At-Home Assistance Could Help Support Recovery

Researchers have found significant benefit from surgical treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis with and without degenerative spondylolisthesis – debilitating spinal conditions which, as you may know, can cause leg and back pain, numbness and weakness. Researchers also found no higher overall complication rate and no higher mortality for patients age 80 and older when compared with patients younger than age 80.

“This study demonstrates that surgery for the treatment of lumbar stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis provides significant benefit compared to non-operative treatment in those patients over the age of 80,” said lead study author Jeffrey A. Rihn, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon at the Rothman Institute and associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa.

“Patients in this age group had significant improvement in their function after surgery and complication rates comparable to the younger demographic. Based on the results of this study, surgery should be considered a viable treatment option for these lumbar conditions in patients older than age 80.”

To learn more about the report, visit http://jbjs.org/content/97/3/177.

Even a Little Exercise Helps

A study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation found that just a little exercise by older women is better than none, at least when it comes to lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke and blood clots.

Being active just a few times a week is all it takes. In fact, researchers were surprised to find that more frequent physical activity didn’t result in further reductions in risk.

The study revealed that: 

• Women who performed strenuous physical activity – enough to cause sweating or a faster heart beat – two to three times per week were about 20 percent less likely to develop heart disease, strokes or blood clots compared to participants who reported little or no activity.
•  Among active women, there was little evidence of further risk reductions with more frequent activity.
•  Physical activities associated with reduced risk included walking, gardening and cycling.

“To prevent heart disease, stroke and blood clots, our results suggest that women don’t need to do very frequent activity as this seems to provide little additional benefit above that from moderately frequent activity,” said Miranda Armstrong, M.Phil., Ph.D., the study’s lead author and a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

To learn more about this study, visit http://newsroom.heart.org/news/women-active-a-few-times-weekly-have-lower-risk-of-heart-disease-stroke-and-blood-clots?preview=6863http://newsroom.heart.org/news/women-active-a-few-times-weekly-have-lower-risk-of-heart-disease-stroke-and-blood-clots?preview=6863.