Many Seniors with Hypertension

50% of senior citizens may have hypertension
Hypertension is commonly known as high blood pressure.

Blood pressure is the force generated as the heart pumps blood in the blood vessels.

The two values measured by the sphygmomanometer or blood pressure apparatus are the systolic and diastolic blood pressures which represent heart’s contraction and relaxation, respectively.

Hypertension is defined as a condition where sustained systolic blood pressure is greater than or equal to 140 millimeter mercury (mmHg) and/or the diastolic blood pressure is greater than or equal to 90 millimeter mercury (mmHg) by the Joint National Committee on Detection and Treatment of High Blood Pressure.

Based on the results of the 7th National Nutrition Survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology in 2008, hypertension was found to be common among the elderly, affecting about 5 in every 10.

Most elderly with elevated high blood pressure have the so called “isolated” hypertension, a common form of hypertension among elderly.

Isolated hypertension is defined as systolic BP above 140 mmHg and diastolic BP below 90 mmHg, where there is a significant increase of collagen deposition and cross-linking, degeneration of elastin fibers, atherosclerotic changes, and age-related endothelial dysfunction, according to the Merck Manual of Geriatrics in 2005.

Isolated hypertension was evident among those 60 years and older in the recent FNRI-DOST survey, wherein the systolic BP increased rapidly while there was a declined in the diastolic BP towards that age group.

The FNRI-DOST survey further revealed that elderly people were 12 times more at-risk of developing hypertension compared to younger individuals based on the study led by Duante in 2001.

Comparing the prevalence of hypertension from 2003 to 2008, there was an increase in the proportion of elderly 60- 69 years identified with hypertension from 45.8 percent in 2003 to 48.9 percent in 2008. The prevalence of hypertension among the 70 years and over elderly adults decreased from 56.0 percent in 2003 to 53.5 percent in 2008.

Meanwhile, the 2003 NNS considered previous medical diagnosis of hypertension by a doctor or a nurse or whether the subjects were taking anti-hypertensive medications or not during the time of survey. This is because subjects may have normal BP measurements when they are taking anti-hypertensive drugs.

The results showed that hypertension was prevalent among elderly women 60 years and older than elderly male counterparts, affecting about 57 percent and 50 percent respectively.

The report implies that elderly people need proper care and attention in as much as prevention is important to curtail the development of chronic degenerative diseases later in life.*

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Democrats Trying to Sway Senior Voters

The Associated Press: Democrats, "running scared in an election year," are hopeful that a $250 check - to help seniors afford prescription drugs - will turn the tide of public opinion. "Democrats ... are trying to overcome older people's mistrust of the new health care law, which expands coverage for younger generations by cutting Medicare payments to hospitals and insurers. … Behind the hoopla, the reality is modest.

"The $250 check, for example, is just a fraction of what many people in the prescription coverage gap have to pay. The gap starts after Medicare beneficiaries and their insurance plan have spent $2,830 on medications. Once total spending reaches $6,440, Medicare's catastrophic coverage kicks in, and people pay only a small amount. That means the 'doughnut hole' is $3,610 this year. ... . A previous Congress, led by Republicans, came up with the idea to control costs. It's never been popular" (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/16).

The Hill reports that administration is acting on other fronts: "Stephanie Cutter, assistant to the president for special projects, took to the White House blog Friday to lambaste Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher program. … 'Under the Ryan plan, the Medicare seniors know and trust would disappear,' Cutter writes. 'In its place, seniors would receive a voucher to buy insurance on the private market.' Ryan argues that the current system, even taking into account the healthcare reform law, is 'on course to collapse'" (Pecquet, 8/14).

In the meantime, outside groups are hoping to bolster Democrats' political fortunes.

Roll Call: "Americans United for Change is dispatching staff and resources to battleground states in what appears to be a shoestring effort to paint Republicans as seeking to destroy Social Security and Medicare. … To prove their claims that Republicans are targeting Social Security and Medicare, Democrats and activist groups like the AUFC cite Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's 'Roadmap for America's Future,' which proposes to overhaul the two programs to ensure they remain solvent without eating up more of the federal budget. ... Republicans contend that Democrats are trying to scare voters" (Drucker, 8/14).

The Seattle Times: In addition, advocacy groups are protesting the presence of lobbyists at the gathering this week of state insurance regulators. "Health-care-reform activists sported surgical gowns and masks as they chanted and handed out packets that offered to 'disinfect' the gathering from a 'lobbyist pandemic.' The packets included soap, a hand wipe, a clothespin and a face mask to protect against 'lobbyist lies ... lobbyist germs ... and lobbyist stench' — underscoring that emotions over health-care reform haven't entirely subsided since President Obama signed a historic reform law in March. … The protest was organized by Washington state Health Care for America Now" (


For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Throw Out Old Medications

Monday, September 20, 2010

If your household is like most in America, you could be unwittingly contributing to accidental poisonings, drug overdoses, and drug abuse, simply by keeping unused, outdated, or expired pharmaceuticals in your medicine cabinet.

That’s why the New Jersey Poison Information & Education System (NJPIES) recommends regular medicine cabinet cleanouts. The changes of season, and the times of year when you reset your clocks, also are good times to clean out your medicine cabinet, according to NJPIES

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Identify & Treat Burns!

HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND TREAT BURN INJURIES

Burns can be painful - and serious. It's all a matter of degree. To know how to treat a burn, and when to call a doctor, first learn to distinguish the different types of burns.

First degree burns: Only the outer layer of skin is damaged. The skin is red, with some swelling and pain. This is the least serious type of burn and can be treated with first aid.

Second degree burns: The first layer of skin has been burned through, and the layer underneath is red and splotchy. Blisters may develop, along with swelling.

Third degree burns: The most serious type of burn, affecting all layers of skin and possibly causing permanent damage to tissues and even bones. Skin may appear either charred and black, or white and dry. For third degree burns, immediate medical attention is needed. Don't remove burned clothing or soak in water, but cover the area with a cool, wet sterile cloth or bandage. If possible, raise the burned area of the body above the level of the heart.

With first degree burns, or second-degree burns that don't cover more than 3 inches of skin, hold the burned area under cool - but not cold - running water for about 15 minutes. Don't put ice on the burn. Wrap the wound in a loose dressing of sterile gauze, keeping air and pressure off the burn. Don't break any blisters that form. The patient can take over the counter medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen for pain.

Keep an eye out for increased redness, swelling, or oozing, and call a doctor if any of these signs of infection develop.

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Managing With Parkinson's Disease

Managing Your PD

Since Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic condition, it is important to develop and maintain a solid PD management plan. Research has shown that those who take an active role in their care see an improvement in their Parkinson’s symptoms.

