Archive for April, 2009

By Ed Susman

SEATTLE, WA – If you want to reduce the odds that you will develop memory loss in old age, you need to start doing things that stimulate your brain now – at least that’s what researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., advise.

In fact, if grandpa or grandma starts using the computer now, the brain stimulation gained will impact memory loss as they age further, suggests Yonas Geda, MD, a neuropsychiatrist at Mayo.

In a presentation at the 61st annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology here, Dr. Geda said, “Social activities and reading magazines were significantly associated with a decreased odds of having mild cognitive impairment.”

He found that reading magazines, knitting and quilting, and social activities in mid-life cut the risk that people would develop memory loss in their 70s or 80s by more than one third.

If people started reading, playing games and learning crafts in later years, they still reduced their risk of mild memory loss by a third, and activities with the computer for the grandparent set cut mild cognitive impairment risk by about half.

On the other hand, coach potatoes – watching more than 7 hours of television a day — appeared to create a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment.

Dr. Geda’s study involved 197 people between the ages of 70 and 89 with mild cognitive impairment, or diagnosed memory loss, and 1,124 people in the same age group with no memory problems. Participants were asked a series of questions about their daily activities within the past year and in middle age, when they were between 50 to 65 years old.

–o4-30-09

By Ed Susman

SEATTLE, WA — Reports indicate that 53 women out of about 23 million women inoculated against the virus which causes cervical cancer have developed the nervous system disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

The incidence of Guillain-Barre Syndrome seen in these women – shortly after receiving one of three injections of the human papillomavirus vaccine – is about the same as seen in the general public, researchers said. But government officials are keeping a wary eye out for possible correlations between the syndrome and the vaccinations.

“There is clear evidence from our database of an increased incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome in the first six weeks, especially the first two weeks, after vaccination,” said Nizar Souayah, MD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.

In a report at the 61st annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Dr. Souayah noted that the risk is low: 26 in 10 million in the first two weeks and 30 in 10 million in the first six weeks after vaccination. That compares to 5 in 10 million odds in the general population, he said
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Merck, which markets the vaccine as Gardisal, noted that the CDC says that “the data do not currently suggest an association between Gardasil and Guillain-Barre Syndrome.”

In January 2007, the CDC added Gardasil to its routine childhood immunization schedule. The CDC recommended Gardasil, given in three doses, for all girls aged 11-12 and even for girls as young as 9, with catch-up doses for girls and women aged 13-26 who hadn’t been vaccinated earlier. Human papillomavirus is a sexually transmitted virus, with more than a 100 strains. The vaccine contains two strains responsible for more than 70% of cervical cancer, and two other strains that protect against 90% of genital warts, also contracted through sex.

Dr. Souayah scrutinized data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, managed by the CDC and the FDA.

–04-30-09

New York, NY – Multiple chronic health conditions and some degree of cognitive impairment are common in home care patients who are 65 years of age or older and lead to longer periods of home health care use.

The new study from the Visiting Nurses Service of New York Center for Home Care Policy & Research foudn that for each addition chronic condition, the number of days that older adults spend in home care increases.

In the first study to examine how chronic health conditions and cognitive impairment impact the duration of home health care use, researchers confirmed that the vast majority of home health care patients are 65 or older (87 percent). Nearly 39 percent of home care patients are 75 to 85 years old, and 22 percent are age 85 or older.

“People are living longer, yet many are living with one or more chronic diseases and decline in cognitive functioning, which has major implications for home health care agencies, clinicians and paraprofessionals,” said Christopher Murtaugh, PhD, associate director of center.

“Clinically complex patients present health care planning and management challenges for home health care agencies. More research-based evidence specific to older home care patients is necessary to help home care agencies effectively improve health outcomes for the patients they serve,” said Dr. Murtaugh.

Three quarters of home health care patients age 65 or older have at least one chronic condition that contributes to the need for home health care; one quarter of patients had two chronic conditions, and 17 percent had three or more, according to the study. The top five chronic illnesses were hypertension (30 percent); diabetes (21 percent); arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases (16 percent); heart failure (13 percent); and chronic pulmonary disease (12 percent).

When older home health care patients had cognitive impairment and at least one chronic condition, the length of their home health care stay also increased. For example, patients with hypertension and cognitive impairment used home health care for 20 days longer than patients without cognitive impairment.

Over a third (36 percent) of home care patients had some degree of cognitive impairment, according to the study. “Mild” impairment was found in nearly a quarter of the patients (24 percent), and “moderate to severe” impairment was reported for 13 percent of home care patients. Cognitive impairment has significant implications for home health care patients’ clinical outcomes and their ability to manage their own care.

–MFP Wire Services
–04-30-09