Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Vision loss is one of the elderly conditions that everyone will go through. According to doctors from the National Eye Institute, anyone over 70 will acquire macular degeneration: a condition that destroys the central point of the retina.
However, there is a way to slow down the process. According to studies, Zinc cuts the risk of getting the advanced condition by 11%, while antioxidants reduced it by 10%. Combined, the risk dropped by a whopping 19%.
Researchers are still trying to find out whether these supplements delay or postpone vision loss. ”At this point, I don’t have any reason to believe this 25 percent reduction wouldn’t continue out to seven, eight, nine years.” One doctor said.
As of the moment, there is no way to detect Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages, However, Power 3 Medical, the makers of a new blood test says that their test can detect the disease six years before symptoms appear.
The good effect would be that people who know that they’re going to get the disease will opt to lead a healthy lifestyle. The bad effect would be that if the insurance agency finds out that you’ll be having Alzheimer’s in a few years, they might not cover your insurance.
Power 3 Medical will be launching their first test in Europe.
The disease is a result of too much uric acid in the blood that the body fails to eliminate through urine. the excessive urates in the blood forms urate crystals in and around the joints that produces swelling and pain that can also be mistaken for arthritis. The pain becomes so unbearable that it can prevent movement of the affected joints so much that it restricts activity. Hyperurecimia is the name of the condition whereby the human body fails to eliminate the urates in the blood which leads to the disease but is easily corrected with the intake of uric acid expelling medication that enhances the ability of the body to expel such in the urine.
New research coming out of the scientific community is pointing out that the elderly are vulnerable to extreme weather and changes that may lead to life threatening complications. Elderly people have been found to have skin that is less sensitive to the changes in air temperature which may explain many deaths during cold weather and during heat waves. These findings have prompted health officials to put in place a monitoring system above the usual emergency numbers where elderly people can have themselves listed so they can be checked upon during extreme weather. Read the rest of this entry »
As with the previous post on heat waves which tackled the susceptibility of the aged from too much sun, it goes the same with cold weather. The story of an elderly man, a war veteran dying due to cut of electricity caused outrage within the community as the power company installed a current limiter due to past bills. The elderly man was found when a neighbor noticed the windows having frost from the inside prompting them to check on his home, resulting in them finding him dead frozen in the middle of winter. Such is the frailty of the elderly who cannot do much about extreme weather and with such cases, a few hours is all it took for him to pass away due to the biting cold. Hypothermia can kill but with the elderly it goes faster for their slow movements and atrophied muscles cannot shiver as much as they should to provide heat to the core of the body. Aging muscles, stiffening or blocked veigns and arteries also add to the problem which makes it easier for them to suffer with extreme weather.
The power company receives tons of complaints and criticism on their actions that had their people fail to notify the man that the device could be reset from the outside of the house which should have brought the power and heat back on. They should also have people who go around on a daily basis on such elderly folks who do fail to settle and get these devices installed to prevent a recurrence of the man’s ordeal. The power company has vowed to stop using the devices for now for as the weather gets wither hotter or colder, elderly people risk losing their lives in so short a time.
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Alzheimer’s disease damages the part of the brain involved in memory, problem solving, judgment, and behavior. It is the most common type of dementia in older adults. Alzheimer’s usually starts with memory loss. And it gets worse over a few years. Medicines may for a short time improve some of the thinking and memory problems but they don’t guarantee the cure of the disease and further improvement of memory. Over time, Alzheimer’s robs people the ability to take care of their selves. They may become confused and frightened and may strike out at others. You may wonder how to tell whether memory loss normal or related to Alzheimer’s. Early on, it’s not always clear. But here are some few warning signs that you can look for:
• Trouble learning or remembering new information.
• Trouble with familiar tasks like cooking a meal or driving a car.
• Problems with language and finding the right words to say.
The condition results in aches, pains and swelling in the joints and the areas immediately near them that it sometimes becomes too painful to move around. Gout is a more aggrevated form of arthritis but there are in fact a lot of types of arthritis to begin with but all of them have one thing in common which is the pain and swelling. More known as osteoarthritis, it mostly occur in people over 40 that have experienced excessive wear and tear of the joints and the bones within. Our bones have ends that are coated with a soft flexible material similar to collagen that acts as the main lubricant and brevents bone to bone contact. As one ages, the process of building and rebuilding the protective layer diminishes and results in inflammation due to bone contact. This is painful and debilitating without medication.
The disease has to do with the lubricating sac which sits in between major limb joints such as the ones in the knees and foot. It is a chronic disease and can even relust in the loss of function of the affected limb if not corrected. The areas between the joints of the bigger bones have a fluid sac (synovium) that contains synovial fluid that acts like the hydraulic fluid that fills shock absorbers on your car. This flud regulates and absorbs much of the forces that are excerted on the bones preventing them from contacting one another thus from damage. In rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial sac becomes inflammed and uncorrected can thin down so much it leaves the bones in contact with each other destroying the cartilage and bone in the process. The process of inflammation that is so characteristic of rheumatiod arthritis is not restricted to the bones but can also affect other organs in the human body.
It is common knowledge that not all polyps can become colon cancers but all colon cancers have beginnings as polyps. Lack of dietary fiber and too much fat in your diet may play a key role in the formation of polyps and colon cancer so dietary adjustments are recommended when people get older. Screening is also a very efficient and accurate way of detecting it and 90% of all early detections are successful with current treatments. For women, having cancers in the breasts, cervix or ovary increases the risk of getting colorectal cancer and it can also recur if not properly managed.
The disease is so deadly that it accounts for almost 10% of all cancer related deaths in the US alone. The disease is non-discerning meaning it affects both men and women and the risks go up a notch when people go over the 50 year age mark. Cancer cells that break away from their initial locations have the ability to spread to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system or the bloodstream to grow somewhere else that is then called metastatic colorectal cancer. All forms of cancer have a high success rate when it comes to treatment but time is of the essence for the earlier in its progression it is detected, the easier it can be cured. Colorectal cancer is still quite mysterious to scientists as to what causes it but they have been able to determine some of the causes that may give rise to the disease. age being one of the most uncontrollable may have it forming due to the weakening immune system. Family history of the disease may also make one susceptible to it as well as improper diet and ulcerative colitis.