Archives: September 2010

Weight Lifting – It’s Not the Amount of Weight but the Amount of Reps

Some weight lifters may already know this. A new study by researchers at McMaster University has shown that lighter weights can provide the same muscle growth as heavier weights and that the key to building muscle mass is achieving muscle fatigue, not necessarily lifting the heaviest weight. Given that Sundays,...

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Spinal Tap test and Alzheimer

Researchers have discovered what may prove to be a 100% accurate method for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. In their study, researchers at Ghent University, Belgium, analyzed data from more than 400 seniors. A total of 114 were cognitively normal, 200 had mild cognitive impairment and 102 had Alzheimer’s disease....

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Obese Older Adults More Likely To Use Mobility Devices at Younger Age

Obese older adults are more likely to use walkers, canes, and other mobility devices at a younger age, and may run the risk of using them incorrectly, according to new research from Purdue University. äóìBaby Boomers are coming of age and obesity is an epidemic for this population as well,äó...

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Senior Exercise Vital No Matter When You Start

Keeping seniors moving is vital, and some exercise is better than none at all. According to a recent HealthDay News item, getting seniors to work out can be challenging. Experts in elderly exercise note that seniors will give reasons as varied as feeling self-conscious to serious fears of falling when...

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Medicare Beneficiaries’ Flu Shots Free This Year

Individuals covered under Medicare will be eligible to receive this year’s flu shot without co-pays or deductibles, according to health officials. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates that those with Medicare and private health plans receive flu vaccine coverage, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. This...

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Home Care Aides’ Salaries Near Poverty

More and more personal and home care aides (PHCA) are being paid wages that put them at risk of falling below the poverty line, according to a recent salary analysis. Between 1999 and 2009, wages for PHCA rose from a national median of $7.50 an hour to $9.26 an hour,...

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Wrist Fractures in Women as Dangerous as Arthritis, Diabetes and Falls

New research indicates that older women who experience a wrist fracture tend to develop more disabilities. Wrist fracture is the most common upper-extremity injury sustained by elderly individuals, according to a report from researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago. Of the 6,107 older women followed sampled for the report, 268...

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Physician and Patient Email Communication Improves Quality

Kaiser Permanente studied 35,423 peoplewith diabetes, hypertension, or both, who used secure patient-physiciane-mail within a two-month period. That communication was associated with a statisticallysignificant improvement in effectiveness of care as measuredby the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS).In addition, the use of e-mail was associated with an improvementof 2.0äóñ6.5...

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Dance Therapy Improves Seniors’ Balance

Two recent studies conducted by University of Missouri researchers found that participation in dance-based therapy can improve balance and gait in older adults. Improved functionality among seniors can decrease their risk of falling and reduce costly injuries. The researchers used a dance-therapy program called The Lebed Method (TLM), which includes...

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