Experts Recommend Addressing Concerns About Aging Relatives Before a Crisis Strikes
Kellen CommunicationsFollowing visits over the recent holidays, many of us may become concerned about the health or well being of our aging loved ones.
Following visits over the recent holidays, many of us may become concerned about the health or well being of our aging loved ones.
The surge of baby boomers now entering their 60s means more drivers on the road who may be impaired by dementia or other cognitive impairments. The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has developed a workshop to train health care providers to identify potentially unsafe drivers with dementia.
A telephone-based program linking chronically ill older adults to home or community services significantly reduces mortality risk, according to a new study.
The first large-scale review of weight-loss surgeries performed on older adults suggests bariatric procedures should generally be limited to people younger than age 65, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Older individuals who are religious have a significantly enhanced quality of life in old age than nonreligious older Americans, and are more generous and less afraid of death than their less religious peers, according to new research by Michele Dillon, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire.
A recent study directed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) suggests that seniors with low incomes or no prescription coverage were less likely to use generic cardiovascular drugs than more affluent seniors and those with prescription drug coverage.
Tufts University researchers propose that physicians give older adults "prescriptions" for exercise. Older adults, who have more contact with health care providers, are less likely to exercise but could benefit greatly, as physical activity potentially lowers the risk of poor health and disease.
University of South Florida researchers have found that treating dementia patients with cholinesterase inhibitors (ChE-Is) may delay placement into nursing homes and provide improved quality of life while helping preserve personal and societal resources.
For older adults, anemia's trademark loss of oxygen-toting red blood cells has long been linked to fatigue, muscle weakness and other physical ailments. Now researchers at Johns Hopkins have found a relationship between anemia and impaired thinking, too.
Getting in and out of the bathtub or shower can be a perilous journey for older adults, even when they have bathrooms already equipped with safety features, according to research by the University of Michigan Health System. But many of those accidents can be prevented with the installation and proper use of safety features.
Older adults exposed to high levels of lead before the 1980s are showing signs of cognitive decrements as a result of long-term lead exposure in their communities, according to a study published in the online edition of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Physical inactivity, depression and falls all increase risk of developing a disability in later life. But targeting falls may be a particularly effective way to reduce the nation's disability levels, according to a new study.
The dose of contrast material can be effectively reduced by at least 10% for elderly patients undergoing a multi-detector CT examination of the pancreas and biliary region a new study finds. When the dose is reduced, the cost of the examination and the risk of complications is reduced.
Nursing-home residents in hospice care have about half the chance of being admitted to a hospital in their last 30 days of life compared to peers who don't receive hospice care, a large new study confirms.
More than one of every five Americans age 62 and older who expected to retire early are still working, according to a new analysis of the prevalence of unanticipated work in retirement and its consequences for the well-being of older adults.
Age may be more related to reactions to stress and the absence of disease rather than to a person's chronological age, say leading researchers in the fields of neurobiology and psychoneuroendocrinology. And healthy aging is a good bet if stress can be moderated along with adopting an active, healthy lifestyle.
Based on a review of studies on exercise and its effect on brain functioning in human and animal populations, researchers find that physical exercise may slow aging's effects and help people maintain cognitive abilities well into older age. Animals seem to benefit from exercise too and perform spatial tasks better when they are active. Furthermore, fitness training "“ an increased level of exercise "“ may improve some mental processes even more than moderate activity.
Severe heat waves kill more people in neighborhoods where there are few inviting businesses to draw older people out of their apartments, new research suggests. A study of the 1995 heat wave in Chicago found higher-than-average mortality rates in areas where businesses were run-down, and dominated by liquor stores and bars.
Vision screening tests are recommended for older people who frequently suffer from problems with their sight. However, a new review found there is no evidence that community-based screening of the elderly results in any improvements in their vision. Necessary follow-up was often absent in these mass-testing environments.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently began offering a new treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that may improve, and in some cases restore, patients' vision.
Seniors who like to "spoil the grandchild" without interference from the parents have discovered that the safest bets are long trips to theme parks, historical sites and even on safaris, a new University of Florida study finds.
The drug eszopiclone, marketed as Lunestaâ„¢, significantly improved sleep in elderly people with chronic insomnia, according to a report by W. Vaughn McCall, M.D., M.S., and six colleagues.
While changes to sleep requirements and patterns occur throughout life, sleep problems are not a normal consequence of aging, according to a review article by Saint Louis University geriatricians.
Although the slower driving habits of some seniors often steam impatient younger motorists, researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have found that elders who stay behind the wheel are less likely to enter nursing homes or assisted living centers than those who have never driven or who have given up driving altogether.
