Articles Posted in Elder Health

Back in June, Kaiser Health News investigation in conjunction with the PBS NewsHour published the results of an investigation in which they uncovered over 100 cases since 2012 where people with dementia used guns to kill themselves or others. Kaiser wrote about it on their website. The shooters often acted during bouts of confusion, paranoia,…

Under the New York Health Care Proxy Law you can appoint someone you trust to make health care decisions for you if you lose the ability to make those decisions yourself. That person is considered your health care proxy or agent. A health care proxy is a way to eliminate confusion among your loved ones…

The second man to walk on the moon, 88-year-old 88 Buzz Aldrin is fighting his two youngest children who he claims are colluding with his former manager Christina Korp to seize control of his estate by alleging that he has dementia. He sued the trio in a Florida court in June. Korp and the Aldrin…

A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease has uncovered why some people that have brain markers of Alzheimer’s never develop the classic dementia that others do. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and affects more than 5 million Americans. People suffering…

In the United States alone, 5.7 million Americans are thought to have Alzheimer’s disease. Experts estimate that by 2050, this number will have reached 14 million. According to recent estimates, almost 50 million people worldwide currently have dementia and this number is expected to double every 2 decades, reaching over 130 million by 2050. Research…

Choosing a healthcare proxy helps to ensure you receive the care you want at the end of life. Your healthcare proxy, or agent, should be someone you trust, a family member or close friend. Your agent makes medical decisions for you when you no longer can. You can ask your proxy to make all your…

Even though strokes are the leading cause of preventable deaths, very few people know much about them. So, the American Stroke Association has published a list of things you didn’t know about strokes for its 20th anniversary. Here are the top 10. There are three different types of strokes: Ischemic, Hemorrhagic, and TIA (Transient Ischemic…

According to a Human Rights Watch report, nursing homes are doping tens of thousands residents with anti-psychotic drugs that don’t have diagnoses that require them. Not only that they are doing it without the patients’ consent. In the report called, “They Want Docile,” the group claims 179,000 residents of long-term nursing homes across the country…