Tag: Medical Care

The quality of kidney and liver donations is fundamentally important for the longevity of transplants and the health of recipients. That’s why it’s critical to know which organs are suitable for transplantation, as well as to use techniques that preserve an organ’s function after donation. Several studies published in the British Journal of Surgery in April 2014address these issues and offer ways to maximize the use of donated organs.

Hospital stays for colorectal-surgery patients can be cut by two days via a practice known as “enhanced recovery,” according to researchers from Duke University Hospital. The practice also reduced readmission rates.

Using an ambulance that included a computed tomography (CT) scanner, point-of-care laboratory, telemedicine connection and a specialized prehospital stroke team resulted in decreased time to treatment for ischemic stroke, according to a study in the published in the April 23/30 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association, a neurology theme issue.

A group of drugs commonly prescribed for insomnia, anxiety, and breathing issues "significantly increase the risk" that older people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), also known as emphysema, need to visit a doctor or Emergency Department for respiratory reasons. That is the finding of research done at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and published online on april 17^th 2014 in the European Respiratory Journal. 

At least for dermatologists, access to free drug samples from Big Pharma representatives means costlier prescription for patients. That’s the finding of Stanford University Medical Center researchers who published the results of their study April 16^th in JAMA Dermatology.

Researchers from Harvard, Brown, and the University of Massachusetts have developed a new method for measuring delirium severity in older adults. A release from the Hebrew Senior Life Institute for Aging Research, a affiliate of Harvard Medical School in Boston explains that delirium is defined as the sudden onset of confusion or change in mental status that is often brought about by physical illness, surgery, or hospitalization. Delirium is a common and often costly condition that is a leading complication among older adults who are hospitalized.

A sick, elderly patient who is considering risky surgery needs comprehensive help in the decision process, according to an analytical piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Laurent G. Glance, M.D, professor and vice-chair for research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, said that a team approach would lead to better care that’s in accordance with the patient’s values.

Medicare Patients And Low-risk Medicare patients who are getting home health care appear to benefit from medication management therapy conducted via phone, but that procedure doesn’t work for higher-risk patients, a new study shows.

The study, conducted by researchers from Purdue University, aimed to see which patients benefit the most from medication management via telephone.

A new model of coordinated brain care improves treatment and outcomes for patients with cognitive impairment.

Researchers from the Regenstrief Institute, Eskenazi Health and Indiana University Center for Aging Research, who developed the Healthy Aging Brain Center care model, said the new program also produces substantial cost savings.

In the program, patients have an initial cognitive assessment, including neuropsychological testing, brain imaging, a medication review and structured neurological and physical evaluations.

In the creation of lists by specialty societies of medical services deemed least beneficial, the "Choosing Wisely" initiative, inclusion was often justified by evidence suggesting no additional benefit with higher risk, higher cost, or both, compared with other options, according to a study in the April 9^th 2014 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.

Experts at Newcastle University in the UK are investigating Google Glass, the next generation of wearable computing, as an assistive aid to help people with Parkinson's retain their independence for longer.

The device has been likened to the kind of technology fictionalized in the Hollywood Blockbuster “Minority Report”. At first glance, Google Glass appears to be no more than a pair of designer glasses. But the system works like a hands-free smartphone, displaying information on the lens. The technology is voice-operated and linked to the Internet.

When elderly patients with advanced dementia are hospitalized, the specialties of the doctors at their bedside have a lot to do with whether the patients will end up with a gastric feeding tube — a practice that some medical organizations recommend against for frail, terminal patients. That is the finding of a study done at Brown University and published in the April 2014 edition of the journal Health Affairs,

From the Mayo Clinic

How many times have you heard it said that the Internet has transformed modern life? Indeed, it's probably changed how you stay in touch with family and friends, purchase goods and services, and even search for information about health problems. But are you using the array of telehealth tools available to improve your health and wellness? If not, you may be falling behind the times.

What is telehealth? Why should you care?

A new study appearing in the April 2014 issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery showed that the economic downturns in the 2000s did not substantially influence the national growth trends for hip and knee arthroplasty in the United States. The current data support the authors' existing projections, made in 2007, that predicted a significant surge in demand for total joint replacement through 2030.

Here's another addition to our ThirdAge video collection. Press play to start learning. 

3 Questions to Ask About The Intensive Care Unit

Looking After Your Loved One In The ICU

The Medical Intensive Care Unit, or what people commonly call the ICU, can be just that – intense.

Most patients are admitted because they have a serious illness that requires critical, round-the-clock care. These people have often developed pneumonia, sepsis, or multiple organ failure. Feelings can run high, especially for patients and their families.

Heart-attack patients’ recovery can improve if hospitals keep to regular day-night cycles during the first few days after the attack, research shows.

Previous studies have shown that circadian rhythms, or day-night cycles, can affect the timing of a heart attack. But this is the first investigation to show the importance of keeping to circadian rhythms in the first few days after the attack.

The findings, by researchers from the University of Guelph, in Toronto, were published in the journal Circulation Research.

Smartphones and tablets may hold the key to getting more clinicians to screen patients for tobacco use and advise smokers on how to quit. Even though tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S., clinicians often don't ask about smoking during patient exams.