Managing your care means not only finding the right doctor, but ensuring you are prepared for your visit and talking to your doctors about the right issues. It means, not just taking your medications, but keeping track of when you need to take them. It also might mean using other complementary therapies (speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy).

People with Parkinson’s are best served by a multi-disciplinary approach that provides not only the expertise of a PD specialist, but also the help of a physical therapist, speech therapist, nutritionist and social worker. Some people also require medical consultants in areas such as psychiatry and neurosurgery. It is important that these healthcare professionals are aware of each other and communicate regularly, and that they all know the full list of treatments and medications that each is prescribing.

Learn more by reading:

Implementing the Team Approach to Treating Parkinson's

Start managing your care today:

You and Your Doctor
Coping with Symptoms
Managing Your Medications
Nutrition
Exercise
Complementary Therapies
Finding Support
Staying Independent
Become an Advocate

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Saving Money on Health Care - 4 Tips

Four tips for saving money on health Care

Whether you have individual or group health insurance, costs keep going up and we’re paying more out of pocket, but there are a few ways to guard your pocketbook. Here are four money-saving ideas to consider as you go about your routine health-care activities.

1. You might assume generic drug costs are all the same, but compare them anyway. Prices can vary widely depending on the kind of prescriptions and coverage you have. Shop around at pharmacy chains like Walgreens and Costco to see if your generic drugs cost less there than under your health plan. You may be able to find some savings. Charlie Lichtman, a San Francisco man who recently received notice his health premiums were going to rise 38%, cut his generic-drug tab by about $2,300 a year this way. See this Vital Signs column from early March for more on his quest for answers and savings.

2. Don’t be afraid to question your doctor. Many times potential savings and even patient safety concerns start at the doctor’s office. If your doctor wants to send you for a test, it’s a good idea to ask how the results would affect the course of your treatment. Patients are wise to be skeptical if the doctor is unwilling to discuss his or her reasoning – and both the risks and benefits of doing a particular test.

3. If your doctor sends you for a blood test, consider your options before going to the nearest laboratory. An independent lab like Quest Diagnostics may be able to run the same blood test just as effectively for less money.

4. Review your explanation of benefits forms. You may spot discrepancies or questionable billing practices. If you do, call your health plan, doctor’s office or hospital’s patient accounts line for more details. And if you’re on the receiving end of a persistent billing error that may threaten your credit score, don’t ignore your health insurer. They may be able to help you resolve the problem with your health-care provider.



For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

NEW TREATMENT FOR Early Stage Breast Cancer

Women can now choose to combine surgery and radiation in one breakthrough procedure

Of the nearly 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the U.S., their decision regarding treatment has been limited to two options: a mastectomy, the surgical removal of one or both breasts, or a lumpectomy, the surgical removal of a lump followed by over a month of radiation therapy. But now, thanks to an amazing new treatment called Axxent® Electronic Brachytherapy or eBx, early-stage breast cancer patients can combine their surgery and radiation into one procedure, eliminating any need for post-surgical radiation.

“The fact that my treatment was done before I even woke up is beyond words,” says Marianne Howley, the first patient to undergo the eBx treatment. “I want more women to know about this. I just can’t believe how lucky I was to have this type of procedure available to me in my community.”

The eBx option began as a small clinical trial at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Ill., under the direction of Dr. Adam Dickler, Radiation Oncologist and Dr. Olga Ivanov, Medical Director for the Little Company of Mary’s Comprehensive Breast Health Center. The cutting-edge eBx treatment, which utilizes IntraOperative Radiation Therapy (IORT) and Xoft Inc.’s eBx System, uses a miniaturized X-ray source to deliver localized and targeted radiation, minimizing exposure to healthy tissue.

"At our one year follow-up, the clinical results of the trial have been excellent. The treating physicians and patients have been very happy," says Dr. Dickler, who has recently written and sent the protocol for the eBx procedure to six other hospitals throughout the nation including California, Texas, Michigan, New York and Mississippi. To date, one of the six organizations has its IRB approval and the others are in progress.

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Caring For the Caregiver

Caring for a spouse, parent or other family member who is battling severe mental or physical illness is a labor of love, but one that has its own emotional toll.

Previous research has shown that untrained, primary caregivers who are looking after family face an increased possibility of several physical and psychological health issues—including an increased risk for depressive symptoms and declines in physical health, or feelings of guilt and anxiety should they give up some caregiver responsibilities. To help address these issues and alleviate some of these problems, researchers and mental health professionals have worked to devise intervention strategies to promote well being among caregivers.

Yet, according to new research published last month in the journal Aging & Mental Health, some of these efforts are designed on too narrow of criteria, and fail to account for the large range of stressors, and different combinations of risk factors, that can impact caregivers overall mental and physical health. In an effort to improve caregiver support, researchers at Pennsylvania State University and The Benjamin Rose Institute in Cleveland studied 67 individuals who provide primary care for family members with dementia, analyzing the different stressors that impacted their lives and how those factors influenced not only their loved one's care, but their own well being.


The study included individuals who served as the primary caregivers for relatives with dementia who were not residing in assisted-living facilities such as nursing homes. Researchers collected data by interviewing subjects in their homes for an average of two hours. Participants were asked about 15 different risk factors—from how much assistance they needed to provide their loved one in routine daily tasks such as bathing, dressing or grocery shopping to whether care for the family member with dementia had created broader family conflict.

Researchers found that, though all study subjects shared the common experience of caring for a relative with dementia, the way that this responsibility impacted their lives differed substantially for each person. That is, each risk factor associated with being a primary caregiver—from decreased leisure time and financial strain to anger or strife over the loss of companionship—influenced each individual differently, and in different combinations of varying severity. What's more, how these different factors influenced a caregiver's own mental health differed greatly among participants—while some showed increased signs of depression but didn't experience anger, while for others the emotional fallout was the opposite.

The researchers did find that while certain risk factors increased the likelihood of some outcomes—feeling overwhelmed or suffering worsening health—the total number of stressors had a greater influence on risk for poor mental and physical health outcomes among caregivers than any individual stressor, no matter how severely participants said it impacted them.

The study authors conclude that the findings indicate the need for intervention efforts specifically tailored to individual caregivers, and the combinations of risk factors that most impact them. They write: "For example, a caregiver who has a high rate of depressive symptoms and is in poor health may need a treatment approach that emphasizes relief from caregiving responsibilities. Another caregiver who has depressive symptoms but is in good health may benefit from interventions that increase his/her activity and involvement, such as learning new skills for managing stressors."

Yet recognizing that caregivers need intervention strategies that address their particular needs doesn't mean that there can't be a more systematic approach to developing these interventions, the authors argue. Developing a technique that allows mental health professionals to carefully assess the many, multi-level ways in which caregivers well being is impacted could help determine not only which individuals most need help, but also provide insight toward building "a multicomponent treatment program that can address the caregiver's specific risks and be modified to adapt to the caregiver's changing risk profile." In other words, use a more systematic approach to tailor a program that grows and develops to meet a caregivers changing emotional and psychological needs—so that they can not only nurture their ailing loved ones, but themselves as well.

