Health and Disability

UK researchers have analyzed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the UK Clinical Practice Research Database and shown that chronic conventional DMARD (cDMARD) use was associated with 40% lower risk of dementia (nearly 50% with methotrexate use).

They compared 3876 cDMARD users to 1938 nonusers among incident RA and found a reduced risk of dementia (hazard ratio: 0.60; 95% confidence interval: 0.42-0.85). The effect was strongest in methotrexate users (hazard ratio: 0.52; 95% confidence interval; 0.34-0.82).

"This is the first personalized treatment for type 1 diabetes prevention," said Aaron Michels, MD, a researcher at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes and associate professor of medicine at CU Anschutz. "We made this discovery using a supercomputer, on the lab bench, in mice and in humans."

The drug, methyldopa, has been used for over 50 years to treat high blood pressure in pregnant women and children. It is on the World Health Organization's list of essential drugs.

But like many drugs used for one condition, Michels and his colleagues found it useful for something totally unrelated.

Some 60 percent of people at risk of getting type 1 diabetes possess the DQ8 molecule which significantly increases the chance of getting the disease. The researchers believed that if they could block specifically the DQ8 molecule they could also block the onset of the disease.

"All drugs have off-target effects. If you take too much acetaminophen you can hurt your liver," Michels said. "We took every FDA approved small molecule drug and analyzed HLA-DQ8 binding through a supercomputer. We searched a thousand orientations for each drug to identify those that would fit within the DQ8 molecule binding groove."

Ideally, there is a balance between blood sugar and insulin in the body. Some instances exist, however, where insulin does not work as well as it should, forcing the body to produce an excessive amount of insulin. This is known as insulin resistance, which is a risk factor for developing diabetes, as well as a primary feature of type 2 diabetes.

A person who is insulin resistant and wants to maintain a healthy weight and body may need to control their insulin levels.

1. Eating foods that keep blood sugar levels low

Often, the foods that keep blood sugar levels low are also foods that will help keep insulin levels low.

2. Avoiding foods that cause insulin spikes

Just as there are foods that are beneficial to lowering insulin levels, there are some that cause spikes. These include high-sugar foods, such as candies and chocolates.

3. Following a low-carbohydrate diet

According to an article in the journal Diabesity, eating a low-carbohydrate diet can help reduce a person's insulin levels as well as promote weight loss and lower blood pressure.

Patients with moderate or severe atopic dermatitis (AD) had as much as 74% improvement in disease status with the oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor upadacitinib, a randomized trial showed.

Even though 15 times more petroleum is consumed as fuel than is used as ingredients in industrial and consumer products, the amount of chemical vapors emitted to the atmosphere in scented products is roughly the same, said lead author Brian McDonald, a CIRESoffsite link scientist working at NOAA.

A paper presenting these study findings was published today in Science.offsite link

The chemical  vapors, known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs, react with sunlight to form ozone pollution, and, as this study finds, also react with other chemicals in the atmosphere to form fine particulates in the air.

Late last week, Congress passed and the President signed a sweeping spending bill that will fund the government through March 23 and raise the spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 for two years, paving the way for a longer-term spending agreement. The legislation – the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA of 2018) – also contains a number of health care provisions important to people with Medicare and their families, including changes to Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage that will close the donut hole in 2019.

Just days later, on February 12, the White House released President Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget request to Congress, which also includes several proposals related to Medicare, including changes to Part D drug coverage and Part B drug reimbursement.

The BBA of 2018 also addressed critical “extenders” – creating permanent fixes for the therapy cap and extending for two years funding for critical Medicare outreach and assistance activities. But the bill also included increases in premiums for some higher-income beneficiaries, further means testing the program. Both the legislation and the budget request allow for more flexibility for private Medicare Advantage plans and target Medicare Part D for a number of changes.

Decades ago, before “aging in place” became a movement, a small group of residents in rural Leelanau County began a conversation.

That led to a plan: a grassroots network of volunteers and basic services for the elderly so they could remain in their homes as long as possible.

More than 20 years later, Pauline McClure, 91, is still in her home in Northport, a pretty beachfront town popular with retirees north of Traverse City. That’s in no small part due to ShareCare of Leelanau Inc., the nonprofit that grew from those discussions.

“It’s almost a lifesaver,” McClure said.

McClure was a ShareCare charter member in 1994. She’s served on its board, as board vice president and has given her time driving members to dental or medical appointments, visiting the lonely or taking meals to those in need.

Now she’s on the receiving end.

“When we were younger, we said, ‘We’ll never need that.’ Well, now I’m the one having to ask for help once in a while,” McClure said.

There’s another name for what ShareCare does ‒ what’s become known nationally as the “village movement” that now counts 230 like-minded programs across the United States, with another 130 in development. Officially the Village to Village Network, it traces its origins to a Boston nonprofit called Beacon Hill Village that opened in 2002 – eight years after network member ShareCare was founded on similar principles.

As explained in a report from the Daily Mail, a team of researchers from the University of Oregon examined a total of 117 mammoth prints dating back to approximately 43,000 years ago, with these fossilized footprints first spotted in 2014, and excavated some time later. In 2017, the Oregon Bureau of Land Management gave study lead author and University of Oregon professor Greg Retallack and his colleagues permission to return to the area. This was when the researchers’ interest was piqued by a collection of about 20 Ice Age mammoth footprints that hinted at some interesting behavior from the prehistoric elephants.

After analyzing the footprints, the researchers concluded that they might have belonged to Columbian mammoths that were, during those times, quite plentiful in certain parts of the present-day United States. A look at the 20 recently spotted footprints suggested that some of the prints came from a wounded, possibly elderly mammoth, with the other prints coming from younger mammoths.

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• ACC DCC Assessment Tool
• 5 Questions to Ask Yourself
• 10 Simple Steps to Disability Competent Care
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• DCC Feedback

External Resources

• ADA Statute
• ADA Small Business Primer
• Tips for Interacting with People with Disabilities