‘Who is deciding how and where patients should be treated – the doctors, the hospital management or the private health insurer? Who is looking after the best interests of the patient and are they receiving the full benefit of the…
Novus Medica
Medical news service from Penhire
Blog Archives
Des O’Neill: We need to ensure the vulnerable are not the first to suffer
An onslaught by rapacious private insurance companies laid siege to the principle: the initially robust defence by the Government has faltered to the point that companies now offer rates for younger families which severely stretch the reality of community rating…
Mood drug use doubles in care
Lead researcher in the Queen’s University study, Aideen Maguire, who is based in the Centre of Excellence for Public Health Northern Ireland said: “Although drug dispensing is high in older people in the community, we have found that it increases…
Minister reveals intermediate care plan for elderly
THE MINISTER for Health has said the Government is to spend €28 million to establish a new intermediate care tier, to assess and treat older people while ensuring that they do not enter into long-term care earlier than is necessary.…
Reilly plans to establish intermediate care facilities
HEALTH Minister Dr James Reilly is planning to end the practice of admitting older people into long-term care directly from hospital. He wants to establish intermediate care facilities where people can go after they have been discharged from acute hospitals.…
Life-saving ‘Act Fast’ campaign curtailed over cost
THE PROPORTION of stroke patients attending one west of Ireland hospital within the crucial three-hour timeframe almost quadrupled following the Act Fast public awareness campaign, new research shows. The percentage of patients who received thrombolysis, the potentially life-saving clot-busting treatment,…
Gavin Duffy back Health Buddy plan for elderly in Louth
The Health Buddy technology, already in use in Dundalk, is credited with helping to save two lives. It is now introducing the Home Sweet Home project, where 60 houses in the county will be fitted with interactive touchscreens and allow…
We really are [only] as old as we feel
In 1979 Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer carried out a fascinating experiment to see if changing thought patterns can slow aging. Langer assembled a group of men in their 70s and 80s for a “week of reminiscence”, a study of aging…
Des O’Neill on nursing home system
“Given that nurses and family doctors are the largest group of healthcare professionals in the nursing home system, An Bord Altranais and the Irish College of General Practitioners need urgently to consider whether or not their collective attention, and advice…
Interdisciplinary approach to osteoporosis at St James’
OSTEOPOROSIS is known as the silent disease. Quietly depleting the bones of its victims, by the time the condition reveals itself, often in a fracture, it can be too late. “I think osteoporosis is not perceived as a real threat,”…
Eye specialist fears ‘daunting’ challenge of age-related blindness
CLOSE to 240 people are registered as blind in Ireland every year as a result of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the main cause of sight loss in people over the age of 50. Eye disease specialist, Dr Niamh Collins, has…
Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing
The study found cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular diseases are common in older adults with the prevalence of most chronic conditions increasing with age. Hypertension, angina and stroke are most common in men. Osteoporosis, arthritis and high cholesterol are more common in…
Institutions ‘use drugs to subdue residents’
Clinical psychologist with the Brothers of Charity, Dr Brian McClean, said the quality of life for people who live in large residential settings, of which there are 72, is extremely poor and there is a “terrible lack” of activity, respect,…
Times editorial: Too many tablets
Questions have been raised by the results of a recent study by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (Cardi), which found that seven out of 10 older people in nursing homes were getting at least one inappropriately…
Concern over medicine use for elderly
SEVEN OUT of 10 older people in nursing homes in Ireland are being given inappropriate medication, according to a report launched yesterday. Benzodiazepines, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories and medicines used to treat urinary incontinence and indigestion were found to be the drugs…
Fast action on stroke is saving lives
“There have been gigantic steps forward in terms of treatment of stroke over the past four or five years,” says consultant physician in geriatric and stroke medicine, Dr Rónán Collins, who directs stroke services at Adelaide and Meath Hospital in…
Mandatory malnutrition screening urged for elderly
“Obesity is associated with high blood pressure, high glucose and high cholesterol, all of which can be detected and treated by GPs with a simple pill. Patients only need to go to hospital if they have complications,” Prof Gibney said.…
Aidan Hampson GP on Elderly avoiding casualty ordeal
[Letter to Times] Madam, – One of the hardest tasks facing a GP is whether or not to send an elderly sick patient to hospital knowing that they need admission. The days of straight admission to hospital are gone and everybody must…
VHI price hike is attack on elderly
[Letter to Indo >>>] The latest VHI hike in the cost of the popular ‘Plan B plus’ is diabolical. In the case of an elderly couple, it’s simply putting a pistol to their heads. The Government and VHI must take…
One day, you too will be ‘elderly’
Prof Desmond O’Neill: “So you, as a subscriber, are now facing a Catch-22: if you don’t keep subscribing when you’re young, you may not be eligible to join later in life; yet the recent charges suggest that, despite a lifetime…
Second hospital for elderly may face delay in opening
THE opening of a second hospital for the long-stay care of elderly people in Kerry has been delayed because the building may not comply with standards required by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). HIQA is to undertake an…
Dermot Power on staying healthy in freezing temperatures
[From Times >>>] Dermot Power, consultant geriatrician, Mater hospital: “Hypothermia is not as common as you might think, but it still happens. Cold hands, feet, pale skin, puffiness in the face, clumsiness, sleepiness or blacking out are symptoms that older…
Desmond O’Neill: An ‘appalling vista’ in our nursing homes
Some of the most heart-breaking scenes in my clinic over 20 years were from families who were cracking under the financial pressure, yet felt unable to use the only routes to a publicly funded bed. These were either to sue…
Guide aims to gather all ageing-related research
[From Irish Times >>>] A NEWLY PUBLISHED guide aims to give a comprehensive overview of all research related to ageing being undertaken on the island. A Picture of Ageing Research, published by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in…
‘Sense of adventure’ means significant savings for State
“SIGNIFICANT” savings can be made by the State in health and care costs if older people are encouraged to engage in creative arts and in physical activity, according to a new report due to be published tomorrow. The report, by…
Probing the links between psychology and physical health
Aoife O’Donovan also counts 2009 Nobel prizewinner Elizabeth Blackburn as a collaborator. Blackburn, also based at UCSF, has played a central role in uncovering the structure and function of telomeres, the protective “caps” or ends of chromosomes that help prevent…
Half of elderly people on wrong medication
The ’10-minute’ review of the patients in a GP practice, published in the current edition of the ‘Irish Medical Journal’, showed that others needed to have their medications reduced or stopped. Dosage errors were also detected in the sample of…
Most patients reject State’s nursing home care-cost offer
Fewer than 2,000 of the 13,000 nursing home residents in the Government’s Fair Deal scheme have taken an option to have the costs of care taken from their assets after their death. Most are opting to pay the costs of…
