A Third of U.S. Seniors Die With Dementia, Study Finds

Report tallies enormous medical, financial and caregiver toll of conditions like Alzheimer's

By Serena Gordon

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- There's more troubling news for America's aging population: A new report finds that one in every three seniors now dies while suffering from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia.

In many cases, dementia is the cause of death or contributes to it, the Alzheimer's Association study finds.

The rate of deaths related to Alzheimer's disease rose 68 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the report. At the same time, deaths from other major diseases, such as heart disease and HIV/AIDS, have declined.

"Alzheimer's disease is a public health crisis that is here," said Beth Kallmyer, vice president of constituent services for the Alzheimer's Association. "One in three seniors is dying with Alzheimer's or another dementia. For other major diseases, the death rate is going down because the federal government funds and invests in research. We have not seen that same commitment for Alzheimer's disease."

Released Tuesday, the report also focuses on the toll that Alzheimer's takes on families, particularly those caregiving from a distance. In 2012, more than 15 million people were Alzheimer's caregivers. They provided more than 17 billion hours of unpaid care that the Alzheimer's group estimated was valued at $216 billion.

Direct out-of-pocket costs for families of people with Alzheimer's are $34 billion, according to Kallmyer. "The cost of care is a challenge, and not everyone has access to the services they need," she said.

About 15 percent of Alzheimer's caregivers live more than an hour away from their loved ones. Out-of-pocket costs for these long-distance caregivers are nearly twice as high as those who live close by. Each year, a long-distance caregiver has nearly $10,000 in expenses compared with about $5,000 for a local caregiver, according to the report.

"Long-distance caregiving can be financially, emotionally and physically more draining. Managing the day-to-day care can certainly be a challenge, but long-distance caregivers can feel guilt, and they may feel resentment from other family members. And, they may have to manage the daily care from a long distance," Kallmyer said.

Overall, the cost of caring for the 5 million people with Alzheimer's disease is about $203 billion, according to the report. That figure includes Medicare, Medicaid, family costs and private insurance costs. The lion's share of the cost -- about $142 billion -- is paid by Medicare and Medicaid.

Even more concerning is that the Alzheimer's Association estimates that by 2050, nearly 14 million people will have Alzheimer's disease. That could drive costs for Alzheimer's care as high as $1.2 trillion in 2050.

The U.S. government currently funds about $500 million in Alzheimer's research, according to Kallmyer. In comparison, heart disease receives about $4 billion in research funding and cancer gets about $6 billion, she said.

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Colon cleanse

I'm not sure if I should be posting here about this, correct me if I'm wrong. But does anybody know how I can naturally cleanse my colon from all the toxins and mucloid plaque? Also how long doe it take for your colon to get completely cleansed? Hours? Days? Months? Help please.

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COPD May Be Over-Diagnosed Among Uninsured

Patients thought to have lung condition were re-evaluated in small study

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- Roughly four in 10 uninsured patients who have been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) actually do not have the lung disease, a small new study suggests.

At issue: Faulty diagnoses were made based on an evaluation of symptoms, rather than by means of the so-called "gold standard" disease test known as spirometry, which shows how well a patient's lungs are working by measuring the amount of air they can exhale and how long that takes.

The study is scheduled for presentation Wednesday at the American Thoracic Society annual meeting in Philadelphia. The data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

COPD is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightness, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Cigarette smoking is the top cause of COPD.

"While there have been many studies of the under-diagnosis of COPD, there has not been a U.S.-based study that has quantified the problem of over-diagnosis," Dr. Christian Ghattas, a second-year medical resident at Saint Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, Ohio, said in a society news release. "And yet, the cost of treating someone for COPD is high."

How high? The study team cited statistics suggesting the cost exceeds $4,100 per year.

The researchers re-evaluated 80 patients, average age 53, being treated at a federally funded health center based in Akron, Ohio, that is designed to offer medical care to the uninsured and Medicaid patients. All the patients had been diagnosed in 2011 or 2012 as having COPD or as needing an inhaler device often given to treat COPD.

