All Articles on Healthy Aging

• People with dementia have more preventable hospitalizations

  Compared to individuals without dementia, people who subsequently developed dementia had a significantly higher rate of hospital admissions for all causes. They also had more admissions for “ambulatory care-sensitive” conditions, for which proactive care may have prevented hospitalizations. This suggests opportunities for improving outpatient care of seniors with dementia, according to research in the January 11 Journal of the American Medical Association.
• Many Alzheimer’s patients get drugs with opposing effects

  Many people taking common Alzheimer’s disease medications—cholinesterase inhibitors—are given medications with anticholinergic properties, which oppose their effects. Group Health Research Institute scientists investigated how often that happens and reported on the consequences in an “Early View” study e-published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
• Opioids linked to higher risk of pneumonia in older adults

  Opioids—a class of medicines commonly given for pain—were associated with a higher risk of pneumonia in a study of 3,061 adults, aged 65 to 94, e-published in advance of publication in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study from researchers at Group Health Research Institute and the University of Washington (UW) also found that benzodiazepines, which are drugs generally given for insomnia and anxiety, did not affect pneumonia risk.
• Study of aging in Group Health patients renewed with $12 million grant

  Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) joint project between GHRI and the University of Washington focuses on finding ways to delay or prevent dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, and declines in memory and thinking.
• Pain relievers seem not to prevent Alzheimer's in very old

  A new study shows that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as the pain relievers ibuprofen and naproxen, do not prevent Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.
• Two Group Health physician researchers elected to the Institute of Medicine

  Two leaders from the Group Health Center for Health Studies—Drs. Eric B. Larson and Ed Wagner—have been elected to The Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation's top honors in medicine.
• Good physical function linked to Alzheimer's delay: Research suggests mind-body connection

  The first signs of dementia—including Alzheimer's disease—may be physical, rather than mental, according to a joint study between Group Health Cooperative and the University of Washington.