Elderly people with hearing loss may be at risk of developing cognitive deficits sooner than those whose hearing is intact, according to a new JAMA Internal Medicine study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine. After examining 1,984 older adults who participated in the Health ABC Study, Dr. Frank Lin, a hearing specialist and epidemiologist, ...

Diets high in sugar and fat may not impact the health outcomes of older adults ages 75 and up, according to researchers at Penn State and GeisingerHealthcare System. The research--which appeared in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging--suggests that placing elderly people on restrictive diets for weight loss or to help treat other ...

Danish researchers found that higher blood levels of C-reactive protein, or CRP, are associated with a greater risk of psychological stress and clinical depression, according to this article from The New York Times. Elevated levels of CRP, which is a byproduct of inflammation in the body, were thought to be linked to an increased risk of heart ...

People who experience chronic shortness of breath, or dyspnea, may have a new way to help alleviate their discomfort, according to a Penn State College of Medicine pulmonology researcher. Dyspnea--which most often affects people with chronic respiratory and cardiac disease--has various causes, but few treatments. Generally patients ...

One in five U.S. adults are sleep deprived, and inadequate rest is related to health problems such as diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, according to The Washington Post. In fact, recent studies have shown some links between illness and what is happening in our brains as we snooze. Click here for The Washington Post's interesting and illustrative ...

It's that time of year when you see and hear a lot about flu shots. Medical recommendations suggest that, among other groups, anyone older than age 65 should get the vaccine, with a few exceptions. Recently, an article from Penn State Live's Medical Minute covered the various myths that surround the flu vaccine. To read more about these myths ...

Several studies have concluded that heart attack rates increase during cold weather. But the risk for heart attacks increases even during winter in warm climates. Analyzing death certificates in seven regions with different climates, researchers Dr. Bryan Schwartz and Dr. Robert Kloner found that cardiovascular deaths rose up to 36 percent ...

Eating tomatoes might help prevent strokes. In fact, a new Finnish study suggests that high blood levels of lycopene-an antioxidant found in tomatoes-may be associated with a significantly reduced risk of stroke, according to a study from the journal Neurology. The analysis prospectively followed 1,031 men ages 46 to 55, measuring their blood ...

Silent heart attacks are more common, and equally damaging, in older adults than heart attacks that doctors and patients immediately recognize, according to a study from The Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers examined data from 936 men and women ages 67 to 93 from Iceland who underwent EKGs and MRIs to detect if heart ...

There are several myths that revolve around how and why a person experiences pain. Sorting out the facts about pain allows caregivers to assess and understand pain, and take action, as necessary, according to a report from Penn State Live. One common myth about pain focuses on pain with aging. Many older people believe that taking pain medicine ...