Pain and Dementia: Observing Body Language Important When People Can't Articulate Pain
Photo credit Josh Appel
A number of years back, my dad, who had developed dementia after surgery to correct problems from a World War II brain injury, was seized by sudden, horrendous pain. While Dad had to cope with considerable pain from arthritis and some back issues, this was different. I knew his pain was acute and extreme by his body language and vocalizations, even though he couldn't articulate exactly what was wrong. Dad generally had the ability to communicate, though his dementia often skewed the information he was trying to share. However, this pain was more than he could put into words. He was writh...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 9, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Social prescribing and musculoskeletal conditions: a guide for link workers and social prescribing services
Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance - Social prescribing link workers will see many people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions such as back pain or arthritis. These are often long-term conditions which people will be managing for many years. Social prescribing has the potential to support people with MSK conditions and to reduce the chances of future MSK problems. This guide is aimed at social prescribers without a specific MSK service or background in MSK conditions to help them use social prescribing to make a difference to people ’s lives and become a champion for the importance of good MSK health.GuideMore...
Source: Health Management Specialist Library - March 1, 2022 Category: UK Health Authors: The King ' s Fund Library Tags: Primary and community care Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, February 28th 2022
In conclusion, as BMI and waist circumference are related to elevations of immune markers in the IL-6 pathway, chronic inflammation might be an important mediator of the relationship between BMI and frailty.
Fat Tissue Becomes Dysfunctional with Age as Mitochondria Falter
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/02/fat-tissue-becomes-dysfunctional-with-age-as-mitochondria-falter/
Mitochondria are effectively power plants, hundreds of them working in every cell to produce chemical energy store molecules to power cellular processes. Mitochondrial function declines with age, unfortunately, for underlying r...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 27, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
The Rush to Reassure Us that the Longevity Industry is Not Working on Longevity
When various talking heads unite to tell us that the longevity industry isn't actually working to extend human life span, and it is all about letting you die at the usual time with less arthritis and pain, I'm not entirely sure who they think needs to be reassured in this way. The character of the powers that be, in the English language world anyway, appears to be that they are terrified of all possible change, and project that fear onto the populace. Their propaganda follows that apparent view. Under the hood, from person to person, who knows why they think it is necessary to toe the current party line that work on the me...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 24, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Feisty Mom Refuses Daughter's Care
(Carol is the Candid Caregiver) Dear...My 79-year-old mom has been widowed for a little over a year. She’d always depended on Dad to help her because her arthritis limited her movement and she uses a walker much of the time. Now, though, there’s been a complete change in attitude, and she insists that she can take care of everything herself, even physical tasks that are clearly a challenge. I’m not certain whether she’s trying to prove something or if it has something to do with Dad’s death. Whatever her reasoning, I worry about her. I can’t be with her all the time, so I want to help make her home ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - February 24, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Beyond Jimmy Buffet: The new medical conference
The new reality of medical conferences shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic requires a new language and a fundamental rethink to make these major showcases of medical organizations and societies a place where physicians and patients can share their experiences and perspectives. We can no longer characterize medical conferences as– in the words of anRead more …Beyond Jimmy Buffet: The new medical conference originally appeared inKevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - February 15, 2022 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/pat-rich" rel="tag" > Pat Rich < /a > < /span > Tags: Education Rheumatology Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, February 7th 2022
In this study, we used accelerometer measurements (1) to examine the association of physical activity and mortality in a population-based sample of US adults and (2) to estimate the number of deaths prevented annually with modest increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) intensity.
This analysis included 4,840 participants. Increasing MVPA by 10, 20, or 30 minutes per day was associated with a 6.9%, 13.0%, and 16.9% decrease in the number of deaths per year, respectively. We estimated that approximately 110,000 deaths per year could be prevented if US adults aged 40 to 85 years or older increased th...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 6, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Notes and Cards Can Help People Living with Dementia Remember Visits
Photo credit Fred Kearney
Dear Carol: My father moved into assisted living several years ago because of his rheumatoid arthritis. A few months back, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s so now he’s been moved into their memory care wing. Both of Dad’s parents developed Alzheimer’s so he’s become quite depressed thinking he’ll follow the same path they did. Unfortunately, he seems to be losing ground with his memory very quickly so even though I drive into town every weekend to see him he forgets my visits. He can still read though he can’t remember well enough to read books or articles. Do you think it wo...
