UNSW medical researchers are calling for restraint on the use of aggressive life-saving treatments for frail elderly patients at the end of their lives, saying the focus should instead be placed on making patients‘ last days comfortable and dignified. In a study led by UNSW Adjunct Associate Professor Magnolia Cardona and published in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality...
Tag: <span>age old</span>
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Older people less apt to recognize they’ve made a mistake
The older you get, the less apt you may be to recognize that you’ve made an error. Credit: CC0 Public DomainIn a new study, University of Iowa researchers devised a simple, computerized test to gauge how readily young adults and older adults realize when they’ve made a mistake. Older adults performed just as well as...
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Study debunks notion that large chunks of Medicare go to lost causes
June 28, 2018, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Around 25 percent of Medicare spending in the U.S. occurs in the last year of people’s lives. This is sometimes discussed as a questionable use of resources: Is society throwing large amounts of medical treatment at some patients in a futile, if noble, effort to extend lives that are...
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Postage stamp-sized skin patch that only needs changing once a week could revolutionise treatment of Alzheimer’s, experts claim
The patch, worn on the upper arm, contains the same active medicine as Aricept The drug is already taken in tablet form by thousands of dementia sufferers It is not a cure but does ease symptoms and slows down the rate of progression The patch releases a round-the-clock flow of medicine through the skin A...
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Scientists unravel molecular mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease
Detailed brain cell analysis has helped researchers uncover new mechanisms thought to underlie Parkinson’s disease. The study, published in Nature Communications, adds to our growing understanding of the causes of Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, and could influence drug design in the future. For years, scientists have known that Parkinson’s disease is associated with a build-up of alpha-synuclein protein...