Yearly Archive for: ‘2011’

Diabetes in the US and Arkansas Over 24 million persons in our country currently have diabetes and another 57 million are estimated to have “pre-diabetes.” The Center for Disease Control estimates that these numbers will double by the year 2050 if we do not aggressively attack this problem.1 Nationally about a quarter of those aged 60 and older, have diabetes2 …

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Head and neck cancers account for 3-5% of all cancers in the United States and are ranked as the 8th most common cancer site for men. The general population has approximately a 1% risk of being diagnosed with this type of cancer. In general, these cancers are in the mucosal tissues of the mouth, nose and throat and are usually …

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The College of Health and Behavioral Sciences at UCA is now offering a class entitled “Health Concerns of Aging.” Its purpose is to provide an overview of health concerns of the aging individual. The class, which is an undergraduate course open to all majors, is already making a difference in the lives of UCA students and their families. One component …

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Most healthcare providers are aware of tardive dyskinesia, but associate it with older antipsychotic agents like haloperidol. However, patients who use metoclopramide (Reglan) over a long period of time and/or in high doses may develop tardive dyskinesia. Individuals over the age of 50 are at increased risk. Reports of this risk appear in the media and in ads encouraging persons …

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Graduates of the Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) program at ASU can pursue a Certificate of Recognition of Advance Proficiency in Geriatrics from the American Physical Therapy Association. Recently, ASU Physical Therapy faculty polled their PTA graduates and their employers to determine interest in this certification. Both groups expressed overwhelming interest in expanding their knowledge of geriatrics as it applies to …

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Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA’s) are at the heart of service delivery in long term care (LTC) facilities. They interact most frequently with residents and are often a family’s primary contact for questions about a loved one’s daily activities and/or concerns. Although CNAs are critical to quality of life in LTC, they are often described as overworked, underpaid, and inadequately trained. …

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With the beginning of fall, AGEC activities have gone into high gear. Together with several other groups, we jointly sponsored the annual conference, Nutrition and Aging XXVI: Nutrition in Chronic Disease. We broadcast a video teleconference (VTC) about innovations in falls prevention to over 50 sites across the state and several Veterans Administration sites outside Arkansas and began plans for …

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The Arkansas Cancer Plan — our state’s outline of what can and should be done for cancer prevention, detection and care efforts in Arkansas — recognizes palliative care as an essential component in the cancer control continuum. As such, Chapter 8 of the Arkansas Cancer Plan is devoted to palliative care. According to the Arkansas Cancer Plan, “chronic pain is …

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Communicating with a dental professional can be a challenge on both sides of the conversation. As with most health care providers, these professionals use dental, medical and technical terms so common to them that they easily forget that others do not routinely use this vocabulary. Obtaining, processing and understanding basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions …

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The increasing numbers of elders with Alzheimer’s dementia could create the largest crisis in the history of healthcare. The evolution of cognitive impairment into Alzheimer’s type dementia in America is evident in approximately 5.4 million of the 35 million Americans age 65 and older. These numbers are expected to increase to 7.7 million by 2030 (CDC, 2010). In Arkansas, the …

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