Category: JAGS Research Summaries

Geriatricians, Internists, and Cardiologists Surveyed About Deprescribing

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Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Research Summary

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As you grow older, you’re more likely to develop health conditions that require taking multiple medications—some of which you may take for a long time. Many older people also take over-the-counter (or “OTC”) medications, vitamins, or supplements as part of routine care. As a result, older adults have a higher risk of overmedication, also known as “polypharmacy”—the medical term for taking four or more medications at the same time. Polypharmacy can increase your chances of unwanted reactions (also called “adverse drug reactions”) due to medications taken on their own or together.

To address this increasingly common problem, healthcare providers are focusing on how to reduce the number of medicines older adults are using through a practice called “deprescribing,” which is when health professionals work with patients to decide to stop the use of one or more medications for which the benefits no longer outweigh the potential harms.

Getting both patients and health professionals on board with deprescribing can be key to its success, however. In order to learn more about physicians’ attitudes and approaches to deprescribing medications for older adults, a team of researchers designed a survey. They published their investigation in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Continue reading →

For Older Adults, Newer Hepatitis C Treatments are Safe and Effective

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Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Research Summary

Viral hepatitis is a disease that causes inflammation of the liver. There are three viruses responsible for most cases of the disease: hepatitis A, B, and C. Hepatitis A is typically caused by consuming contaminated food or water.  Hepatitis B and C usually occur when someone comes in contact with infected bodily fluids, such as blood. The severity of hepatitis can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness.

In 2016, there were an estimated 2.4 million people living with hepatitis C, one of the more severe forms of the disease, in the United States. A hepatitis C infection can be particularly serious for older adults, since many don’t seek treatment until the condition is in advanced stages. What’s more, hepatitis C is considered harder to treat for older people who have lived with the condition for a long time compared to younger people are.  Treatment is often unsuccessful, too, because many of the common treatment options aren’t easy for older adults to tolerate or may no longer be effective as our body changes with age.

Thankfully, newer treatments known as interferon-free direct-acting antivirals offer a promising approach to addressing hepatitis C.  These medications offer cure rates of more than 90 percent in clinical trials and in real life, but they haven’t been studied extensively for older adults. A team of researchers studied this issue and published their findings in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The researchers examined how well people older than 65 tolerated interferon-free direct-acting antivirals compared with younger patients. Continue reading →

Oral Health for Older Adults

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Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Research Summary

Older adults are at an especially high risk for mouth and tooth infections and the complications that can come with these problems. Losing teeth, which is mainly caused by infection, not only leads to changes in our appearance but may also make it harder to chew certain foods. That can make it harder to receive the nourishment we need to function. Complete loss of all teeth (also known as edentulous) is less common now in developed countries like the U.S., but it still becomes more common as we age regardless of where we may live.

Practicing good oral hygiene, using fluoride treatments, and getting regular dental care reduces oral infections and their complications. A recent article published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society offers a helpful overview of oral health for older adults, as well as tips for keeping your teeth and mouth in tip-top shape. Highlights from the article are summarized here. Continue reading →

Care at Home Lessens Risk of Hospital Re-Admission within 30 Days Following Hospitalization for Heart Failure

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Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Research Summary

Older adults who are recovering from heart failure often leave the hospital to stay at rehabilitation facilities (also called skilled nursing facilities) before they return home. However, healthcare practitioners know that the stress of the transitioning from hospital to skilled nursing facility and back to a person’s home can result in an older adult’s readmission to the hospital within 30 days after their discharge.

For that reason, older adults who have heart failure may do better when they get home health care once they return home after their discharges from the hospital and skilled nursing facility.

To learn more, a team of researchers studied the association between hospital readmission risk and receiving home health care after leaving skilled nursing facilities. To do so, they examined the records of Medicare patients, aged 65 and older, who had returned home from skilled nursing facilities following hospitalization for heart failure. Their study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Continue reading →

Data from New Study Supports What Logic Already Says: Being Physically Active Can Lower Older Adults’ Risk for Dying

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Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Research Summary

For older adults, being physically active is an important part of overall good health. In fact, experts say that nine percent of all premature deaths are caused by not getting enough physical activity. Physical activity is known to reduce deaths from heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and mental illness.

A team of researchers looked more carefully at the relationship between death and physical exercise among older adults in Brazil (where the number of older adults grew 40 percent between 2002 and 2012). Their study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

They drew on information from the “COMO VAI?” (Consórcio de Mestrado Orientado para a Valorização da Atenção ao Idoso) study. During the study, from January to August 2014, researchers conducted home interviews with 1,451 adults older than 60. Of these, 971 participants were given wrist monitors to measure their physical activity. Researchers also asked participants about their smoking habits and how they would rate their health. Continue reading →