MATURE MARKET HEADLINES 11/02/2000
Doctors Address Patient's Spiritual Needs
Doctors and nurses need to be sensitive to the patient's spiritual needs along with their medical needs, say survey findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Anesthesiologists (ASA). More than half of patients undergoing major surgery reported the desire to pray before their diagnostic and surgical procedures.
Researchers at Rush Medical College in Chicago surveyed 282 patients before surgery. Fifty-eight percent said they desired to pray before surgery. Of these,
- 56% preferred to pray alone
- 23% preferred to pray with family
- 21% preferred to pray with family and their physicians.
"Perhaps what we are hearing from patients is the need for a more personal approach to medicine, an approach that, among other things, acknowledges this spiritual dimension," says anesthesiologist David M. Rothenberg, M.D. The health care profession must begin to adequately address those needs, according to Dr. Rothenberg. Many health care professionals are not trained to discuss spiritual or religious issues, although that is changing as medical schools adapt their curricula to include training in religious issues and cultural diversity.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Doctors Gain Faith in Power of Prayer
A Prayer A Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Prayer Versus Elder Depression
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
Nasal Alzheimer’s Vaccine Tests Positive
An experimental nasal vaccine has reduced the damaging Alzheimer's disease-like plaques in the brains of test mice. These promising results may one day lead to clinical trials to determine the possibility of vaccinating humans against plaque formation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) supported the study.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School say the brains of the animals treated with the nasal spray had a significantly lower “plaque burden”, 60 percent less in the hippocampus, than mice that were not immunized. The findings are a significant step forward for the concept that an immunological approach, using vaccines, might one day be effective against Alzheimer’s disease in humans.
This new report follows a 1999 report on an AD vaccine by scientists at Elan Pharmaceuticals. In Elan’s research, injections of the beta amyloid peptide were shown to be effective in stopping the formation of plaques in the same strain of mice that were used in the Harvard study, mice that were specially engineered to develop AD-like plaques. The company is now in the early stages of testing regular injections of an experimental beta amyloid vaccine for its safety in humans.
This Harvard study delivered the vaccine nasally, using a method somewhat like the inhalers used to deliver allergy and asthma medicines. Scientists are interested in testing the delivery of the peptide nasally because it may be better tolerated in humans than repetitive injections over the long-term. Apart from the way the vaccine was administered and differences in the strength of the response, the Harvard study is consistent with the Elan work, demonstrating that an immunological intervention, such as a vaccine, can lower plaque formation associated with AD.
At the end of the Harvard study, only the brains of mice treated with the nasal beta amyloid vaccine showed a significant effect, in both the hippocampus and the temporal cortex, regions of the brain in which plaques of AD accumulate. The vaccine appeared to lower the number of plaques that formed in the brain and, by doing so, to lower the amount of inflammatory changes in the brain that cause damage leading to dementia.
The National Institute on Aging operates the Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center (ADEAR), which provides information on Alzheimer's Disease and memory impairment. For more information, contact ADEAR at 1-800-438-4380, or through its website http://www.alzheimers.org/.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Head Injuries Linked to Alzheimer Risk
Brain Gymnastics Help Avoid Alzheimer's
FDA Approves New Exelon Alzheimer Drug
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
Age-related Eye Disorder Affects 13 Million
One in six Americans age 55 to 64 already show signs of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that affects 13 million Americans. A national consumer poll released by the Alliance for Aging Research reveals that two-thirds of Americans are unfamiliar with AMD and most are not aware that simple lifestyle changes can help prevent this leading cause of blindness in the over 65 age group.
"We now know that lifestyle changes such as wearing sunglasses, limiting alcohol intake, stopping smoking, and eating a diet rich in carotenoids can help reduce the risk of AMD," says Daniel Perry, Executive Director of the Alliance for Aging Research. Foods that have concentrated amounts of carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, such as spinach, kale, and eggs may play a role in reducing the risk of AMD.
"This is good news for seniors", says Tufts University Professor, Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD. "Eggs are a nutritious, affordable and easy to digest food." "We now know from research that eggs are not a risk factor for heart disease for most people, including seniors, and yet they are a good source of those carotenoids which may help reduce the risk of macular degeneration." Dr. Blumberg is the Senior Scientist at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.
The Alliance for Aging Research (AAR) survey found that many Americans do not know what foods help prevent AMD. In the survey, 70 percent wrongly identified carrots as helping to prevent AMD, while only 15 percent correctly identified eggs. A little more than half of those surveyed correctly identified spinach and kale as foods that help prevent the disease. The AAR survey was conducted by Market Facts Inc with the support of the American Egg Board.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Dry Eye Problems Increase as Population Ages
Optometrist Calls Eyes Windows to Wellness
A Closer Look at Age-related Macular Degeneration
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
Home Tech Helps Elders Stay Independent
No need to worry about those memory lapses. You can forget about forgetting. New technology will remember for you. For example, say you are cooking breakfast and a television program distracts you from the stove. As you continue watching your favorite television program, a message pops up on the screen ... "your food is burning". Then, if you still ignore the televised warning, your new home technology system will turn-off the stove, and maybe call your neighbor, if needed. Wow.
Independent Lifestyle Assistant, a unique home automation technology under development by Honeywell, will help enable the elderly to continue to live and function safely at home. The new technology, currently under development, may help today's 32 million elders and tomorrow's 78 million baby boomers remain independent for as long as possible in the comfort and safety of their homes.
