Geriatrics News and Research

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Many factors are involved when making medical decisions for hospitalized patients

Living wills and surrogate decision makers account for only a portion of the many factors weighed by physicians when making medical decisions for hospitalized patients lacking the capability to make their own decisions, according to a recently published study.

24 Mar 2010

Medicare coverage of CTC for seniors needed

President Obama, in his first routine physical exam as commander in chief, received a CT colonography (CTC), commonly known as a virtual colonoscopy, to screen him for colorectal cancer. However, Obama Administration officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) previously denied coverage of the same exam for seniors enrolled in Medicare, cutting off access for many to an exam proven to increase compliance with nationally accepted colon cancer screening guidelines.

3 Mar 2010

Patients admitted to hospice care are rarely having their ICDs deactivated

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that patients admitted to hospice care who have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) are rarely having their ICDs deactivated and are receiving electrical shocks from these devices near the end of life. This first-of-its-kind study of hospice patients with ICDs is published in the March 2, 2010 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

2 Mar 2010

MetLife Foundation Awards for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease: Four scientists honored

Complementary approaches to Alzheimer's research were recognized as four scientists received the prestigious MetLife Foundation Awards for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease in Washington, D.C.

26 Feb 2010

AGHE to hold conference to discuss on gerontological and geriatric education and training

The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education - the educational branch of The Gerontological Society of America - will hold its 36th Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference from March 4 to 7, 2010, at The Peppermill in Reno, NV. This conference provides a forum for professionals in the field of aging to present their work and share ideas about gerontological and geriatric education and training.

18 Feb 2010

Even with new medical schools opening, shortages mar workforce

Nearly two dozen medical schools have recently opened or may open across America, "the most at any time since the 1960s and '70s," The New York Times reports. These new institutions "are seeking to address an imbalance in American medicine that has been growing for a quarter century. Many bright students were fleeing to offshore medical schools, or giving up hope entirely, when they could not get into domestic schools. Meanwhile, American hospitals were using foreign-trained and foreign-born physicians to fill medical residencies. During the 1980s and '90s only one new medical school was established."

17 Feb 2010

Low potassium levels increase risk of death in patients with heart failure and CKD

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) says low potassium levels produce an increased risk of death or hospitalization in patients with heart failure and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

10 Feb 2010

Low potassium levels increase risk of death in patients with heart failure and CKD

9 Feb 2010

Poor handgrip strength linked to premature mortality, disability and other health complications in older people

Poor or declining handgrip strength in the oldest old is associated with poor survival and may be used as a tool to assess mortality, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091278.pdf. The fastest growing segment of the elderly population is the group older than 85 years, classified as the oldest old.

9 Feb 2010

Older married female cancer survivors have added health problems

A recently published study from Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences found 245 older married women who survived cancer had more health problems as compared to a sample of 245 married women without cancer.

4 Feb 2010

New study questions current BMI guidelines for older adults

Adults aged over 70 years who are classified as overweight are less likely to die over a ten year period than adults who are in the 'normal' weight range, according to a new study published today in the Journal of The American Geriatrics Society.

28 Jan 2010

Med-IC aims to improve health care for older adults

The Medicare Innovations Collaborative, or Med-IC, is a pilot program that will put some of the nation’s best ideas for improving health care for older adults into practice at hospitals around the country, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University announced.

28 Jan 2010

Abe's Garden raises $3.5M to include a facility to care for adults with Alzheimer's disease

Abe's Garden, a non-profit organization that seeks to establish a national model of residential living and daycare programs for those suffering with Alzheimer's disease, has raised $3.5 million toward its $9 million capital campaign announced today.

12 Jan 2010

Web-based lesson voted "Educational Product of the Year"

"Principles of Rational Prescribing," a web-based lesson developed by faculty at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, was voted "Educational Product of the Year" recently among products developed by 40 academic geriatrics programs in the United States.

12 Jan 2010

Data released by CIHI supports CNA's vision on nursing and health

A growing number of registered nurses (RNs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) are working in positions of first point of contact between patients and the health-care system, helping improve patient access to primary care and driving down wait times.

19 Dec 2009

Researchers identify risk factors for major depression in elderly patients

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have pinpointed the prime factors identifying which elderly persons are at the highest risk for developing major depression.

18 Dec 2009

Nobel Prize discovery opens new perspectives for detection and prevention of age-related diseases

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three American scientists Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”. The research contributed to the understanding of how telomeres protect chromosomes from degradation and identified telomerase, the enzyme that preserves telomere length and integrity.

11 Dec 2009

Journal policies call for authors to disclose COIs for improved transparency

Nearly 90 percent of medical journals with relatively high impact factors have policies addressing author conflict of interest (COI) available for public review, according to a report in the November 25 issue of JAMA. But many journals do not require authors to sign disclosure statements, and there is variability in how COI is defined.

25 Nov 2009

Cardiovascular risks associated with taking Vioxx could have been identified earlier, say researchers

Evidence of cardiovascular risks associated with taking Vioxx, the popular, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (rofecoxib), could have been identified nearly four years before its manufacturer, Merck & Co. Inc., voluntarily pulled the drug from the market.

24 Nov 2009

Geisinger Health System is one among six healthcare organizations in U.S. invited to join Med-IC

Geisinger Health System is one of only six healthcare organizations in the United States invited by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University to participate in a new pilot program, Medicare Innovations Collaborative (Med-IC). Med-IC is a national effort to change healthcare policy and improve healthcare for older adults by putting the leading models of geriatric best practices to work in hospital settings.

24 Nov 2009

Geriatrics News and Research

Many factors are involved when making medical decisions for hospitalized patients

Medicare coverage of CTC for seniors needed

Patients admitted to hospice care are rarely having their ICDs deactivated

MetLife Foundation Awards for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease: Four scientists honored

AGHE to hold conference to discuss on gerontological and geriatric education and training

Even with new medical schools opening, shortages mar workforce

Low potassium levels increase risk of death in patients with heart failure and CKD

Low potassium levels increase risk of death in patients with heart failure and CKD

Poor handgrip strength linked to premature mortality, disability and other health complications in older people

Older married female cancer survivors have added health problems

New study questions current BMI guidelines for older adults

Med-IC aims to improve health care for older adults

Abe's Garden raises $3.5M to include a facility to care for adults with Alzheimer's disease

Web-based lesson voted "Educational Product of the Year"

Data released by CIHI supports CNA's vision on nursing and health

Researchers identify risk factors for major depression in elderly patients

Nobel Prize discovery opens new perspectives for detection and prevention of age-related diseases

Journal policies call for authors to disclose COIs for improved transparency

Cardiovascular risks associated with taking Vioxx could have been identified earlier, say researchers

Geisinger Health System is one among six healthcare organizations in U.S. invited to join Med-IC

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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