Older Age Associated with Disability Prior to Death, Women More At Risk Than Men (VIDEO)
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Older Age Associated with Disability Prior to Death, Women More At Risk Than Men
Talk about a downer.
Persons who live to an older age are the more likely to be disabled near the end of life and require the assistance of a caregiver to complete the activities of daily living, and disability was more common in women than men two years before death, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine.
The population of U.S. adults older than 85 years is expected to triple from 5.4 million to 19 million between 2008 and 2050. While many people do live into their eighth and ninth decades independently and free of disability, the end-of-life course is increasingly likely to be marked by disability, according to the study background.
Alexander K. Smith, M.D., M.S., M.P.H., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues used a nationally representative sample of older Americans to determine national estimates of disability during the last two years of live. Disability was defined as needing help with at least one of the following activities of daily living: dressing, bathing, eating, transferring, walking across the room and using the toilet. The study included 8,232 decedents whose average age at death was 79 years. Of the decedents, 52 percent were women.
According to the study results, the prevalence of disability increased from 28 percent two years before death to 56 percent in the last month of life. Those adults who died at the oldest ages were more likely to have a disability two years before death (50-69 years, 14 percent; 70-79 years, 21 percent; 80-89 years, 32 percent; 90 years or more, 50 percent). Disability was more common among women two years before death (32 percent) than among men (21 percent), the results indicate.
ÛÏOur data do raise the question of whether it makes sense to sell the public a view of aging that purports that it is reasonable to expect to both live a long life and remain free of disability throughout life. Our findings add to the evidence that those who live to advanced ages will spend greater periods of time in states of disability than those who die at younger ages,Û the study concludes.
Makes you feel good huh. Well I contend that when many of the boomers get to this point, modern medicine will have intervened. In any case, don’t fret too much. Just keep doing the rights things I and others preach about in terms of preparing for a quality aging experience.
Hearing Loss Associated With Hospitalization (VIDEO)
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Obesity As a Disease – Really!
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The American Medical Association recently voted to define obesity as a disease, making it a medical condition requiring treatment that should be covered by insurance.
Obesity affects more than a third of adults and 17 percent of children nationwide. The AMA took its vote during its annual meeting after debating whether the action would do more to help patients get treatment or further stigmatize them, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.
“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” said Patrice Harris, M.D, an AMA board member, in the announcement.åÊ
Physicians are now professionally obligated to diagnose and treat obesity, a move that should help encourage doctors to raise concerns about weight with obese patients. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found fewer than half of people with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more said their physician had talked to them about their weight. Researchers suspected physicians declined to raise weight issues for fear of offending their patients.
Part of the rationale here is that there may be some genetic predisposition to obesity so in some respects taking responsibility out of the individual’s hand.åÊ
I feel strongly that most of the conditions we suffer from in this country are lifestyle related. Hate to be black and white on this but people need to take self responsibility for their actions.åÊ
Read my old post for some perspective.
Certain Drugs Can Trigger or Slow Alzheimer’s
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| Good or Bad? Hmmm. |
Certain widely prescribed medications can trigger or slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease, according to recently published research.
A Mount Sinai Medical Center team screened 1,600 FDA-approved medications, using a computer algorithm to determine which drugs are associated with blocking or stimulating beta amyloid accumulation. Amyloid plaques build up in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
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Of the screened drugs, 800 reduced amyloid beta content more than 10% in primary neurons from mice, the researchers found. About 240 drugs promoted amyloid beta.
While many classes of drugs were found to impact amyloid beta production, the researchers focused especially on those used to treat cardiovascular conditions. Certain blood pressure medications, such asåÊpropranolol (Inderal) and nicardipine (Cardene),åÊreduced amyloid beta production, while drugs including furosemide (Lasix) had the opposite effect. Experiments with mice confirmed that some CV medications, particularly carvedilol (Coreg), hold promise as Alzheimer’s drugs.
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ÛÏThis line of investigation will lead to the identification of common medications that are potentially beneficial or detrimental to [Alzheimer’s disease] as a reference for physicians to consider when prescribing the most appropriate drugs for their patients, particularly for treating chronic disorders among the growing geriatric population,Û the researchers wrote.
Source: McKnight’s LTC