Although national and international health organizations urge anyone over age 65 to get yearly flu shots, the vaccinations are only modestly effective in preventing flu and its complications among older adults, according to a new review of recent studies. There is a little evidence that vaccinating healthcare workers protects their elderly patients from flu complications, another study found.
Everything from multicolored lights to garden walks has been suggested as ways to keep people with dementia from wandering, but there is little evidence to show that any of these interventions work, according to a new analysis.
A purified mixture of human antibodies called intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) provides lasting benefits to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to researchers at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The clinical study is the first to demonstrate that IVIg stabilizes or improves cognitive function in Alzheimer patients when administered over a period of a year or more.
Dementia may rob an older person of memory and focus, but the ability to offer timeless advice about life's big questions seems to be preserved, according to Florida State University researchers in Tallahassee, Fla.
A new Mayo Clinic study finds that after memory begins to decline, executive function is the next brain function to deteriorate in the progression from mild cognitive impairment, a pre-Alzheimer's disease condition, to Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers at Saint Louis University School of Medicine have received nearly half a million dollars from the National Eye Institute to study a protein thought to be linked to Alzheimer's disease and its possible relationship to age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 60.
People over 65 who are depressed or anxious turn to complementary or alternative medicine more often than older people who are not anxious or depressed "“ but not to treat their mental symptoms.
Confining activities to the rocking chair, the beach and the TV couch may be some retirees' idea of good living, but according to new research by experts at Johns Hopkins, published this month on the Journal of Urban Health's Web site, spending some time with young children in the classroom might give them a lot more time to enjoy life.
Depressive symptoms, delusions, hallucinations and constipation are associated with physical aggression among nursing home residents with dementia, according to a report in the June 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
What older American women say about receiving regular mammograms and what they actually do are two different things, suggests a new study. And unlike prior studies based on patient self-reports of mammography screening, the new study suggests that older African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic women all receive less screening than do white women.
Older mothers are almost four times more likely to expect one of their daughters, rather than a son, to be their caregiver if they were to become sick or disabled, reports Cornell's Karl Pillemer in the August issue of The Gerontologist.
Interactive on-line media briefing on diagnosis and treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss among Americans above the age of fifty.
Five short classes about dietary supplements, delivered alongside a hot meal, helped a group of low-income older North Carolinians to safely increase their vitamin use, according to a new study. Participants took more multivitamins and calcium supplements and were more likely to read the labels on dietary supplements.
A study co-authored by a University of Virginia professor suggests that seniors citizens will die in car accidents at a higher rate in the years ahead as America's 75 million baby boomers age, grow more frail and continue to drive.
Back when he was 20 years old in 1965, Pete Townshend wrote the line "I hope I die before I get old" into the song "My Generation." But a unique new study suggests that he may have fallen victim to a common, and mistaken, belief: That the happiest days of people's lives occur when they're young.
Donna Cohen, professor and researcher at the University of South Florida's Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, has received a grant to study the presence of potentially violent and dangerous residents, including sexual predators, living in the nation's nursing homes.
Scientists from the University of Florida's Institute on Aging have found that eating a little less food and exercising a little more over a lifespan can reduce or even reverse aging-related cell and organ damage in rats.
Providing a convivial and social environment at mealtimes improves the quality of life and physical performance of nursing home residents, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
They demanded cultural and political change. They influenced new artistic genres and styles of music. Now America's restless baby boomers, the first of whom are entering their retirement years this year as they turn 60, are changing the way Americans retire.
Mental decline is one of the most feared consequences of aging, but cognitive impairment is not inevitable, reports the May issue of the Harvard Men's Health Watch. The newsletter describes ways you can help reduce your risk for age-related memory loss.
Researchers have identified a protein that reins in the rogue activity of the molecules that make amyloid-beta peptides, which may prevent normal brain function in people with Alzheimer's disease. Their findings reveal a potentially powerful tool for designing novel Alzheimer's treatments.
A Buck Institute study provides a startling new look at Alzheimer's disease, based on research involving a newly discovered molecular pathway. Mice have senile plaques, but no symptoms of the disease.
As they approach death, the churchgoing elderly are likely to find little solace in religion if they had little personal commitment to God during the rest of their lives, a new University of Florida study finds.
Flu shots do not work as well in older adults who have recently experienced the death of a family member or close friend, a new study shows. On the other hand, older adults who are happily married show stronger responses after flu shots than those who are unmarried, especially those who are widowed.
A University of Missouri-Rolla researcher has teamed up with a St. Louis ophthalmologist to help those who suffer from cataracts by studying the elasticity of lenses.
Relatively few senior adults likely will pick a new Medicare prescription drug plan because the choices are confusing and overwhelming, predicts a Saint Louis University health economist.