Half of Americans aged 65 and older have prediabetes, and nearly 27 percent have diabetes.   Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.  Diabetes costs $174 billion annually, including $116 billion in direct medical expenses.

In addition, an estimated 79 million U.S. adults have prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.   Prediabetes raises a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance .

Diabetes affects 8.3 percent of Americans of all ages, and 11.3 percent of adults aged 20 and older, according to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet for 2011. About 27 percent of those with diabetes—7 million Americans—do not know they have the disease. 

Prediabetes affects 35 percent of adults aged 20 and older.  In 2008, CDC estimated that 23.6 million Americans, or 7.8 percent of the population, had diabetes and another 57 million adults had prediabetes. The 2011 estimates have increased for several reasons:

 More people are developing diabetes.  Many people are living longer with diabetes, which raises the total number of those with the disease. Better management of the disease is improving cardiovascular disease risk factors and reducing complications such as kidney failure and amputations.

 Hemoglobin A1c is now used as a diagnostic test, and was therefore incorporated into calculations of national prevalence for the first time. The test, also called glycated hemoglobin, measures levels of blood glucose (sugar) over a period of two to three months. Because of this change, estimates of populations with diabetes and prediabetes in the 2011 fact sheet are not directly comparable to estimates in previous fact sheets.

In a study published last year, CDC projected that as many as 1 in 3 U.S. adults could have diabetes by 2050 if current trends continue. Type 2 diabetes, in which the body gradually loses its ability to use and produce insulin, accounts for 90 percent to 95 percent of diabetes cases. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include older age, obesity, family history, having diabetes while pregnant (gestational diabetes), a sedentary lifestyle, and race/ethnicity. Groups at higher risk for the disease are African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and some Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Half of Americans aged 65 and older have prediabetes, and nearly 27 percent have diabetes.   Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.  Diabetes costs $174 billion annually, including $116 billion in direct medical expenses.

The post Americans With Diabetes Now Nearly 26MM appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

Both of these illnesses may be affected by diet a study published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reveals. 

Researchers examined data regarding the associations of dietary patterns with mortality through analysis of the eating patterns of over 2500 adults between the ages of 70 and 79 over a ten-year period. They found that diets favoring certain foods were associated with reduced mortality.

By 2030, an estimated 973 million adults will be aged 65 or older worldwide according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. This study sought to determine the dietary patterns of a large and diverse group of older adults, and to explore connections between these dietary patterns with survival over a 10-year period.

Researchers were able to group the participants into six different clusters according to predominant food choices including healthy foods, high-fat dairy products, meat, fried foods, and alcohol and sweets and desserts.

The “Healthy foods” cluster was characterized by relatively higher intake of low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish, and vegetables, and lower consumption of meat, fried foods, sweets, high-calorie drinks, and added fat. The “High fat dairy products” cluster had higher intake of foods such as ice cream, cheese, and 2% and whole milk and yogurt, and lower intake of poultry, low-fat dairy products, rice, and pasta.

The study was unique in that it evaluated participants’ quality of life and nutritional status, through detailed biochemical measures, according to their dietary patterns.

After controlling for gender, age, race, clinical site, education, physical activity, smoking, and total calorie intake, the “High-fat dairy products” cluster had a 40% higher risk of mortality than the “Healthy foods” cluster. The “Sweets and desserts” cluster had a 37% higher risk. No significant differences in risk of mortality were seen between the “Healthy foods” cluster and the “Breakfast cereal” or “Refined grains” clusters.

The post New Study Ties Diet To Longer Life appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

Ischemic strokes occur when blood vessels supplying the brain are blocked. Hemorrhagic strokes, caused by bleeding in the brain, are less common.  Stroke is a leading cause of the need for costly long-term care according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, the national trade organization based in Los Angeles, California.

While being overweight increases a person’s likelihood of having stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure, the question of whether being overweight or obese directly ups stroke risk has not been answered adequately; evidence from past research has been controversial.

Researchers examined medical literature for studies with at least four years of follow-up that looked at stroke risk based on body mass index, or BMI, a standard measure of weight in relation to height used to gauge how fat or thin a person is. They found 25 studies including 2,274,961 people, who had a total of 30,757 strokes.

People who were overweight were 22 percent more likely to suffer an ischemic stroke than normal weight people, while the risk for obese people was 64 percent higher, the researchers found. Hemorrhagic stroke risk wasn’t higher for overweight people, but it was 24 percent higher for obese people.

