Approximately 42% of U.S. hospices are offering alternative therapies such as massages or pet therapy, which are considered äóìcomplementary and alternativeäó therapies that don’t fall under the rubric of standard care. Almost 72% of American hospices that offer alternative therapies now offer massages, while 69% provide support group therapy and...
Author Archives: anthony
Blood Test for Alzheimer’s. Would You Want to Know?
Scientists have developed an antibody-screening blood test that may one day be used to detect diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The test allows scientists to identify biomarkers for any disease to which the immune system reacts. Additional testing needs to be conducted before this can be introduced into mainstream medicine. Independently,...
Physician Compare Now on CMS Site
CMS has released a new resource:æ Physician Compare.æ It is required by the Affordable Care Act. The Physician Compare website is designed to people locate health professionals in their communities.æ By simply choosing a zip code and specialty, the website provides contact information for offices, whether the professional speaks a...
Jack LaLanne – What Can You Say – Incredible Role Model
Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru died January 23 at age 96. Lalanne ate healthy and exercised every day of his life up until the end, his agent said. His advice is timeless: “The only way you can hurt the body is not use it,” “Inactivity is the killer and, remember,...
Oxygen Therapy for COPD Has Other Consequences
Individuals on long-term oxygen therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been found to face greater risk of death from other diseases, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Researchers enrolled 7,600 patients who had oxygen therapy and studied them...
People Aware of LTC Costs but Have No Real Plan to Finance
The Lincoln Financial Life Stages Survey: Long- term care, a survey of 1,002 Americans, was recently released. Most respondents were aware of forecasts predicting a dramatic rise in the number of Americans needing care. Few admitted to being truly prepared. People also understand that costs of care will seriously affect...
End of Life Discussions Struck from Legislation
Last year, new Medicare guidelines were proposed that would allow doctors to get reimbursed for holding voluntary end-of-life consultations with patients during annual medical checkups. It would have given specific directions to doctors on what they should tell patients, including discussion of palliative care, hospice and other services. In early...
More Young in Nursing Homes
The Associated Press recently published an article about the number of younger people in nursing homes. The numbers are small but it does point to the fact that not all aging services are provided to the aging. The article profiled a 26 year old, further citing that one in seven...
Consider Your Lifestyle as New Year Approaches
This guest post is contributed by Bobbie Walker. She welcomes your comments at bobbiew862@gmail.com. At this yearäó»s World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress, keynote speaker Dr. Jeanette Takamura, Dean of the School of Social Work at Columbia University identified the following as the top issues that affect baby boomers:...
Alzheimer’s Test Clears Hurdle
From McKnight’s – An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously last week that the FDA should approve a brain scan that can identify the beta amyloid plaques that characterize Alzheimer’s in living persons. The FDA typically follows the advice of the advisory committee. Prior to...