News by Subject Medicine & Health

Older individuals with diabetes impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had a 40% higher one-month mortality rate than those who lived in unaffected counties and a 6% increase ten years later.

Whether insulin treatment was used less frequently and discontinued more often among older adults (ages 75 to 79) in poor health compared with those in good health was the focus of this observational study that included more than 21,000 adults with type 2 diabetes.

Patients with type 2 diabetes who were in poor health were more likely to continue taking insulin after age 75 than their counterparts in better health, according to Kaiser Permanente research published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. As people with type 2 diabetes age, the risks of insulin use can outweigh its benefits, creating the need for increased provider and patient education.

Predicting heart disease might also be a warning sign for Alzheimer's; A new way to think about the environment and Alzheimer's research; Most dementia patients don't receive care from physicians who specialize in brain health.

Broken bones are a bigger deal the older you are: healed bones of older people are weaker and more likely to re-fracture. In a paper published in JCI Insight on Sept. 19, Duke scientists found that a certain protein, which is more prevalent in older people, interferes with bone healing. They hope this discovery will lead to new treatments to help people heal after injuries or surgeries.

Walking may be a key clinical tool in helping medics accurately identify the specific type of dementia a patient has, pioneering research has revealed.

Early palliative care is associated with better survival in patients with advanced lung cancer, according researchers with the Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System and Oregon Health and Science University.

The potential positive, enabling, effects of walking modifications should also be considered when older people's functional ability declines.

New study suggests the gut microbiome has a role in mechanisms related to muscle strength in older adults. Researchers found differences in bacterial profiles of older adults with high and low physical function, bacterial and strength differences in mice colonized with fecal samples from the adults.