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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
More than Half of Adults with Diabetes Hindered from
Needed Exercise by Painful Arthritis
CDC study says 29.8% of adults with arthritis and
diabetes were totally inactive
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Both arthritis and diabetes are common chronic
diseases among senior citizens - see chart in news story. |
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May 6, 2008 - Physical activity is important for
adults suffering with diabetes but a new study says more than half of
these patients also have arthritis, which is often a painful barrier to
exercise. Read
more...
Medicare Drug Program News
CMS Says New Regulations Will Better Protect Seniors
in Advantage and Drug Plans
Proposal tightens marketing rules, protects from
inappropriate cost sharing
May 8, 2008 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) says in a news release today that it will propose new
regulations and new requirements for Medicare Advantage (MA) health
plans and Medicare prescription drug plans. The CMS statement says the
actions will provide "enhanced protections" for senior citizens enrolled
in these plans.
Read
more...
Senior Citizen Politics
New Senate Bill Aims to Help Senior Citizens, Aging
Baby Boomers Stay in Workforce
Retirement trends could create a U.S. labor shortage
of 4.8 million workers in 10 years
May 7, 2008 - Although many of today's senior
citizens find it is tough to find employment it may get a little easier
is a new Senate bill passes. The bi-partisan bill has been introduced in
the Senate to prevent projected dramatic declines in the workforce
following the retirement of the baby boomers. It will provide incentives
and eliminate barriers for older Americans wishing to stay in the
workforce longer, and encourage employers to recruit and retain older
workers. Read
more...
Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
Obesity Clearly Linked to Dementia But Risk Also
Found to Increase if Underweight
Obesity increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by
80 percent
May 7, 2008 - Obesity may increase adults’ risk for
having dementia, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health. Their analysis of published obesity and
dementia prospective follow-up studies over the past two decades shows a
consistent relationship between the two diseases.
Read more...
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Senior Citizens Offered Help in Dealing with a
Diabetes Diagnosis
Almost 10.5 million adults aged 60 and older in the
U.S. have diabetes
By the National Diabetes Education Program
May 6, 2008 - Senior citizens who have been told by a health care
professional that they have type 2 diabetes usually feel anxious or
uncertain. But if there is comfort in numbers that should know they are
not alone – almost 10.5 million adults aged 60 and older in the U.S.
have diabetes. Diabetes is serious, but it can be managed. The National
Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) offers tips to help older adults learn
to manage diabetes, avoid or delay serious complications, and live
longer, healthier lives.
Read more...
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Women Who Stop Smoking Will See Their Risk of Death
Begin to Drop Rapidly
Communicating risks to smokers, helping them quit
should be integral part of public health
 May 6, 2008 - An extensive review of the health
histories of thousands of women shows that when they stop smoking their
risk of death from any disease begins to decline. Within five years they
will significantly reduce their risk of dying from coronary heart
disease and will reduce their risk of death from smoking-related cancers
by 20 percent. The study reported in May 7 issue of the Journal of
the American Medical Association is good encouragement for older women
who may hesitate to stop, because they think it is too late.
Read more...
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Calm the Heart to Stop a Stroke from Irregular
Heartbeat that Causes 20 Percent of Cases
Treatments for atrial fibrillation aim to reduce the
chance of a stroke, ease symptoms, for millions
May 6, 2008 – There’s an electrical storm brewing
inside the hearts of more than 2.2 million Americans. And just like
lightning, this kind of storm can have devastating consequences.
Read more...See
video
Guarding Your Wealth for Senior Citizens
Why Investors Lose Money on Wall Street: Fear and
Greed Cycle
 Every time one person is making a dollar on the stock
market, someone else is losing one
By Jeffrey D. Voudrie, CFP
May
5, 2008 - Investors fear losing money, but they are almost as
afraid of losing out - of not making money when they could
have. This is referred to as the fear and greed cycle and is one reason
the Wall Street pros make money while the individual investor often
loses it.
Read more...
Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements for Seniors
Low Blood Levels of Vitamin D May Be Associated With
Depression in Older Adults
 May
5, 2008 - Older adults with low blood levels of vitamin D and high blood
levels of a hormone secreted by the parathyroid glands may have a higher
risk of depression, according to a report in the May issue of Archives
of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Read
more...
Senior Citizen Politics
Restoring Medicare Pay Cut to Docs May Get Delayed
by Iraq War Spending
AARP says effort to derail new Medicaid regulations
also a factor
May 5, 2008 - Senate action on legislation to delay
a 10.6% Medicare physician fee cut might take a back seat to a
supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war and a measure to delay new
Medicaid
regulations,
AARP's
lead lobbyist said on Friday,
CQ HealthBeat
reports. Read
more...
Senior Citizen Longevity & Statistics
Study of Centenarian Suggests Genes May Not Hold the
Secret to Longevity
Researchers credit Mediterranean diet, physical
activity, mild climate
May
5, 2008 - A study of the bones of a 113-year-old man, who has recently
died at 114, reveals his longevity was due to a healthy lifestyle, a
Mediterranean diet, a temperate climate and regular physical activity,
rather than any genetic modifications.
Read
more...
