Daunting New Report From Advocates Puts Alzheimer’s Projections For 2050 At 14 Million Older Adults
About half of those people will be 85 or older, according to the Alzheimer's Association. There is no way to stop or slow the disease, the most common form of dementia. Other public health news reports on on breast cancer, anesthesia, antibiotics, and weight loss.
The Washington Post:
Alzheimer’s Affects 5.8 Million People 65 And Older. In 2050, That Number May Be Close To 14 Million.
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common dementia among older adults, now affects about 5.8 million U.S. residents 65 and older — 10 percent of that age group, according to a new report from the Alzheimer’s Association. Age is considered the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer’s, with 3 percent of people 65 to 74, 17 percent of those 75 to 84 and 32 percent of people 85 and older — or nearly a third — having the disease. By 2050, the number of U.S. adults 65 and older with Alzheimer’s is expected to reach 13.8 million, with about half of them 85 or older. (Searing, 3/16)
The Washington Post:
Genetic Sequencing Can Help Breast Cancer Patients With Treatment
When Lisa DeAngelico found out she had Stage 4 breast cancer two years ago at age 47, she says one of the hardest parts about her diagnosis was telling her mother. That’s because her mother had already lost her sister and niece to the disease. They had hoped DeAngelico would be spared from the family curse. So when DeAngelico’s doctor asked her whether she wanted to undergo DNA testing to better understand her family genetics, she agreed to offer a blood sample and meet with a genetic counselor. (Richards, 3/15)
The Washington Post:
Anesthesia Emerged From A Glass Globe Filled With Ether
In 1846, a dentist and a surgeon tried something dramatically new: the first public operation performed with anesthesia. Armed with a glass globe filled with ether, they anesthetized a patient and painlessly removed a tumor from his neck. “Gentlemen, this is no humbug,” John Collins Warren, the surgeon, supposedly exclaimed. (Blakemore, 3/14)
The New York Times:
Children With Pneumonia Don’t Routinely Need Antibiotics
When children have pneumonia, giving them an antibiotic may be no more helpful than giving them none. Antibiotics are effective only for bacterial pneumonia, not viral, and it is often difficult to tell the difference. So doctors often prescribe an antibiotic for children just in case. A new study suggests that it might be better to skip it. (Bakalar, 3/16)
The New York Times:
How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off
Many people who have struggled for years with excess weight know that the hardest and often the most frustrating job is not getting it off but keeping it off. Recent decades have seen countless popular diet schemes that promised to help people shed unwanted pounds, and as each of these diets failed in the long run, they spawned their successors. (Brody, 3/16)