A person’s risk of having a stroke within the next 10 years can be estimated based on their gender, blood pressure, whether or not they smoke, and whether or not they have diabetes.

For example, a 62-year-old man whose systolic blood pressure (the top number) is 125, doesn’t smoke, and does not have diabetes or other cardiovascular problems, would have a 4 percent risk of stroke over the following decade; if the same man had a systolic blood pressure of 160 (140 and above is too high) and wasn’t receiving treatment for high blood pressure, his risk of stroke within the next 10 years would be 15 percent.

Obesity would raise the risk of stroke to nearly 6 percent for the man with normal blood pressure, and to 25 percent for the man with untreated high blood pressure.

The post Being Overweight Increases Stroke Risk appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

According to medical reserachers, after taking a thiazolidinedione (TZD) for one year, women are 50 percent more likely to have a bone fracture than patients not taking TZDs. And those at the greatest risk for fractures from TZD use are women older than 65.

Older women are already at a higher risk of osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related fractures, which might explain why they appeared to be the most affected by TZDs, medical experts explain.  The study – one of the largest groups to examine the longitudinal relationship between TZD use and fractures – appears in this month’s issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

TZDs such as pioglitazone and rosiglitazone help keep blood glucose levels on target by decreasing insulin resistance and making body tissues more sensitive to insulin’s effects. TZDs also cut down on the amount of glucose made by the liver in patients with type 2 diabetes.

But in recent years, TZDs have been linked to bone loss and increasing fracture risk. Complicating matters, type 2 diabetes and insulin use are also associated with an increased risk for fractures.

The group studied nearly 10,000 women.  During the study period, 4,511 patients had at least one prescription fill for a TZD. The researchers used electronically maintained medical claims data to identify non-traumatic bone fractures. The increased risk in women appeared after approximately one year of TZD use.

The location of the fractures in this group also was unique. Typically, osteoporosis-related fractures involve the vertebra and hip. This study, however, found TZD use in women to be associated with fractures of the upper extremity and distal lower extremity. Similar findings were observed in treated women older than 65, who were shown to have a 70 percent increased risk for developing fractures. Men, regardless of age, were not at an increased risk for fractures.

“Although two recent studies suggest that men may also be at increased risk for fractures after TZD exposure, we did not observe this association for men, despite having nearly equal numbers of men and women in our study,” says study co-author Zeina A. Habib, M.D.

“Fractures are just one of several problems associated with aging and a frequent cause of needing long-term care by seniors,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  The educational organization notes that currently some 10 million Americans need long-term care services.

The post Link Between Drug And Bone Fractures appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

The findings are based on an analysis of data from 36 million Medicare recipients.  It is the first reseasrch of this magnitude to take a significant look at Parkinson’s disease and its relationship to geographic location and ethnicity. 

Finding clusters in the Midwest and the Northeast is particularly exciting, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in a news release.   These are the two regions of the country most involved in metal processing and agriculture, and chemicals used in these fields are the strongest potential environmental risk factors for Parkinson’s disease that have been identified so far. 

The study was published online Jan. 15 in the journal Neuroepidemiology.  Medical researchers looked specifically at more than 450,000 cases of Parkinson’s disease from 1995 and from 2000 to 2005. 

Posted by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  For more information on insurance planning, visit the organization’s website.

The post Parkinson’s More Common in Midwest And Northeast appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

Women with Down Syndrome have an earlier onset of menopause compared to women in the general population, 44 years of age and 52 years of age, respectively. 

The findings show a strong relationship between the age of menopause onset and the age at which dementia is diagnosed.   Women with Down Syndrome with an early onset of menopause also appear to suffer from dementia at an early age. In addition, my study shows that these women also die younger.

Alzheimer’s disease is the major cause of illness and death among people with Down Syndrome. In particular, the factors affecting the onset of dementia and death are studied. The health development found within this group is in fact an accelerated version of the developments found in the general population. The research results can therefore be translated to similar results for the general population. 

Women should definitely start consider long-term care insurance in their 50s explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  Because of the need to health qualify for this protection, some women may want to start looking at this even earlier.

A first step in the development of Alzheimer is the build up of so-called amyloid in the brain. The deposition of this amyloid occurs under influence of a certain gene, higher levels of which are found in people with Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder in which there are three copies of chromosome 21. This chromosome has various genes that play a role in neurological diseases. The most important of these is the gene that is responsible for the production of the protein amyloid. 

As it appears, not only can a relationship with the age of onset of dementia be determined but also a relationship between early onset of menopause and dying young.

