_ Yoga Can Sharpen Your Mind By Jane Farrell article Regular practice of yoga can improve older adultsΓÇÖ performance of cognitive tasks, according to new research. Investigators from the University of Illinois found that eight weeks of hatha yoga classes, three times a week, led to speedier and more accurate performance on tests of information recall, mental flexibility and task-switching than before the patients had taken the yoga class.
_ Healthy Diet & Nutrition Seafood Substitutions High In Mercury By Sondra Forsyth article New measurements from fish purchased at retail seafood counters in 10 different states show the extent to which mislabeling can expose consumers to unexpectedly high levels of mercury, a harmful pollutant. Fishery stock "substitutions"ΓÇöwhich falsely present a fish of the same species, but from a different geographic originΓÇöare the most dangerous mislabeling offense, according to research by University of Hawai'i at M─ünoa scientists and published in August 2014 in PLOS One.
_ Sex Love Makes Sex Better for Most Women By Sondra Forsyth article Love and commitment can make sex physically more satisfying for many women, according to research done by at Penn State Abington, a commonwealth campus of the Pennsylvania State University.
_ 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.
_ Caregiving Daughters, Not Sons, Are the Caregivers By Sondra Forsyth article Researchers at Princeton University found women appear to provide as much elderly parent care as they can, while men contribute as little as possible. The study was presented in August 2014 at at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco.
_ 5 Food-Drug Interactions You Want to Avoid By Sondra Forsyth article By Leah Shainhouse You have heard it again and again: Adapt to a healthy lifestyle. If you make sure to eat well, a plethora of diseases can be prevented or managed. However, there are times when you walk into your doctorΓÇÖs office, either for a routine check-up or for some sort of ache or pain and you have no choice. You walk out with another prescription, whether it is to help lower your cholesterol, control your blood pressure or fight off an infection.
_ Relationships & Love Connection is the Key to Positive Personal Relationships By Sondra Forsyth article By Lynne DΓÇÖAmico, PhD You can improve communication without improving a relationship, but you canΓÇÖt create connection without improving a relationship. Communication has been hailed as a ΓÇ£holy grailΓÇ¥ to interpersonal relationships, and is routinely promoted as the way to improve relationships between spouses, children, parents, and work colleagues. As years of research show, communication is definitely an important dimension of any relationship. But communication isnΓÇÖt the key to fixing relationship problems. Connection is.
_ Cholesterol Drug Good for Diabetic WomenΓÇÖs Hearts By Sondra Forsyth article The cholesterol-lowering drug fenofibrate cuts cardiovascular disease risks by 30 per cent in women with type-2 diabetes, according to a study done at th University of Sydney in Australia and published in August 2014 in Diabetologia. A release from the university quotes study chairman Professor Tony Keech as saying, "The finding is good news for women. The study shows that fenofibrate reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, or having a stroke or other adverse cardiovascular event by 30 per cent in women and 13 per cent in men."
_ Medical Care Doctors & Patients Making Decisions Together By Sondra Forsyth article Shared decision-making is a concept thatΓÇÖs gaining traction in medicine, particularly in areas of health care, where patients are presented with more than one reasonable treatment option. The programs, which feature patient-education tools such as online surveys and videos, have several goals. One is to help people thoroughly understand their choices and assure them that they are making informed decisions.
_ 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.
Menopause: Trigger for the Boomer GenerationΓÇÖs Encore Career By blog Seems like when youΓÇÖre raising kids or climbing the career ladder, itΓÇÖs all about checking off ΓÇÿto doΓÇÖ lists. Constant activity, travel, ballgames and baby-sitters can make your head spin. Suddenly, youΓÇÖre done. The kids leave the nest; your career is winding down, leaving you to wonder, whatΓÇÖs next?
_ 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.
Brain Health Elasticity of Brain Arteries & Aging Well By Sondra Forsyth article In an effort to identify how the elasticity of the arteries in the brain correlates with aging well, researchers at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used optical methods developed in their lab to map out the pulse pressure of the entire brainΓÇÖs cortex.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Older Adults Weathered the Recession Well By Sondra Forsyth article The "Great Recession" may have put a dent in many older adults' pocketbooks, but a study presented at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in August 2014 in San Francisco found that more than 40 percent reported a decrease in "financial strain" between 2006 and 2010.
_ Menopause Many Menopausal Women Go to Anti-Aging Docs By Sondra Forsyth article Feeling that conventional doctors did not take their suffering seriously, women instead sought out hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms from anti-aging clinicians, according to a sudy done at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
_ 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.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Depression Often Untreated in PD By Sondra Forsyth article In light of the revelation that the late Robin Williams had early ParkinsonΓÇÖs Disease when he committed suicide on August 11th 2014, a study published in the August 2014 issue of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease is of particular interest. Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago in collaboration with the National Parkinson's Foundation (NPF) found that although depression is known to be a common symptom of Parkinson's disease, the mood disorder often remains untreated for many patients.
_ Flu High-Dose Flu Vaccine Best for Elderly By Sondra Forsyth article High-dose influenza vaccine is 24 percent more effective than the standard-dose vaccine in protecting people ages 65 and over against influenza illness and its complications, according to a study led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville TN and published August 13th 2014 in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).