Denver Caregiver Alert – Common infections and Alzheimer Link
Published March 19, 2010The Alzheimer’s Society funded research at the University of Southampton in the UK which examined cognitive abilities of people with Alzheimer’s. It found a possible link between high levels of protein in the blood and increased memory loss. People with respiratory, gastrointestinal or other similar infections were more likely to have an elevated protein level linked to inflammation-like reactions in the brain. Research showed that people who caught an infection, such as a simple cold or stomach bug, had twice the rate of cognitive decline as healthy people.
The potential link between inflammatory processes and Alzheimer’s is not yet totally understood. Much more research is needed; however, the research that has been done establishes the importance that people with dementia treat any kind of infection seriously and seek medical help promptly.
The research from this study was published in Neurology journal, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. It raises the viewpoint that common anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen could be used in the fight against Alzheimer’s.
Gerri Tyber, Operations Manager
Barton Home Care – Denver caregiver
Impact on Seniors — Medicare Fraud
Published December 28, 2009Unfortunately, Medicare fraud is outrageously profitable and rather low risk. Miami is the current Medicare fraud capital of the country. Schemes that are launched there are perfected and then exported to other parts of the nation. Situations could involve setting up health care clinics (many often just empty storefronts or post office boxes) and then charging Medicare millions of dollars for therapies that were never actually performed. Criminals learn to submit their bills correctly for bogus claims, and they are compensated in full and in a timely manner by a computer, with no human interaction at all.
Individuals running these scams obtain Medicare numbers by stealing or buying them from doctors, clinics or patients. In one documented circumstance, one Medicare number in the wrong hands triggered payment of more than $1 million for phantom care.
Estimates of losses due to national Medicare fraud range from $11 billion to $60 billion. Arriving at an exact figure calculated by industry experts is difficult.
Medicare’s vulnerability to crooks is due somewhat to the fact that the enrollment program is based on an honor system that is evidently broken. Medicare’s anti-fraud budget is obviously inadequate. This year Congress is allocating an additional $200 million for that budget with another $300 million scheduled for 2010. Hopefully, this money will help the agency upgrade its computer software to flag suspicious bills, to call for more investigations of dubious claims, and to make more random visits to providers. The Obama administration feels that health care reform can be significantly financed with anticipated savings derived from cracking down on Medicare fraud.
Gerri Tyber, Operations Manager
Barton Home Care
We All Need an “Exit” Plan – Advance Directives Help Everyone
Published December 18, 2007Because the future is imprecise, every adult, regardless of their age or health situation, needs to write down the exit plan they want implemented for themselves. If it is not written down, how can anyone be sure they are fulfilling your health care choices? This plan or advanced directive allows you to make your health care choices known before an accident happens or an incapacitating illness affects you. An advance directive is a legal document that states how you want to be treated if you become very ill and there is no reasonable hope for your recovery. Laws vary from state to state but there are basically two kinds of advance directives. They are living wills and durable powers of attorney.
An advanced directive can help establish what life choices are right for you. Do you want mechanical respiration or cardiac resuscitation? These are personal decisions that no one else should make for you. You can have your end-of-life decisions be a matter of record.
You can register an advanced directive with or without the help of an attorney. There are many websites that will help you do this. Terminally ill patients have another option for establishing their end-of-life path which is called POLST. It stands for physician’s order for life-sustaining treatment. It is a simple document that converts a patient’s treatment goals into medical orders. It can complement an already existing advance directive by addressing more specific preferences for end-of-life options such as transference from a hospital to a nursing home.
Marcy Cox, BS Gerontology