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Drug for C.O.P.D. Enters Pipeline

It appears that a drug to combat C.O.P.D. is just entering the pipeline here in the United States, as Merck & Co. and Nycomed agreed to jointly market Daxas, a once-daily tablet under assessment to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In a Monday statement, the companies said they would co-promote the drug, generically known as roflumilast, in Canada and certain European countries. And they signed an agreement under which Merck will distribute the drug in the U.K. as well.

In 2009, closely held Nycomed filed a new drug application for Daxas with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On April 23, 2010, Nycomed, Zurich, said that a panel within the European Medicines Agency had urged the agency to approve the drug for marketing in the E.U.

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Baby Boomers In The Role Of Caregiver

Except for the years when my father was serving in World War II, my parents were inseparable during their 54-year marriage. Then, 14 years ago, Dad died at the age of 80 of a brain tumor.

My mother, who was just 73 at the time, was pretty much self-sufficient for about a decade after that. She still played tennis, drove her car, and got together with friends and neighbors, including fellow retirees from her years as a kindergarten teacher who met monthly for lunch. After a few years, Mom had a new romantic partner as well.

Then, about four years ago, my sister and I got “the call.” It was the call to which many baby boomers who have an aging parent can relate. Who makes the call can vary. It can come in many forms -- a phone call, a letter, an e-mail, or even someone making a comment. It is that defining moment, that “wake up call” if you will, the one where you can no longer deny that your parent needs help.

Whether the call is from a physician, a sibling, a spouse or romantic partner, a friend, a neighbor or, in some cases, from the police or even the fire department, it is that call that distinguishes the moment when you go from being an adult child to someone who will now have to be the parent to your parent.

Giving Up the Car
For many of us, the first big change in our parents’ independence occurs when it becomes prudent for him or her to stop driving. (See, “Seniors in More Severe Auto Crashes Than Younger Drivers” which reports on a study conducted at Kansas State that analyzed the driving patterns of those aged 65 and over.

Parents who live in an urban setting, where driving was rarely an issue, may find it has become more difficult for them to take public transportation because of diminished mobility or increased feelings of insecurity around strangers. It is often left to the Boomer to help his or her parents to get around. And that’s just the beginning.

Seek Out Help
If you find yourself becoming your parents’ caregiver, it may be useful to invest some time and money in meeting with an eldercare or geriatric manager or counselor. They can guide your parent or you through the world of senior care that you and your parent or parents are now entering.

Linda A. Ziac, president of the Caregiver Resource Center, has been working in the eldercare field for 35 years. She emphasizes that “no two situations are the same.” Ziac gets calls from adult children who are trying to get things in place but their parent refuses to talk about it, as well as “calls from seniors from 60 to 90 saying that they want to explore help for themselves.”

You can find a local eldercare manager or counselor the same way you would find any trusted professional: ask friends, your own physician, or senior services in your own or your parents’ community for referrals. Then perform due diligence checking out their credentials, testimonials, or websites. Usually there is an initial consultation for a fee and if additional services are requested, you would negotiate with the eldercare specialist what assistance will be needed and what it will cost.

Becoming Your Parents’ Advocate
One of the best gifts you can give to your aging parent or parents is to become their advocate. This is especially important if a parent starts to have a diminished capacity and can no longer deal with such everyday activities as walking, feeding or dressing oneself, making phone calls, or cooking.

As eldercare counselor Ziac points out, there is a big difference between being your parents’ advocate and helping and taking over in a way that makes the parent feel worse. Ziac says, “There has to be a conversation between the senior and the family to honor the wishes of the senior. They can’t just come in and dictate what the right thing is to do.”

Even if the final decision about what your parent wants to do is up to him or her, you can still help by doing some research. For example, if your parent has vision challenges such as macular degeneration, you can explore if there are free services for the visually impaired in your community. Volunteers may be available to read to your parent on a regular basis for one to two hours a week.

As long as your parent is still self-sufficient and able to get to the programs and participate in activities, or has a caregiver to help out as needed, you can explore senior centers in your parents’ community to see what she or he might want to participate in.

Getting a Geriatric Assessment
If you suspect that your parent has Alzheimer’s or another kind of dementia, you might want to get a detailed geriatric assessment through a hospital or a neurologist. This will give you a starting point of how your parent is currently functioning as well as suggestions about what medical or social services your parent would benefit from. One such program is run by the Center for Healthy Aging at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The assessment is conducted by the Geriatric Health Team which consists of a geriatrician, who is a physician, board certified in geriatric medicine, a geriatric nurse practitioner, a pharmacist, a gerontologist, and a social services liaison. (Your parent would first be seen and evaluated by an internist who would make the determination that your parent should be referred to a neurologist or geriatric assessment center.)

Housing and Caregiver Considerations
Author Mike Campbell has spent more than 18 years in the senior housing and care industry including visiting hundreds of nursing homes or assistant living residences on behalf of his former employers. He also comes to this topic from a personal perspective. Campbell and his siblings, all of whom live in Ohio, and his mother, who is 81 and living in Florida, are deciding where she should live since her second husband died. (Campbell’s father died suddenly at age 57 of a heart attack.)

In his book, When Mom and Dad Need Help, Campbell identifies nine basic housing options that seniors and their Boomer children need to consider:

(1) parents moving in and living with you;
(2) adult day services, a community-based option, with your parent still living in their same home;
(3) home care services, while still in the same home;
(4) moving to an independent community with supportive services;
(5) assisted living communities;
(6) stand-alone Alzheimer’s dementia communities;
(7) nursing care facilities;
(8) Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs)which offer all of these levels of care on one single campus; and
(9) hospice, the final option.

Campbell says there are pluses and minuses for each option. One concern is cost but another key factor is the staff. According to Campbell, “You want to have “adequate staff and adequate training.”

In assisted living and nursing care residences, the recommended maximum staff to resident ratio varies depending upon the shift. For the morning (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) shift, Campbell suggests that the maximum assisted living ratio should be 10 residents to one direct care staff. In a nursing home, Campbell’s maximum recommended ratio is 5 direct care staff to one resident.

In addition to finding out the staffing ratio, you and your parent will also want to tour any residences that your parent is considering. Here are some questions you want answered:

• What is the ambiance of the residence?
• Are activity rooms in use?
• What is the dining area like?
• Is the food up to the standards that you and your parent were expecting?
• What will this residential option cost?
• Are there any additional fees beyond the daily room rate and meal charges that you should know about such as charges for various types of assistance, from administering medications to escorting to meals or activities, as well as any one-time or recurring activity fees?
• How long is the lease and what, if anything is the obligation for payment of the monthly rent if there is an extended hospitalization or death that requires breaking the lease?
• How friendly are the staff and fellow residents?
• Is there an emergency system in place if your parent falls and can’t get to the phone such as pull cords in the apartments that connect to the front desk or to 911?

