As a certified physical therapist, my staff and I understand the importance of staying active as we age, so our health aides encourage our clients to increase their activity during the day. This becomes all the more important when you realize that adults 60 and over, spend an average of two-thirds of their waking time being sedentary — roughly nine hours…
A story by United Press International (UPI) discovered that traumatic spinal cord injuries are on the rise in the United States and the leading cause no longer is motor vehicle crashes, but falls, researchers say. The story appeared in the Journal of Neurotrauma. UPI’s source was Dr. Shalini Selvarajah, a post-doctoral surgical research fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School…
Quoting from a study by the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, HealthDay News reports that being physically fit can help prevent heart attacks and increase survival in people with stable coronary artery disease. This was true whether or not the patients underwent a procedure to open blocked heart arteries. Researchers analyzed data from more than…
According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which has analysed data from the Hospital Cost and Utilization project , senior health conditions accounted for 9 out of the 10 most frequent, fastest growing conditions leading to hospitalization in 2011. While seniors may not account for most of the conditions listed, they are common among this age group. .According to AHRQ’s Statistical Brief…
Just this month, another California assisted living facility is under fire for neglecting patients during a transitional period of relocation. All of this, after a mid-October suspension of license upon the discovery that medication was being improperly distributed, employees were not being given background checks, and the lack of training being provided to employees. Given the lack of facility hygiene…
According to Nurses.com, the CDC issued a new report on ER visits by people 65 and older, stating that 511 people per 1,000 in that age group visited an ER during the two-year period spanning 2009-10. Among people 85 and older, 832 per 1,000 visited an ER during the study period. The numbers of ER visits by nursing home residents…
A study by Zhengzhou University in China, as reported in HealthDay News, found that taking vitamin B supplements may help reduce the risk of stroke by as much as 7 percent. Although vitamin B supplements reduced the risk of stroke, it did not appear to reduce the severity of strokes or the risk of death from stroke. Taking Vitamin B…
Proper hydration is one of the most essential aspects of maintaining good functionality of the joints and organs in the body. Many of the body’s essential nutrients are delivered through water. Some of our joints, such as the knees have no blood supply and rely solely on nutrients from water to maintain proper function. In the elderly, hydration is especially…
The importance of addressing incontinence immediately when it arises cannot be overstated. Around 20 million people in the United States alone suffer from incontinence, nearly 75% of which are women. Childbirth can very easily weaken the pelvic floor muscles enough to where urinary incontinence becomes a problem immediately after pregnancy. Given the personal and rather embarrassing nature of the symptom…
A PharmaTimes story revealed that the stress associated with providing unpaid care for a sick or disabled adult is leading to a 29 percent greater use of anti-anxiety medicines among such caregivers, compared those who do not provide such care, according to research from pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) Express Scripts.. An estimated 42 million Americans serve as a caregiver to…
