Tag Archives: Health

Boomers Health Care : Connecticut Launches “HealthScoreCT.com” To Evaluate Costs & Quality

From a MiddleTownPress.com online article:

HealthScoreCT Cost InformationThe quality scorecard rates health care organizations through a five-star system on more than 30 health measures outlined by an advisory council composed of consumer advocates, providers, community organizations, state agencies, and payers. The range of measures focus on the quality of care provided by primary care providers and span more than 10 areas, including behavioral health, children’s health, women’s health, chronic conditions, and preventative health.

Health care organizations are also evaluated on patient experience in four categories: office staff, provider communication, timely care, and an overall patient experience rating.

Users can access interactive tables and graphs to compare provider networks, like Hartford HealthCare and Western Connecticut Health Network, to each other and the state average for any given health measure, such as asthma or diabetes. In addition, users can compare the overall performance rating of provider networks against all networks across all quality measures.

To read more click on following link: https://www.middletownpress.com/middletown/article/New-CT-health-care-rating-system-helps-patients-14290596.php

Future of Health Care: Kite Smart Insulin Port Provides “Right Dose At Right Time” Diabetes Management Technology

From a YankoDesign.com article:

Kite Smart Insulin Port DesignImagine a smart insulin port attached to your skin, delivering the right dose, and at the right time. At the same moment, getting all information regarding your sugar levels, meds timings and health data, managed and analyzed with the accompanying app.

Kite replaces the need to pump yourself with over 30 injections a week, thanks to the soft cannula insertion. It turns any device into a ‘smart’ device, and automatically dispenses the accurate insulin dose. Designed to be affordable, a device like this can be very helpful in the lifestyle management of diabetics.

The functions of the port include: dispensing the dose, capturing data and sending to the diabetes management app. The app integrates blood sugar levels, carb intake and activity. Kate also has wireless connectivity.

Designers: Mitul Lad & Cambridge Consultants

Website: https://ifworlddesignguide.com/entry/234687-kite-smart-insulin-port

Diet Studies: “Profound Benefits” Of Fasting For Weight Loss, Longevity And Chronic Disease

From a Wall Street Journal article by Andreas Michalsen:

Fasting article Wall Street Journal by Andreas Michalsen Aug 2019At the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, I’ve employed what’s called intermittent fasting, or time-restricted eating, to help patients with an array of chronic conditions. These include diabetes, high blood pressure, rheumatism and bowel diseases, as well as pain syndromes such as migraines and osteoarthritis.

Fasting is one of the biggest weight-losstrends to arise in recent years. Endorsed by A-list celebrities and the subject of a spate ofbest-selling books, it was the eighth most-Googled diet in America in 2018.

There are different ways to go about it, but Iadvise patients to omit either dinner or breakfast, so that they don’t ingest any foodfor at least 14 hours at a stretch.

Brain Health Research: Risk Of Dementia Can Increase With Low & High Levels Of Hemoglobin

From a Neurology.org online Journal article:

Neurology JournalLow and high levels of hemoglobin are associated with an increased risk of dementia, including AD, which may relate to differences in white matter integrity and cerebral perfusion.

Objective: To determine the long-term association of hemoglobin levels and anemia with risk of dementia, and explore underlying substrates on brain MRI in the general population.
Methods: Serum hemoglobin was measured in 12,305 participants without dementia of the populationbased Rotterdam Study (mean age 64.6 years, 57.7% women). We determined risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD) (until 2016) in relation to hemoglobin and anemia. Among 5,267 participants without dementia with brain MRI, we assessed hemoglobin in relation to vascular brain disease, structural connectivity, and global cerebral perfusion.

To read more click on following link: https://n.neurology.org/content/neurology/early/2019/07/31/WNL.0000000000008003.full.pdf

Boomers Health: New Geriatric Surgery Verification Program Targets Communication And Screening For Vulnerabilities (Video)

Today, 10,000 people in the U.S. turn 65 every day. The U.S. Census Bureau projects the number of older adults to grow by 55 percent from 2010 to 2050, eventually making up 21 percent of the population.1 Currently, older adults account for more than 40 percent of all inpatient operations, and 33 percent of outpatient procedures performed annually in the U.S. This number will grow as the population ages, and the need for surgical services concurrently rises

The GSV Program will help hospitals of any size prepare for the influx of older adults considering surgery with care standards that define the resources hospitals need to have in place to perform operations effectively, efficiently, and safely in this vulnerable population. The standards take into account that older adults have distinct physical and social vulnerabilities, as well as unique goals for their care, that warrant a more thorough and individualized approach to surgery.