Source: Minding Our Elders - February 6, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Phospholipase A2-IIA in Chronic Inflammation Driven by the Aging Gut Microbiome
Chronic inflammation in aging drives the onset and progression of many age-related conditions. Researchers here focus on arthritis, but their findings are probably applicable to numerous other issues in aging. The gut microbiome changes with age in ways that promote the growth of inflammatory microbial species, and this may be an important component of age-related inflammation. Researchers here dig into some of the complexity of the microbiome, in search of points of intervention.
Researchers have discovered that a protein naturally present in the gut acts on the microbiota and causes the formation of molecules th...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 2, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
A health librarian and poetry: Robert Burns
Reposting on Burns Night 2022, but with a new title. I think a new series may be needed.Nothing new in PubMed about Burns, so last year ' s post is still good!On Burns ' Night it seems appropriate to write about Robert Burns, Scotland ' s national poet, or one of them anyway! Today, 25th January, is the anniversary of his birth.Some of his poems, includingAddress to a Haggis, will be read all over Scotland and beyond (even in my house), tonight at Burns ' Suppers. As well as that light hearted verse, he wrote in Scots a wide variety of styles and on a wide variety of subjects - tryA red, red ro...
Source: Browsing - January 25, 2022 Category: Databases & Libraries Tags: poetry Robert Burns Source Type: blogs
9 Tips to Manage Stress for Better Health
Increasingly, stress is considered a risk factor for dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s. Stress is also a risk factor for stroke and heart attack as well as a trigger for many diseases from arthritis to psoriasis. Obviously, limiting stress in our lives is a good idea. But how? Simply living what we call modern life seems to make stress the norm.
View this slideshow on HealthCentral for more about stress and health risks in including dementia:
Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories. “I hold onto your book as a life preserver and am reading it slowly on purpose...I don't want it to end.” ......
Source: Minding Our Elders - December 27, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 27th 2021
We report that whereas microglia are characterized by marked gene-level alterations related to negative regulation of protein phosphorylation and phagocytic vesicles, astrocytes show activation of enzyme- or peptidase-inhibitor signaling after detectable changes in BBB permeability. We also identify several genes enriched in these pathways that are notably altered after BBB breakdown. Our data reveal that microglia and astrocytes play an active role in maintaining BBB stabilization and corralling infiltrating cells, and thus might potentially function in ameliorating the lesions and neurologic disabilities in CNS diseases....
Source: Fight Aging! - December 26, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Intervening Early in Osteoarthritis with Tissue Engineering Approaches
Far too little work in the medical research and development communities is focused on prevention or early intervention. It should always be easier to fix the early stages of a developing problem, medical or otherwise, and age-related diseases are no exception. Yet much of the development of therapies is focused on late stage disease rather than earlier, or even preclinical stages of the path to suffering and dysfunction. We might blame some of this on regulation that insists on treating only clearly defined disease, or on the tendency of researchers to study the end results of disease rather than the initial path to diseas...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 20, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Top 10 Digital Health News Of 2021
From the approval of a new prescription VR treatment to renewed privacy concerns, 2021 has been full of digital health developments. Indeed, some news might have gone under the radar or might require a quick refresher; so we’re wrapping up 2021 with a round-up of 10 of the most important digital health news of this year.
1. FDA-approved prescription VR treatment for chronic back pain
In mid-November, the FDA authorised a virtual reality (VR) system as a prescription treatment for chronic back pain. Called EaseVRx, it combines cognitive behaviour therapy techniques and breathing exercises to help relax, distract...
Source: The Medical Futurist - December 16, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Pranavsingh Dhunnoo Tags: TMF Covid-19 3D Printing Health Sensors & Trackers Portable Medical Diagnostics Security & Privacy Telemedicine & Smartphones apple telehealth blood pressure A.I. 23andme news remote care 2021 Source Type: blogs
Innovation, mRNA, and Public Policy
Chris EdwardsThe main weapons against COVID-19 are the vaccines developed by Moderna and BioNTech after a decade of their research into mRNA technologies. That research was supported by more than $3 billion of private angel investment and venture capital.Democrats and Republicans both support medical research funding, and Republicans tout the Trump administration ’s Operation Warp Speed. But governments were not the key to mRNA development. Instead, we can thank the leaders and scientists at Moderna and BioNTech and the suppliers of private capital to them, as I discusshere andhere.TheWall Street Journal ’s A...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 6, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs
