Latest Senior Health News

24Jan
2023

'Spare Tire' in Middle Age Could Mean a Frail Old Age

`Spare Tire` in Middle Age Could Mean a Frail Old AgeTUESDAY, Jan. 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Any 'middle-age spread' of excess weight around your tummy could raise your risk of becoming frail decades later, a new study suggests.Obese folks who've packed on pounds around their waist are more likely to develop symptoms of frailty, including exhaustion, weak grip strength, slow walking speed and reduced physical activity levels, researchers say. Those symptoms can make a person more likely to hurt themselves in a fall, suffer disability, require hospitalization, have a lower quality of life and die prematurely.Frailty affects as many as 17% of older adults, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.The new study, published Jan. 23 in BMJ Open, tracked more than 4,500 people in Norway for an average 21 years, starting at an...

In New Documentary, Michael J. Fox Describes Hiding...

23 January 2023
In New Documentary, Michael J. Fox Describes Hiding Parkinson`s, Struggles With AlcoholMONDAY, Jan. 23, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Actor Michael J. Fox details his experiences with Parkinson’s disease, including turning to alcohol and pills in an attempt to cope, in a new documentary. Fox, 61, has had the degenerative brain disorder since 1991, but didn’t disclose it publicly until 1998. The star — best known for the “Back to the Future” movies — said he was an alcoholic in the early days and also took dopamine pills like candy while trying to hide symptoms of his condition, such as tremors."Therapeutic value, comfort — none of these were the reason I took these pills. There was only one reason: to hide," Fox says in the documentary "Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie." "I became a virtuoso of manipulating drug intake so that I'd peak at exactly the right time and...

Home Drug Infusions Can Be Dangerous, But Many Home Care...

23 January 2023
Home Drug Infusions Can Be Dangerous, But Many Home Care Staff Aren`t TrainedMONDAY, Jan. 23, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Intravenous (IV) lines are generally associated with medical centers — picture a patient in a hospital bed, an IV drip-dropping needed fluids, nutrients and medicines into their arm.But millions now are receiving IV treatments at home, and a new study warns that not enough people are being properly trained to watch out for potentially dangerous IV-associated infections.There are no standard protocols for training home care nurses, caregivers or the patients themselves how to watch out for and report signs of infections caused by IV lines, said co-author Dr. Sara Keller, an assistant professor of infectious disease at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md.“There are more patients receiving home infusion therapy now...

Could Gut Bacteria Help Spur Parkinson's Disease?

19 January 2023
Could Gut Bacteria Help Spur Parkinson`s Disease?THURSDAY, Jan. 19, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A recent study suggests that Parkinson's disease, in which parts of the brain are progressively damaged over many years, may actually start in the gut.Nearly 30% of the gut bacteria in patients with Parkinson's disease differed from those without the disease, according to the study from British and U.S. researchers. Study co-author Ayse Demirkan, a senior lecturer at the University of Surrey, noted that death and impairments due to Parkinson’s are increasing faster than any other neurological disorder worldwide. Diagnosed cases have more than doubled in the past 25 years."This is very concerning as there is no known cure," Demirkan said in a university news release. "However, the more we learn about the causes of the disease, the more...

Feds to Investigate Overuse of Antipsychotic Drugs by Nursing Homes

18 January 2023
Feds to Investigate Overuse of Antipsychotic Drugs by Nursing HomesWEDNESDAY, Jan. 18, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials say they plan to investigate whether some nursing homes are falsely labeling patients as schizophrenic so they can administer sedating antipsychotic drugs to them.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) noted that evidence of this abuse has grown over decades. It plans to launch an investigation of select nursing homes this month, the Associated Press reported."No nursing home resident should be improperly diagnosed with schizophrenia or given an inappropriate antipsychotic," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement Wednesday. "The steps we are taking today will help prevent these errors and give families peace of mind."In 2022, a government report found that some facilities may be coding residents...
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