Senior Health

Aging is part of the cycle of life. Senior living can be full of health, growth, and well-being. Learn more about senior health and key health issues here.

Aging Well
Senior Health

Longer Lives, Fewer Age-Related Illnesses

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Living long and well may eventually be more possible, thanks to a surprise result of the work of scientists at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. While developing a new cancer drug, the researchers discovered that mice lacking a specific protein live longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses. The mice, which lack the TRAP-1 protein, demonstrated less age-related tissue degeneration, obesity, and spontaneous tumor formation when compared to normal mice. The teams findings could change how scientists view the metabolic networks within cells.

Senior Health
Stroke

Stroke Rates Have Dropped 40% for People 65+

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A new analysis of data from 1988-2008 by researchers at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine has revealed a 40% decrease in the incidence of stroke in Medicare patients 65 years of age and older. The decline is greater than anticipated considering this population's risk factors for stroke. Not only that, but the drop applies to both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. The team also found that deaths resulting from stroke declined during the same period. The findings are published in the July 2014 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

Medical Care
Senior Health

Orthopedic Surgery Safe at 80+

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Over the past decade, a greater number of patients age 80 and older have been undergoing elective orthopedic surgery. A study published in July 2014 in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that these surgeries are generally safe with mortality rates decreasing for total hip (THR) and total knee (TKR) replacement and spinal fusion surgeries, and complication rates decreasing for total knee replacement and spinal fusion in patients with few or no comorbidities (other conditions or diseases).

Senior Health

Older Adults Can Safely Donate Kidneys

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Previous studies linking older age with kidney and heart disease have raised concerns about the safety of living kidney donation among older adults. However, in the first study to look closely at this issue, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report that older kidney donors (55 years and above) enjoy similar life expectancy and cardiovascular health as very healthy older people who did not donate their kidneys.

Healthy Diet & Nutrition
Senior Health

Nutrition Screenings for Older Adults

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As older adults typically have one or more chronic health conditions that can affect dietary intake, malnutrition has been identified as a serious for this population. For this reason, nutrition screenings should be a mandatory part of the comprehensive geriatric analysis (CGA), according to a review article published on July 3rd 2014 in the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition's (A.S.P.E.N.) Nutrition in Clinical Practice journal.

High blood pressure / hypertension
Senior Health

Diuretics Risky for Older Adults

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Adults over 65 with high blood pressure who have recently begun taking thiazide diuretics are at a greater risk for developing metabolic-related adverse events including acute kidney injury, according to research done at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. The study was published in June 2014 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Aging Well
Senior Health
Stress Management
Stress-Free Living

Stress Hormone Linked to Frailty

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Low levels of cortisol in the morning and high levels in the evening are associated with declining grip strength and walking speed, which are indications of frailty in older adults. That is the finding of research done at Helmholtz Zentrum München in Neuherberg in Germany and published in the March 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Glaucoma
Senior Health
Vision Health

What You Must Know About Glaucoma

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By Sondra Forsyth In April of 2013, I went for my annual eye exam. I’ve worn glasses or contacts for distance correction ever since elementary school but over the years, other than the usual age-related need for “readers”, I’ve never had any vision problems. This time, though, I saw a look of concern flash across the optometrist’s face when she did the test for ocular pressure. “Is something wrong?” I asked.

Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias

ThirdAge Health Close-Up: NPH, the Curable Dementia

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By Sondra Forsyth During 2004, when Alicia Harper was 69, her husband began to notice heartbreaking changes in the way his smart, vibrant wife was behaving. "She was becoming disconnected," Nildo, now 83, says. "She was confused and always forgetting things. And when we would visit with any of our four children and eight grandchildren, she didn't seem to feel anything for them. I just assumed she had the beginnings of Alzheimer's disease. I took her to several doctors and they thought so, too."

Senior Health

Medicare Provision Helps Boomers Stay Well

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By Judy Kirkwood   If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as Ben Franklin noted long ago, shouldn’t our health system reward and emphasize prevention rather than the cure? In fact, just a few days ago the Obama administration hired a PR firm to conduct a public education campaign about the utilization of preventive benefits and services included in the Affordable Care Act.

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