Seniors News and Research

RSS

Latest MRSA bloodstream infections and Clostridium difficile figures

Latest figures for MRSA show there was a 6.4% fall in the number of cases of blood stream infection reported to the Health Protection Agency from January - March 2007.

26 Jul 2007

The future of Alzheimer's disease research

Imagine the day when a routine visit to the family doctor includes a simple blood test to predict the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD).

26 Jul 2007

Critical for Congress to vote for health care for children and seniors

In a letter to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce committees, the president of the American College of Physicians (ACP) expressed support for the Children's Health and Medicare Preotection (CHAMP) Act of 2007 (H.R. 3162).

26 Jul 2007

NSAIDs can reduce colorectal cancer risk

A study of Medicare patients with osteoarthritis provides additional evidence that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

24 Jul 2007

Low literacy can shorten life

Not being able to read doesn't just make it harder to navigate each day. Low literacy impairs people's ability to obtain critical information about their health and can dramatically shorten their lives.

24 Jul 2007

Being elderly and illiterate means a significantly higher mortality rate

Researchers in the U.S. have found that being elderly and being unable to read and understand basic health information is a bad combination.

24 Jul 2007

Older tipplers need aged based drinking guidelines

A British expert says alcohol drinking guidelines need to be introduced which are based on age, in order to protect consumers' health.

23 Jul 2007

Seniors safer on the road than young bloods!

Researchers at the Rand Institute for Civil Justice have found that young drivers between 15 and 24 years old are three times as likely to cause car accidents as people over the age of 65.

21 Jul 2007

New combo treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia increases survival

The combination treatment of fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) greatly increases progression-free survival and response rates, compared with single treatment with either fludarabine or chlorambucil alone.

20 Jul 2007

Older drivers less likely than youngest drivers to cause accidents

Drivers 65 and older are just one-third as likely as drivers 15 to 24 to cause auto accidents, and not much more likely than drivers 25 to 64 to cause accidents, according to a RAND Corporation study.

19 Jul 2007

Smart devices in health care

What people have come to expect in cell phones and personal communicators may soon become common in health-care devices and products at home and in medical offices, thanks to new technology announced by the University of Florida and IBM.

19 Jul 2007

Medicare plans to slash physician payments will harm Maine seniors

Highlighting a looming access to care crisis for Maine's more than 220,000 Medicare patients, the American Medical Association (AMA) National House Call campaign barnstormed Portland today.

18 Jul 2007

Biota and MedImmune announce clinical trial for respiratory syncytial virus antiviral drug

Biota Holdings Limited and MedImmune Inc. today announced the start of a Phase Ia clinical trial for their respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antiviral drug, BTA9881, with the goal of providing a treatment for RSV-infected infants and adults.

17 Jul 2007

Inverse relationship between mortality rates and performance in the hospital quality alliance measures

A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) shows that patients who go to hospitals ranked higher according to specific quality measures have a lower chance of dying than patients treated at lower-ranked hospitals.

17 Jul 2007

Uninsured adults increase Medicare costs

While the overall cost-effectiveness of Medicare benefits have been much-debated, new data now show that people who were uninsured before receiving benefits at age 65 required more intensive and costlier care than those who had been privately insured prior to receiving Medicare.

12 Jul 2007

Electronic health records not associated with improved quality of outpatient health care

Electronic health records have been hailed as a key element in making U.S. medical care more effective and efficient, but a new study led by a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine shows that electronic records were not associated with improved quality of outpatient health care in 2003 and 2004.

10 Jul 2007

Warning for extreme heat in southeast Pennsylvania

With temperatures in southeastern Pennsylvania forecast to reach the upper 90s through the middle of the week, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director James R. Joseph and State Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson today warned people to take precautions.

10 Jul 2007