Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/seniors/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241430.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241430.phpWhy are older drivers, especially those over 70, involved in crashes primarily at intersections? You may tend to attribute this to cognitive or physical decline, such as slower reaction time or poor sight...Seniors / Aging Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241424.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241424.phpA study in the February 8 edition of JAMA shows that postmenopausal women who suffer from hormone receptor-positive breast cancer have a higher death risk of breast cancer as they get older. Background information in the article states that: "Breast cancer is the leading contributor to cancer incidence and cancer mortality in women worldwide, with 1,383,500 new cases in 2008...Breast Cancer Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241309.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241309.php Oral contraceptives, sitting in a window seat, advanced age, and pregnancy increase DVT risk in long-distance travelers New evidence-based guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) address the many risk factors for developing a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or blood clot, as the result of long-distance travel...Vascular Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241260.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241260.phpA Wayne State University researcher believes studying people's ability to find their way around may help explain why loss of mental capacity occurs with age. Scott Moffat, Ph.D...Seniors / Aging Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241272.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241272.phpBoth subjective and objective cognitive impairment are highly common among non-demented elderly Swedes, with an overall prevalence of 39 percent and 25 percent respectively, according to a nationwide twin study by researchers at the Aging Research Center of Karolinska Institutet, Sweden...Neurology / Neuroscience Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241293.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241293.phpResearch just published by a team of demographers at the social science research organization NORC at the University of Chicago contradicts a long-held belief that the mortality rate of Americans flattens out above age 80. It also explains why there are only half as many people in the U.S. age 100 and above than the Census Bureau predicted there would be as recently as six years ago...Seniors / Aging Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241181.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241181.phpIn a surprising finding with significant implications for older women, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and NYU School of Medicine have found that high levels of triglycerides (blood fats) are the strongest risk factor for the most common type of stroke in older women - more of a risk factor than elevated levels of total cholesterol or of...Stroke Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241239.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241239.phpRegular green tea drinkers have a lower risk of developing functional disability, researchers from Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Functional disability refers to problems with daily chores and activities, such as bathing or dressing...Nutrition / Diet Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241197.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241197.phpOne of the big mysteries in biology is why cells age. Now scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that they have discovered a weakness in a component of brain cells that may explain how the aging process occurs in the brain...Alzheimer's / Dementia Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241208.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241208.phpThe great majority of geriatric patients in a German rehabilitation hospital were found to have vitamin D deficiency. Stefan Schilling presents his study results in Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109[3]: 33-8)...Nutrition / Diet Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241213.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241213.phpOlder people feel that their health problems pose a challenge to their sense of independence, dignity and identity and sometimes the health care they are given makes things worse. According to research funded by UK Research Councils' New Dynamics of Ageing programme (NDA), healthcare providers must avoid taking a 'blanket view' of how to help older people cope with the ageing process...Seniors / Aging Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241142.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241142.phpIn a recent study led by Uppsala University, the researchers compared the DNA of identical (monozygotic) twins of different age. They could show that structural modifications of the DNA, where large or small DNA segments change direction, are duplicated or completely lost are more common in older people. The results may in part explain why the immune system is impaired with age...Seniors / Aging Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241218.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241218.phpBaby boomers in the leading three English-speaking economies, the USA, UK and Canada, are being diagnosed at progressively higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), according to a report written by researchers from King's College London, and Thomas' Hospital London, in the Student British Medical Journal. The authors Dr...Sexual Health / STDs Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241131.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241131.phpIt can be difficult to distinguish between people with normal age-associated memory loss and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). However people with aMCI are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), and identification of these people would mean that they could begin treatment as early as possible...Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241082.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241082.phpNew research from Uppsala University shows that reduced insulin sensitivity is linked to smaller brain size and deteriorated language skills in seniors. The findings are now published in the scientific journal Diabetes Care. The main hormonal function of insulin is to support the uptake and use of glucose in muscles and fat tissues...Diabetes Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241079.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241079.phpNew findings, led by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol and published this week in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, reveal a novel mechanism through which the brain may become more reluctant to function as we grow older. It is not fully understood why the brain's cognitive functions such as memory and speech decline as we age...Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241026.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241026.phpBack problems are a highly prevalent health issue, and people with the condition have a significantly greater chance of retiring early from the workforce, much more so than for any other health condition...Back Pain Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241030.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241030.phpThe pain suffered by older adults is the shared focus of the two newest entries in The Gerontological Society of America's (GSA) From Publication to Practice* series. Together they address both pain management and new labeling changes for one of the most popular pain medications, acetaminophen...Pain / Anesthetics Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240873.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240873.phpLike a magician employing sleight of hand, the protein mitoNEET - a mysterious but important player in diabetes, cancer and aging - draws the eye with a flurry of movement in one location while the subtle, more crucial action takes place somewhere else...Diabetes Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240751.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240751.phpHuman skin is the body's first line of defense and often mirrors the health, nutritional status and age of a person. Over time, skin shows signs of aging due to the gradual breakdown of collagen and elastin. However, skin can be rebuilt and made healthier no matter one's age...Cosmetic Medicine / Plastic Surgery Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240743.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240743.php Older adults who don't do much exercise, and whose blood pressure is getting to the point where they may need treatment, should perhaps consider swimming as a way to help bring it back down, at least that is what a small US study of sedentary over-50-year-olds might suggest. The study was published early online in The American Journal of Cardiology earlier this month...Hypertension Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240712.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240712.phpFamily companions who routinely accompany older adults to physician office visits could be helpful to health care quality improvement efforts, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health...Primary Care / General Practice Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240654.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240654.phpA visit to the emergency department during nonsummer months was associated with a three-fold risk of acute respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in elderly residents of long-term care facilities, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)...Seniors / Aging Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240612.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240612.phpMinuscule amounts of ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, can more than double the life span of a tiny worm known as Caenorhabditis elegans, which is used frequently as a model in aging studies, UCLA biochemists report. The scientists said they find their discovery difficult to explain...Seniors / Aging Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240574.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240574.phpAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent cause of blindness in the Western World. A report from the University of Copenhagen and Glostrup Hospital in Denmark shows the number of new cases of blindness and severe visual loss in Denmark has been halved during the last ten years...Eye Health / Blindness