Health and Disability

Living with a disability is an artistic creation, as they say....

http://goo.gl/4Ixtev

Among the findings:

• About a quarter succeed in accomplishing what they need to do on their own using walkers or other assistive devices; Another 18 percent say they have trouble even when using these devices.
• Six percent cope by reducing their activities - bathing or going outside less often, for example.
• 21 percent manage by receiving help from others.

The study is the first to provide national estimates of ways the Medicare-age population adapts to limitations in daily life.

"Nearly 80 percent of all older adults find ways to manage on their own without assistance from others," Freedman said. "The group using devices on their own without difficulty is especially interesting. They seem to be able to participate in activities they enjoy and report well-being as high as those who are fully able to care for themselves."

http://goo.gl/OdywNV

Nearly 90 percent of people 50 years old and up want to remain at home as long as possible, according to a recent AARP study.

If you have an aging parent or grandparent, having a discussion about his or her alternatives is important. But remember, it can be a sensitive subject, especially when he or she has lived in the same place for a long time. So before broaching the issue, be sure you understand all the options that might allow for aging-in-place at home.

“If you’re considering an assisted living facility for a loved one, make sure you look at new technologies first to see if you can help he or she remain independent, secure and connected from the comfort of  home,” says Walt Podsiedlak, Health and Wellness Sales Manager at Linear LLC, a leading provider of wired and wireless security technology for seniors.

http://goo.gl/cuCt07

These criplets today, I tell you, they’ve really got it made. They have no idea how lucky they are! They zip around so fast in their fancy power wheelchairs, it’s like they’ve been shot out of a cannon.

http://goo.gl/EeU5Zh

Immunologist Elizabeth Mellins and narcolepsy researcher Emmanuel Mignot at Stanford University School of Medicine in California and their collaborators have now partly solved the mystery behind these events, while also confirming a longstandinghypothesis that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system attacks healthy cells.

Narcolepsy is mostly caused by the gradual loss of neurons that produce hypocretin, a hormone that keeps us awake. Many scientists had suspected that the immune system was responsible, but the Stanford team has found the first direct evidence: a special group of CD4⁺ T cells (a type of immune cell) that targets hypocretin and is found only in people with narcolepsy.

http://goo.gl/uT99Xi

Every hospital in the nation is working to prevent the spread of C. difficile, a dangerous infection that patients often pick up during hospital stays. It’s one of those things that make people fear going to the hospital, and make health care more expensive. But Holy Redeemer hospital found a grocery-store solution: yogurt. Dietitians encouraged potentially vulnerable patients to start eating yogurt, which contains healthy digestive bacteria. Infection rates fell by about two thirds, and the program earned an Innovation Award from the Hospital and Health system Association of Pennsylvania. It could be a big step toward cutting the 337,000 yearly cases of C. diff in U.S. hospitals.

http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/3991063

"What's happened is in 2013 there's been this absolute explosion of papers," says neurologist Anne Louise Oaklander at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "The whole view on this has shifted."

Oaklander published two studies this year showing that half or more of the cases of fibromyalgia are really a little-known condition affecting the nerves. People with this small-fiber neuropathy get faulty signals from tiny nerves all over the body, including internal organs, causing an odd constellation of symptoms from pain to sleep and digestive problems that overlap with symptoms of fibromyalgia.

http://goo.gl/t9yFw8

In his memoirs, Wagner gives an account of the symptoms he had in September 1865, the same time he composed Siegfried. The composer openly voiced his suffering caused by the "nervous headaches" he had while composing this opera.

Wagner's depiction of his migraines included a "scintillating, flickering, glimmering melody line with a zig-zag pattern" while a main character sings of "Loathsome light!" and "rustling and humming and blustering". The researchers say the music has the characteristics of a typical migraine and the experimental flicker frequency gives "important clues" about the performance speed intended by Wagner.

They conclude that Richard Wagner was "severely burdened" by migraine and used his suffering creatively "letting future generations take part in his emotions and perceptions".

http://goo.gl/skMv0

1. Ask that hospital staff clean their hands before treating you, and ask visitors to clean their hands too. This is the single most important way to protect yourself in the hospital. If you're worried about being too aggressive, just remember your life could be at stake. All caregivers should clean their hands before treating you. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are more effective at removing most bacteria than soap and water. Do not hesitate to say: "Excuse me, but there's an alcohol dispenser right there. Would you mind using that before you touch me, so I can see it?" Don't be falsely assured by gloves. If caregivers have pulled on gloves without cleaning their hands first, the gloves are already contaminated before they touch you. [1]

http://goo.gl/8DIH1f

Professor Keady, a mental health nurse with a long-standing practice and academic interest in dementia, said: "One of the exciting parts about this 5-year programme is that we are going to work alongside people with dementia and their families to help undertake all aspects of the research, from the planning to the doing. This will lead to the development of new research tools for use by people with dementia and their families and help to create innovative ways of working."

Mike Howorth, who has dementia, is one of the people who will work as a researcher and is already employed by Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust where he works with recently diagnosed patients as the Open Doors Facilitator at Woodlands Hospital, Salford. For the last three years, Open Doors has helped to give people with dementia a voice and platform to share experiences and put forward opinions.

Mr Howorth said: "I think the research programme idea is fantastic! I've got first-hand knowledge of what it's like to live with dementia and help those who have it so I know involving people with dementia and their carers will make this project invaluable."

Dental services remain a major gap in Michigan's Medicaid program. Here is one answer...

http://goo.gl/Vttl7w

That means Fogarty can perform a lot of basic dental procedures.

"I can do any kind of fillings -- that's on children and adults; white fillings, silver fillings. I can do stainless steel crowns -- that's both on children and adults. I can do extractions of baby teeth."

Her patients are primarily low-income children and pregnant women. They usually have no dental insurance or their coverage is provided through the government's Medicaid program. That plan includes dental care, but many private dentists won't accept Medicaid's low reimbursement rates.