Medicaid News
Nursing Home Compare Website Now Shows if Homes Are
on the Bad List
CMS releases multi-year plan for improved nursing
home quality
May 2, 2008 - The worst performing nursing homes
were first listed on the "Nursing Home Compare" Website last November by
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS). Last week the
agency announced the information has been expanded to help Medicaid
(Medicare does not pay for typical long-term care) beneficiaries and
families find top quality long-term care services. The site will now
list whether a home is or has been on CMS’ special focus facility (SFF)
list. Read
more...
Medicare News
Medicare to Cover Artificial Hearts When Used in FDA
Approved Clinical Research
Decision revises a long-standing non-coverage policy
May 2, 2008 - Medicare should soon start paying for
artificial hearts, at least when they are implanted as part of a study
that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that
meets CMS’ Coverage with Evidence Development (CED) clinical research
criteria. Read
more...
Elder Care News
Heart Failure Patients Need Palliative Care as Much
as Cancer Patients
'Palliative care has been markedly under-used in
heart failure patients'
May 2, 2008 - People suffering from heart failure
endure symptoms, depression and need for spiritual support even more
severe than many of those suffering from advanced lung and pancreatic
cancer. Researchers say, however, these heart outpatients do not receive
equal concern and palliative care, and suggest it is time for a change.
Read more...
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Little Doubt Left that Severe Obesity Can Lead to
Heart Failure
Study in 7,000 men and women ties obesity,
inflammatory proteins to heart failure
 May
1, 2008 - Any remaining doubt that being severely overweight leads to
heart failure was probably erased today by the release of what is
described as the first wide-scale evidence of prolonged inflammation and
resulting damage to heart tissue causing failure of the body's
blood-pumping organ among the obese.
Read more...
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Use the interactive
tool at Pew Research Center to track generational differences in
political party affiliation over time.
Click here... |
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Elder Care News
Researchers Find It Tough Getting Senior Citizens
and Others to Take Their Medicine
The most effective strategies did not lead to major
improvements in adherence or health
 May 1, 2008 - Much has been written about the
problem of senior citizens failing to take their prescribed medicines. A
new study, however, shows it is not just a problem among older people
and it appears almost hopeless. Patients of all ages often do not take
the medicines their doctors prescribe, and this new review of existing
research suggests that there is no proven way to get them to follow
directions for long periods.
Read more...
Elder Care News
Long-Term Care Costs Jump 25% Over 2004; Workforce
Shortage Fuels Continued Climb
Genworth Survey finds average annual cost for a week
in adult day health care facility is $15,236
April 30, 2008 - Not only has the cost of long-term
care in U.S. nursing homes, assisted living facilities and in the home
increased for the fifth consecutive year, but the nation faces an
impending shortage of direct-care workers, further driving up long term
care costs. Those are two of the key conclusions drawn from cost of care
research by
Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW).
Read
more...
Medicare News
HHS Secretary Leavitt Urges Lawmakers, Public to
'Start Now' To Make Changes to Medicare
Congress has only three methods -- raising taxes,
reducing benefits or lowering payments to providers
April 30, 2008 - Health and Human Services
Secretary Mike Leavitt said Tuesday that it is "simply unreasonable" to
think Medicare can maintain its solvency without changes to the program
and that if "we start now, the change can be made over time and with
genuine fairness,"
CQ HealthBeat reports.
Read
more...
Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
How Diabetes Links to Alzheimer's Found in Salk
Institute Study
Recent studies show diabetics have a 30 to 65% higher
risk of Alzheimer’s
April 30, 2008 – Recent studies have consistently
associated diabetes with a significantly higher risk of developing
Alzheimer’s disease but the actual molecular connection between the two
has been a mystery. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for
Biological Studies report they have identified the probable molecular
basis for the diabetes – Alzheimer’s interaction.
Read more...
Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Device to Detect Fat Content of Plaque Inside of
Coronary Arteries Cleared by FDA
InfraReDx LipiScan NIR Catheter Imaging System uses
infrared imaging to detect plaques
April 29, 2008 - Nearly a million Americans -
mostly senior citizens - will suffer a heart attack this year and about
half will die. The odds may swing in a more positive direction, however,
with the Food and Drug Administration's approval today of the marketing
of a device that a doctor can use to see inside a blood vessel to assess
the fat content of the plaque which builds up on the wall of the
coronary arteries.
Read more...
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Avandia, Actos Double the Risk of Fractures Among
Diabetes Patients
These two drugs account for 21% of oral diabetes
medications in U.S.
April 29, 2008 - Diabetics taking rosiglitazone (Avandia)
or pioglitazone (Actos) approximately double or triple their odds of hip
and other non-spine fractures, according to a report in the April 28
issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals. Diabetes is a leading chronic disease among senior citizens
that are often fighting the dangers of bone fractures from osteoporosis.
And, it was a no win day for these elderly, as the journal also reported
a drug for this ailment may cause atrial fibrillation (see sidebar).
Read more...
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Osteoporosis Drug Fosamax Linked to Atrial
Fibrillation in Older Women
 Merck's Fosamax is most widely used drug for bone-thinning osteoporosis
April 29, 2008 - Older women who use Fosamax (alendronate)
to prevent fractures from osteoporosis are nearly twice as likely to
develop the most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat (atrial
fibrillation), according to research from Group Health and the
University of Washington published in the April 28 Archives of Internal
Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Read more...
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