Beta Blockers May Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk (VIDEO)

General Posted by anthony Date February 18, 2013

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Caring Stars of 2013

General Posted by anthony Date February 18, 2013

Caring.comÛªs “Caring Stars of 2013” recognizes service excellence in assisted living and Alzheimer’s care communities based upon consumer ratings and reviews in the Caring.com Senior Care Directory. Caring Stars providers are top rated by families, senior residents, and eldercare experts. The program is designed to help consumers make the best senior care choices and provide direct feedback to providers about their preferences.

In an annual recognition program 383 assisted living and Alzheimer’s care communities in 40 states have been named “Caring Stars of 2013.”

According to research conducted by Caring.com in May-June 2012, half of family caregivers search online for senior care service providers and two-thirds of caregivers say they looked on the Internet after noticing signs of Alzheimer’s disease in a loved one. A combined 94% percent say online reviews are trustworthy information (45%) and helpful to their search for a senior care provider (49%) — only a small minority (6%) tend not to believe them.

The Caring Stars of 2013 award is based on consumer ratings and reviews that were posted on Caring.com between December 15, 2011, and December 1, 2012. To qualify, the community had to receive: three or more reviews during this timeframe, at least one of which being a 5-star rating; an overall average rating (across all reviews on their listing) equaling greater than 4 stars; and no unresolved negative reviews.

More here: Caring.com/BestSeniorCare.

Of course you need to weigh more than just online reviews when choosing care for yourself or a loved one. This is one reference point. Friends, family, pastors, discharge planners, geriatric care managers – all of these and more can serve as guideposts in your decision making.

Beta Blockers May Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk

General Posted by anthony Date February 15, 2013

Men taking beta blockers to treat high blood pressure may also be benefiting from an unintended side effect: a reduced chance of brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.åÊ

åÊThe Honolulu-Asia Aging Study ÛÓ which will be discussed next month at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in San Diego ÛÓ involved 774 elderly Japanese-American men whose brains were examined after death. Researchers focused on 610 study participants who had high blood pressure when they died, determining that men whose hypertension had been treated with beta blockers showed fewer brain lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease than the men who had not been treated at all for their high blood pressure.åÊ

Study participants who had taken beta blockers along with other blood pressure medication displayed fewer brain abnormalities than men whose hypertension went untreated, but they showed more abnormalities than those who took only beta blockers. In addition to having fewer Alzheimer’s-related lesions, the men who took beta blockers had fewer lesions related to unrecognized strokes.

ÛÏWith the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease expected to grow significantly as our population ages, it is increasingly important to identify factors that could delay or prevent the disease,Û said study author Lon White, M.D., of the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute, in a news release Monday. ÛÏThese results are exciting, especially since beta blockers are a common treatment for high blood pressure.ÛåÊ

It is interesting how some of our most common medications, things like the old reliable aspirin, are showing to have many other beneficial effects for your health. As always check with your doc.

Overweight Seniors May Live Longer (VIDEO)

General Posted by anthony Date February 14, 2013

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Overweight Seniors May Live Longer

General Posted by anthony Date February 13, 2013

Body weight does not necessarily correspond to longevity. According to a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA),åÊ those carrying extra pounds outlive their thinner peers and those who were overweight at ages 65 and older, even those who were highly obese, had a lower mortality rate.

The report was not the first to make the connection between weight and lifespan, but is the most intensive with data from nearly 100 studies and three million people, researchers say.

In an editorial coinciding with the paper, Steven Heymsfield, M.D., executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, wrote that overweight people whose indicators such as cholesterol ÛÏare in the abnormal range, then that weight is affecting you.Û He added that if indicators are normal, there’s no need to ÛÏgo on a crash diet.Û

Experts suggested that concepts of fat and the body mass index (BMI), which provides a ratio of height to weight should be revised. However, those in the highest obesity categories of BMI remained at high risk.

One possible factor for the findings is that the overweight or somewhat obese are already being treated for weight-associated conditions such as high cholesterol or diabetes. Some suggested fat could be protective in some cases. But experts were quick to say that individuals should not try to gain excessive weight to live longer.

I am trying to make sense of this. Despite years of warning to control our weight, are we now saying in essence, well if you don’t take care of yourself than the medical profession will be forced to care for you and once we get your risk factors under control, even if you are still technically overweight, no worries, you will lead a long, quality life.

I have contended that many do not take self-responsibility for their health because they feel at the end of the day there will be a pill, procedure, device, implant, whatever that will save them. In the meantime, health care costs skyrocket and we all suffer from increased premiums. Studies like this one just reinforce that it is OK to go to pot!

Of course there is a middle ground here in terms of diet and nutrition. Many of our seniors suffer from malnutrition so getting them to eat properly, in essence fattening them up a bit, is a good thing. There is such a thing as a healthy weight. It means neither being too skinny or excessively overweight. As with everything else, moderation is in order.

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