_ Positive Expectations and Depression By article Positive thinking may help some depressed patients after all, according to a new study on the placebo effect in medical … Read More→
_ Widowhood Age Alters Immune Response to Grief By article Young people have a more robust immune response to the loss of a loved one, according to new research from … Read More→
_ Heart Health A New Tool to Detect Atrial Fibrillation By Jane Farrell article Thanks to a new technology, a web camera can distinguish whether someone is suffering atrial fibrillation, a potentially serious heart condition. A project by researchers from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, showed that subtle changes in skin color can be used to detect the kind of uneven blood flow caused by atrial fibrillation. The technology was developed in a partnership between the university and Xerox. The findings were published in the journal Heart Rhythm.
_ Preventing Falls and Fractures By Jane Farrell article A simple thing can change your lifeΓÇölike tripping on a rug or slipping on a wet floor. If you fall, you could break a bone, like thousands of older men and women do each year. A broken bone might not sound awful. But, for older people, a break can be the start of more serious problems.
_ A Possible Improvement in Measuring Glucose Levels By Jane Farrell article Researchers have developed a new glucose measuring material that could eventually eliminate current measurement instruments such as test strips. The material changes colors as glucose levels fluctuate, providing a much more precise readings than are now available. ΓÇ£There are significant limitations to current continuous glucose monitoring technologies,ΓÇ¥ said study leader Paul Braun, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois. ΓÇ£The systems available today all have some combination of limited sensitivity [and] limited precision.ΓÇ¥
_ Skin Skin Health Discovery Could Cure Skin Infections By Sondra Forsyth article Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and partners have tested the use of ionic liquids to break bacterial biofilm layer on skin. A release from the laboratory explains that biofilms, which are like a protective tent over a colony of harmful bacteria, make the treatment of skin infections especially difficult. Microorganisms protected in a biofilm pose a significant health risk due to their antibiotic resistance and recalcitrance to treatment.
_ Digestive Health Hope for New Crohn's Disease Tx By Sondra Forsyth article Genetic changes that occur in patients with a type of inflammatory bowel disease called Crohn's disease could hold clues to fighting the illness, according to research led by the University of Edinburgh in the UK and published August 26th 2014 in the journal Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Currently, there is no way to prevent Crohn's disease and therapy is focused on treating the symptoms, which may include abdominal pain, diarrhea and severe weight loss.
_ Pain Management Chronic Pain & Painkillers: Why You ΓÇ¿Should Consider AlternativesΓÇ¿ By Sondra Forsyth article By Dr. Frank King Roughly 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain lasting more than six months, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine. Throughout the past decade, the use of painkillers such as Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin has soared by 300 percent. For many ΓÇô 17,000 people per year, or 46 each day ΓÇô the treatment is worse than the pain. ThatΓÇÖs the number of users who die from the medicine, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Five Lessons I Learned From My Years as an Alzheimer's Caregiver By Jane Farrell blog Why is life so much clearer in retrospect? With the passage of time, it is easy to look back, see the big picture and think: ΓÇ£If IΓÇÖd only known then, what I know now.ΓÇ¥ I often hear caregivers voice this sentiment. And, as a long-time AlzheimerΓÇÖs caregiver myself (for my mother, father and other relatives ΓÇö now all deceased), I feel the same way. In the rear view mirror, the decisions and choices that I agonized over at the time now either seem so obvious or so trivial. I wish IΓÇÖd not been so caught up in details that were unimportant.
Preserve the Harvest for Winter Meals and Holiday Gifts By Sondra Forsyth article By Melinda Myers The cucumbers have filled the vegetable drawer, youΓÇÖve run out of cabbage recipes and your family is refusing to eat one more BLT. Or maybe you just couldnΓÇÖt resist that special deal on a bushel of tomatoes, potatoes or apples at the farmerΓÇÖs market. So what is a gardener or shopper to do with all that produce?
_ Aging Well Why Our Word Choices Matter As We Age By Sondra Forsyth article By Roger Landry MD Have you ever considered how the words we use impact the culture around us? How do those words reflect our own attitudes, beliefs, and values? Furthermore, for those among us who work in the aging profession, how does what we say affect both how we perceive older adults to be, and how they self-identify? How Our Brains React to the Words We Say
_ Weight Loss Back to Basics: Counting Calories By Jane Farrell article Despite all the diet strategies out there, weight management still comes down to the calories you take in versus those you burn off. Fad diets may promise you that avoiding carbs or eating a mountain of grapefruit is the secret to weight loss, but it's really all about calories. CALORIES: FUEL FOR YOUR BODY Calories are the energy in food. Your body has a constant demand for energy and uses the calories from food to keep functioning. Energy from calories fuels your every action, from fidgeting to marathon running.
_ 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.
Why Our Minds Are Velcro for the Bad, but Teflon for the Good By blog Most everyone has at least one traumatic memory embedded in their brains. One that still resonates for me was the time my mother left me alone when I was six years old to take the baby sitter home. When I looked apprehensive, she told me not to worry. ΓÇ£IΓÇÖll be right back,ΓÇ¥ she said smiling brightly and drove off. As it got dark I became more and more frightened that something had happened to her and she wasnΓÇÖt coming back. By the time she returned I was totally terrified. She found me standing outside wailing. She scolded me and took me inside.
_ Caregiving Managing Dementia Related Personality Changes By Sondra Forsyth article AlzheimerΓÇÖs disease causes brain cells to die, so the brain works less well over time. This changes how a person acts. Here, from the National Institute on Aging, are suggestions that may help you understand and cope with changes in personality and behavior in a person with AlzheimerΓÇÖs disease. Common personality and behavior changes you may see include: ΓÇó Getting upset, worried, and angry more easily ΓÇó Acting depressed or not interested in things ΓÇó Hiding things or believing other people are hiding things
_ Dental Health Oral Health Mixed Messages About How to Brush Teeth By Sondra Forsyth article Advice on how we should brush our teeth from dental associations and toothpaste companies worldwide is ΓÇ£unacceptably inconsistentΓÇ¥, according to research done at the University College London and published in August 2014 in the British Dental Journal. The study looked at the brushing advice given by dental associations across ten countries, toothpaste and toothbrush companies, and in dental textbooks. The team found a wide range of recommendations on what brushing method to use, how often to brush, and for how long.
_ Pain Management If You've Been Diagnosed with Shingles By Jane Farrell article Shingles is a disease that affects nerves and causes pain and blisters in adults. ItΓÇÖs caused by the same varicella-zoster virus that causes chickenpox in children. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus doesnΓÇÖt leave your body, but continues to live in some nerve cells. For reasons that aren't totally understood, the virus can become active instead of remaining inactive. When it's activated in adults, it produces shingles. Most adults live with the varicella-zoster virus in their body and never get shingles.
_ Is It A Sore Throat - or Strep? By Jane Farrell article If youΓÇÖre not sure whether youΓÇÖve got strep throat ΓÇô or just a sore throat ΓÇô the experts at the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have some answers. Sore throats, which can be either mild or severe, have a variety of causes. Some of them, the CDC experts say, include viruses, bacteria, allergens, irritants, post-nasal drip and fungi. But whatever the reason, the result is the irritating and painful condition known as sore throat. Most cases will heal without treatment. But others, including strep throat, may need antibiotics.