Study: Loneliness Could Drive Doctors’ Visits

Experiences of loneliness and social isolation can lead to increased health care use among seniors, according to research from the University of Georgia College of Public Health and published online in the American Journal of Public Health. The study found that the frequency of physician visits was particularly influenced by chronic loneliness, and suggests that the identification and targeting of interventions for lonely elders may significantly decrease physician visits and health care costs.
 

“We often assume that if a person has enough friends and relatives they are doing OK,” noted study co-author Kerstin Gerst Emerson, an assistant professor of health policy and management.

“But loneliness is not the same as being alone. You can be lonely in a crowded room. It's very much about how you feel about your actual social relationships.”

If you get an idea that you or an aging loved one could, in fact, benefit from companionship, why not encourage her to become more active by taking up a hobby or joining a book or card club. Or, if getting out or health doesn’t permit that, perhaps try  inviting friends over for coffee or tea, or hosting a book or other hobby club. How about a movie night?

For more information about the research, visit http://ugaresearch.uga.edu/research-news/hidden-costs-of-loneliness/.

Each Home Instead Senior Care^® franchise office is independently owned and operated.

Couples Can Motivate Each Other to Exercise

New research finds that if one spouse improves his or her exercise regimen, the other spouse is significantly more likely to follow suit.

“When it comes to physical fitness, the best peer pressure to get moving could be coming from the person who sits across from you at the breakfast table,” says Laura Cobb, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health doctoral student and co-author of the research.

“There's an epidemic of people in this country who don't get enough exercise and we should harness the power of the couple to ensure people are getting a healthy amount of physical activity.”

The American Heart Association recommends that adults should exercise at a moderate intensity for a minimum of 150 minutes per week or at a vigorous intensity for at least 75 minutes per week. Forty-five percent of husbands and 33 percent of wives in the study group met these recommendations at the first visit.

They found that when a wife met recommended levels of exercise at the first visit, her husband was 70 percent more likely to meet those levels at subsequent visits than those whose wives were less physically active. When a husband met recommended exercise levels, his wife was 40 percent more likely to meet the levels at follow-up visits.

To learn more about the research, visit http://www.newswise.com/articles/improving-your-fitness-could-improve-the-fitness-of-your-spouse.
 

Each Home Instead Senior Care^® franchise office is independently owned and operated.

Vegan Diet Could Help Reduce Risk of Colon Cancer

Do you like fruits and vegetables? A good way for seniors to avoid colorectal cancer – the number two cancer killer in the U.S. among cancers – is to eat a vegetarian diet, says a study of Seventh-day Adventist published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Colon cancer incidence rates have dropped 30 percent in the U.S. in the last 10 years among adults 50 and older due to the widespread increase of colonoscopy, with the largest decrease being in senior citizens over age 65.

Although great attention has been paid to screening, primary prevention through lowering risk factors is also an important objective.

Dietary factors have previously been identified as a way to lower the risk factor for colorectal cancer. Eating red meat, for example, is linked to increased risk. On the other hand, food rich in dietary fiber is linked to reduced risk, according to the study’s background information.

The researchers measured the incidence of colorectal cancer among those who eat some form of vegetarian diet and or vegan diet and those that were nonvegetarians or nonvegans.

The risk for colorectal cancer for vegans compared with nonvegetarians was 16 percent lower.

Vegetarians compared with nonvegetarians had a:

·         22 percent lower risk for all colorectal cancers,

·         19 percent lower risk for colon cancer and

·         29 percent lower risk for rectal cancer.

To learn more about this study, visit http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2174939&resultClick=3. 

Each Home Instead Senior Care^® franchise office is independently owned and operated.