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...
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...
Clinical briefs for Friday, Jan. 13
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 13, 2023
COVID-19 pneumonia requires longer ventilation, but outcomes similar to other pneumonias … Six daily minutes of intense exercise vs. fasting could delay dementia onset: study … Protein may be biomarker...
Cannabis-related issues sending more seniors to the ED, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 12, 2023
Cannabis-related ED visits for older adults shot up by a whopping 1,800% between 2005 to 2019 in California, investigators say. The state’s experience mirrors national trends.
Amyloid brain plaques not a sure sign of Alzheimer’s, researchers find
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 12, 2023
A new study challenges the theory that an increase in brain amyloid protein signals Alzheimer’s disease. The findings may be especially relevant to clinicians as amyloid-targeting drugs such as Leqembi...
Preventable diseases tied to common, age-related eye condition, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 11, 2023
Age-related macular degeneration is linked to two potentially treatable diseases, suggesting new pathways for preventing progression and blindness, investigators say.
Latest COVID shot cuts hospitalizations in seniors by 81 percent: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 10, 2023
Seniors who receive an omicron-adapted shot are 81% less likely to be hospitalized with severe COVID-19, according to a new study from Israel.
Senior care association opens free COVID test kit program to all providers
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 09, 2023
Industry advocate LeadingAge is now offering free test kits to long-term care providers in all care settings and communities.
Vascular risk factors raise odds of Alzheimer’s disease in Blacks, Hispanics: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 05, 2023
Vascular risk helps to explain the outsized odds of Alzheimer’s faced by African Americans and Hispanics in the United States, a new study has found.
On eve of Alzheimer’s drug decision, Congress critiques FDA for Aduhelm review failures
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 03, 2023
An “atypical review process and corporate greed” factored into the FDA’s approval of Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm in 2021, congressional investigators say. They recommend sticking to protocol...