Changes in our health are inevitable as we get older. But while doctors tell us to focus on the basics — eat right, exercise and keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check— is there more that we need to know about staying well as we age?
In this special section, you'll be able to learn the best that science and medicine can offer for taking care of yourself. You can also test your knowledge and read more health news at the Well blog.
Changes in our health are inevitable as we get older. But while doctors tell us to focus on the basics — eat right, exercise and keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check— is there more that we need to know about staying well as we age?
In this special section, you'll be able to learn the best that science and medicine can offer for taking care of yourself. You can also test your knowledge and read more health news at the Well blog.
Link: Diabetes and Depression - Psych Central.
Depression can strike anyone, but people with diabetes may be at a greater risk. Diabetes is a serious health concern that afflicts an estimated 16 million Americans. Treatment for depression helps people manage symptoms of both diseases, thus improving the quality of their lives.
Several studies suggest that diabetes doubles the risk of depression compared to those without the disorder. The chances of becoming depressed increase as diabetes complications worsen. Research shows that depression leads to poorer physical and mental functioning, so a person is less likely to follow a required diet or medication plan. Treating depression with psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of these treatments can improve a patient’s well-being and ability to manage diabetes.
Link: Culturally Sensitive Dementia Care - Featured Stories - Spring, '08.
Research by the Alzheimer's Association has found that Alzheimer's
disease, the most common form of dementia, is more prevalent in African
Americans than white Americans, with estimates ranging from 14% higher
to almost 100% higher. According to the association's report African Americans: The Silent Epidemic of Alzheimer's Disease, black Americans also have a greater familial risk of the disease.
Link: Infected with Insanity: Could Microbes Cause Mental Illness?: Scientific American.
Bugs and the Brain Mental illnesses once thought to be the result of neurological or psychological defects may be caused by viral or microbial infections. The strongest evidence links schizophrenia to prenatal influenza infection; pregnant women who become ill with the flu are more likely to give birth to children who will develop schizophrenia. The body’s immune reaction, rather than the infections themselves, may be to blame for the resulting brain damage and psychiatric symptoms. Understanding the relation between infections and psychiatric disorders may someday allow us to prevent mental illness using drugs or vaccines.
What is aphasia?
Aphasia is a loss of the ability to produce and/or comprehend language, due to injury to brain areas specialized for these functions. It is not a result of deficits in sensory, intellect, or psychiatric functioning. It is also not muscle weakness or a cognitive disorder.
Depending on the area and extent of the damage, someone suffering from aphasia may be able to speak but not write, or vice versa, or display any of a wide variety of other deficiencies in language comprehension and production, such as being able to sing but not speak. Aphasia may co-occur with speech disorders such as dysarthria (poor articulation) or apraxia of speech (impaired ability to coordinate the sequential, articulatory movements necessary to generate speech sounds), which also result from brain damage.
Link: About Aphasia.
As research findings coalesce around a collection of risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, it is becoming obvious that poor and minority populations -- the ones most likely to harbor risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes --also are more likely than whites to encounter this brain disorder.
Commonly used incontinence drugs may cause memory problems
in some older people, a study has found. "Our message is to be careful
when using these medicines," said U.S. Navy neurologist Dr. Jack Tsao,
who led the study. "It may be better to use diapers and be able to
think clearly than the other way around."
Link: Study links incontinence drugs with memory problems.
