Medical News Today

New models, reinforced by in vivo experimentation, show why 5-10% of bone fractures don't heal properly, and how these cases may be treated to restart the healing process. Results of the model, published September 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, may benefit the ageing population in which the occurrence of bone fractures is expected to rise substantially in the near future...

News outlets are reporting that some states and businesses who oppose parts or all of the health reform law are applying for the financial relief it provides...

Nova Southeastern University recently received a $2.1-million federal grant to provide training to improve care for South Florida's large geriatric population now and for the future. The 5-year grant will expand training and geriatric education for students, faculty, and health care professionals, with the long-term goal of increasing the number of professionals working in geriatrics...

Concerned about rising medical expenses, middle-class Americans are bumping up their monthly retirement savings to cover future health care costs. The First Command Financial Behaviors Index® reveals that average monthly savings solely for health care costs during retirement climbed to $245 in July, up 42 percent from $173 a year ago...

A new UK study that followed a large number of people found that those who took 10 or more prescriptions for oral bisphosphonates, a group of drugs commonly used to treat the bone disease osteoporosis, were at higher risk of developing oesophageal cancer...

Pawlenty's Order Pure Politicking The Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer The move can be explained in no other way than in being a totally partisan decision, intended to shore up his conservatism in what will be a 2012 battle of who is more conservative to wear the Republican mantle for president (9/1)...

Seven states that are suing the federal government to throw out the health overhaul are also preparing to take subsidies that will help them afford medical costs for retirees, The Associated Press reports. "An administration official said Tuesday seven states suing the federal government are among 16 already approved for subsidies to help with the health care costs of early retirees...

The Fiscal Times: A Medicare program that has agreed to pay for counseling for seniors who smoke but are not yet sick could help the program, and America's health system, lower costs. "Smoking costs the U.S. economy $97 billion annually in lost productivity, in addition to the $96 billion a year in direct health care costs, according to [the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services]...

In response to the 'National Hip Fracture Database National Report 2010', Michelle Mitchell, charity director at Age UK, said: "Falls represent the most frequent and serious type of accident in the over 65s...

Commenting on the report from Age UK claiming that one in three nurses would not trust the NHS to care for an elderly relative, deputy policy director Jo Webber said the NHS has made huge strides on nutrition but more still remains to be done...

Repairing torn shoulder muscles in elderly patients is often discouraged because of fears of complications. But a new study conducted at Rush University Medical Center has shown that minimally invasive, or arthroscopic, surgery can significantly improve pain and function...

New research shows that mentally stimulating activities such as crossword puzzles, reading and listening to the radio may, at first, slow the decline of thinking skills but speed up dementia later in old age. The research is published in the September 1, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology...

People want to be informed and asked for consent before deciding whether to let researchers share their genetic information in a federal database. This is according to a team of investigators at Group Health Research Institute and the University of Washington (UW). The team's report, called "Glad You Asked," is in the September 2010 Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics...

Mentally stimulating activities that challenge and engage the brain, such as crossword puzzles, reading, or listening to the radio may help slow down cognitive decline - the gradual deterioration of thinking skills - but may encourage the acceleration of dementia later on during old age, says a report in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Study author, Robert S...

A detailed study conducted by a team from the University of Athens on the Aegean island of Ikaria has demonstrated that moderate consumption of coffee by hypertensive elderly individuals can lead to improvements in aortic distensibility...

Research prize for Bochum's medics They also pointed out that the disease can be diagnosed and counteracted by means of a simple comparison between arm and ankle blood pressure carried out by a GP. Their highly regarded work has now been conferred the Best PAD Research Award 2010 by the Peripheral Arterial Disease Coalition...

Canada should follow the lead of Quebec, Australia and the United Kingdom by publicly funding smoking cessation pharmacotherapies, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Some 5.5 million Canadians (19% of the population) currently use tobacco, a number that has not decreased in recent years...

Older adults are more likely to have destination memory failures - forgetting who they've shared or not shared information with, according to a new study led by Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute. It's the kind of memory faux pas that can lead to awkward or embarrassing social situations and even miscommunication in the doctor's office...

As Reform Improves The Overall Market, Inefficient Insurers Could Take Hits Kaiser Health News We want to spend just a little less, so that we have more money for other purposes. And we want to spend just a little differently, so that we're getting a higher quality, more humane health care system (Jonathan Cohn, 8/30)...

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that more than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries have received prescription drug cost relief through the Affordable Care Act...