Geriatrics News

• Dementia and Guns: When Should Doctors Broach the Topic? There are no scientific standards for when a health care provider should discuss gun access for people with cognitive impairment or at what point in a person with dementia becomes unfit to handle a gun.
  Kaiser Health News, October 2018
• High Suicide Risk in Elderly Who Self-Harm Older adults who intentionally harm themselves are more likely to die by suicide, yet are often not referred for mental health services.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• EDs See More Patients, Fewer Inpatient Admissions US acute care hospitals had a marked increase in the number of patients seeking care in emergency departments (EDs) nationally but proportionally fewer hospital admissions from the ED trend, data showed.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Most Older Patients OK With Deprescribing Most older adults (92%) were willing to stop taking at least one of their medications with permission from their physician, a survey of Medicare recipients has found.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Cataract Surgery for Senior Drivers Tied to Reduced Car Crash Risk, Costs Cataract surgery can significantly reduce car crashes involving senior drivers and the cost of those accidents to the community, researchers say.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• EASD 2018Older Women at Risk of Bone, Muscle Loss With Low-Cal Diets Following a low-energy diet to lose weight could result in loss of both handgrip strength and bone mineral density, especially in older women, suggests a small substudy of the PREVIEW trial.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Anticoagulants Linked to Reduced Dementia Risk in AF A new study suggests that dementia risk is increased and accelerated in seniors with atrial fibrillation, but treatment of AF with oral anticoagulants may reduce that risk.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Falls in Elders May Be Driving Up Secondary Diagnoses Of Eye Trauma Hospital admissions due to eye trauma have declined since 2001, but more and more patients are being admitted with a secondary diagnosis of eye trauma, largely due to an increase in falls among older people, new findings suggest.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• IDWeekNew Flu Drug Cuts Time to Recovery The single-dose agent is safe and effective and has a shorter viral shedding time than oseltamivir, according to results from CAPSTONE 2, which could play a role in the drug's approval by year end.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Blood Sugar Control Tied to Long-Term Brain Health With Type 1 Diabetes People with type 1 diabetes who are able to maintain good blood sugar control may reduce their long-term risk of developing dementia, a U.S. study suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• Inappropriate Coprescribing Common in Parkinson's Dementia Almost half of Parkinson's disease patients taking medications for dementia were also being 'inappropriately' prescribed anticholinergic drugs that could have interfered with their action, a new study shows.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Non-White Elders in U.S. Less Likely to Use Low-Vision Devices Older white people with very impaired eyesight are more likely to use low-vision devices that may improve independence, compared to elderly people in other racial and ethnic groups, a U.S. study suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, October 2018
• A Surgeon So Bad It Was Criminal Christopher Duntsch's surgical outcomes were so outlandishly poor that Texas prosecuted him for harming patients.
  ProPublica, October 2018
• TCT 2018PORTICO 1: Low Mortality, Stroke With Repositionable Valve Real-world data from Australia, Canada, and Europe support the safety and efficacy of the Portico valve, which remains investigational in the United States.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Moderate, Vigorous Exercise May Protect Against Parkinson's A new systematic review and meta-analysis quantifies the amount of physical activity that may reduce risk of developing Parkinson's disease -- at least in men.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• ASBMR 2018ASBMR Urges Bone Treatment for All Seniors With Major Fractures Only a minority of older patients who have a hip or spine fracture receive secondary prevention with osteoporosis therapy. Bone specialists issued a set of recommendations to try to improve this.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2018
• Older People With More Friends Do Better at Preventive Health Older adults with bigger social networks of family members and close friends may be better at staying on top of recommended preventive health screenings and checkups than their more isolated peers, a UK study suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, September 2018
• Fall Risk May Increase After MI Patients Leave the Hospital Three in five patients hospitalized for myocardial infarction (MI) or other serious cardiovascular problems have at least a moderate risk of falling after they go home, and this risk is tied to higher odds of premature death, a U.S. study suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, September 2018
• Adults Need a Regular Bedtime, Too Adults who have a regular bedtime are likely to weigh less than those who don't, to have lower blood sugar and to face a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes, according to a U.S. study.
  Reuters Health Information, September 2018
• Depression Tied to Arthritis Pain Depressed individuals over age 50 should be screened for arthritis pain because the two conditions often occur together, worsening mental and physical health outcomes, researchers say.
  Reuters Health Information, September 2018