Investigators found that less than 18 percent of the patients had undergone spirometry testing, despite a Global Obstructive Lung Disease recommendation that COPD not be diagnosed without such a test.

Once conducted, spirometry testing revealed that nearly 43 percent of the patients did not have any obstruction that could be construed as COPD.

What's more, another quarter of the patients had a reversible condition that is more typical of asthma than COPD.

"We were shocked at the percentage," Ghattas said. He noted that, overall, probably half the patients were misdiagnosed.

"Although the number of patients in our study was small, I believe this study is representative of an uninsured and underserved patient population," he added. "However, the findings might be different among patients who are insured. They might be higher or lower. We simply don't know," Ghattas said.

But, "it is obviously detrimental to be on medications that won't work for you," Ghattas cautioned. "You won't feel better -- and that by itself can take a psychological toll -- and you may experience side effects that can compromise other aspects of your health."

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Health Tip: Work Your Muscles While Gardening

Title: Health Tip: Work Your Muscles While Gardening
Category: Health News
Created: 3/19/2013 8:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/19/2013 12:00:00 AM

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how to get back my period NATURALLY?

I've been losing weight for past few months and now my period seems skipping and even disappear. My body fat is around 19percent. Help?

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Mischa Barton at the Resurrection LA premiere

SUB Misha Barton wears a black silk bias cut dress and metallic courts to the Resurrection LA premiere - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’ts

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People With High Blood Pressure May Crave Salt

It's important to resist these cravings, study author says

By Maureen Salamon

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- High-salt diets have long been linked to high blood pressure, but new research finds that those with the condition may have a far greater preference for salty foods than those with normal blood pressure.

In a small study of older adults, researchers from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil found that participants with high blood pressure, or hypertension, favored bread dusted with the highest concentration of salt more than twice as much as those with normal blood pressure. Adding other seasonings to the salted bread, however, diminished the preference for salt across both groups.

The question remains: Are people with high blood pressure naturally drawn to salty foods, making them more prone to the condition?

"This is difficult to answer, but I believe that the genetic factor to salt appetite can be the beginning of the process," said study author Patricia Villela, a nutritionist and doctoral student at the university. "I was surprised by the fact that added seasonings may have changed the preference of the elderly, decreasing [their] appetite for salt."

The study was scheduled to be presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension, in San Francisco. Research presented at scientific conferences has typically not been peer-reviewed or published, and results are considered preliminary.

About 67 million American adults -- roughly one in three -- have high blood pressure, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as do nearly 1 billion people worldwide. The condition puts people at risk for heart disease, kidney damage, strokes and vision loss, among other health problems.

Villela and her team analyzed 44 seniors with an average age of 73, including 16 with normal blood pressure readings. All were initially given three pieces of French bread with varying amounts of salt on each. In that test, 68 percent of participants with high blood pressure preferred the bread with the highest concentration of salt, compared with 31 percent of those with normal blood pressure.

Fifteen days later, participants underwent a similar test, but this time other seasonings had been added to the salted bread. In that case, only 14 percent of patients with hypertension and none with normal blood pressure favored the bread with the highest salt content.

Dr. Domenic Sica, president-elect of the American Society of Hypertension, said the findings may have been influenced by the limited number of patients involved.

"The concept of taste retraining in hypertensive patients, either young or old, is at the foundation of this [research] and is studied in a creative manner," said Sica, a professor of internal medicine and nephrology at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond. "How rapidly salt preference fell in this study is surprising, and may relate to the small number of subjects studied and a possible training effect."

Some previous studies have pointed to a genetic predisposition to craving salty foods, Villela said, and although there is no way of knowing who may have this predisposition, patients should know it is important to avoid salt despite the cravings.

"[In future research], it would be important to demonstrate that changes in habits can be maintained in the long term and the effect of these changes is reducing cardiovascular risk," she said.

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