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Gerontology & Geriatrics news

Gerontology & Geriatrics

Tracking with care: The ethics of using location tracking technology with people living with dementia

Imagine you're 83 years old, living with dementia in a long-term care home. Lately, your caregivers keep asking you to wear a bracelet on your wrist 24/7. They say it's for your safety, so they can locate you quickly when ...

Genetics

Why important genes 'go quiet' as we get older

The human gut renews itself faster than any other tissue: every few days, new cells are created from specialized stem cells. However, as we get older, epigenetic changes build up in these stem cells. These are chemical markers ...

Inflammatory disorders

Chronic pruritus prevalent among older adults

Chronic pruritus is prevalent among older adults and is associated with moderately impaired pruritus-specific quality of life, according to a study published online Nov. 10 in Acta Dermato Venereologica.

Gerontology & Geriatrics

Quality indicators for palliative care established

Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that each year, an estimated 56.8 ...

Medical economics

The burden of frailty on Australia's health care system

Frailty in older Australians is imposing a staggering burden on Australia's health care system and is driving up costs in community aged-care, new research by Flinders University has revealed.

Medical economics

The elderly still take too many potentially inappropriate drugs

In Canada, prescribing potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs)—drugs whose harms may outweigh their benefits, which may be ineffective, or for which a safer alternative exists—remains very common among the elderly. ...