Aspirin Linked to Macular Degeneration (VIDEO)
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Aspirin Linked to Macular Degeneration
Well as someone who take a baby aspirin a day, I sat up and paid attention to this one.
Researchers in Australia have found that those who take aspirin regularly may be in danger of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
The researchers followed nearly 2,400 study participants for a decade and a half. After 15 years, 3.7% of the study participants who did not take aspirin regularly had developed neovascular AMD, a severe form of macular degeneration. Among those identified as regular aspirin users, more than double that number ÛÒ 9.3%ÛÒ were diagnosed with AMD.
Regular aspirin use was defined as taking the drug at least once a week over the course of a year.
ÛÏThoughtful cliniciansÛ may want to consider the study results, doctors from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles said in an invited commentary. Previous studies have also linked aspirin usage to macular degeneration.
The findings were published within days of a proposal from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to expand Medicare coverage for certain forms of AMD. Under the proposal, optical coherence tomography would be covered as a method for assessing treatment response.åÊåÊ
Source: McKnights LTC
April 16 – 6th Annual National Healthcare Decisions Day
April 16 marks the 6th annual National Healthcare Decisions Day. Despite recent gains in public awareness of the need for advance care planning, studies indicate that most Americans have not exercised their right to make decisions about their healthcare in the event that they cannot speak for themselves.åÊ
The National Healthcare Decisions Day will help Americans understand that making future healthcare decisions includes much more than deciding what care they would or would not want. It starts with expressing preferences, clarifying values, identifying care preferences and selecting an agent to express healthcare decisions if patients are unable to speak for themselves.åÊ
The National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) initiative is a collaborative effort of national, state and community organizations committed to ensuring that all adults with decision-making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to communicate and document their healthcare decisions.åÊ
National Healthcare Decisions Day will leverage participating organizationsÛª efforts and commitment to:åÊ
- Increase awareness of the benefits of making advance care planning so that Americans will be familiar with how to obtain and complete a healthcare power of attorney and/or living will, and talk to others about their decisions.
åÊ - Rally a national media campaign so that Americans will know how to access information and resources to help them make future healthcare decisions.
åÊ - Mobilize national, state and community organizations, healthcare providers and other key stakeholders to initiate outreach and educational activities for people to learn about advance care planning and complete advance directives and to honor those wishes when they become clinically relevant.åÊ
You may want to check out Alexandra Drane’s and her Engage With Grace: The One Slide Project. She poses five questions that you can answer for yourself online and use to help get the conversation started around this issue.
Then move on and consider utilizing the Five Wishes document as the tool for completing advanced directives. It is recognized in most states as a legal document.
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Restricting Diet of 75+ May Not Make Them Healthier.
We recently blogged about overweight seniors who might live longer than their skinnier counterparts. Now this.åÊ
According to a recent study, restricting the diet of people 75 and older may not make them healthier.
The five-year study involved 449 Pennsylvania residents, most of who were in their mid-70s. The participants self-reported their diets on a regular basis to Penn State and the Geisinger Healthcare System researchers classified each diet in one of three categories: sweets and dairy, health-conscious, or Western.
ÛÏThe Û÷sweets and dairy’ pattern was characterized by the largest proportions of energy from baked goods, milk, sweetened coffee and tea and dairy-based desserts, and the lowest intakes of poultry,Û the university said. ÛÏThe Û÷health-conscious’ pattern was characterized by relatively higher intakes of pasta, noodles, rice, whole fruit, poultry, nuts, fish and vegetables, and lower intakes of fried vegetables, processed meats and soft drinks. The Û÷Western’ pattern was characterized by higher intakes of bread, eggs, fats, fried vegetables, alcohol and soft drinks, and the lowest intakes of milk and whole fruit.Û
The researchers used electronic medical records to correlate each person’s diet with cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and metabolic syndrome. The researchers discovered only one link between diet and these conditions, finding increased hypertension among those on a ÛÏsweets and dairyÛ diet. This led them to conclude that extremely restrictive diet regimens for this age group are likely not needed.åÊ
Those who have healthy eating habits throughout their lives are likely to be healthier than those who eat poorly, noted researcher Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State.åÊ
However, once the 75-year threshold is reached, dietary changes may not make much difference.åÊ
So more evidence to just let yourself go as you get older. Well I’m not buying it and neither should you. We need to step up and take self-responsibility foråÊ our health. It is not only good for us. It is good for society as we help to curtail out of control medical spending.
The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and appears in the Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging.
Source: McKnights LTC News
Cut Your Sleeping Pill Dosage Says FDA (VIDEO)
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