Health Headlines - December 3

Fewer Older Americans Struggle With Disabilities: Study

The number of older Americans with a chronic disability has dropped dramatically in the last 20 years, and the rate of decline has accelerated as well.

That's the encouraging news from a new federal study that found the prevalence of chronic disability among people 65 and older fell from 26.5 percent in 1982 to 19 percent in 2004-05. The findings suggest that the health of older Americans continues to improve at a critical time in the aging of the population, the researchers said.

"This continuing decline in disability among older people is one of the most encouraging and important trends in the aging of the American population," said Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

"The challenge now is to see how this trend can be maintained and accelerated, especially in the face of increasing obesity," added Richard Suzman, director of the NIA's Behavioral and Social Research Program. "Doing so over the next several decades will significantly lessen the societal impact of the aging of the baby-boom generation."

According to the study, from 1982 to 2004/2005:

* Chronic disability rates decreased among those over 65 with both severe and less severe impairments, with the greatest improvements seen among the most severely impaired.
* The proportion of people without disabilities increased the most in the oldest age group, rising by 32.6 percent among those 85 and older.
* The percentage of Medicare enrollees 65 and older who lived in long-term care institutions such as nursing homes dropped from 7.5 percent to 4 percent.

If the downward trends continue, they could bode well for the Medicare program's fiscal health, suggested the study, a joint effort between the NIA and Duke University. It was published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Experimental Ultrasound May Detect Breast Cancer


An experimental ultrasound technique may allow doctors to determine if a woman has breast cancer without having to perform a biopsy, suggest the findings of a study reported this week at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

The technique, called elastography, measures how easily breast lumps compress and bounce back. The study of 80 women found that elastography was nearly 100 percent accurate in distinguishing between malignant and benign breast lumps, the Associated Press reported.

Elastography correctly identified 105 of 106 benign lumps and 17 of 17 cancerous lumps.

If the same kind of results are achieved in a larger study, the technique could spare many women the discomfort, stress, and cost of having a breast biopsy, experts said.

"There's a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress, a lot of fear involved," with a biopsy, Susan Brown, manager of health education at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, told the AP. "And there's the cost of leaving work to make a second appointment. If this can be done instead of a biopsy, there would be a real cost reduction."

Concerns Raised About Clotting Drug Used on U.S. Troops

The U.S. Defense Department should look into the use of the blood clotting drug Factor VII on wounded troops in Iraq, two U.S. Senators say.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) called for the investigation after reports that the drug may have caused life-threatening clots, the Associated Press reported.

In a letter to Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Mikulski said the Pentagon should track all patients who receive Factor VII on the battlefield in order to assess whether they are at increased risk for blood clots and other complications. As of Thursday morning, she had not received a reply.

In related news, a group of experts that specialize in hematology and blood clotting says there are "rightful concerns" about the use of the drug on the battlefield, the AP reported.

The seven scientists and doctors made the comment in an editorial they wrote for an upcoming issue of the journal Applied and Clinical Thrombosis/Hemostasis.

"Our soldiers are already in great danger and the availability of a lifesaving drug such as [Factor VII] is welcome," they wrote. "It is, however, equally important to recognize and investigate the reported adverse reactions with its use to avoid additional risk to these Army personnel."

Factor VII was originally designed to treat patients with rare forms of hemophilia. The U.S. military says the drug gives front-line doctors a way to control potentially fatal bleeding in wounded troops, the AP said.

U.S. Workers Prefer Traditional Health Plans

A survey released Friday shows that Americans with employer-sponsored health coverage are more likely to sign up for traditional plans instead of consumer-directed products, which have been promoted as a way to reduce healthcare costs.

When given a choice of at least two plans, 55 percent of workers chose a preferred provider organization (PPO), 40 percent selected a health maintenance organization (HMO), and 19 percent went with a consumer-directed plan, the Associated Press reported.

The survey by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Studying Health System Change also found that 39 percent of the 2.7 million people enrolled in employer-sponsored consumer directed health plans in 2006 were not offered other choices.

Consumer-directed health plans feature high deductibles and tax-advantaged savings accounts. This type of plan is supposed to help reduce health care costs by making patients more accountable for their health spending decisions, the AP reported.

However, the survey findings suggest that Americans don't necessarily want that kind of responsibility, said Jon Gabel, one of the study authors and vice president of the Center for Studying Health System Change.

"Most Americans are risk-averse. They don't like making financial decisions," Gabel told the AP.

Young Adults Who Cook Eat Healthier

Young American adults who buy their own food and prepare meals at home eat fast food less often, consume more fruits and vegetables, and eat a more healthy diet overall than those who don't take part in the planning and cooking of their meals, according to University of Minnesota researchers who surveyed more than 1,500 people, ages 18 to 23.

The survey found that 31 percent of young adults who were heavily involved in meal preparation ate five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, compared with 3 percent of those with little involvement in meal preparation.

But even among those who did take part in buying and preparing food, many did not meet recommended dietary guidelines.

"Cooking skills, money to buy food and time available for food preparation were perceived as inadequate by approximately one-fifth to more than one-third of the sample," the study authors wrote. "To improve dietary intake, interventions among young adults should teach skills for preparing quick and healthful meals."

The study appears in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.