Nursing Home Rates Rising – Only Will Get Worse

According to the MetLife Mature Market Institute, the average nursing home rate is $229 per day, or $83,585 per year. The increase follows a 3.3% increase from 2008 to 2009. The highest average daily nursing home rates are in Alaska; lowest in Louisiana. Rates for a private room in an...

read more

Diabetes Rates on Track to Triple

The number of U.S. adults with type 2 diabetes is on track to double or triple by 2050, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s one in three adults. Œæ Researchers attribute the rapid increase in diabetes to the fact that more people are being diagnosed with...

read more

Smoking and Alzheimers Linked

Smoking more than doubles the risk of Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.A Kaiser Permanente studyŒæreported that an analysis of more than 20,000 men and women, studied since 1978, found a 157 percent heightened risk of Alzheimer’sŒæfor people who smoked two packs or more a day. For vascular dementia, which is the...

read more

Eldercare Locator Beefed Up

Eldercare Locator, a free service under the U.S. Administration on Aging, has been around for two decades. It maintained a toll-free hotline for older adults and caregivers looking for information about resources with regards to aging. Eldercare Locator has upped its gane. The new call center allows callers to speak...

read more

Hey Man – More Healing Powers of Marijuana

Smoked cannabis has been shown to alleviate chronic neuropathic pain caused by trauma or surgery. Researchers at McGill University Health Centre provided 21 participants aged 25 to 77 with cannabis of varying strengths. When inhaled in low doses three times a day, the stronger cannabisäóîcontaining 9.4% of the active ingredient...

read more

End-of-life Care Could Depend on Physician’s Religion

A British suggests that the religious beliefs of your physician could impact the care you receive at the end of life. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London surveyed more than 3,700 United Kingdom physicians about their religious views, ethnicity and the care they give to dying patients. Those who...

read more

‘Cross-talk’ in the Brain Slows Responses in Old Age

New research suggests that breakdowns in certain brain connections could be responsible for slowed physical reaction times as we age. Commonly known is that one side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body. Researchers call this äóìCross-talk.” This is regulated by an area of the brain called...

read more

A Guide for Families of People with Dementia Living in Care Facilities.

The Alzheimeräó»s Association-Greater Illinois Chapter is offering a free online resource, Encouraging Comfort Care: A Guide for Families of People with Dementia Living in Care Facilities. This 21-page booklet provides information to families and staff of long-term care facilities about Alzheimeräó»s disease and other dementias, particularly care issues related to...

read more

New Definition for Alzheimers Suggested

An international group of dementia experts is proposing a change in the definition of Alzheimer’s disease.Œæ Members of the International Working Group for New Research Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease want to include recently discovered biomarkers in the diagnostic criteria for the disease, Reuters reported. Brain scans and...

read more

Nursing Home Abuse Information

In 2007, 1.3 million elderly people lived in nursing homes. That same year, there were nearly 20 complaints of abuse reported per nursing home! It is critical that families and friends of the elderly be aware of the risk factors for abuse in nursing facilities. Bachus & Schanker, LLC has...

read more