Legal Issues
Hopefully your parents will have already taken care of the major legal issues such as having an irrevocable or revocable trust, a will, a durable power of attorney, and a health care directive. (See “A Legal Wake Up Call for Boomers” for a discussion of these key legal concerns.) You should look at these legal and estate issues from your parents’ perspective. It may be helpful to consult with the family attorney or an elder care attorney on these matters.

As Carolyn L. Rosenblatt, who was a nurse for 10 years, a lawyer for 30 years, and who is now an elder care advisor and author of The Boomer’s Guide to Aging Parents, says, “Everyone needs to have a durable power of attorney for finances and a health care directive for health.”

Everyone Ages Differently, On Their Own Timetable
At the assisted living residence where Mom now lives, there is a petite healthy woman who is 103 years old. Everyone points to that woman as a role model of aging. On the one hand, it is very comforting to know that someone could be 103 and still be in excellent shape, walking on her own, and needing minimal assistance with everyday self-care.

But, on the other hand, it is a false standard by which all others are compared. For one thing I have learned most about aging is that there is a very wide disparity in how or when someone loses their mobility, develops dementia, suffers from chronic pain, arthritis, or contracts life threatening diseases like heart disease or cancer. Therefore, it’s important to keep the focus on the abilities and challenges of each senior rather than making him or her feel unfairly compared to someone else who seems to be faring much better even at a more advanced chronological age.

I have also learned that seniors deal with the changes they are going through in unique ways. Some become very angry and resentful, looking back at the way things were; others are accepting and positive. Excessive and ongoing depression and sadness in seniors, however, is not necessarily a normal part of aging; it is treatable. If your parent is showing signs of chronic depression, seek out a geriatric social worker or counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist for help. (See “Depression Not a Normal Part of Aging” by Fred Cicetti).

Meeting Your Aging Parents’ New Relationships
As your parents’ life changes, they may also be forming new friendships or even romantic relationships, which may be an adjustment for you. For example, 49-year-old Brenda, whose mother died suddenly in 2008 after 51 years of marriage, said it was a challenge dealing with a new stepmother for her and her siblings.

“It wasn’t a few weeks before my father was looking for a new wife,” said Brenda, “and he was quite open about his desires, even before my mother’s funeral. He did not want to be alone and he was going to make sure that was not the case for the rest of his life. Within five months, he was online dating, and he quickly found someone who looked exactly like my mother. It was comforting and disturbing all at the same time. Within 17 months, he was remarried. All has gone well with the marriage, however a couple of my siblings have had great difficulty with the transition to having a stepmother.”

Health Care Issues
Coping with the myriad of healthcare issues is a large part of the aging process and can take a lot of time and attention. Although some parents will be fit and self-sufficient even into their 90s or beyond, others will have one or more health concerns that require your time.

With the advancement in medicine today, conditions that seemed a part of aging that just had to be endured are now treatable even if not curable. For example, there are medications that internists can prescribe for incontinence; urologists may even have additional treatment suggestions including surgical procedures, to minimize or eliminate this as a health care issue. Research advances in treating any number of age-related health care problems, such as macular degeneration, dementia, arthritis, depression, or hearing loss. You may also want to find local or even out-of-state experts who can help.

How Are They Going to Pay?
As elder care advisor and lawyer Rosenblatt points out, “One of the biggest problems we have as Boomers is that many parents did not plan on living this long and have outlived their money.” That leaves the question, how is your parent going to pay for their care?

You may want to hire an elder care attorney or specialist with whom you can have a family meeting to weigh the various options. If your parents got long term care insurance in their 50s or 60s, that is one possible option; if they are already in their 70s or 80s or older, it is probably too late to buy such insurance. Since your parents are over 65, they will have Medicare, but Medicare may not pick up all the healthcare expenses.

Your parent might want to look into the feasibility of buying “gap” insurance which covers some or all of the difference between what healthcare costs are reimbursed by Medicare and the actual costs. (Because of the recently-passed health care reform bill, you may want to check with an elder care expert about what is changing for senior healthcare.)

If your parent needs to go into a nursing home, or if you need a nurse to care for your parent in his or her home, you might want to find out if your parent is eligible for Medicaid to cover some or all of the costs. Since this is an extensive requirement and application process that varies from state to state, you might want to hire an elder care attorney to help your parent with this.

Acceptance and Perspective
Recently I asked my mother, who now needs continual care since she has mobility, vision, and memory issues, if her situation is hard on her. “No,” she answered, much to my surprise. “That’s good to hear,” I replied with relief. Then she continued, with absolute clarity and certainty, “It makes me feel loved.”

I learned so much in that exchange with my mother. I was looking at her situation as an outsider rather than as the one who has resigned herself to the walking and memory challenges that are part of my mother’s new world. I also did not understand that she views her situation from a very different perspective than I do. I am a “young” 61-year-old. My mother’s world is now mostly made up of other seniors with physical and mental challenges of their own who are in their 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond.

Caring For Ourselves
We Boomers also have to remember that it’s okay to turn to other family members, romantic partners, friends, or even local support groups if we need help in our caregiver role. (See “Managing the Stress: Tips for the Caregiver” at the AARP website.

It Will Never Happen To Me!
I try hard to make time for Mom by visiting her regularly and calling often. I like to think that I won’t be so dependent on my children when I am that age. Not me! I jokingly tell my sons, who are now ages 20 and 24, that when their father and I are in our late 80s, we’ll be traveling around the world in a hot air balloon, joyfully independent and healthy.

However, deep down inside I can hear a little voice telling me that my mother and every other senior dealing with the tough physical and mental challenges of growing old probably had that same dream and hope when they were my age. It is a reminder to live our dreams as fully as possible while we still can because aging and all that entails is happening to all of us.

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Smoking & Depression: A Deadly Duo

If you are an incessant smoker, you probably know when you’re feeling down and depressed. Depression in a smoker is usually characterized by doubled amount of cigarette sticks consumed in a day. For ages, our health care community has been trying to solve this very alarming mystery: does depression cause smoking or is it the other way around?.. These two, even if taken separately, indeed can cause major health problems, even trigger underlying ones especially in seniors whose body’s defenses are weaker. The medical community believes that if they are able to pinpoint which of the two comes first, they will be able to decrease the number of casualties for both cases.

