MATURE MARKET HEADLINES POSTED 03/20/98
MOMS the Word for Caregivers
An estimated 20 million Americans are caring for a chronically ill or disabled loved one at home. Many of these caregivers find there are very few resources to help them meet the day-to-day challenges of caregiving. In fact, the great majority of eldercare (90%) is provided by family members.
Many hold down jobs in addition to their caregiving duties. Some even find it necessary to reduce their work schedule, or quit work altogether in order to cope with their caregiver responsibilities. Those who can't afford to reduce or quit work often experience fatigue, absenteeism, and stress-related illness. The typical caregiver of an elder is an adult female. An estimated eleven percent of the workforce is now affected by the increasing demands of eldercare.
Those demands are eroding the productivity of American workers. These caregivers need all the help they can get. In response to the caregiver's need for help, The "Mail Order Medical Supply (MOMS) catalog was created, and the latest edition of the 84-page catalog is now in circulation. MOMS features hundreds of innovative homecare items designed to help caregivers and their patients with tasks like dressing, eating, grooming and other daily activities.
"Home caregivers are the back-bone of our healthcare system. They are largely invisible and rarely acknowledged," says Tim Baker, General Manager of MOMS. Saving time is often a major concern among caregivers since more than half work outside the home in addition to their caregiving responsibilities. MOMS provides a one-stop-shopping service for these busy caregivers. The MOMS catalog also includes helpful caregiving hints from support organizations.
The editor of AgeVenture News Service reviewed the catalog's caregiver hints, and found many helpful ideas and resources interwoven throughout the catalog. The hints and support agencies are incorporated into the catalog by topic. For example, on the page that describes products that assist those who suffered a stroke, there are helpful hints for coping with stroke as well as a toll-free hotline to the National Stroke Association.
In addition, these support agencies are conveniently listed again in a section dealing with generic caregiver issues. However, the reader does have to thumb through the catalog in order to find this caregiver issue page because it is not listed in the catalog's table of contents. Nevertheless, this is an excellent resource for caregivers.
Those who would like a free copy of the catalog can call 1-800-232-7443. Or write: MOMS, 24700 Avenue Rockefeller, Valencia, CA 91355. MOMS is always on the lookout for new products that help ease the caregiver's burden. So consumers can expect a continuing update of this product catalog.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Boomers Transform Therapeutic Community
Like an 800 pound gorilla, the sheer weight of the baby boomer population is capable of impacting everything in its path. For example, by AgeVenture research estimates, at least 16 million boomers could benefit from some type of mental health service.
Casual observers of this trend might predict only a numerical growth in mental health providers. However, this boomer trend is changing the very nature of mental health service delivery. According to a recent survey conducted by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), most therapists are rapidly adapting their services to deliver a fuller range of mental health services to an increasing number of adults.
More than two-thirds (68%) of therapists now offer evening appointments and nearly one-third (32%) offer weekend appointments. These therapists are offering new services, such as brief (15 minute) checkup visits, consultations with primary care physicians, employer and human resources counseling, and telephone therapy sessions. In short, mental health services are becoming seamlessly integrated into the fabric of boomer lifestyles.
In addition, many therapists are also developing new delivery systems by working with schools, courts, and businesses. In fact, hotels that cater to business travelers are beginning to experiment with new services that cater to their guests' need for emotional support. After all, it's a jungle out their in today's combative business world.
The AAMFT also discovered that 47% of mental health clients still pay for therapy out-of-pocket. AAMFT executive director, Michael Bowers believes that these private-pay clients either "have no health insurance, lack adequate mental health benefits in their insurance coverage, or have already used up their allocated yearly benefits." "I suspect that fear of rejection by employers keeps many people from using their health insurance for therapy."
Given the sheer numbers and spirit of determination, you can expect boomers to change all that. Their needs will result in a mental health industry that is much larger, more accessible, and socially acceptable. The typical boomer's daily "to-do" list may look something like the following. Drop-off the shirts at dry-cleaner, pick up a quart of milk and a loaf of bread, phone therapist for mental health checkup. The times, they are a'change'in.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Scientists Discover Cancer Checkpoint
The vast majority of advanced cancers suffer form genetic instability. This instability enhances the cancer's rate of progression. Precisely what causes this from of instability is not known. But in a recent scientific report (Nature, March issue 1998), researchers at Johns Hopkins University present evidence that in some cancers, mutations in the human version of a gene already known in yeast cells are responsible.
The yeast gene is involved in what's known as a "mitotic checkpoint". That is, it is part of the cellular machinery that ensures that all the events involved in chromosome duplication and cell division happen at the proper time, keeping everything in synchrony. Think of this checkpoint as a traffic light at a busy intersection. Any dysfunction in the traffic light and you have a major problem.
