Eldercare, Aging and Long Term Care

Study: Positive outlook, sociability decreases dementia risk - McKnight's Long Term Care News.

The recent study finds that seniors who are less prone to worrying are up to 50% less likely to develop dementia than their more fretful peers. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, also found a similar rate of dementia protection for more socially mobile individuals. According to study authors, previous research has found that chronic stress can affect parts of the brain, possibly resulting in dementia.

Coffee Linked to Lower Dementia Risk - NYTimes.com.

A team of Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee consumption in a group of 1,409 middle-age men and women for an average of 21 years. During that time, 61 participants developed dementia, 48 with Alzheimer’s disease.

How to Try This.

The links below will take you to the videos and articles specific to each topic. Videos can be watched in their entire format, or in chapters that relate to the specific assessment skills described above. Articles may be printed and copied for educational use without copyright fees. If you have questions about this project, please contact Katherine Kany/Project Director.

Chronic Venous Insufficiency - a knol by Ralph Gonzales.

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is by far the most common cause of lower leg swelling, affecting up to 2% of the entire population, and up to 20% of elderly persons. About 2.5 million people in the US suffer from CVI. Chronic swelling in the lower leg predisposes the person to decreased oxygen deliver to the skin, which can lead to increased susceptibility for skin rashes, infection and leg sores. One in five people with CVI will develop a lower leg ulcer (sore) at some point in time. Once they develop, leg sores can be very difficult to heal, some taking months to years to heal with intensive treatments.

Risk Found in Newer Antipsychotic Drugs - NYTimes.com.

The popular drugs known as atypical antipsychotics, prescribed for an array of conditions, including schizophrenia, autism and dementia, double patients’ risk of dying from sudden heart failure, a study has found.

A New Cigarette Hazard - ‘Third-Hand Smoke’ - NYTimes.com.

Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air for their children, but experts now have identified a related threat to children’s health that isn’t as easy to get rid of: third-hand smoke. That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor.

Editorials & Opinion | Love or crime? Elder abuse on the rise | Seattle Times Newspaper.

A JURY will decide whether love or crime was behind the motives of the Bellevue woman who whisked an elderly man suffering from dementia from his nursing home, married him and then is accused of trying to empty his bank account. The 56-year-old woman is charged with three felony counts. She gained access to the 78-year-old man by telling nursing-home employees she was his masseuse. But she is not a state-licensed massage therapist. Credit for her arrest goes to quick-witted bank tellers, who called the police when the woman tried to close the man's bank accounts and withdraw the remaining $23,000. When police interviewed him, the man said he didn't know the woman and didn't remember marrying her. This case is a reminder of the vulnerability of elderly citizens or those made vulnerable because of diminished physical or mental capabilities. In 2002, there were 2,637 reports of adult abuse in King County, a number that increased 6 percent since 2001 and exceeds the reports of any other Washington county.

USC dentist links Fosomax-type drugs to jaw necrosis.

Researchers at the University Of Southern California, School Of Dentistry release results of clinical data that links oral bisphosphonates to increased jaw necrosis. The study is among the first to acknowledge that even short-term use of common oral osteoporosis drugs may leave the jaw vulnerable to devastating necrosis, according to the report appearing in the January 1 Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA). Osteoporosis currently affects 10 million Americans. Fosomax is the most widely prescribed oral bisphosphonate, ranking as the 21st most prescribed drug on the market since 2006, according to a 2007 report released by IMS Health.