Got Milk? Got Brains.
Oxford researchers say that milk is one of the best sources of vitamin B12--a vitamin that may help protect against the brain shrinkage linked to dementia. In a new study, they found that elderly patients who had a vitamin B12 deficiency had twice as much brain shrinkage as patients with higher levels.
The study's authors are conducting clinical trials to see if drinking milk can protect against memory loss, but in the meantime they say that drinking two glasses per day can bring vitamin B12 levels into a normal range.
Find out more here.
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Depressed Older Adults Have Higher Health Care Costs
A recent NIMH-funded analysis indicates that among Medicare participants with diabetes or congestive heart failure, those who also suffer from depression have significantly higher health care costs than their counterparts who do not have co-existing depression. The majority of participants had diabetes. Many had congestive heart failure. About 20 percent had both. Participants with diagnosed depression spent significantly more money in nearly every health care cost category, including home health care, skilled nursing facility costs, outpatient care, inpatient care, physician charges, and medical equipment.
Read the full article here.
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| Greetings!
The phrase "April showers bring May flowers" reassures us that, even with a dark sky looming, goodness lies before us. As care providers, this is something our team at Freedom Eldercare believes firsthand. For even as a dark cloud of poor health or age may loom over, attentive, gentle and sensitive caregiving may follow. This April, we at Freedom Eldercare encourage our readers to think of the "May flowers" coming ahead in all of our lives. Whatever hardships we might be feeling individually, there is sure to be a sense of joy around the next corner.
Below you'll find the most recent and relevant elder care, aging and home care related news. We strive to educate our friends and contacts (and that means you!) on all the information that is essential to know. We hope you will receive this newsletter in the spirit of community in which it is sent.
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Health Care Spending: Ouch!
 2009 marks the largest one-year increase in total health care spending since CMS began tracking health care spending in 1960. That amount is 17.6% of the gross domestic product, a full percentage point higher than 2008. Overall U.S. health care spending will reach $2.5 trillion in 2009, a 5.5% increase from 2008, when health care spending increased by 6.1%, according to a CMS report in the journal Health Affairs.
The report also estimates growth rates for overall health spending in 2008 of 7.2% for hospitals, 6.2% for physician and clinical services, 9.1% for home health care, and 4.6% for nursing homes.
Listen to more about increased health care spending here.
An abstract is available here, along with a link to the full study which is available for purchase.
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Take Your Meds, Maude...
 Now a Web-based home medication management system provides reminders to seniors who live independently to take their medications. This system was designed and developed by a nurse who came up with the idea while working as a nurse manager on a rehabilitation floor at a life care center.
The negative potential of "poly-pharmacy," the use of multiple medications by a patient, and improper drug interaction all can lead to hospitalization, which further taxes an overburdened health care system. Taking medications properly as part of a daily routine is one way to keep seniors in their homes longer and keep them out of the hospital and nursing homes.
The Med-Assist plan includes as many as six reminders in a day, verification that seniors took their pills, follow-up if there's no answer, compliance tracking, a current medication list for doctors' appointments, the cell phone number of a nurse on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and an option for asking health-related questions with an automatic call to the doctor's office. The calls can also remind seniors to check their blood sugar levels.
Anyone can sign up for this national service here, which includes a link to a free trial.
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Turn Off the TV and Get a Hobby
 The findings of a new study to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle in April show that crafts and other activities which exercise the brain, including reading novels and computer games, can all have a protective effect on the mind and help prevent memory loss. By contrast, the research also found that watching television for hours on end significantly increased the chance of suffering from problems.
Previous studies have shown that those with mentally demanding jobs and high levels of education were less likely to suffer the memory problems associated with the condition. Researchers found that those with stimulating occupations were less at risk, even when they had physical damage to their brain cells.
Read more here.
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