New data: With no booster, nursing home residents face 30 percent higher COVID risk
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 29, 2023
Nursing home residents who have received the COVID-19 bivalent booster shot are 30% to 50% less likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2 than their fellow residents who haven’t gotten boosted, the...
FDA advisers endorse bivalent vaccine for all COVID mRNA shots
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 27, 2023
A panel of experts on Thursday agreed that the bivalent COVID-19 vaccines should be used as both initial and booster shots, phasing out the original vaccines.
Pandemic disrupted dementia care, increased antipsychotic prescriptions: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 26, 2023
Clinicians relied on these drugs to address behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia during the pandemic. Experts are calling for a new approach to assessing treatment needs.
VA’s narrative medicine program improves senior patient care, docs’ study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 25, 2023
Physicians said that the practice of narrative medicine changed how they framed patient decisions and helped them to guide seniors toward appropriate care.
FDA proposes two annual COVID shots for seniors in ‘simplified’ vaccine schedule
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 24, 2023
In an effort to streamline COVID-19 protection, older adults and others vulnerable to severe disease would receive two annual shots of an updated vaccine, according to a plan to be evaluated on Thursday...
CMS to begin audits for schizophrenia coding, says citations will affect quality ratings
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 19, 2023
The agency will start auditing nursing homes this month to determine whether residents’ schizophrenia diagnoses are accurate and appropriately coded. A pattern of inaccurate coding may result in a quality...
CDC: Stroke ‘very unlikely’ in seniors who receive updated COVID vaccine booster
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 18, 2023
The CDC is investigating bivalent booster shot safety after one of its monitoring systems flagged a potential risk of stroke among seniors.
Shortest possible antibiotic therapy protects UTI-prone patients, researchers report
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 18, 2023
Seven to 10 days of antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infection is an effective duration for preventing recurrence, a new study finds.
Hearing aid use linked to lower dementia prevalence, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 16, 2023
Moderate-to-severe hearing loss was associated with a 61% higher prevalence of dementia, while hearing aid use was tied to a 32% lower prevalence in a nationally representative population.
Listen up: Lockdown study reveals music’s role in modulating chronic stress
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 17, 2023
Music listening was linked to lower stress levels and improvements in mood during pandemic lockdowns. The researchers recommend music interventions to foster resilience during psychologically demanding...