Failure of a mitotic checkpoint by a mutation in a checkpoint gene could allow some of the events in cell division to occur without proper scrutiny, perhaps resulting in a drive toward cancer growth. The Johns Hopkins researchers, under the direction of Dr. Bert Vogelstein, found that two cancer cell-lines contained mutations in a gene known as hBUB1, the human version of a yeast gene, BUB1, which checks chromosome separation in yeast.
The Johns Hopkins research team, representing the Oncology Center, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the School of Medicine, also found evidence that defects in other mitotic checkpoint genes contribute to cancers, although this remains to be proven.
If this is eventually proven, then the results will lead to understanding of how different tumors are affected by chemotherapy. And that discovery may lead to better selection of treatments for different types of tumors. This would be a major breakthrough considering that cancer remains one to the major causes of death among senior adults.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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New Alzheimer's Test Takes Only 7 Minutes
A new screening test described in this month's issue of Archives of Neurology appears to be highly sensitive to the early signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD), an illness that affects 4 million Americans. AD is a degenerative disease of the brain that results in impaired memory, thinking, and behavior.
Called the "7 Minute Screen", the new screening test can distinguish, with 90 percent accuracy, between normal age-related memory loss and the decline due to dementia, of which Alzheimer's disease is the most common form. Although it is not yet known whether the screen is able to differentiate between Alzheimer's and other types of dementia, it could allow primary-care physicians to quickly identify those patients who need further evaluation.
The "7 Minute Screen" was developed by Dr. Paul R. Solomon and his colleagues at the Memory Clinic at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. "It's estimated that fewer than half of all individuals with Alzheimer's disease are diagnosed, and only a small percentage of them have been treated," says Dr. Solomon.
The "7 Minute Screen" consists of four components that measure different types of cognitive functioning that typically deteriorate in patients with Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia. The four components of the test are as follows.
- Orientation to time
Participants are asked to identify the day of the week, month, and year.
- Enhanced Cued Recall
Memory is evaluated after participants are exposed to pictures on "flash cards".
- Clock Drawing
Participants are asked to draw the face of a clock showing a specific time.
- Verbal Fluency
In one minute, participants are asked to name as many words as they can within a specific category, such as "vegetables".
Scoring is accomplished with the help of an accompanying workbook that translates the four scores for the attending physician. Ultimately, the goal is to incorporate the "7 Minute Screen" into the annual health exam for geriatric patients, much like routine screening for blood pressure or cholesterol. Patients who screen positive would then undergo a full diagnostic evaluation for Alzheimer's disease. Such an evaluation includes a detailed family history, lab tests, and imaging (CT or MRI scan).
The next step in the "7 Minute Screen" research project is to monitor its use by primary physicians in the field. Once those results are collected, the plan is to provide the screening materials to interested health-care professionals free-of-charge, with the help of New Jersey-based Janssen Pharmaceutica.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Brush With Crisis Extracts Aid From Teeth
Thanks to a new medical device, you can now extract emergency aid from your teeth during your next brush with crisis. IDent ID is part of a worldwide denture identification project that provides immediate identification via a database on the Internet.
The IDent ID portion of the program is primarily directed to those individuals with removable dentures. When a patient has a new denture or partial made, their dentist accesses his secure file in the website database and enters pertinent patient information, much like a telephone directory. An encrypted six digit code is assigned to that patient and that code is placed in the denture during fabrication.
If that individual ever needs to be identified by a law enforcement, healthcare, or a forensic agency, it can be accomplished immediately from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by accessing the code within the dentures.
The patient's database file can also be utilized by an individual's medical doctor so critical health information is available immediately from anywhere on earth in case of an emergency. This program is also applicable to individuals with cognitive mental disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. IDent's worldwide internet address is: www.identid.com
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Toward A Bayer Way to Treat Alzheimer's
Bayer Corporation recently filed a New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for metrifonate tablets, a cholinesterase inhibitor for the treatment of mild-to-moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Seems like a good move considering that new research presented at the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that metrifonate enhances more than just cognitive abilities of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Research has demontrated that metrifonate may decrease behavioral disturbances while improving activities of daily living and cognitive functioning. Researchers investigated the effectiveness of metrifonate with mild-to-moderate AD patients who experienced depression, confusion, anxiety, hostility, memory decline, difficulty with learning, and functional decline in activities of daily living.
When treated with metrifonate, the AD patients demonstrated statistically significant improvement in these symptoms. "While there is no cure for Alzheimer's, emerging treatments such as metrifonate are creating new hope for Alzheimer's patients" says Jeffrey Cummings, MD, the lead study investigator at the University of California Alzheimer's Center. "Metrifonate slows the progression of the disease symptoms and improves the lives of Alzheimer's patients."
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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AgeVenture News Service, 21946 Pine Trace, Boca Raton, FL 33428 USA
Dr. David Demko, Editor
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