We don’t like to think about suddenly becoming seriously sick or disabled. Yet it’s extremely helpful to review what you and others need to know if that happens. To have your “affairs in order” will help your family and caregivers as well as you yourself. The federal National Institute on Aging has a list that will help you and other family members be prepared for a sudden crisis. (And if you are caregiving yourself for a family member, it might be a good idea to tactfully bring up this subject.)
Tag: depressive symptoms
New Sitting Risk: Disability After 60
Regardless of exercise, too much sedentary time is linked to major disability after 60. If you're 60 and older, every additional hour a day you spend sitting is linked to doubling the risk of being disabled , according to a study done at a new Northwestern Medicine and published February 19th 2014 in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health.
When To See A Pain Specialist
From the Cleveland Clinic
Do You Use Online Doctor Ratings?
Online sites to rate physicians have proliferated in recent years, and about 25 percent of patients now use them, according to a new study.
Additionally, 65 percent of respondents reported awareness of online physician ratings.
The study, reported in JAMA, analyzed responses from a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population.
Electrical Energy to Treat AFib
Among patients with untreated intermittent)atrial fibrillation, treatment with electrical energy, called radiofrequency ablation, resulted in a lower rate of abnormal atrial rhythms and episodes of AFib, according to a study in the February 19th 2014 issue of the Journal of the Americn Medical Association.
Food Packaging Chemicals May Be Harmful
The synthetic chemicals used in the packaging, storage, and processing of foodstuffs might be harmful to human health over the long term, according to a commentary by environmental scientists the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The authors explain that most of these substances are not inert and can leach into the foods we eat.
Hip-Fracture Patients May Be Helped With In-Home Exercise
Patients who suffered a hip fracture showed improved physical function with a post-surgery home-based exercise program, according to a study published in JAMA.
The program included exercises such as climbing a stair or standing up from a chair.
Researchers from Boston University looked at 232 adults who had completed traditional rehabilitation after a hip fracture. One group was given the additional home exercise program, while the other wasn’t.
Antidepressant Helps With AD Agitation
The antidepressant drug citalopram, sold under the brand names Celexa and Cipramil and also available as a generic medication, significantly relieved agitation in a group of patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to research led by a Johns Hopkins team and reported in the February 19th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, side effects including sings of abnormal heart function and a slight increase in cognitive decline.
Watch: How the Flu Can Kill You
Here's another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
The Fat That’s Ruining Your Body from the Inside
Obesity is a topic very much on the radar of health professionals across North American. Combating this grave health condition could mean saving millions of dollars in health care costs, never mind improving the lives of those who find themselves carrying around too many extra pounds.
Possible: A New Treatment for Aggressive Breast Cancer
Experts have found a process that fuels triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the illness, and that could lead to new treatments.
The researchers, from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgia Regents University, discovered that a protein that fuels an inflammatory pathway does not turn off in breast cancer. The failure to turn off leads to an increase in cancer stem cells.
The protein, SOCS3, is highly expressed in normal cells but until now has been undetectable in triple-negative breast cancer.
Finding Ways to Detect and Treat AD
Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada are unraveling the mysteries of the amyloid beta peptides implicated in Alzheimer's disease. The team presented findings at the 58th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in San Francisco from February 15th to 17th.
Linking Hospital EHR to Medical Flight Crews
Although trauma, heart, and stroke patients benefit from being transferred from a local hospital to a higher-level care facility via medical air ambulances, patients transferred with non-urgent medical conditions show at least a 30 percent higher death rate than had they stayed put, according to researchers from Case Western Reserve University’s nursing school in Cleveland. The team set out to find out why this happens.
A release from the university quotes Andrew Reimer, PhD, RN as saying, “We think the answer is somewhere in the medical records.”
Training Can Improve Vision
With a little practice on a computer or tablet — 25 minutes a day, four days a week, for two months — our brains can actually learn to see better. That is the encouraging finding of research done at the University of California, Riverside and published in the journal Current Biology. Although the team did the training with baseball players at the university who had normal vision, the hope is that the same training, called perceptual learning, will help people with low vision due to cataracts, macular degeneration, or amblyopia.
New Breast Ca Surgical Guideline
The Society of Surgical Oncology announced on February 10th 2014 the release of a comprehensive consensus guideline for physicians treating breast cancer that will reduce healthcare costs and improve the course of treatment. Developed in conjunction with the American Society of Radiation Oncology, the guideline outlines an evidence-based surgical treatment path that will save patients from unnecessary surgery.
Poor Sleep = Better Dream Recall
Researchers have pinpointed an area in the brain that may be linked to why some people recall more dreams than others.
In a study published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, investigators linked the difference between “high dream recallers” and “low dream recallers” to an area of the brain called the temporo-parietal junction. Increased activity in that area, which acts as an information-processing hub, might promote intermittent waking throughout the night. And that, in turn, makes dreams easier to recall.
How Does Your Medicine Work?
Medicines can enter the body in many different ways, including through an inhaler, a skin patch, a pill or a hypodermic needle. As drugs make their way through the body, many steps happen along the way. Understanding how medicines work in your body can help you learn why it is important to use medicines safely and effectively. In this section on taking medicines, we’ll focus on medicines you take by mouth, since those are the most common.
Entering and Circulating in the Body
Picking the Right Pedometer
Walking can help pave the way to fitness. But are you taking enough steps to get results? Using a pedometer can help you set and achieve fitness goals. A pedometer can offer motivation and accountability. See how to choose and use a pedometer — it can be a powerful reminder that every step counts on the path toward better health.
Choosing a pedometer