Aging News and Research

RSS

Omega-3 fatty acids improve nerve regeneration, prevent psychotic disorders and reduce cellular aging

Improving nerve regeneration after corneal surgery, preventing psychotic disorders in those at high risk for them and reducing cellular aging are three emerging benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids found in seafood, according to milestone research described in the April 2010 PUFA Newsletter and Fats of Life online publications for health professionals and consumers, respectively.

9 Apr 2010

As overall cancer rates decline in the U.S., thyroid cancer counters the trend

As overall cancer rates are declining in the United States, thyroid cancer counters the trend. It's being diagnosed more frequently, especially in women. Women are three times more likely than men to develop thyroid cancer.

9 Apr 2010

Bernanke warns: Trouble ahead for Medicare and Social Security

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Wednesday that Americans may have to accept higher taxes or changes in cherished entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security if the nation is to avoid staggering budget deficits that threaten to choke off economic growth," The Washington Post reports. "'These choices are difficult, and it always seems easier to put them off -- until the day they cannot be put off anymore,' Bernanke said..."

9 Apr 2010

WTC FDNY Rescue Workers have not recovered normal lung function, yet

A study of nearly 13,000 rescue workers from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) shows that the significant proportion who suffered acute lung damage after exposure to World Trade Center (WTC) dust have not recovered normal lung function in the years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

8 Apr 2010

NHeLP launches the Campaign for Better Care

To ensure health reform works for those with the most at stake, the National Partnership for Women & Families, Community Catalyst and the National Health Law Program today launched the Campaign for Better Care, a multi-year initiative that will focus on improving health care quality, coordination and communication for older patients with multiple health problems and their family caregivers.

8 Apr 2010

LensAR receives patent for using laser technology to increase flexibility of ocular lens

LensAR, Inc., the leading developer of next generation laser technology for cataract surgery and presbyopia, today announced the issuance of United States patent 7,655,002. This patent addresses methods for using laser technology to increase the flexibility of the ocular lens in order to both restore accommodation in presbyopia patients and allow easier removal of hardened lenses in cataract patients.

8 Apr 2010

Role of beta defensins in development of chronic inflammatory response in the brain

Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and School of Medicine will look for evidence within the brain for human beta defensin peptide function-proteins important to the peripheral body's natural defense system against infection from the outside environment.

8 Apr 2010

Researchers identify major indicator of heart failure and aortic aneurysms

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers have identified a major indicator of two deadly diseases of the heart and blood vessels: heart failure and aortic aneurysm. The absence of the Kruppel-like Factor 15, when combined with stress, leads to both heart failure and aortic aneurysms.

8 Apr 2010

HHS Secretary to discuss benefits of health reform for America's seniors in a webchat

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Assistant Secretary for the Administration on Aging Kathy Greenlee will host a webchat tomorrow, Thursday, April 8, to discuss the benefits of the new health reform law as it relates to America's seniors.

8 Apr 2010

Impact on primary care access and health costs is 'uncertain'

"Rather than asking whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does everything to improve access and lower costs, we should ask how it compares with the status quo," the American College of Physicians' senior public policy adviser said in a paper published online today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of ACP.

8 Apr 2010

Complex back surgeries skyrocket, raising concerns about cost, complications

NPR: "Too many complex back surgeries are being done and people are suffering as a result, according to a study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The general tendency noted in the study — that many patients and doctors think more medical care is always better — has implications for the new health overhaul law.

8 Apr 2010

Entry to aged-care facilities largely preventable

Lifestyle, social and health factors, such as being underweight, having inadequate nutrition or having low social activity, have been shown to be significant contributing factors to the entry of older people into residential aged care.

8 Apr 2010

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, PETNET Solutions collaborate in manufacture of Florbetapir F 18

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc. and PETNET Solutions, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens Medical Solutions, USA, Inc., marked the first dose shipped from a PETNET Solutions manufacturing facility as part of its collaboration with Avid on Florbetapir F 18 (18F-AV-45 or Florbetapir), Avid's molecular imaging agent for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of β-amyloid deposits in the brain, a key pathological component of Alzheimer's disease.

8 Apr 2010

Researchers commence Phase 2 research study to test CERE-110 for AD

Researchers at Banner Sun Health Research Institute are about to start the first Phase 2 research study to test a gene transfer agent for Alzheimer's disease. AD is a degenerative and ultimately fatal disorder affecting as many as five million Americans and that number is expected to soar to more than 11 million by 2040.

7 Apr 2010

Stem cell-enriched autologous fat for breast augmentation

Whereas US and European medical centers are still beginners in breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat, Viennese New Cosmetic Surgery and anti-aging expert DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich is well-versed in this revolutionary method. In his Clinic DDr. Heinrich, he has been successfully offering breast augmentations with autologous stem cells to a broad public since early 2007.

7 Apr 2010

Nanoparticle-core polymer holds promise as weight-bearing replacement for traditional graft materials

Orthopedic surgeons are often hamstrung by less-than-ideal grafting material when performing surgeries for complex bone injuries resulting from trauma, aging or cancer. Conventional synthetic bone grafts are typically made of stiff polymers or brittle ceramics, and cannot readily conform to the complex and irregular shapes that often result from injury; in addition, they often require metallic fixation devices that require open surgeries to insert and remove.

6 Apr 2010

ITI to lead multi-university consortium to improve patient outcomes

The U.S. health care community has increasingly been adopting the use of electronic medical records and other electronic health information systems, but serious concerns about the security and privacy of those systems have been raised.

6 Apr 2010

Dry-mouth and dry-eye symptoms often misdiagnosed by healthcare professionals

Results from a recent survey of 400 Sjogren's syndrome patients showed that half of those surveyed experienced common symptoms such as dry mouth or dry eyes for three or more years before receiving an accurate diagnosis from a healthcare professional.

6 Apr 2010

Scientists develop low-cost behavioral assessment to detect progression of MCI

Your brain's capacity for information is a reliable predictor of Alzheimer's disease and can be cheaply and easily tested, according to scientists.

6 Apr 2010

Increase in proportion of older middle-aged Americans who report mobility-related difficulties: Study

The proportion of older middle-aged Americans who report disabilities related to mobility increased significantly from 1997 to 2007, in contrast to the disability decline that has been found among Americans ages 65 and over, according to a new study by the RAND Corporation and the University of Michigan.

6 Apr 2010