MATURE MARKET HEADLINES updated 3/2/2000
Empty Wallet New Cause of Elder Death
Too bad the elderly don't want to colonize Mars, because our government seems to have given space travel a higher priority than affordable medicine for the nation's oldest citizens. Yes, it's finally happened. The miracle of modern medicine has managed to make "staying alive" just too darned expensive. Nowdays, seniors aren't dying of old age, just empty wallets. Emptied by the ridiculously high cost of staying alive in the wealthiest nation on earth ... at its most prosperous period in history.
Senior citizens who need health care the most can least afford it and face the greatest burden of out-of-pocket expenses for medical care, according to a new Rutgers study published in the January 2000 issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences. The study, "Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs Among Older Americans," reveals
that elderly Americans spend on average 19 percent of their total income on out-of-pocket medical expenses annually, with more than half of these payments going toward prescription drugs and dental care. Out-of-pocket
expenses include health insurance premiums, medical co-payments and prescriptions.
"Nineteen percent is fairly burdensome for the average elderly person, but the figures are even worse for those in the lowest income levels, for those with chronic health problems and for the oldest of the old," said lead
author Stephen Crystal, chairman of the Division on Aging of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research at Rutgers. According to the study, the most vulnerable groups are:
- Those in the lowest-fifth income level (up to $6,720 per capita family income), who spend 32 percent of their income, despite Medicaid coverage for some, compared to those in the top tier, who pay less than 9
percent;
- Those whose self-reported health status was "poor," who spend 29 percent versus those in "excellent" self-reported health, who spend 15 percent;
- Those age 85 and older, who are paying 22 percent versus those age 65-74, who paid 17 percent in total out-of-pocket costs for health care;
- Those who did not complete high school, who spend 21 percent compared with 12 percent for college graduates.
According to the study, prescribed medication costs have grown to account for more than one-third, of the elderly's overall all out-of-pocket payments to health care providers. The share is even higher, 40 percent, for those in the lowest two-fifths of income (below $9,384 per capita family income). Medicare does not cover most outpatient prescription drug costs.
"What this study reveals is that despite Medicare, the elderly are exposed to substantial out-of-pocket health-care expenses, particularly in the area of prescription drugs," says Crystal. The research was funded in part by the AARP Andrus Foundation, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Institute on Aging.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Drug Price Controls Bad Medicine for Elders
Dose Encounters with Elder Medications
Health Plan Management of Health Unhealthy
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
Better Dead Than Bed say Older Women
Eighty per cent of women over the age of 75 years of age say that they would rather be dead than
admitted to a nursing home after a hip fracture, according to the British Medical Journal. These findings, say the researchers, suggest that women would perceive a hip fracture as worse than breast cancer, a heart attack or mild osteoarthritis.
During interviews with 194 women aged over 75 years, Glenn Salkeld and colleagues from the
University of Sydney and Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital in New South Wales, found that hip fractures are
perceived as a profound threat to quality of life. Any loss of ability to live independently in the
community has significant detrimental effect on their quality of life, say the authors, and four-fifths
would prefer to be dead than admitted to a nursing home with a hip fracture.
"Hip fractures are a major cause of morbidity and mortality and almost all occur after a fall", says
Salkeld. Any interventions, say the researchers, that can reduce the likelihood of falls and injury in older women will not only save lives but will prevent a significant reduction in their quality of life.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Vitamin Deficient Elders Risk Hip Fracture
Faced With Stress, Men Drink and Women Think
Keiser Launches Fall Prevention Campaign
AARP & UN Dispel Myths of Older Women
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
PSA Level Predicts Future Prostate Growth
As millions and millions of baby boomer men enter late adulthood, both interest and controversy surrounding prostate health continues. Some studies report that enlarged prostate is a sign of pathology. Other studies report that the increase is a normal process of human aging. Nevertheless, the fact that the experts don't always agree is no comfort for men concerned about their health status in later life. So, here's the latest low-down on that down-low health concern.
The higher a man's prostate specific antigen (PSA) level is, the more likely his prostate will continue to grow abnormally, say researchers at University of Texas. Dr. Claus Roehrborn reports that men with a PSA level of 3.3 nanograms/milliliter or higher have four times the prostate growth rate over four years of men with a PSA level of 1.3 nanograms/milliliter or lower.
