Care of the Elderly

2018/06/24MEDICAL UPDATE

EHA 2018: The Issue of Frailty in MM

(Author: Maria Dalby; Interviewer: Esther Drain) When treating patients with MM frail patients are less able to tolerate aggressive treatment and therefore have poorer OS. In the era of novel agents there is a medical need for maximising tolerability and optimising efficacy in elderly patients by individualising therapy based on fitness rather than chronological age. Professor Sonja Zweegman from Amsterdam hosted a Meet the Expert session at EHA 2018 which highlighted some of the challenges around detecting and assessing frailty and adapting therapy so that frail patients can achieve the best possible outcome.

2017/09/08MEDICAL UPDATE

‘Brain training’ app boosts memory in dementia patients

Author: Gary Finnegan A 'brain training' game developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, could help improve the memory of patients in the very earliest stages of dementia, according to a study published in The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.

2017/05/17MEDICAL UPDATE

Vitamin D-plus-calcium supplementation does not appear to significantly cut cancer risk in older women

By Bruce Sylvester Diet supplementation with vitamin D3 and calcium does not appear to significantly lower risk of cancer in healthy postmenopausal women, researchers reported on March 28, 2017 in JAMA/Journal of the American Medical Association. The new study was double-blind, placebo-controlled, population-based and randomized clinical.

2015/01/13MEDICAL UPDATE

Despite risks, benzodiazepine use highest in older people

National Institutes of Health-supported study examines prescribing patterns.  Prescription use of benzodiazepines, increases steadily with age, despite the known risks for older people, according to a comprehensive analysis of benzodiazepine prescribing in the United States.

2013/02/21MEDICAL UPDATE

Psych drugs increase in care homes

A study by Queen's University Belfast has found that the dispensing of psychotropic drugs to older people in Northern Ireland increases on entry to care homes.  According to the study, antipsychotic drug dispensing in older people more than doubled from 8.2 per cent before entry to care homes to 18.6 per cent after entering care.