Archive for August, 2010

August 26, 2010

Do You Have a Depressed Parent in Baltimore, MD?

I found some great advice about depression in the elderly and what signs to watch out for. Read the excerpt here and the full article at Prevention.

Is Your Parent Depressed?

7 million Americans over age 65 suffer from the disease, and many are not getting the help they need. Here’s how to make sure your mom or dad isn’t one of them.

By Trisha Gura, PhD

Amy Caldwell first sensed that her mother was depressed during a phone call last September. “My life is miserable,” said the 77-year-old widow, who lives in Tempe, AZ, and suffers from asthma. “I don’t want to live any longer.”

Caldwell’s heart sank. Was this a genuine suicide threat? Caldwell, 43, who lives in Boston, decided not to take a chance and flew out to see her mom.

She set up appointments with a family physician and pulmonologist, who put her mother on a new regimen that eased her breathing problems for a couple of months. But then her mother suffered another attack and, during a dispiriting phone conversation with Caldwell’s brother, dropped another bomb: “I should just get a razor, slit my wrists, and get this over with already.”

This time, Caldwell’s brother hopped on a plane, while Caldwell contemplated the inescapable truth: In addition to the physical ailments her mother suffered from, she was very likely depressed.

That put her mom in the company of 2 million other Americans over age 65 who suffer from depression, as well as another 5 million who struggle with some but not all symptoms of the crippling disease. Their plight is one of the great hushed-up scandals of American health care:

As many as 90% of people suffering from depression in late life are not getting the care they need. The suicide rate in adults age 75 and older is a shocking 1 1/2 times the average–higher than that of any other group, including teenagers.

Elderly people receiving home care are twice as likely to suffer major depression as those in nursing homes. A whopping 78% of them receive no treatment at all. Patients diagnosed with major depression spend almost twice as much money on their health care as patients who don’t have the disease.

Read more….

For the best in Elder Care, visit CMK Home Care at www.cmkhomecare.com.

August 18, 2010

Summer Safety in Baltimore, MD

Summer Tips for Elderly: Stay in Air Conditioning, Drink Plenty of Water

I found this article with tips on keeping the elderly safe in the summer heat. Please read the excerpt here, and the full article at McKnight’s.

Summer can be dangerous for elderly and frail individuals, who are especially prone to heat-related injuries. But taking certain precautions can reduce these risks. The elderly are less able to adapt to hot weather, and typically have a reduced “thirst reflex” that can prevent them from drinking adequate amounts of water, according to Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, founder of the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging. The elderly should not be left in un-air-conditioned spaces for too long, and should be checked twice daily for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, he and other researchers suggest.

…continue reading here.

For the best in senior home care, please visit www.cmkhomecare.com.

August 10, 2010

Sleep Apnea Could Raise Heart Risks for Older Men in Baltimore, MD


From middle age to age 70, the sleep-time breathing disorder could pose a hazard, study suggests.

The snoring and breathing disturbances of sleep apnea may be more than just a nuisance, with a new study linking the condition to higher risks for heart failure and heart disease in middle-aged and older men.

However, the study found no correlation between sleep apnea and coronary heart disease in women, or in men older than 70.

“The key here is that there is a lot of undiagnosed sleep apnea, and that, at least in men, it is associated with the development of coronary heart disease and heart failure. Only about 10 percent of sleep apnea cases are diagnosed, ” said Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, associate professor of medicine, Boston University School of Medicine.

Gottlieb noted that while the jump in heart risk was noteworthy, it was not as large as that seen in previous clinic-based studies of sleep apnea because the participants were drawn from a broad community-based population.

According to background information in the study, sleep apnea sufferers awaken suddenly during the night struggling to breathe, often experiencing a shot of blood pressure- raising adrenaline. Most often, they go right back to sleep, unaware of what happened. But the awakenings are repeated, sometimes up to 30 times an hour, depriving the sufferer of vital oxygen and sound sleep.

The research is published online July 12 in Circulation.

In the study, almost 2,000 men and about 2,500 women — all free of heart problems at the beginning of the research — were recorded as they slept using polysomnograms, which measured the presence and severity of sleep apnea as calibrated on the Apnea-Hypopnea Index.

About half had no symptoms of sleep apnea, the team found, while half had mild, moderate or severe symptoms.

Participants were then contacted at various times from 1998 to the final follow-up in April 2006. During that time, 473 cardiac events occurred, including 185 heart attacks, 212 heart bypass operations, and 76 deaths. There were also 308 cases of heart failure; of these 144 people also had a heart attack.

The study found that men between 40 and 70 years of age who had severe sleep apnea were 68 percent more likely to develop heart disease, and 58 percent more likely to develop heart failure, than those without the condition. Increasing severity of sleep apnea was also associated with obesity, high blood pressure, hypertension and diabetes, all of which are known contributors to heart disease.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, approximately 14 million Americans suffer from coronary heart disease, the most common cause of death in the United States.

Dr. Jordan S. Josephson, a sinus, snoring and sleep apnea specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said the study is important because “it brings a greater awareness to the public about sleep apnea.” He believes that sleep apnea, linked to heart disease through this and other studies, may be an indirect factor in many heart deaths.

Experts estimate that the condition affects 24 percent of men and 9 percent of women, but Josephson believes the numbers are actually higher because people don’t know they have a problem unless a partner or spouse tells them they snore.

“Sleep apnea is [also] the number one medical cause for divorce and the ending of partnerships,” added Josephson, because many couples end up sleeping apart, not sleeping well, and not functioning well during the day.

Dr. Stuart Fun Quan, another of the study’s authors, agreed that the under-diagnosis of sleep apnea is “unfortunate.”

…continue reading HERE.

August 2, 2010

Baltimore, MD: Link Between Depression, Cholesterol May Differ by Gender

MONDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) — Gender-specific regulation of cholesterol levels may help prevent depression in the elderly, suggests a new study.

French researchers followed a large group of men and women aged 65 and older for seven years. They found that depression in women was associated with low levels of “good” high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), which puts them at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, including stroke.

Previous research has shown that certain types of stroke increase the risk of depression.

In contrast, depression in men was linked with low levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). This association was strongest in men with a genetic vulnerability to depression related to a serotonin transporter gene.

The study appears in the July 15 issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry.

“Our results suggest that clinical management of abnormal lipid levels may reduce depression in the elderly, but different treatment will be required according to sex,” corresponding author Dr. Marie-Laure Ancelin, of INSERM, Montpellier, France, said in a journal news release.

…continue reading HERE.