Geriatrics News and Research

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Human growth, height, size: Reasons to be small

Almost everybody these days thinks that it is best to be tall, meaning much taller than the average traditional height of Asian populations, and even taller than the current average height of populations in high-income countries. It is also often believed – though people might be shy to admit this – that tall people are intrinsically superior to short people. The expressions 'look up to' and 'look down on' are significant.

15 Mar 2011

New research: Aging population triggers a boom in Chinese nursing home industry

A nursing home industry is booming in China as a rapid increase in the proportion of its elderly population forces a nationwide shift from traditional family care to institutional care, according to new research by Brown University gerontologists.

15 Mar 2011

Pawlenty assails government-run health care in N.H. trip

Likely presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty urged a roomful of skeptical doctors Friday to be leaders rather than be dragged into what he sees as the future of health care -- giving consumers more information and choices and rewarding providers for quality over volume.

14 Mar 2011

Hospice and Palliative care

The word hospice originated from the Latin hospitium, which means "to host or offer a place of shelter." In 2009, an estimated 1.56 million patients, more than 40 percent of deaths, received hospice services in the United States.

14 Mar 2011

International Longevity Center becomes foundation for interdisciplinary center on aging at Columbia University

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the International Longevity Center (ILC) announced today that the ILC, founded in 1990 by world-renowned gerontologist Robert N. Butler, is beginning an important new chapter in its history.

9 Mar 2011

GRACE model improves health and reduces Medicare costs in high risk seniors

The March 2011 issue of the journal Heath Affairs highlights an evidence-based model of geriatric care management developed, implemented and tested by researchers and clinicians from Indiana University, the Regenstrief Institute and Wishard Health Services.

9 Mar 2011

Association for Gerontology in Higher Education to hold 37th Annual Conference, March 17-20 in Cincinnati

The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) - the educational branch of The Gerontological Society of America - will hold its 37th Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference from March 17 to 20 at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati, OH.

25 Feb 2011

New study finds inadequate health literacy among paid caregivers of seniors

Paid caregivers make it possible for seniors to remain living in their homes. The problem, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study, is that more than one-third of caregivers had difficulty reading and understanding health-related information and directions. Sixty percent made errors when sorting medications into pillboxes.

23 Feb 2011

SEIU's allegation concerning malnutrition rates is baseless, say Prime Healthcare hospitals

The February 19, 2011 article written by reporters from California Watch repeats SEIU's allegation that Prime Healthcare hospitals use a diagnosis of malnutrition to increase reimbursement.

22 Feb 2011

Patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease need physicians guidance on financial planning

Patients newly diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, and their families, need better guidance from their physicians on how to plan for the patient's progressive loss of ability to handle finances, according to a study led by a physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

17 Feb 2011

Reducing the cardiovascular disease gender gap

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is working with the National Cardiac Societies of its 53 member countries on a project to raise awareness of the disturbing gender gap in cardiovascular disease (CVD). In partnership with the European Heart Network (EHN) and the World Heart Federation (WHF), the ESC has developed the Women@Heart contest in which national societies submit ideas for public awareness campaigns aimed at informing both health professionals and women of the dangers of complacency about CVD.

8 Feb 2011

AMCs should adjust and adapt to new health care reform laws: New England Journal

Academic Medical Centers must adjust and adapt to the new health care reform laws or risk marginalization in the new health care arena, according to a New England Journal of Medicine Perspective article published online February 2.

3 Feb 2011

Health care jobs can be tough to find but primary care docs are in short supply

News outlets report on the health care workforce, including how the primary care physician supply is getting tighter as baby boomers' health needs increase.

24 Jan 2011

Interventions for preventing falls in older persons should include an exercise component

In the first update of the American Geriatrics Society and the British Geriatric Society's guidelines on preventing falls in older persons since 2001, they now recommend that all interventions for preventing falls should include an exercise component and that a number of new assessments should be used, including; feet and footwear, fear of falling, and ability to carry out daily living activities.

13 Jan 2011

Behavioral therapies help improve bladder control in men following prostate cancer surgery

Behavioral therapies such as pelvic-floor-muscle training and bladder-control strategies can reduce incontinence episodes by more than 50 percent in men following prostate-cancer surgery, according to new research from the Center for Aging at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Birmingham/Atlanta Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center.

12 Jan 2011

Growth hormone may be hazardous for middle aged and older people

A compound which acts in the opposite way as growth hormone can reverse some of the signs of aging, a research team that includes a Saint Louis University physician has shown. The finding may be counter-intuitive to some older adults who take growth hormone, thinking it will help revitalize them.

24 Dec 2010

Lilly Endowment grants funds to Manchester College to establish School of Pharmacy

A small Midwest college that is producing alumni with sizeable reputations in the science world has received a $35 million grant from Lilly Endowment to launch a School of Pharmacy.

21 Dec 2010

Iowa moves forward on health exchange; Texas medical school highlights geriatrics; Concerns grow about prisoners' mental health needs

Republican lawmakers on the state level are largely against the new health reform law—but they aren't against all of the behemoth legislation. Virginia dominated headlines this week when a federal judge ruled the individual mandate to buy insurance unconstitutional on Monday. Much less noticed: the very next day, a task force appointed by Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell recommended that the state implement a health insurance exchange earlier than federal guidelines require (Kliff, 12/16).

17 Dec 2010

Study finds no association between vitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels in cardiovascular mortality of older adults

According to New Study Published in The American Journal of Medicine, there is burgeoning public interest in possible wide-ranging health benefits from vitamin D, including cardiovascular health.

16 Dec 2010

U-M's participation in Medicare Physician Group Practice Demonstration Project helps save over $15 million

Medicare patients with a host of physical problems are getting better care at the University of Michigan Health System, and U-M staff have saved more than $15 million on the cost of that care over four years.

13 Dec 2010