Even if a strong link has been established between the two, it doesn’t really prove that one existed as a direct result of the other. In fact, there are quite a number of people who tried smoking for the first time not because they were depressed–just go ask a teenager! The same way as people who began smoking don’t automatically fall into depression. According to a survey done to establish connection between the two, a person who smoke is most likely to reach for a cigarette stick when depressed because of the calming effect a stick has, and because the feeling of depression doesn’t usually go away that easily—and the calming effect of a cigarette stick is all but temporary—he or she will surely consume another stick, in an attempt to somehow alleviate the bad feeling. In a way, depression doubles your cigarette consumption but it was never proven to be the cause of smoking. At present , experts believe that the best treatment for a person who is addicted to smoking and at the same time, experiences depression is to undergo treatment for both, either specialized treatment or separate courses.

It is also wise for the senior to recognize the signs. There are two major points to remember, smoking is an addiction and depression is a disorder. The soonest you recognize these and actually accept your condition—enough to get you to a specialist, the earlier you are saving your life from potentially health risks brought about by smoking and depression.

Nicotine dependence is notably marked by your inability to stop smoking, even in situations you know you are not allowed to. When a senior attempts to stop, he or she will experience withdrawal symptoms like cigarette cravings, restlessness and irritability, dry cough and even flu-like symptoms. On the other hand, depression symptoms are mostly emotional which extends to physical symptoms. Emotional symptoms are severe sadness, feeling worthless and sometimes even guilt, and loss of interest while physical symptoms are fatigue, lack of energy, and sleeping difficulties.

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

PELOSI: GOP Used Fear 2 Fight Healthcare Reform

Pelosi: GOP used fear to turn elderly against health care bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Republicans used a ‘campaign of fear’ to get senior citizens to oppose health care reform.
(CNN) – Republicans used a "campaign of fear" based on false information to get senior citizens to oppose health care reform, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday.

In response to questions at a news conference in her home district in San Francisco, California, Pelosi accused Republicans of spreading misinformation against Democratic health care legislation backed by President Barack Obama, who made the issue his top domestic priority.

"There was a campaign of fear that was launched (at senior citizens) as soon as the president was elected," Pelosi said.

The reform plan includes cutting the costs of Medicare, the government-run health plan for seniors, by about $500 billion.


During months of debate on the health care bill signed into law last week by Obama, Republicans repeatedly said it was impossible to cut Medicare costs by such a large amount without reducing benefits.

Obama and Democrats say the Medicare cuts involve eliminating wasteful spending and fraud.

On Monday, Pelosi called the Medicare cost reductions "essential" to health care reform, and said Republican claims the bill would cut benefits for the elderly are "truly false."

Polls show the American public remains sharply divided over the health care issue. Pelosi said she believes polls in coming months will show more support for the bill as the public learns more about it.

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Healthly Lifestyle in Middle Age Helps Seniors

Tackling obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol in middle age is likely to help stave off dementia in later life, say health and ageing experts.

Writing today in an editorial in BMJ Clinical Evidence Dr Tom Russ and Professor John Starr, from the University of Edinburgh say tackling common risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes could cut an individual’s risk of developing dementia by about 20%.

The most important areas to address are increasing levels of exercise across all age groups, and keeping obesity, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels under control in middle age. And of course these measures will also have positive effects on heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

"Modifying these risk factors early enough in life to have an effect is everybody’s business," they write. "Primary and secondary healthcare professionals, health promotion bodies, the voluntary sector and even employers will have to play a part for a national reduction in dementia incidence to occur."

An alternative to rolling out these prevention initiatives population-wide is to specifically target people at high risk of dementia. However, they warn that there remains no preventative strategy proven to reduce the risk of developing dementia or to slow progression.

Dementia will continue to be a condition that demands attention and resources in the coming years but, with adequate funding and urgent health promotion and preventative endeavours, it can be hoped that care-providers will not be taxed beyond their limits, they conclude.


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Five Ways to Care For Your Elderly Parents

Few people gleefully anticipate the task of caring for an aging parent — but plenty seem to deny that it's coming. Haven't you felt like that? Sooner or later, avoidance can thrust adult children into the caregiver role with a shotgun start.

A parent's slip in the bathroom or a collision caused by a mistake in the driver's seat can precipitate a deluge of anguished decisions and rapid changes you're not ready to handle. Suddenly, you could be scrambling to locate account numbers to pay Mom's bills while she's in the hospital, tangling with her insurance company to figure out why coverage for an X-ray was denied, and consulting with your brother—who lives at the other side of the country—about getting Mom into an assisted-living facility. Hasn't she taken care of us for all those years? Why can't we do the same?

You grapple with guilt because your mother never wanted to move out of her home, but now her condition leaves little choice. As the drama plays out, you're also trying to stay afloat at work and look after your other dependents, the kids.

The first step toward avoiding such baptism by fire is to acknowledge you'll most likely take on caregiving responsibilities someday. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, the number of "unpaid family caregivers" is set to reach 37 million by 2050, an 85 percent increase from the year 2000. You can help your parents stay happily independent as long as possible if you start those tough conversations now and do some thorough preparation. Here's a game plan.

The vast majority of senior citizens want to live out their days in their own homes—and without being a burden on their kids. Planning ahead greatly raises your odds of making it happen.

1. Consider hiring a pro. A knowledgeable, neutral professional can assist from the start, even when your parents are still living at home. Locate an expert through the internet to help navigate everything from finding a companion service for Dad to identifying a mediator to help settle family differences over caregiving choices. "You may think you can handle it yourself, but you can't—not when you're so [emotionally] close to the situation," says Don Terrell of Ellensburg, Wash., who got help from a geriatric care manager later in the process when his family sought a facility for his mom, who has Alzheimer's disease. According to NAPGCM, an initial assessment runs $300 to $800, and services cost $80 to $200 per hour, depending on where they're needed.

2. Keep track with technology. Helping your parents remain in their home may be realistic but typically requires at least a few adjustments to keep them comfortable and safe. Savvy families are deploying products like QuietCare, which relies on strategically placed motion sensors, to keep tabs on their elders. Phyllis Baker's 80-year-old father lives alone outside Detroit, nearly five hours away from her home. But she needs only to check her iPhone to allay worries, she says, like "Has he gotten out of bed? Is he in the bathroom and never came out?" No cameras or microphones are involved, so her dad has privacy, and a secure website updates a status report every two hours. QuietCare calls immediately if anything is out of the ordinary. Inspired by her two sons, marines regularly deployed overseas, Baker is considering another tech boost: webcams for "virtual meals" together.

3. Remove booby traps. The National Association of Home Builders has certified aging-in-place specialists who can consult and make structural changes. Extras that you or a specialist might install, says Meri-K Appy of the Home Safety Council, include antiscald devices for showers and faucets (like H2O Stop, a new product) that protect older skin, which is quick to sustain serious burns; alternatively, set water heaters to "low" or at 120 degrees. Carbon monoxide detectors are recommended since elderly people are sensitive to even low concentrations of the deadly gas. Special smoke detectors with strobe lighting or a vibrate feature can wake them up when conventional devices wouldn't—new research suggests the latter are set at frequencies that many elderly people can't hear. Grab bars in the shower and near the toilet are usually a must, but their often ugly appearance isn't. Moen's new SecureMount options are an improvement on institutional-looking models, says Appy, and they don't require tearing down tiles.

