Jan. 20, 2015 - In Silicon
Valley's youth-obsessed culture, 40-year-olds
get plastic surgery to fit in. But IDEO, the
firm that famously
developed the first mouse for Apple, has
a 90-year-old designer on staff. Barbara Beskind
says her age is an advantage.
"Everybody who ages is going to
be their own problem-solver," she says. And
designers are problem-solvers. More at
NPR
Older patients do not want children others to worry
about them, especially if injury not serious
Jan.
26, 2015 - Maintaining an independent lifestyle is so important for some
senior citizens as they age that they keep it a secret that they’ve
experienced a fall. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reports that millions of adults 65 and older suffer from falls each
year. Fewer than half tell their physician.
More...
To supplant fee-for-service medicine where medical providers are paid
for service without regard for how the patient fares
Jan. 26, 2015 -
The Obama administration Monday announced a goal of accelerating changes
to Medicare so that within four years, half of the program’s traditional
spending will go to doctors, hospitals and other providers that
coordinate their patient care, stressing quality and frugality.
More...
Official blog for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,
originally published January 23
By
Dr. Patrick Conway, CMS Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality
and Chief Medical Officer
Jan.
26, 2015 -Today, we at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) are excited to announce the promising findings from two
large-scale tests of advanced primary care: the Comprehensive Primary
Care (CPC) initiative and the Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practice
(MAPCP) Demonstration.
More...
One hour
added each weekday afternoon except Wednesday
Jan. 23,
2014 – Senior citizens and other patrons of Social Security will have
four more hours available each week to visit an office. The agency has
announced that offices nationwide will be open one-hour longer on
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, effective March 16, 2015. All
offices will continue to close at noon on Wednesdays.
More...
CMS plans adding Standardized
Readmission Ratio (SRR) for dialysis facilities to reported quality
outcome measures soon
Jan.
22, 2015 – Senior citizens needing the services of a dialysis facility
have new help this morning in choosing the treatment that best meets
their requirements. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
added star ratings to the Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC) website and
updated the site with the most recent information.
More...
USC study finds breakdown in brain's
memory and learning center can be detected before cognitive loss begins,
important implications for dementia patients
Jan.
21, 2014 – Another puzzle to preventing risks that can lead to
Alzheimer's disease may have been solved by neuroscientists at the
University of Southern California. The brain's protective blood barrier
becomes leaky with age, starting at the hippocampus, a critical learning
and memory center that is damaged by Alzheimer's disease.
More...
People living alone are less likely
to take medicine, wait longer to see doctor, live less healthy lives
Jan.
20, 2015 – A study of adults in western Sweden, who had experienced a
stroke before the age of 70, found those who live alone are the most
likely to die within 12 years but men have a considerably greater risk
of dying prematurely than women or men who live with a partner.
More...
Study says they help to change behavior in smoking,
exercise, weight loss
Jan.
20, 2015 – A study of older couples finds both men and women are more
likely to quit smoking, become physically active and lose weight if
their partner joins them in the new healthy behavior. And, the
difference is significant - 66 percent of senior women take up physical
exercise if her husband does and only 24 percent if he does not.
More...
Study finds those who have fallen in last two years
is more prevalent than in 1998
Jan.
19, 2015 – Falling is bad news for senior citizens - it is the most
frequent cause of injury in older adults in the U.S. and leads to
substantial disability and mortality. The really bad news is that
despite increased cautions to seniors about these dangers the number of
people 65 and older that are falling is increasing.
More...
Notifies her staff by email she is
leaving as leader of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Jan.
19, 2015 – Marilyn Tavenner, head of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, plans to step down at the end of February, she told
her staff in an e-mail, according to
Bloomberg News.
More...
New study indicates salt consumption not as bad for
senior citizens as many assumed
Jan. 19, 2015 - Most seniors like the taste of salt
but are also aware of the frequent health warnings about consuming too
much. A new study, however, has come up with a surprising finding -
eating salt was not associated with mortality or risk for cardiovascular
disease (CVD) and health failure (HF) in senior citizens.
More...
Artery stiffness and blood pressure reduced more than
five percent
Jan.
14, 2015 – Older women should definitely consider consuming a cup of
blueberries a day, according to a Florida State study that finds this
will lower blood pressure and reduce stiffness of arteries – both linked
to cardiovascular disease.
More...
Jan. 13, 2015 - Today, I am delighted to announce
the launch of a series of regional forums to engage older Americans,
their families, caregivers, advocates, community leaders, and experts on
aging on the key issues affecting older Americans. These forums are
designed to help provide input and ideas for the upcoming 2015 White
House Conference on Aging. More...
Study focused on the possible effects of depression
and other factors on bone health
Jan.
13, 2015 - Women aged 60-70 who are satisfied with their lives have a
higher bone density and they suffer less frequently from osteoporosis
than their unsatisfied peers, according to a recent study completed at
the University of Eastern Finland. The study focused on the possible
effects of depression and other factors on bone health.
More...
Educational effort supplies
brochures, video, online quiz to help spread word on dangers of deep
vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism
Jan.
