Blood test could diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, UT Southwestern researchers find | Science Blog

"A set of proteins found in blood serum shows promise as a sensitive and accurate way to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found as part of a statewide study.

An analysis of the proteins, plus a clinical exam, proved 94 percent accurate in detecting suspected Alzheimer’s and 84 percent accurate in ruling it out in people without the disease, the researchers said."

Blood test could diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, UT Southwestern researchers find | Science Blog

A new category

One of my regular reads is JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), and today I discovered I'm in a new health category:

"community dwelling ambulatory older adult without a prior heart failure diagnosis."

I'm so pleased.

J&J Hip Replacement Lawsuits Given to One Judge - Bloomberg

Hip replacements are no fun. First there's the pain you tolerate for years until it's intolerable; then the decision; then the surgery; and finally the rehab, and the thought, "Why didn't I do this sooner?" Imagine having one recalled!

"All pretrial proceedings in federal lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson over recalled devices used in hip-replacement surgery will be overseen by a federal judge in Ohio, a judicial panel decided.

U.S. District Judge David A. Katz in federal court in Toledo will supervise evidence-gathering efforts in cases over the ASR XL Acetabular System, which J&J’s DePuy Orthopaedics unit recalled on Aug. 26 after the implants stopped functioning properly."

J&J Hip Replacement Lawsuits Given to One Judge - Bloomberg

No, I haven't had one, but I know many who have.

Health law cut some retirement costs, but retirees will still need big savings

Even though the new health reform law will reduce some health costs in retirement for many people, retirees will still need a significant amount of savings to cover their out-of-pocket health expenses when they retire, according to a report released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Women in particular will need more savings than men because they tend to live longer.

For instance, EBRI finds that men retiring in this year (2010) at age 65 will need anywhere from $65,000–$109,000 in savings to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses in retirement if they want a 50–50 chance of being able to have enough money; to improve the odds to 90 percent, they’ll need between $124,000–$211,000.

Women retiring this year at 65 will need even more: between $88,000–$146,000 in savings if they are comfortable with a 50 percent chance of having enough money, and $143,000–$242,000 if they want a 90 percent chance.

These estimates are for Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older: Anyone retiring early, before age 65, would need even more.

The new EBRI analysis details how much savings an individual or couple will need to cover Medicare and out-of-pocket health care expenses in retirement, updating earlier EBRI simulation results from 2008. Some prior estimates have been significantly revised downward as a result of changes to Medicare Part D (prescription drug) cost sharing that will be phased in by 2020 due to the recently enacted health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

SOURCE: “Funding Savings Needed for Health Expenses for Persons Eligible for Medicare,” www.ebri.org.

Quality of death

The United Kingdom ranks number one in quality of death. Apparently, it's a few bricks short of a load in health care, but excels in death care. The Economist Intelligence Unit was commissioned by the Lien Foundation of Singapore, a philanthropic organization, to devise a ”Quality of Death” Index to rank countries according to their provision of end-of-life care. What makes up a "good death?" "The UK has led the way in terms of its hospice care network and statutory involvement in end-of-life care, and ranks top of 40 countries measured in the Index (see Figure 1). This is despite having a far-from-perfect healthcare system (indeed, it ranks 27th on the Basic End-of Life Healthcare Environment sub-category, which accounts for 20% of the overall score). But the UK is top in the Quality of End-of-Life Care sub-category, which includes indicators such as public awareness, training availability, access to pain killers and doctor- patient transparency (and accounts for 40% of the overall score)." The link is for the summary, but there is a white paper available.

EIU.com