The standards outline processes for systematically improving older adult surgical care, including, but not limited to:

  • Improving communications with patients before surgical procedures to focus on outcomes that matter most to the patient
  • Screening for geriatric vulnerabilities
  • Better management of medications
  • Providing geriatric-friendly rooms
  • Ensuring proper staffing is in place

To read more click on following link: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/geriatric-surgery

 

Boomers Health: New Study Confirms Superior Weight Loss Benefits Of Morning Exercise

From an International Journal of Obesity July 2019 study:

Early Morning ExerciseThis study, combined with the results of previous studies, supports the hypothesis that engaging in morning exercise may result in more weight loss compared to engaging in a similar amount of exercise later in the day. Furthermore, we observed individuals who performed most of their exercise sessions in the afternoon or evening tended to have slightly higher levels of EI and reduced NEPA and NEEx, suggesting that there are potentially important differences in the components of energy balance based on time of day exercise is performed.

Background/objectives

Circadian physiology has been linked to body weight regulation and obesity. To date, few studies have assessed the association between exercise timing and weight related outcomes. The aim of this secondary analysis was to explore the impact of exercise timing (i.e., 24 h clock time of exercise session) on weight loss and components of energy balance.

To read more click on following link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-019-0409-x

New Research Reveals Huge Hidden Costs Of Alzheimer’s Disease And Related Dementias

From a Science Daily online article:

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease“We found staggering inconsistencies between how costs of dementia are calculated across studies and our analysis strongly supports that current estimates fail to recognise the true costs of the diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, that cause dementia. Some studies have estimated that out of pocket expenses for people with dementia are up to one third of their household wealth in the final five years of their life, and that caregivers have healthcare costs that are twice as high as non-caregivers. We also found evidence that costs begin rising up to 10 years prior to diagnosis — we need to better measure and factor all these into future societal cost estimates.”

Some of dementia’s hidden costs explored in the analysis include:

  • People developing other health conditions, such as anxiety or depression, as a result of caring for someone with dementia.
  • Families forced to cut back on spending or to use savings to support their loved ones.
  • Reduced quality of life for people with dementia and their care partners/carers.
  • Costs that are incurred in the years before a diagnosis of impairment or dementia is made.

Currently, dementia is estimated to cost the US economy $290bn a year; the UK economy £26bn a year, and $1tn globally. A team of experts from institutions in the UK, Canada, Spain and the US reviewed existing evidence to assess what different costs are associated with dementia and analyse how these costs are measured.

To read more click on following link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190730092616.htm

Research: UC Berkeley Announces First Large Scale Study Of Healthy Lifestyle On Aging Brains

From a Berkeley News online article:

UC Berkeley Helen Wills Neuroscience“A healthy diet and lifestyle are generally recognized as good for health, but this study is the first large randomized controlled trial to look at whether lifestyle changes actually influence Alzheimer’s disease-related brain changes,” said Susan Landau, a research neuroscientist at Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, and principal investigator of the add-on study.

UC Berkeley was awarded a five-year grant expected to total $47 million from the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA) to incorporate advanced brain imaging into an Alzheimer’s Association-led study to explore whether lifestyle changes can protect memory in those at risk of developing dementia.

The expanded study will be the first large-scale investigation of how lifestyle interventions, which include exercise, diet, cognitive stimulation and health coaching, affect well-known biological markers of Alzheimer’s and dementia in the brain.

To read more click on following link: https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/07/29/47-million-grant-to-explore-how-a-healthy-lifestyle-changes-the-aging-brain/

Sleep Studies: Hot Bath Or Shower (104 Degrees), 1-2 Hours Before Bedtime Improves Duration And Quality Of Sleep

From Sleep Medicine Review, August 2019:

Sleep Medicine ReviewsPBHWB of 40–42.5 °C was associated with both improved self-rated sleep quality and SE, and when scheduled 1–2 h before bedtime for little as 10 min significant shortening of SOL. These findings are consistent with the mechanism of PBHWB effects being the extent of core body temperature decline achieved by increased blood perfusion to the palms and soles that augments the distal-to-proximal skin temperature gradient to enhance body heat dissipation

To read more click the following link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079218301552?via%3Dihub

The following is from “Health News from NPR”:

In their research review, Haghayegh and his colleagues examined results from 17 studies that met criteria for their analysis, i.e. studies that looked at using warm water exposures of various types to aid sleep onset and quality. Some involved body baths, some involved footbaths and one involved a shower. Thirteen of the studies had the full amount of data needed for a quantitative review.

Based on scientists’ review of these studies, a bath or shower of about 104 degrees Fahrenheit before bedtime that lasted for as little as 10 minutes was significantly associated with improved sleep quality, and increased the overall amount of time slept. In at least a couple of studies, taking a bath one or two hours before bedtime decreased the average amount of time it took the study participants to fall asleep — by about nine minutes.

To read more click on following link: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/25/745010965/a-warm-bedtime-bath-can-help-you-cool-down-and-sleep-better?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20190728&utm_campaign=health&utm_term=npr%20news&utm_id=46633831