13, 2015 – The nonprofit Alliance for Aging Research has launched a new
campaign to raise awareness about venous thromboembolism (VTE), the
third most common cardiovascular illness, and its associated conditions
deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). VTE affects more
than 600,000 Americans, mostly senior citizens.
More...
People up through age 84 with most positive attitudes
twice as likely to have best cardiovascular health
Jan.
9, 2015 - Older people with a positive, upbeat attitude also have
significantly better cardiovascular health. And, as the positive
attitude scores climbed, so did the health scores in this study that
included seniors up to age 85. Those with most optimism were twice is
likely to enjoy a healthy heart.
More...
Just one slice of whole grain bread makes significant
difference; whole grains may confer benefits toward longer life
expectancy
Jan.
8, 2015 – We have all been encouraged to “eat more whole grains” and now
there is proof that we should. Eating more whole grains – the more the
better - appears to be associated with reduced mortality, especially
deaths due to cardiovascular disease (CVD), but, unfortunately, not
cancer deaths, according to a report published online by JAMA
Internal Medicine.
More...
Individuals age 21 up to seniors age
70 on moderate-fat diet who ate an avocado daily had lower bad
cholesterol than those on a similar diet without avocado
Jan.
8, 2015 - Eating one avocado a day as part of a heart healthy,
cholesterol-lowering moderate-fat diet can help improve
bad cholesterol
levels in overweight and obese individuals, according to new research
published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
More...
Moving to smaller space, restricted mobility offer
new opportunities for senior gardeners
by Arar Han, Certified Aging in Place Specialist
Jan. 6, 2015 - Gardening is hardly ever a casual
hobby. Most 'green thumbs' regard the first time they were handed a
spade with the same warm nostalgia as their high school graduation,
wedding day, or the birth of their first child. If you are a gardener,
you know it's true!
More...
Best way to eradicate these cancers will be through
early detection, when they are still curable by surgery
Jan. 4, 2015 – Two thirds of cancers in adults are
just bad luck and the rest are due to inherited genes and environmental
factors, according to scientists from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer
Center. They created a statistical model that measures the proportion of
cancer incidence, across many tissue types, caused mainly by random
mutations that occur when stem cells divide.
More...
Senior citizens with best
cardiorespiratory fitness do as well as younger adults in executive
functions
Jan.
2, 2015 – Older adults up to age 82 with a good heart and healthy lungs
also have better brains for the recall of memory and general cognitive
capability. The most fit senior citizens in this study performed as well
as younger adults in testing of executive functions.
More...
Stroke moves down list of death causes, unintentional
injuries moves up;
Jan. 2, 2015 – Happy New Year! If you are age 65,
and pretty much average, you should expect to live another 19.3 years,
according to new life expectancy projections. Although, it is a little
worrisome that these new forecasts by the National Vital Statistics
System, based on data through the end of 2013, did not change from 2012.
Still, the researchers say the
long-term
trends show "apparent progress" in reducing mortality.
More...
Dec. 31, 2014 - A noninvasive MRI can be used to detect Alzheimer’s disease in a living animal. And it can do so at the earliest
stages of the disease, well before typical symptoms appear.
The Northwestern research team created an MRI probe that seeks out
the amyloid beta brain toxins responsible for onset of the disease. The early evidence suggests the MRI probe improves memory, too, by
binding to the toxins to render them "handcuffed" to do further damage.
Science Daily
Dec. 26, 2014
- The federal office responsible for appeals for Medicare coverage has
cut in half the waiting time for beneficiaries who are requesting a
hearing before a judge. The progress follows an announcement last
January that officials were going to work through a crushing backlog by
moving beneficiaries to the front of the line and suspending hearings on
cases from hospitals, doctors and other providers for at least two
years. More at
Kaiser Health News
Dec. 26, 2014 - The
Social Security Administration, which said in April it would stop trying
to collect debts from the children of people who were allegedly overpaid
benefits decades ago, has continued to demand such payments and now
defends that practice in court documents. –
Washington Post/ Boston Globe
Buck Institute study shows popular
over-the counter drug extends lifespan in yeast, worms and flies
Dec.
20, 2014 - Ibuprofen, a common over-the-counter drug used to relieve
pain and sold under the brand names of Advil, Motrin and others, could
hold the keys to a longer healthier life, according to a study showing
that regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of yeast, worms
and fruit flies.
More...
Memories not stored where many think,
may not be destroyed early by Alzheimer’s
Know Your Brain
The
brain and nervous system are composed of many different
types of cells, but the primary functional unit is a cell called
the neuron...more
Dec. 20, 1024 - Most
neuroscientists have long believed that memories are stored at the
synapses - the connections between brain cells, or neurons - which are
destroyed by Alzheimer's disease. A new UCLA study, however, challenges
the idea that long-term memory is stored at synapses. This indicates
memories may be restored, offering new hope for patients in the early
stages of AD.
More...
Jan.
26, 2015 -Today, we at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) are excited to announce the promising findings from two
large-scale tests of advanced primary care: the Comprehensive Primary
Care (CPC) initiative and the Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practice
(MAPCP) Demonstration.
