Sen. Mitch McConnell is back home more than two weeks after he fell at a private dinner and was hospitalized with a concussion and broken rib. The Senate Minority Leader spent five days in the hospital and the remainder of the 2-1/2 weeks following his fall in inpatient physical therapy. “I’m in frequent touch with my Senate colleagues and my staff,” McConnell said in a statement released Saturday. “I look forward to returning in person to the Senate soon.” McConnell said he resumed talking directly with his team leadership last Tuesday, saying he was “eager” to return. McConnell, 81, was injured March 8 at a private dinner at a Washington hotel. He’s not the only senator currently out for illness. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is recovering from shingles, while Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is receiving inpatient treatment for clinical depression. Although it’s not clear exactly when McConnell will return to his office, he said he will be working from home for now. The Senate starts an Easter recess Thursday and won’t reconvene until April 17, the Washington Post reported. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on concussion. SOURCE: Washington Post  read on >

Boys born to women who had COVID-19 during pregnancy may be at risk for developmental delays, a new study suggests. Delays in speech and motor function were the most commonly diagnosed conditions in these children at 12 months. They were seen in boys but not in girls, the study authors said. “These findings suggest that male offspring exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in utero may be at increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders,” said lead researcher Dr. Andrea Edlow. She is an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, in Boston. However, she added, “The motor and speech delays noted in our study do not, per se, reveal anything about risk for autism, ADHD [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder], or other diagnoses, which are made later in life. Our study cannot yet answer those questions, and only points to the need for longer-term follow-up of these children, given that increased neurodevelopmental risk has already been noted.” It’s not uncommon that infections during pregnancy affect infants, Edlow pointed out. “Multiple viral and bacterial infections in pregnancy have been associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental diagnoses in offspring. The common thread is maternal immune activation during infection in pregnancy, rather than a specific pathogen,” she explained. As to why boys but not girls are affected, Edlow said that is also seen with other infections. “Boys are known to…  read on >  read on >

There’s nothing like the comfort and security of home. For many, a home is a place filled with fond memories of happy times. It’s no wonder older adults choose to extend their independence by trying to stay in their homes as they get older, an experience called aging in place. But as a person ages, what used to be ordinary in the home can be challenging or even a hazard. Almost one-third of older adults experience a fall. Among them, 55% fall inside the home and 23% fall outside the home, according to AARP. As a caregiver, it’s important to consider what you can do to make the home safe and accessible for an older loved one. “We’re hearing more from the caregivers that are modifying their home so their older relative can move in with them,” Sandy Markwood, chief executive of USAging, a national association of local Area Agencies on Aging, noted in a recent AARP article. