According to an article in MSNBC from My Health News Daily, a new study suggests that aging is associated with an increase in crucial driving mistakes, even among healthy people with safe driving records. The oldest people, between ages 85 and 89, made four times as many critical errors in...
Author Archives: anthony
COPD Drugs Could Cause Urinary Problems
A specific class of drugs used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may result in urinary problems for patients. The medications are in a drug class called inhaled anticholinergics. That includes: Spiriva (tiotropium) Atrovent (ipratropium bromide) Combivent (ipratropium combined with albuterol). Canadian researchers analyzed the medical records of 565,000...
Vitamin D May Prevent Macular Degeneration
Women might be able to prevent macular degeneration by consuming a diet with high levels of Vitamin D. Macular degeneration, a progressive eye disease that can take away one’s vision, affects one in 10 Americans over the age of 40. Research from investigators at New York University’s Lagone Medical Center...
New Alzheimer’s Biomarkers Could Detect Alzheimer’s Sooner and Lead to Therapies
New guidelines released by the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Aging identify new diagnostic criteria and new biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. The guidelines identify previously unrecognized phases of the disease. The three new phases refer to the disease’s progression, starting before well-known...
Focus Group Participants for Caregivers of those with Brain Disorders Needed
The Society for Neuroscience has recently announced it will build a new brain information website, BrainFacts.org. This public information initiative of The Kavli Foundation, The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) will launch in spring 2012. This website will provide a wealth of information, including facts about...
Medical Errors Hospitalizing Seniors Most
According to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the number of patients treated in a hospital after a bad reaction to medication grew 52% between 2004 and 2008. More than half of the errors involved seniors over the age of 65. Taking or being given the wrong...
Botox May Dampen Emotions
@ballyscanlon, Getty Images A recent article in Forbes cited a study in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science that found that Botox may not only numb facial muscles, but also numb users perceptions of other people’s emotions. Researchers concluded that äóìif muscular signals from the face to the brain...
Caregiver Depression Two Times National Average
@Digital Vision, Getty Images Caring.com recently released the results of a new study, in which 86 percent of caregivers said that caregiving impacted their work situation because they had to take time away from their jobs, quit, retire early, reduce hours, or take a leave of absence. Twenty-five percent of...
Patients with DNR Orders May Face Poorer Outcomes
In a new study appearing in the Archives of Surgery, those with do not resuscitate orders (DNR) were at least two times more likely to die soon after surgery. Researchers compared clinical information for 4,128 adults with DNR orders with a group of 4,128 individuals without DNR orders. They were...
Those Hospitalized with an Alcohol Related Condition at Risk
Hospital patients who have alcohol use disorders are more likely to develop healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) during their hospitalizations and face much greater odds of death. @Digital Vision, Getty Images Researchers analyzed 2007 data from U.S.inpatients. They performed a retrospective study of all patients who developed healthcare-associated pneumonia or sepsis–excluding those...