4. Visit frequently. The time together matters, plus you'll have a better sense of whether they're safe, mentally sound, and in the best living situation, says Alexis Abramson, author ofThe Caregiver's Survival Handbook. Keep an eye out for subtle changes: Are the plants watered? Is unopened mail piling up? Do they have bruises suggesting they may have fallen? Enlist your family and your parents' trusted neighbors to check in.

5. Anticipate expenses. To help maintain your parents' independence and health, you'll very likely need to pay for a few services. The national average for a home healthcare aide to assist with hygiene and medication, say, is $19 per hour, according to a MetLife Mature Market Institute analysis. Think Medicare will pay? Not if they need the aide for a chronic condition. "I dispel this myth all the time."Adult day care" averages $61 per day, according to MetLife. Lisa Midden got financial assistance for her 88-year-old dad through a Florida state Medicaid waiver and a local grant, but he must requalify each year. "Until we learned about these [benefits], everything was coming out of our pocket," says Midden, whose father lives with her and her husband in Orlando. A few afternoons at adult day care and several hours from a nurse's aide are covered each week, plus the Middens get 12 weekly hours of "respite care." Start with your local Area Agency on Aging

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Get Fit /Stay Fit/ Be Fit/ in Retirement

Recognizing the Advantages of Being Fit in Retirement Age

The benefits of being healthy are infinite, but while we are young, we feel that we can always start living a healthy life "tomorrow." While it may be true that most young people who are of average health can put off the business of being fit for a short while, senior citizens do not have that option.

Being physically fit offers many benefits that can make life much easier for senior citizens. Most of us have a mental picture of what it is like to be elderly, and that picture usually includes poor health and a sedentary lifestyle - how interesting is that? Life as a senior citizen does not have to be that dreary. Elderly people can have a vibrant and exciting lifestyle, and being fit plays a major part in obtaining that goal.

Life Expectancy: It Ain't what it Used to Be

Given technological advances, and more readily available health education, people are living longer than they ever have before. The life expectancy for the average person in the United States is 78 years. Life will be much more enjoyable if you enter the retirement years with the healthiest body possible. Being fit overall will allow you to enjoy your golden years without the hardship of being unnecessarily ill - who wants to be sick when they're old? Your senior years are meant to be enjoyed, so get obsessed with being fit now, so that you can reap the benefits later.

Hercules, Now There Was a Man with a Plan

By being stronger, you will be better able to manage daily duties and physical activities as you become elderly. Maintaining one's fitness level is essential to building strong bones, joints and muscles. Learn about ways to enjoy calcium rich foods (low-fat of course), and incorporate weight bearing physical activities into your daily fitness routine. Don't be a wimp, get friendly with the irons - or, be just a little wimpy and experience the fitness benefits of Pilates or yoga. Pilates and yoga can offer excellent low-impact, strength building benefits for senior citizens.

On a social note: By being fit, you will be able to truly enjoy the planned senior citizen activities at those ubiquitous retirement communities. Imagine it, you can be the social magnet at your local senior centers if you maintain your physical fitness -here's your second shot at being popular if you didn't quite meet the challenge in high school.

Rebuff the Elder Blues

Experts have stated that major depressive disorder is a common ailment for senior citizens. As such, depression in the Elderly has become a serious mental health concern. Along with being an emotionally and physically painful way to experience life, depression can lead to elder suicide; this is a bleak picture indeed. Experts state that exercise and physical fitness can help to bring about relief from symptoms related to depression; so why not listen to the experts?

When you are elderly, it may seem as though the world is more focused on the entertainment and enjoyment of young people - senior citizens are looked upon as being a burden and a drag. The only time commercial media pays any attention to those over 65 is when they air those cheerless death benefit commercials aimed at selling burial insurance. Why on Earth wouldn't any senior citizen be depressed after all of that? Well, turn off the television, load up your Ipod with your favorite tunes, and head out into the sunshine to get your fitness on so that you can beef up your mental outlook.

The writing is on the wall (or, on this web-page): Get out there, start exercising, and get on a quest to be the healthiest senior citizen you can be.


For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Health Care Reform & Medicare

Health Care Reform and Medicare Recipients
Source: Saint Joseph's University

From the time presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt first discussed health care reform in 1912, the topic has been a precedent-setting issue in the U.S. The 2010 passage of health care legislation is no different, but has many Americans in a quandary about how it will affect them. This is especially true of senior citizens.

Seniors, who generally are on fixed budgets and have increased medical needs, have a high stake in health care reform. But unfortunately, the rumors swirling about this topic are as sizeable as the 1,000 pages of legislation. George Sillup, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutical marketing at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, offers clarification on the issues most relevant to this population.

Impact on Medicare — A Mixed Bag
Beginning next year, annual wellness visits and certain preventive services such as cancer screenings, will be free of cost. Medicare beneficiaries will no longer have to pay deductibles and co-insurance for this kind of care. Eighteen months after enactment, the law says Medicare beneficiaries will have access to a comprehensive health risk assessment and a free personalized prevention plan.

Groups that advocate for seniors, including AARP and the Medicare Rights Center, say that there will be no cuts to Medicare coverage for seniors. Additionally, next year, the law provides a 10 percent bonus through Medicare to primary care doctors and general surgeons practicing where they are in short supply.

How will Medicare prescription-drug benefits change? — A Big Win for Seniors
This year, there is a $250 rebate for Medicare Part D enrollees who fall into the “doughnut hole” of drug coverage. “That’s a big improvement,” according to Sillup, “because seniors previously covered under Part D received coverage for their prescriptions up to $2,830 a year, then the participant paid 25 percent of the cost and Medicare covered the remaining 75 percent.” Once their prescriptions exceeded $2,830, they fell into the doughnut hole, or hole of no coverage, until they spent another $3,610 for their medications.

What will happen to Medicare Advantage? — Higher Premiums
Today, Medicare pays private insurers an average of 14 percent more than it spends to care for those enrolled in traditional Medicare. The overpayments help lower premiums and co-insurance costs, and provide extra benefits like vision and dental coverage, even gym memberships. The law would nearly eliminate the overpayments, saving $132 billion over the next decade.