The post Early Menopause Can Result in Earlier Onset Dementia appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

The study performed at the University of Cincinnati and a report about it appears in the 4 January ASAP issue of the American Chemical Society’s bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

The authors wrote there is an urgent need to develop preventive approaches to dementia which is on the rise as our population ages and there is no effective therapy for it.

Blueberries contain polyphenols, comprising mostly anthocyanins, which are known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, combating oxidative stress, which contributes to some neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases.

A paper in a February 2008 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, that presented the findings of the 2007 International Berry Health Benefits Symposium, suggested that these compounds have beneficial effects on cancer, aging, neurological diseases, inflammation, diabetes and bacterial infections.

The researchers recruited people in their 70s showing early signs of memory changes, got them to complete memory and cognition tests, then asked them them to drink two to two and a half cups of commercially available blueberry juice a day.

Three months later, the volunteers underwent the same memory and cognition tests.  Compareing the before and after results, researchers found the volunteers who had drunk blueberry juice had improved paired associate learning and word list recall. The results also showed a trend toward reduced depressive symptoms and lower glucose levels.

Posted by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  For a no-obligation cost quote for long-term care insurance visit the non-profit organization’s online Consumer Information Center.

The post Prescription For Memory: Blueberry Juice appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

The study conducted by Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia was able to demonstrate that simple training with weights that seniors can easily handle improved ability to make accurate decisions quickly.  In addition, the medical team found that the exercises led to increased walking speed, a predictor of considerable reduction in mortality.

Previous studies have shown that aerobic exercise training, such as walking or swimming enhances brain and cognitive function. However, seniors with limited mobility are unable to benefit from this type of exercise.

“Cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease among seniors is a pressing health care issue and is a key risk factor for falls,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  Falls cause hip fractures which create a need for long-term care especially among seniors.

An estimated 5.1 million Americans currently have Alzheimer’s disease.  This includes 4.9 million people over the age of 65 according to the organization.  “Every 72 seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer’s,” Slome adds.  “Anything people can do to prevent the need is worth looking into.”

The post Weight Training Improves Cognitive Function In Seniors appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

Researchers admit that the lifelong benefits of higher education for memory in later life are quite impressive, but do not clearly understand how and why these effects last so long.  Their new findings point out that education early in adulthood does not appear to be the only route to maintain your memory. 

The study found that intellectual activities undertaken regularly made a difference. Among individuals with low education, those who engaged in reading, writing, attending lectures, doing word games or puzzles once or week or more had memory scores similar to people with more education.

The study, called Midlife in the United States, assessed 3,343 men and women between the ages of 32 and 84 with a mean age of 56 years. Almost 40 percent of the participants had at least a 4-year college degree. The researchers evaluated how the participants performed in two cognitive areas, verbal memory and executive function-brain processes involved in planning, abstract thinking and cognitive flexibility. Participants were given a battery of tests, including tests of verbal fluency, word recall, and backward counting.

Those with higher education said they engaged in cognitive activities more often and also did better on the memory tests, but some with lower education also did well.  Researchers note that the findings are promising because they suggest there may be ways to level the playing field for those with lower educational achievement, and protect those at greatest risk for memory declines.   The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging.

The post Mental Exercises Beneficial As Alzheimer’s Prevention appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

Osteoporosis causes bones to become fragile and easy to break: it is more common in older people, especially women past the menopause according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  Some 10 million Americans currently need long-term care services. 

Among people aged 50 and over, half of women and one fifth men suffer from the condition.  Experts note that as our population of 78 million baby boomers age, the numbers of cases and deaths increase accordingly.

The scientists explain that bone is not a dead material but a living, dynamic, and finely balanced system of bone formation and breakdown.  Cells called osteoblasts make new bone by producing a matrix that then becomes mineralized, while cells called osteoclasts break it down.

The researchers suggested that one explanation for why skull bone does not get thinner with age like limb bones do is because it has different bone matrix characteristics due to differences in osteoblasts.  They found that limb bones have significantly higher osteocyte densities than skull bone. 

There was an astonishing total of 1,236 differences; meaning that about 4 per cent of the genome showed different levels of activity in the two types of bone cell.  Some of the genes affected are known to be involved in making healthy bones.   The researchers suggested that because the differences between limb and skull bone were so profound, they must arise early in life, probably at the stage when they are still forming in the womb.

The post Researchers Headed For Osteoperosis Treatment And Prevention appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.