Health and Disability

A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation demonstrates that general anesthesia results in sustained activation of receptors that inhibit brain function.

Beverly Orser and colleagues at the University of Toronto found that a single dose of anesthetic impaired memory in mice for up to 3 days. Mice had reduced synaptic plasticity due to increased activation of γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAARs). Importantly, inhibition of GABAARs reversed memory defects in animals given anesthesia.

In a study published in the journal Neural Computation, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that a high quality brand of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) - a compound commonly sold as a dietary supplement - provides health benefits to persons suffering from Gulf War illness symptoms.

Forty-six United States Gulf War veterans participated in the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Each veteran had been diagnosed with Gulf War illness.

"Gulf War illness is not the same as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, signature illnesses of later deployments, which are caused by psychological and mechanical injury, respectively," said Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and principal investigator on the study. "Evidence instead links Gulf War illness to chemical exposures, such as pesticides or pills given to soldiers to protect them from possible nerve agents. These chemicals can damage mitochondria, which generate the energy our cells need to do their jobs. When these powerhouses of the cells are disrupted, it can produce symptoms compatible with those seen in Gulf War illness."

CoQ10 is a fat-soluble antioxidant made by the body to support basic cell functions, including directly assisting mitochondrial energy production. Over a course of three and a half months, the veterans in the study received a pill form of either CoQ10 or a placebo. Researchers found 80 percent of those who received 100mg of CoQ10 had improvement in physical function. The degree of improvement correlated to the degree in which CoQ10 levels in the blood increased

4. Never Let Them Know Your Net Worth

Like most seniors, I’ve stashed away almost every penny I’ve ever earned and could buy and sell my children if I was so inclined (or if the law would allow it). But I’m careful not to spread that piece of information around.

If your children think you have money they’ll either want to lock you up so they can get their filthy paws on it, or out of fear that you might spend it yourself. Either way – it’s best to keep up the pretence of comfortable impoverishment.

Don’t be flashing cash or boasting about the quarter million you have stuffed in your Sealy Posturepedic. Keep your diet, attire and mode of transportation understated. Nothing drives a young person battier than seeing their old parents buying expensive marmalade, brand name dentures or generally attempting to enjoy the money they worked 60 years to save.

The media frenzy over the Maynard story has made it almost impossible for a legitimate opposing view to be heard, and many people believe that any opposition has to come from religious extremists or right-wing busybodies.

I am neither. As a disability rights advocate for over 40 years as well as a person living with a disability, I am deeply troubled about the Maynard media swarm.

Assisted suicide legalization isn't about Brittany Maynard. It's about the thousands of vulnerable ill, elderly and disabled people who will be harmed if assisted suicide is legalized.

An initial analysis of expenditures finds evidence that:     

• Medicare and Medicaid expenditures often decline when Medicaid beneficiaries transition from institutional care to HCBS.
• The effect of MFP on total expenditures varies by the target population that is transitioning.
• MFP participants receive more HCBS when in the community compared to what other transitioners receive, and these additional services may reduce the use of costly medical services.
• More work is needed to understand the effect of MFP and its additional HCBS on longer-term expenditures and health outcomes.

A disabled woman with serious health problems who successfully challenged Medicare for denying her home health care coverage has racked up another win against the government.

In her latest federal lawsuit filed in June, Glenda Jimmo, 78, argued that Medicare should have paid for the nursing care and other skilled services she received at her home during 2007. On Wednesday, Medicare officials agreed, invalidating an April ruling that she was not entitled to coverage because her condition had stabilized and she was not improving.

"I won," said Jimmo, who is receiving rehab therapy at a Vermont nursing home and hopes to return home soon. "I'm very pleased. It makes me feel America is still in good shape."

The settlement doesn't mention that Jimmo was the lead plaintiff in a 2011 class-action lawsuit seeking to eliminate the so-called "improvement standard" as a criteria for Medicare coverage.

Considerable evidence indicates that zombies do not receive optimal palliative or geriatric care.  High prevalence of untreated pain, depression, decreased socialization, and impaired sleep and mobility, as well as lack of access to proper medical care are universal issues facing this population of undead. It is therefore not surprising that zombies and their loved ones often express dissatisfaction with after-life care, which may play a role in zombies' seeming unquenchable desire to eat the brains of the living. In the following post we will address some of the most common issues facing zombies, and some potential palliative and geriatric solutions to providing truly Zombie Centered Health Care (ZCHC).