December 24, 2007
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from Me & My Gang | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- December 15, 2007 Panel: One-quarter of adults to suffer incontinence
Up to 25% of adults will experience incontinence at some point in their life, but fewer than half of those affected will report their symptoms to a doctor, according to a government panel. More than half of the nursing home population suffers from some form of incontinence, government figures show.
Incontinence in seniors with dementia is often a major factor in placing them in a care facility, panelists said Wednesday while releasing their report. They added that many instances of incontinence in non-dementia patients are the result of understaffing: Some seniors simply cannot get to the bathroom in time.
Urinary incontinence is the most common type, affecting over 20 million women and 6 million men, twice as many people as previously thought, according to the experts. Because of the stigma of fecal incontinence, it is not as widely studied. Panelists estimated that 5% of the general public and up to 39% of nursing home residents will experience fecal incontinence. The risk of incontinence rises with weight and with age, and women are at a greater risk of being affected.
The National Institutes of Health convened the panel.
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December 7, 2007
Study: Flu, pneumonia double risk of heart attack, stroke
A direct link exists between respiratory infections - such as influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia - and heart attack or stroke, according to study results released Thursday in Britain.
In the week following a respiratory infection, the risk from heart attack or stroke can double, researchers said. The connection was discovered after investigators analyzed a database containing medical information for more than 2 million patients. The findings only add to growing calls for heart patients to make sure they get the flu vaccine, experts said.
The link is found only when serious respiratory infections are involved, explained epidemiology professor Tom Meade of the London School of Hygiene.
"A head cold or runny nose doesn't seem to be a problem," he noted.
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December 6, 2007
Study: Three drugs lead to elderly hospitalizations
Three drugs should carry the following label: take with caution. Side effects from warfarin, insulin and digoxin cause one-third of all U.S. emergency room visits by seniors, a new study found.
Together, the three drugs were responsible for about 58,000 emergency room visits a year in those 65 and older in 2004 and 2005, according to researchers. Warfarin, also known as Coumadin, is a blood thinner; insulin is used by diabetics; and digoxin is a heart drug. The study findings are published in the Dec. 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers examined the effects of 41 drugs on the list of medications considered inappropriate for the elderly. But these drugs accounted for just 3.6% of a total of about 177,000 annual emergency room visits.
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December 4, 2007
Senator looks into actions by drug company
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), head of the Special Committee on Aging, is probing a drug company's recent decision to restrict pharmacies' access to the drug Avastin. The medication is used off-label for eye disease patients.
The company in question, Genentech Inc., notified ophthalmologists that compounding pharmacies would not be allowed to purchase Avastin directly from wholesalers after Jan. 1. Kohl's letter suggests Genentech's goal may be higher sales for Lucentis, a similar but much more expensive drug it manufactures.
The eye disease use for Avastin (bevacizumab) is off label, or not formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, some physicians have prescribed it to treat neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration. Avastin is approved by FDA to treat patients with certain forms of cancer. |