"Urologists want to be able to predict whether a man's prostate will grow slowly or quickly so they can recommend appropriate treatment," said Roehrborn. "Our study shows that the best predictor of growth is the PSA level." The PSA test, the routine indicator of prostate cancer and enlarged prostate, defines prostate volume by measuring the amount of protein produced by prostate cells. If a man's PSA level is high, he has more prostate cells, indicating growth of his prostate.
The prostate, a walnut-sized bundle of glands, surrounds the urethra. If it becomes enlarged, it can restrict urine flow and cause discomfort. While prostate cancer is one cause of abnormal prostate growth, prostate growth is not always cancerous. One example of non-cancerous enlarged prostate is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which can cause serious urinary problems.
The study means doctors can make a more accurate prediction of whether a man's prostate growth will continue. If it is likely to grow, doctors might prescribe a drug proven to slow the growth, or if it is unlikely to grow, doctors may choose to monitor the growth but not treat it.
"The PSA test provides the doctor with critical information in planning a treatment," Roehrborn says. "Every man over age 50 should have a PSA test and digital rectal exam annually."
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Need for Prostate Testing Questioned
Highest Prostate Cancer Risk Is Black Male
Critics Give PSA Prostate Test "two thumbs up"
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
Feeling Low Makes Blood Pressure Run High
Hopelessness is linked to hypertension, according to a new study from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Middle-aged men who suffered from feelings of great hopelessness were three times more likely to develop hypertension than their non-hopeless counterparts.
Hopelessness is defined as having a sense of futility and negative expectations about the future and one's personal goals. It is also one of several determinants of depression. In the study, hypertension was defined as a blood pressure greater than or equal to 165 mm Hg systolic pressure or greater than or equal to 95 mm Hg diastolic pressure, which compares to the recommended 120/80 for adults. Hypertension can increase the risk of having a heart attack and dying from cardiovascular diseases.
"This is the first study to show that hopelessness is associated with an increased risk of developing hypertension", says Susan A. Everson, assistant research scientist in the U-M School of Public Health's Department of Epidemiology. The study is co-authored by George A. Kaplan, professor of public health and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the U-M.
Much research and medical attention has been given to the physical risk factors of developing heart disease, but little attention is paid to emotional risk factors. "Our data support the idea that hopelessness is more strongly related to adverse cardiovascular consequences than is depression...". This theory, say the researchers, does need additional testing.
Everson and Kaplan's new study was funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute of Aging, the Academy of Finland and the Finnish Ministry of Education.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Boomer Work-place Depression on Rise
Older Adults: Depression and Suicide Facts
Hypertension May Erode Mental Functioning
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
So Old, So Sick, So What ... Age vs Disability
Sure, we grow old, and the aging process takes its toll. Parts of us slow down, don't work so well. You know the drill. But does advancing age and the onset of late-life disease always result in the inability to function, in other words ... disability. Not necessarily, say researchers at the University of South Florida (USF). And they should know. Their research laboratory is right outside their door ... "America's Aging Laboratory" ... aka South Florida ... aka "God's Waiting Room".
At any rate, when South Florida researchers speak, Aging America stops and listens. And this time it's good news. USF researchers believe that diseases such as heart disease, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s take root in childhood, even though symptoms may not appear until middle or old age. Not such good news, you say. Correct. But, late-life disease does not equate to late-life disability. You may be able to ward off the disability associated with disease by eating right, not smoking, exercising and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol, says James Mortimer, PhD, professor of public health and director of the University of South Florida Institute on Aging.
Those elders who seem to overcome the disabilities associated with late-life disease are those who remain significantly more functional, say USF researchers. They define "more functional" as being able to walk at least a half mile, to walk up and down stairs, to extend their arms above their heads, to grip small objects and move heavy ones. "The key to growing old successfully is avoiding the disability that accompanies disease”.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Healthy Habits Delay Disability by 8 Years
Depressed Elders Higher Risk for Disease
Lifestyle Study Says Elders Improve With Age
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
View More Headlines
AgeVenture News Service, 21946 Pine Trace, Boca Raton, FL 33428 USA
Dr. David Demko, Editor
E-mail:newsdesk@demko.com
the media may use these headlines free-of-charge