Eldercare, Aging and Long Term Care

The Associated Press: Study: Stockings for stroke patients don't work.

Special stockings commonly given to stroke patients to prevent blood clots don't work, a new study reported Wednesday. Doctors often prescribe the tight, thigh-high stockings to patients who have suffered a stroke, seeking to prevent blood clots in patients' legs — which could prove fatal if they break off and reach the heart or lungs. About two-thirds of stroke patients can't walk when admitted to hospital, and up to 20 percent of those patients develop a blood clot in their legs. The stockings squash the legs and force the blood to circulate better, and can be used in place of, or alongside, anti-clotting drugs like heparin. But in a study of more than 2,500 stroke patients in Australia, Britain and Italy, doctors found the stockings did nothing to reduce the chances of a clot. Not only that, but they caused problems like skin ulcers and blisters. The results were simultaneously published in the Lancet medical journal and presented at the European Stroke Conference in Stockholm on Wednesday.

Living | Millions of older Americans use risky drug combos | Seattle Times Newspaper.

At least 2 million older Americans are taking a combination of drugs or supplements that can be a risky mix - from blood thinners and cholesterol pills to aspirin and ginkgo capsules - a new study warns.

Among older men, the numbers are particularly alarming - one in 10 are taking potentially harmful combinations, according to the study.

The results aren't always disastrous, but older people are more vulnerable to side effects and drug-to-drug interactions. And patients need to know that just because lots of medicines and supplements don't require prescriptions doesn't mean they're harmless. Nor are some of these safe to take when you're prescribed other medications.

Analysis Finds Marked Increase in Chronic Kidney Disease - NYTimes.com.

An analysis of federal health data published last November in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that 13 percent of American adults — about 26 million people — have chronic kidney disease, up from 10 percent, or about 20 million people, a decade earlier.

In Chronic Condition: Experiences Of Patients With Complex Health Care Needs, In Eight Countries, 2008 -- Schoen et al., 10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.w1 -- Health Affairs.

ABSTRACT: This 2008 survey of chronically ill adults in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States finds major differences among countries in access, safety, and care efficiency. U.S. patients were at particularly high risk of forgoing care because of costs and of experiencing inefficient, poorly organized care, or errors. The Dutch, who have a strong primary care infrastructure, report notably positive access and coordination experiences. Still, deficits in care management during hospital discharge or when seeing multiple doctors occurred in all countries. Findings highlight the need for system innovations to improve outcomes for patients with complex chronic conditions.

Population Reference Bureau PRB Discuss: Interview with Ron Lee on What Are the Financial Implications of Aging in the United States?.

The U.S. population is aging. The ratio of elderly to the working-age population in the United States will roughly double over the next few decades, straining the finances of the U.S. Social Security system and other government programs. Ron Lee, professor of demography and economics at the University of California-Berkeley, answered participants questions on this topic. Read a transcript of the questions and answers. (November 2008)

Once Just a Sign of Aging, Falls Merit Complex Care - NYTimes.com.

Once considered an inevitable part of aging, falls are now recognized as complex, often preventable events with multiple causes and consequences, calling for a wide range of interventions, both psychological and physiological, that many patients never receive. Even falls that cause only minor injury “need to be taken as seriously as diabetes,” said Dr. R. Sean Morrison, a professor of geriatrics and adult development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, because “they can be a real warning sign that something serious is wrong.”

At the End of Life, a Delicate Calculus - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com.

On Tuesday, Washington state joined Oregon as the second in the nation where physicians are allowed to prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill men and women who want to hasten their own deaths. But the remedies available to suffering patients have expanded dramatically in the 11 years since the Oregon measure took effect, one expert recently noted, and the question of whether doctors should help patients die is far more nuanced than it once was.

Medical News: Depressed Patients Have Dysfunctional Pain-Processing Network - in Psychiatry, Depression from MedPage Today.

During exposure to a painful heat stimulus, depressed patients had decreased activity in the area of the brain responsible for pain modulation, Irina Strigo, Ph.D., of the University of California San Diego, and colleagues reported in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

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.