Eldercare, Aging and Long Term Care

Study: Good oral hygiene reduces risk of pneumonia in nursing home residents - McKnight's Long Term Care News.

Good oral hygiene can help prevent pneumonia, a leading cause of death among nursing home residents, according to a recent study.

Medical News: Physical Exertion May Mask Toll on Health from Caregiving - in Geriatrics, 

Physical activity may protect older adults from some negative health effects of caregiving, researchers found. Action Points   Explain to interested patients that the study found negative health effects from caregiving among older adults. Explain that physical activity improves health outcomes for all ages, including older caregivers. Note that the study could not determine the level of stress caregivers experienced or what their caregiving activities included. Increased rates of mortality and loss of mobility among caregivers were mediated by physical activity across most race and gender groups, reported Lisa Fredman, Ph.D., of Boston University, and colleagues in the Oct. 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Things to Know About Assisted Living - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com.

Assisted living, a popular solution for elderly people who cannot live independently, is a “myth,” Dr. Woodson said, “a place for people who don’t exist.” Families often believe these facilities will meet all of their loved ones’ needs, enabling caregivers to focus on jobs and family, only to find this isn’t the case. 

Before long, the elderly resident will require more than “meals you don’t have to cook, grass you don’t have to cut and socialization,” Dr. Woodson said. At that point the elderly resident is in trouble, since assisted living facilities are not permitted by law to provide medical care and consider it to be the family’s responsibility.

The Immediate Cause of Death - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the leading causes of death among those ages 65 and over are, in descending order, heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza, kidney disease, accidents and infection. 

Maybe so. But that’s because people are not allowed to die of old age — at least, old age cannot be listed as the cause of death on the official documents, according to both the CDC and the World Health Organization, repositories of the world’s mortality statistics.

More Alzheimer’s Risk for Hispanics, Studies Suggest - NYTimes.com.

Studies suggest that many Hispanics may have more risk factors for developing dementia than other groups, and a significant number appear to be getting Alzheimer’s earlier. And surveys indicate that Latinos, less likely to see doctors because of financial and language barriers, more often mistake dementia symptoms for normal aging, delaying diagnosis.

Medical News: Heart Failure Linked to Higher Hip Fracture Risk     

Patients ages 65 and older who presented to an emergency room for heart failure were four times more likely to suffer a fracture over the next year than patients with other cardiovascular diseases (OR 4.0, 95% CI 3.0 to 5.2), Justin Ezekowitz, M.B.B.Ch., of the University of Alberta here, and colleagues reported online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The risk of hip fracture specifically was increased 6.3-fold (95% CI 3.4 to 11.8).

Medical News: Strokes Milder and Less Impairing for the Physically Active - in Cardiovascular

Regular exercise may help prevent stroke and its consequences for older adults, researchers here found

Medical News: Education and Employment May Offer Alzheimer Protection

More education and mentally challenging employment appear to protect against the cognitive impairment of Alzheimer's disease, researchers here said.

Medical News: Trouble Sleeping Linked to Memory Problems in Older Black Patients - in Primary Care, Geriatrics from MedPage Today.

If black patients 65 or older sleep poorly, they may be at higher risk of having memory problems, researchers reported here. African-Americans ages 65 to 90 who reported trouble falling asleep did worse on tests of short-term and working memory than those who nodded off more quickly, Alyssa A. Gamaldo, a Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University, and colleagues reported in the November issue of Research on Aging.

My Friend Bill Ayers - WSJ.com.

I am a friend of Mr. Ayers. In fact, I met him in the same way Mr. Obama says he did: 10 years ago, Mr. Ayers was a guy in my neighborhood in Chicago who knew something about fundraising. I knew nothing about it, I needed to learn, and a friend referred me to Bill.

Bill's got lots of friends, and that's because he is today a dedicated servant of those less fortunate than himself; because he is unfailingly generous to people who ask for his help; and because he is kind and affable and even humble. Moral qualities which, by the way, were celebrated boisterously on day one of the GOP convention in September.

Mr. Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where his work is esteemed by colleagues of different political viewpoints. Herbert Walberg, an advocate of school vouchers who is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, told me he remembers Mr. Ayers as "a responsible colleague, in the professional sense of the word." Bill Schubert, who served as the chairman of UIC's Department of Curriculum and Instruction for many years, thinks so highly of Mr. Ayers that, in response to the current allegations, he compiled a lengthy résumé of the man's books, journal articles, guest lectures and keynote speeches. Mr. Ayers has been involved with countless foundation efforts and has received various awards. He volunteers for everything. He may once have been wanted by the FBI, but in the intervening years the man has become such a good citizen he ought to be an honorary Eagle Scout.

I do not defend the things Mr. Ayers did in his Weatherman days. Nor will I quibble with those who find Mr. Ayers wanting in contrition. His 2001 memoir is shot through with regret, but it lacks the abject style our culture prefers.