For people currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, premiums and benefits will remain the same through the end of the year according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). But costs could increase and extras may be eliminated next year when payments to insurers are to be frozen at 2010 levels. The payments will start to drop in 2012, Premiums will likely increase next year as they did this year

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Save Money on Prescription Drugs

Saving Money On Prescription Drugs Not Covered By A Medicare Part D Plan

Most of us are painfully aware of the sky-high cost of prescription drugs. The person you’re caring for may be one of the many people 65 and over who have enrolled in a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan to offset those costs. But most Part D drug plans don’t cover any drug costs during the program’s “doughnut hole” — when the patient’s total drug expenses for the year reach $2,700 (in 2009) but his out-of-pocket costs for the year haven’t yet reached $4,350. Or he might not be enrolled in a Part D drug plan. In either case, you’ll want to find ways to save money on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. A number of sources for discounted prescription drugs are described here.

Switching to other drugs

Could the person I’m caring for switch to a generic prescription drug?

He may be taking a brand-name prescription drug that has a generic equivalent. In virtually all cases, there’s no difference whatsoever in the active ingredients between generic and brand-name drugs. If a generic is available, it usually costs far less than the brand name. He can check with his doctor or pharmacist to see whether a generic is available. The pharmacist can also tell him how much he would save by switching. If he has any doubts about whether the generic would work as well for him as the brand-name drug, he can ask his doctor.

Is there an equivalent prescription drug a patient could take?

Different companies within the pharmaceutical industry often produce virtually identical drugs under different brand names. One may be significantly cheaper than another. If a patient is taking a brand-name drug that has no generic equivalent, he can ask his doctor whether another company sells a nearly identical drug under a different name, then ask his pharmacist whether it’s less expensive.

If there’s no cheaper brand-name prescription drug with the same active ingredients, the doctor may know of a somewhat different drug also used to treat the same illness or condition. It may have come on the market after the person in your care began taking the other drug. Or maybe his doctor prescribed the other drug out of habit without considering an alternative. He can ask his pharmacist whether there’s a significantly cheaper option to the drug he is taking. If so, he can check with his doctor whether it’s a good idea to try it. He should ask whether the new drug is likely to be as effective as the one he’s currently taking and what side effects it may have.

Are free sample of drugs from his doctor?

Pharmaceutical companies constantly give doctors loads of free samples of the medications they sell. The reason is simple: They want the doctor to think of their prescription drugs when he’s writing prescriptions. But they also want him to give away the samples to patients in the hope that the drug will be effective and the patient will continue to use it.

Doctors often give away a free drug sample to a patient who only needs one dose. Before the person in your care fills an expensive prescription, he should ask if his doctor has any samples.

Doctors also frequently give a sample to a patient who’s trying out a prescription drug for the first time. But there’s no reason a doctor can’t give away a number of free samples to the same patient. If a patient is without prescription drug coverage for a period of time — for example, when he’s within the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” — he may want to ask whether his doctor could provide him with samples to tide him over until his coverage kicks in again.

Getting financial help

Are there any state or local community assistance programs available?
Some states and local communities have programs to help older adults pay for a prescription drug when the drug or the patient isn’t covered by a Medicare Part D plan or by Medicaid. Some of these programs offer discounts on all drugs, while others help only with certain common drugs. Often such programs limit their help to low-income, low-asset seniors. To qualify, a patient would need to provide evidence of his financial situation, which might include tax returns and bank, property, and investment statements.

Who’s eligible for veterans’ benefits drug coverage?

If someone is a veteran, he may be eligible for free or low-cost medical care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare providers. Different levels of VA coverage — called “priority groups” — are available to veterans with various types and eras of service, sources of medical condition, and financial status.

VA medical care can include free (for low-income veterans) or low-cost prescription drugs provided at a VA pharmacy. However, a VA doctor must prescribe these drugs. A veteran enrolled in Medicare is entitled to coverage for medical service from either the VA or Medicare but not both. So a patient who normally receives a prescription for a high-priced drug from a non-VA doctor would have to see a VA doctor to get the same prescription and have a VA pharmacy fill it at low or no cost.

To find out more about VA benefits, you can visit the Department of Veterans Affairs website. You can also call the general benefits phone service at 800-827-1000 or the health benefits service at 877-222-8387.

Discount drug programs

Is there a pharmaceutical company discount program for prescription drugs?
Some pharmaceutical companies have programs to help low-income seniors by providing certain medications at reduced costs. The programs usually have strict income guidelines and offer only small discounts on certain medicines. Still, even small savings on an expensive medicine can add up if someone takes the drug regularly.

To get the reduced price, a patient must register directly with the pharmaceutical company’s program. His doctor might also have to fill out papers required for enrollment in the program. And some programs provide the drug to the doctor, who then distributes it to the patient.

Are there any nonprofit or retail prescription drug discount programs a patient could join?

Some nonprofit organizations that cater to seniors or have large numbers of seniors in their membership have programs to help members get discounted prescription drugs. These include both national and state organizations, some connected to a particular professional, union, or fraternal group. There may be a membership fee, plus a co-payment for each prescription, and the total savings for any prescription is probably no more than 10 percent. But a 10 percent discount on an expensive medicine can be significant.

Many large pharmacy chains also set up programs to provide discounted prescription drugs for people with Medicare. These programs usually issue a membership card, which a person must present each time he buys a drug at one of the chain’s stores.

Can someone get prescription drugs from Canada?

Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States buy prescription drugs online or by mail order, or travel to Canada from border states to fill their prescriptions. The total runs to billions of dollars a year. The reason? The Canadian healthcare system negotiates with the pharmaceutical companies for reduced prices. Anyone buying these drugs — the same drugs that are sold in the United States for 50 to 80 percent more — in Canada benefits from the discount. The law is murky on this subject; technically, U.S. Customs could seize such drugs, but in practice they almost never do.

To help the person in your care find a reliable Canadian source for prescription drugs, you need to take several steps. First find various options online by searching the Internet for “prescription drugs Canada.” Then investigate any particular source by entering the name of the service in a search engine to look for reports of poor service or fraud. Check with any office of the nonprofit State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) or Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) to vet the reputation of a Canadian pharmacy service that you’re considering. You can find the number for a local office online or in the white pages of the phone directory under SHIP or HICAP. Finally, start small — the first time, order only the smallest available amount of one medication. If that works out well, he can expand his orders to include other prescriptions or larger amounts.

How can I find prescription drug discount programs?

The Medicare website has a link called “Lower Your Costs During the Coverage Gap”, which can direct you to several other links with information about state and local government and pharmaceutical company discount programs. You can get the same information by calling Medicare toll-free at 800-634-2273.

Free information on discount drugs is also available from the federal government’s Area Agency on Aging, a clearinghouse for information about many issues concerning older adults. To contact it, go to the Area Agency on Aging website or call 800-677-1116.

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Can Brain Scans Detect Alzheimer's?

CHICAGO (Reuters) - People with a family history of Alzheimer's disease often have clumps of a toxic protein in their brains even though they are perfectly healthy, researchers said on Monday.

