Growth Hormone Boost May Not Slow Alzheimer’s

A compound that boosts growth hormone levels in Alzheimer’s patients may not slow the disease, new research suggests. The study, funded by drug giant Merck, was spurred by promising animal research that had suggested that the compound, called MK-677, might help curb Alzheimer’s effect on the brain. However, “the study suggests that targeting this hormone system may not be an effective... Read more

Robots May Come to Aging Boomers’ Rescue

In the not-so-distant future, American seniors may turn to helpful, uncomplaining robots to fill the worrisome “care gap” that many face today. One of these autonomous devices, called the uBOT-5, is already capable of carrying out simple tasks while it monitors the home environment. The robot can even spot trouble — such as a person falling down — and call 911 if necessary. The... Read more

Sharp-witted elderly shed insight on dementia

People who manage to keep a razor-sharp memory well into their 80s appear to have fewer fiber-like tangles of a protein linked with Alzheimer’s than those who age normally, U.S. researchers said on Sunday. Lower levels of this protein, known as tau, appear to be a critical factor in maintaining memory skills, they said. “It was always assumed that the accumulation of these tangles is a... Read more

Enrollment for Medicare Drug Plans Begins Again

With the enrollment period for Medicare’s Part D prescription drug coverage program for 2009 kicking off Nov. 15, experts are advising seniors to choose a plan carefully because premiums and covered medications can vary from plan to plan. “As we enter the fourth year of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, we continue to see high satisfaction rates among beneficiaries and high... Read more

Heart Failure Accounts for 37% of Medicare Spending

Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure have many more doctor visits and take more medications than those without heart failure, researchers are reporting. They based their conclusion on an analysis of data on 173,000 Medicare beneficiaries. The overall average age of the beneficiaries was 70.7 years, while the average age for those with heart failure was between 76 and 77 years. The analysis found... Read more

‘Cognitive Reserve’ May Help Fight Alzheimer’s

A study using an advanced brain scanning technology supports the growing body of evidence that education levels and some form of intellectual activity decrease the impact of Alzheimer’s disease. People with a greater “cognitive reserve” suffer less damage from the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are a leading marker of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the study in the... Read more

Avapro Blood pressure drug fails heart failure trial

The blood pressure medicine Avapro, sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Sanofi-Aventis, was no better than usual care in treating a type of heart failure that primarily affects women and the elderly, according to results of a large study. Researchers had hoped to show that Avapro could reduce the incidence of death and serious heart problems better than medicines currently used in this patient population... Read more

Poor Sleep, Hypertension a Dangerous Combination

Getting less than 7.5 hours of sleep a night may increase the risk of heart disease in elderly people with high blood pressure, say Japanese researchers. They tracked the sleep of 1,255 people, average age 70.4 years, and followed their health for about 50 months. During the follow-up, there were 99 cardiovascular disease events such as stroke, heart attack and sudden cardiac death. People who slept... Read more

Education blunts effects of Alzheimer’s: study

Brain scans of people with an abnormality that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease are strengthening the notion that greater education levels somehow protect against this common form of dementia. People with more education did better on memory and problem solving tests than others with similar amounts of brain plaques related to Alzheimer’s, researchers wrote in the journal Archives of... Read more

Elderly fare well in open-heart surgery

Eighty-year-olds with clogged arteries or leaky heart valves used to be sent home with a pat on the arm from their doctors and pills to try to ease their symptoms. Now more are getting open-heart surgery, with remarkable survival rates rivaling those of much younger people, new studies show. Years ago, physicians “were told we were pushing the envelope” to operate on a 70-year-old, said... Read more

« Previous Page — Next Page »