|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Senior Citizens in a Lot of Pain but Living Longer,
Says New Government Report
Life expectancy at birth reached record 77.9 years
in 2004, up from 77.5 in 2003
November 15, 2006 One out of five senior citizens
age 65 and older report experiencing pain in the last month and for
three out of five of these the pain lasted a year or more, according to
a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions
National Center for Health Statistics. And, seniors will get to endure
it a lot longer, as life expectancy continues to climb.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Osteoarthritis Patients Treated with Acupuncture
Show Significant Improvement
Magazine editorial encourages wider use for chronic
pain conditions
October 30, 2006 A large study of over 3500 osteoarthritis patients
has found that those with chronic pain of the knee or the hip, who were
treated with acupuncture in addition to routine care, showed significant
improvements in symptoms and quality of life compared with patients who
received routine care alone.
Read more...
Shingles Vaccinations Recommended for All 60 and
Over
CDC committee says action needed to
prevent painful disease
October 26, 2006 An advisory committee on
immunization of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
recommended everyone age 60 and older be vaccinated for shingles with
the recently FDA approved Zostavax vaccine.
Read more...
Senior Citizens May Find Botox Not Only Helps
Wrinkles but Knee Pain, too
Mayo Clinic recruiting for trial to test effects on
knee arthritis
October 25, 2006 Botox, the stuff we usually
think of as being used to smooth out wrinkles, may have a new use for
senior citizens. Painful knee arthritis is a common ailment for millions
of older people but researchers at the Mayo Clinic think that Botox may
just offer some relief. They are recruiting now for a clinical trial.
Read more...
Arthritis Pain Relief Drugs Pose Heart Attack Risks,
Confirms Scientific Review
Danger in COX-2 inhibitors,
NSAIDs maybe not aspirin, naproxen
September 27, 2006
Read more...
Read more
on
Health & Medicine |
|
One in four of all U.S. adults say they suffered a
day-long bout of pain in the past month, and one in 10 say the pain
lasted a year or more, according to the government's annual,
comprehensive report of Americans' health.
"We chose to focus on pain in this report because
it is rarely discussed as a condition in and of itself -- it is mostly
viewed as a byproduct of another condition," said lead study author Amy
Bernstein.
"We also chose this topic because the associated
costs of pain are posing a great burden on the health care system, and
because there are great disparities among different population groups in
terms of who suffers from pain."
Low back pain is among the most common complaints,
along with migraine or severe headache, and joint pain, aching or
stiffness.
The knee is the joint that causes the most pain
according to the report. Hospitalization rates for knee replacement
procedures rose nearly 90 percent between 1992-93 and 2003-04 among
those 65 and older.
Some of the key pain statistics include:
● One-fifth of adults 65 years and older said
they had experienced pain in the past month that persisted for more than
24 hours.
● Almost three-fifths of adults 65 and older with
pain said it had lasted for one year or more.
● More than one-quarter of adults interviewed
said they had experienced low back pain in the past three months.
● Fifteen percent of adults experienced migraine
or severe headache in the past three months. Adults ages 18-44 were
almost three times as likely as adults 65 and older to report migraines
or severe headaches.
● Reports of severe joint pain increased with
age, and women reported severely painful joints more often than men (10
percent versus 7 percent).
● Between the periods 1988-94 and 1999-2002, the
percentage of adults who took a narcotic drug to alleviate pain in the
past month rose from 3.2 percent to 4.2 percent.
The report also finds that the United States spent
an average of $6,280 per person on health care in 2004. Seven percent of
adults under 65 said they passed up getting needed care in the past 12
months due to costs.
The report also notes a number of other
significant health findings:
● Life expectancy at birth reached a record 77.9
years in 2004, up from 77.5 in 2003 and from 75.4 in 1990. Since 1990,
the gap in life expectancy between men and women has narrowed from seven
to just over five (5.2) years. At birth, life expectancy for females is
just over 80 years and nearly 75 for males. The gap in life expectancy
between white and black Americans also has narrowed from seven years in
1990 to five years in 2004.
● Infant mortality fell to 6.8 deaths per 1,000
live births in 2004, down from 6.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003.
● Heart disease remains the leading killer, but
deaths from heart disease fell 16 percent between 2000 and 2004, and
deaths from cancer -- the No. 2 killer -- dropped 8 percent. The
age-adjusted death rate for heart disease was 217 deaths per 100,000 in
2004; for cancer the rate was 186 per 100,000.
● Diabetes poses a growing threat, especially
among older adults. Eleven percent of adults aged 40-59 years, and 23
percent of those 60 and older have diabetes.
Health United States, 2006 is available at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
