 65 are more likely to have biological and brain imaging markers that reflect a greater vulnerability for accelerated brain aging, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings were published online in Molecular Psychiatry.