Hands to Help Seniors

A study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found that seniors that stayed sexually active had higher cognitive function as they aged.  Older men and women who were satisfied with their sexual relationships and considered sexuality to be an important part of aging performed better on cognitive tests than those who felt it was unimportant.  This is the first study of its kind—former studies have focused on how active seniors were but not the importance of it.  The study looked at almost 2,000 people 71 and older, about three quarters of which had a partner.  A quarter of those said sexuality was important or very important while 41% said it was not important.  

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A panel of nutrition experts working for the Obama administration are working on updated nutritional guidelines and as they do so, many are saying they should consider the environment when coming up with the new guidelines.  Another dramatic change is that the panel is no longer considering cholesterol to be a major concern.  Current guidelines call for Americans to eat no more than 300 milligrams per day, less than the content of two eggs.  Another major change is that the panel is expected to recommend that we drink three to five cups of coffee per day to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  They are expected to recommend that we eat limited amounts of meat, more plant-based foods and seafood since it is plentiful.  The meat industry, not surprisingly, is not happy with the potential recommendations, which influence how billions of dollars of spending on government food programs goes.  “The committee’s foray into the murky waters of sustainability is well beyond its scope and expertise,” Barry Carpenter, president of the North American Meat Institute, told The Wall Street Journal.  The guidelines will be released later this year and it will be interesting to see if lobbyists from the meat industry are able to get the recommendations changed.

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The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has already warned against using the gynecological surgical tool called the laparoscopic power morcelator.  Evidence continues to mount about the lack of safety of the tool (which can spread cancer to other parts of the body), raising questions as to how many women have had their conditions worsen because they went under the knife with this medical device.  The University of Michigan recently released a report which was published in the Journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.  It found that women who had hysterectomies for uterine growth fibroids had significantly higher risk of having the cancer spread if the tool was used than if they didn’t.  This backed up the FDA study and another one which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Oncology which found that the tool was more harmful on women that had hysterectomies than on those which only had the fibroids removed.  Although the FDA did not require a ban on the device, many hospitals have stopped using them and the top manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, is no longer making them.

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Some physicians are asking their patients to allow them to have access to data from health apps which track everything from what you eat to how much exercise that you get.  They believe that allowing this data to be incorporated into electronic patient records might help them spot signs of an ailment sooner rather than later.  This would also allow them to suggest behavioral changes or new medication which could help keep you out of the hospital.  If you do end up in the hospital, they believe that these devices will give the doctors better insight into how you are healing from surgery and whether you are following the suggested regimine.  “Right now, we only see our patients for about a 15-minute visit in the office, and it’s a very constricted view,” Dr. Lauren Koniaris, a specialist in pulmonary critical care, told The Wall Street Journal.  I agree, doctor visits have become too short and there just isn’t enough time for physicians to get to the root of important problems.  

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The Obama Administration is trying to figure out a way to keep the Social Security and Medicare funds afloat as the next 20 years will see millions of baby boomers retiring who will be drawing Social Security and taking Medicare benefits but not paying anything in to the funds.  “We’re dealing with the pig in the python,” Shaun Donovan, the president’s budget chief, told The Wall Street Journal.  The key to keeping the math working on this is to have new workers coming into the workforce that make at least the equivalent amount of money to those who are retiring. But younger workers out of college are unlikely to draw salaries as high as those that are retiring, particularly with many jobs being outsourced overseas.  The White House is looking at a number of ideas such as tripling the tax credit that covers child care and implementing a $500 tax credit for couples when both are working.  These could entice more people to come back into the workforce.  

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