Forty-three percent of people over age 65 will enter a nursing home or assisted-living facility at some point. And though research indicates the elderly strongly prefer to live independently at home, many require assistance that forces their relocation to an eldercare facility. The Independent Lifestyle Assistant may change that scenario. "There would be huge cost savings for Medicare and Medicaid, and this technology represents market growth for Honeywell," says corporate leadership.
Costs associated with nursing home care alone will reach $131 billion by year 2005. The Federal Government's share of that expense is estimated to be 57% or $74 billion. This cost does not account for the financial and emotional stress placed on informal caregivers looking after seniors who do remain at home. Elder care expenses already take a heavy toll on American families who provide 80% of all elder care. Over one-in-ten of those family caregivers who are employed either reduce their workload from full to part-time or quit altogether in order to stay home and care for an elder family member.
The new lifestyle technology system would assist the elder home owner in very practical ways, according to Honeywell's Chris Miller. "If a kitchen air sensor detected oven overheating, the system would work to both overcome the hazard and protect the owner. It would first locate the owner, using room motion detectors or indirect evidence like a recently triggered TV remote. When located, the system would notify the owner with a synthesized voice over a speaker or message flashed on the owner's TV. The owner then commands the system to shut off the stove. If the system got no response form the owner, it might phone a neighbor."
While a growing number of "smart" home products are reaching the market, the new Honeywell technology intends to enhance the entire home environment by "intelligently" integrating emerging sensing and automation technology. The resulting system control would incorporate user interfaces specifically designed for the elderly. Honeywell believes the new technology will help delay unnecessary institutionalization of elders, resulting in substantial cost-savings and enhanced quality of life.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Can Aging Boomers Avoid Nursing Home Care?
Smart Home Technology for Senior Living
Help With Homework Helps Home Work Well
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
Malice Doesn't Grow Here Anymore, Boomers
Your food, it's a chang'in ... for the worse. Mother nature's harvest is being transformed into franken-food. That's slang for "genetically engineered" food. What does it all mean? Well, no one really knows. Some corporate leaders seem to have a "wait and see" approach. Unfortunately, that "wait and see" means "wait and see" if our grandchildren start growing up in really weird ways. In that case, they'll do something about the food.
That kind of logic reminds me of the old Salem witch trials. Back then, if you were suspected of being a witch, you were tied to a chair and thrown into a well. If you floated to the top, you were definitely a witch and you were hanged. Of course, if you drowned, then you weren't a witch. Are you getting my drift about this "wait and see" logic. Well, If baby boomers have their way, it won't be long before your food gets back to nature. They'd like to create a society that can look at American farms and say with confidence that "Malice doesn't grow here anymore".
Boomers are already on the march. Seems like old times. Dozens of costumed activists converged outside the headquarters of Kellogg’s recently to denounce the cereal maker’s continued use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their food. Members of Michigan Resistance Against Genetic Engineering (MIRAGE) were joined by Greenpeace activists carrying a giant 25-foot ear of corn with a trick-or-treat bag that said, "Kellogg’s: Stop Using Scary Corn."
"Americans know that a breakfast of Kellogg’s cereal is a breakfast of contaminated corn," said Greenpeace GMO Specialist Charles Margulis, speaking in front of Kellogg’s headquarters. "On Halloween, your kids don’t have to dress up, because Kellogg’s has already made them guinea pigs in this experiment on our food."
Last week, says Greenpeace, Kellogg’s admitted that it was forced to stop production at a Memphis cereal plant over concerns about contamination by a variety of GMO corn that is meant only for animal feed. The corn, called StarLink, is not approved for human food because scientists believe it could trigger dangerous allergic responses in some people. According to the Des Moines Register, more than half of the two billion bushels of corn grown in Iowa could be contaminated with StarLink.
Kellogg’s acknowledges that it uses GMO ingredients in their U.S. products, but in a letter to Greenpeace, Kellogg’s European division has said that the company is eliminating GMOs there, and that "…we hope to have completed this process by the end of the year." Kellogg’s tells American consumers that its use of gene-altered food is merely a matter of "consumer preference." But Greenpeace has learned that over 28,000 consumers have contacted Kellogg’s in the past month over concerns of GMOs in their food.
"Americans have told Kellogg’s that they don’t want to eat gene altered food," said Margulis. "If Kellogg’s cares about American consumers, they will stop using scary corn." If the boomers can stop franken-food with the same success that they stopped an unjust war, then maybe it's time for a new food slogan ... "Genetically engineered foods? Hell, no. We won't grow." AgeVenture News Service.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
Census Report Profiles Boomers and Elders
Of the U.S. population age 55 and over in 1999, 55 percent were women, 61 percent were married and living with their spouse and 73 percent were high school graduates, according to a profile of the older population released November 1, 2000 by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.
The report, "The Older Population in the United States: March 1999", is based on data collected in the March 1999 Current Population Survey, which uses the 1990 census as the base for its sample. The estimates should not be confused with Census 2000 results to be released starting in December 2000.
The report and accompanying tables cover topics that include geographic distribution, age and sex distribution, family type and size, educational attainment, labor force participation and employment, occupational characteristics, family income and poverty status.
This map is an example of the data (percentage of
elders by state) to be found in the U.S. Census report.
The November 1, 2000 Census report, "The Older Population in the United States: March 1999", organizes the data by national, state, and county levels. Readers will find special sections on baby boomers, the 55-plus population, and the 65-plus elderly population. The report is available online at the following Internet address: www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/age.html
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
AoA Announces New Elder Care Trends
Eldercare Trend Grey, Global and Growing
Older Women's Market Is Sleeping Giant
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