They said the findings could lead to new ways to identify people most likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, when there is still time to do something about it.

"The hope is to one day be able to diagnose very clearly the Alzheimer's disease process before any symptoms occur, when the brain is still healthy. Then the treatments would have the best chance of success," said Lisa Mosconi of New York University Langone Medical Center, whose study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team wants to continue to follow the people in the study to see whether they develop dementia, and they want to replicate the findings in a much larger study.

Several teams have been working on better ways to detect early-stage Alzheimer's disease in hopes of developing drugs that can fight it before it causes too much damage.

Current treatments cannot reverse the course of Alzheimer's, a mind-robbing form of dementia that affects more than 26 million people globally.

Mosconi's team used an imaging technique called positron emission tomography or PET with a fluorescent dye called Pittsburgh Compound B that lights up clumps of a protein called beta amyloid that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

The team imaged the brains of 42 people with an average age of 65, all with healthy brain function. Of these, 14 people had mothers who had Alzheimer's; 14 had fathers with the disease; and 14 had parents with healthy brain function.

Brain scans of all 42 showed that those whose parents -- either fathers or mothers -- had Alzheimer's were more likely to have amyloid plaques in their brains.

This was especially true of people whose mothers had Alzheimer's.

"They have pretty much 20 percent more amyloid beta deposits in their brains. In other words, they had an almost four times greater risk for amyloid beta pathology," Mosconi said in a telephone interview.

The finding confirms other studies that suggest having a mother with Alzheimer's may be a greater risk factor.

"It looks like if you have maternal history of Alzheimer's disease, the risk of amyloid beta plaque and a reduction in brain activity is much greater as compared to having a father affected," Mosconi said.

After advanced age, a family history of Alzheimer's is the single biggest risk factor for developing the disease.

Not everyone who has beta amyloid plaques in their brain develops Alzheimer's disease, but Mosconi said having the plaques does increase the risk.

For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

New Jersey Budget Cuts Affect Seniors

Assembly Democrats rap Senior Services budget cuts

Democratic legislators had harsh words for Gov. Christie's proposed budget on health and senior services Monday, arguing that while the governor had called for "shared sacrifice," his budget would seriously hurt the elderly and other vulnerable citizens.
At the Assembly Budget Committee's 31/2-hour hearing on the Department of Health and Senior Services, Commissioner Poonam Alaigh said the budget decisions had been difficult, but she defended the administration's proposals. Even with 6 percent funding cuts to the department, she said, the budget preserves the core mission of the department, including protecting public health.

Funding for hospital charity care would increase under the budget, she said, along with funding to help seniors remain in home and community-based programs as a cost-effective alternative to nursing-home care.

And Alaigh said that even with the proposed changes, New Jersey would continue to offer among the best health benefits nationwide.

Democratic lawmakers disagreed.

"I don't understand our race to mediocrity," said committee Chairman Louis Greenwald (D., Camden), speaking about proposed changes to New Jersey's low-cost prescription programs for lower-income elderly residents, Pharmaceutical Assistance for the Aged and Disabled and Senior Gold. "This is a program that New Jersey should be proud of."

Legislators said they particularly disliked a proposal to add a $310 annual deductible for the prescription-drug programs and to increase co-payments for brand-name prescriptions from $7 to $15. Co-payments for generic drugs would drop from $6 to $5.

Greenwald predicted that with the increased costs, "we'll see senior citizens rationing drugs, getting sicker, and ending up in emergency rooms and nursing homes for expensive treatment that will cost taxpayers even more."

Assembly Appropriations Chairwoman Nellie Pou (D., Passaic) was one of several lawmakers who noted that increased health-care costs would come on top of cuts to property-tax relief.

"We're talking here about our parents, grandparents, and the cornerstones of our communities who will be out $1,725 in lost property-tax relief and increased prescription-drug fees as people making $500,000 enjoy a $1,630 tax break," Pou said.

Others on the panel echoed those sentiments. "Senior citizens in communities throughout our state are going to feel the sting of this budget while the wealthiest residents enjoy their tax cut," said Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D., Essex).

Assembly Republican Budget Officer Joseph R. Malone III, of Burlington County, hinted that Christie's proposals were not very different from those offered in previous years by other governors, including Democrats.

"Have you heard about co-pays in the past?" Malone asked Alaigh. "Have you heard about pretty much everything you've heard about today?"

Medicaid co-payments are frequently proposed by New Jersey governors in budget proposals, typically to be dropped by the Legislature under pressure from advocacy groups.

Last year, Gov. Jon S. Corzine called for more than 400,000 low-income residents receiving Medicaid assistance to pay up to $10 a month for prescription drugs. The co-payments were eliminated in the final budget.

"This is the beginning of a process in which I think all of us are going to try to work with you to mitigate any damages done by these suggested cuts," Malone said.

The budget committee also met with Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin yesterday to discuss his department's proposal.


For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524

Senior Drug Costs May Decline with New Bill

The Sunlight Foundation reports on a "last minute deal" between pharmaceutical companies and health care reformers. The upshot? Old people covered by Medicare matter more than poor people covered by Medicaid.

According to the Associated Press, Senator Max Baucus stated in an interview that the pharmaceutical industry agreed to provide an additional $10 billion to cover the coverage gap in Medicare Part D known as the “donut hole” in exchange for eliminating the expansion of drug discounts at certain health facilities initially included in the Senate health care bill.

The Senate health care bill would have expanded drug discounts under a Medicaid program that serves over 14,000 covered facilities. The Medicaid 340B program provides outpatient discounts on brand name drugs to a variety of health facilities that serve low-income communities. The provision removed in the reconciliation bill would have expanded access to the discount program to cover inpatient drug purchases....

More here. Big PhRma spent about $100 million in "grassroots" activity and advertising in favor of health care reform.

The AP notes the following:

"Pharma came out of this better than anyone else," said Ramsey Baghdadi, a Washington health policy analyst who projects a $30 billion, 10-year net gain for the industry. "I don't see how they could have done much better."

Costly brand-name biotech drugs won 12 years of protection against cheaper generic competitors, a boon for products that comprise 15 percent of pharmaceutical sales. The industry will have to provide 50 percent discounts beginning next year to Medicare beneficiaries in the "doughnut hole" gap in pharmaceutical coverage, but those price cuts plus gradually rising federal subsidies will mean more elderly people will purchase more drugs.

Lobbyists beat back proposals to allow importation of low-cost medicines and to have Medicare negotiate drug prices with companies. They also defeated efforts to require more industry rebates for the 9 million beneficiaries of both Medicare and Medicaid, and to bar brand-name drugmakers' payments to generic companies to delay the marketing of competitor products.


For more information contact Senior Solutions at (954) 456-8984 or toll free at 1-800-213-3524