Health and Disability

The LSU Health New Orleans researchers discovered that leukocytes and platelets produce a group of molecules, called Maresin-Ls, which promote wound healing and reduce inflammation. They also identified the enzymes needed in the cells to produce these molecules. They demonstrated that treatment by these novel molecules restores reparative functions to diabetic macrophages, enabling the cellular processes known to be critical to wound healing and suppressing those causing chronic inflammation associated with non-healing diabetic wounds.

A federal lawsuit against two Watsonville, Calif., nursing homes may offer a new approach to dealing with the persistent problem of such facilities overmedicating their residents.

"Under the False Claims Act, the government can ask for triple damages," explains Kelly Bagby, a senior attorney with the AARP Foundation. The nursing homes also could be fined, she says, for each incidence of filing a false report.

"So every time they submitted a form that said, 'Here is Mrs. Jones' needs' and Mrs. Jones' needs were different than that, each one of those forms is a violation," says Bagby.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued a new rule that affects home care services for people with disabilities and seniors. This rule may impact some of your state’s long term care programs, particularly your state’s “consumer-directed” programs, where 

The analysis examines premium changes for the lowest-cost bronze plan and the two lowest-cost silver plans in 16 major cities. The second-lowest cost silver plan in each state is of particular interest as it acts as a benchmark that helps determine how much assistance eligible individuals can receive in the form of federal tax credits. The findings show that in general, individuals will pay slightly less to enroll in the second-lowest cost plan in 2015 than they did in 2014, prior to the application of tax credits.

This will give the organic food movement a nice, solid kick. Researchers think they have found the first-ever allergic reaction to antibiotic pesticides. Published in theAnnals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, scientists profiled a 10-year old girl who had a severe reaction after eating blueberry pie.

In this case, the girl already suffered from asthma, seasonal allergies, an allergy to milk and penicillin. After finding none of that in the blueberry pie, scientists went to work on finding the culprit.

Researchers traced the likely cause to blueberries that had been treated with streptomycin. The antibiotic is used in both people and plants to ward off bacteria. In the case of plants, it is mixed with pesticides to spray on a crop.

The development of digital tools for the health care industry is growing at an exponential pace. To date, most of these innovations are aimed at helping relatively healthy, middle- to upper-middle class populations. However, digital health tools may offer important new ways to engage and serve medically and socially complex, low-income populations.

This Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) webinar, the first in a two-part series, highlighted opportunities for digital health to positively impact vulnerable populations and provided examples of exciting new work being done in this area. Two leaders in the field — StartUp Health and the Center for Care Innovations — shared insights regarding keys to success in this emerging field, with a focus on entrepreneurs, delivery systems, and payers. This webinar, a product of CHCS’ Digital Health Initiative, was made possible through the support of Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit.

View Part 2 of this series, Digital Health Technology in Action: Front-Line Perspectives.

Wine only protects against cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people who exercise, according to results from the In Vino Veritas (IVV) study presented at ESC Congress by Professor Milos Taborsky from the Czech Republic.

Professor Taborsky said: "This is the first randomised trial comparing the effects of red and white wine on markers of atherosclerosis ¹ in people at mild to moderate risk of CVD. We found that moderate wine drinking was only protective in people who exercised. Red and white wine produced the same results."

With the November elections looming, many organizations that we wouldn’t normally think of as hubs for engaging voters are playing an important role in ensuring eligible citizens are able to register. Community health centers, trusted spaces for obtaining health care, are among those entering the realm of voter registration. And their work in this area makes perfect sense. Low-income individuals are some of the most frequent clients of community health centers, all too often having been ostracized by other health care providers in their communities because they are uninsured. These health care clinics are well positioned to empower many of their current clientele who come in seeking medical care. Additionally, low-income individuals are disproportionately less likely to  be registered to vote, similarly disempowered from civic engagement because of the belief that the systems in place fail to support their families’ and communities’ needs.

Given this overlap, Nonprofit VOTE has long focused on advising community health centers as they integrate voter registration into their primary goals and responsibilities. With many health centers focused on greater community engagement, Nonprofit VOTE aims to help them recognize voter registration as a tool for empowering low-income consumers. By increasing the number of registered voters, communities can better advocate for their elected officials to respond to their needs—be it changes at the statewide or local level. With local health clinics facilitating the completion of a voter registration form, consumers are empowered to walk out of a health center with their health issues attended to, as well as the tools to participate in the next election.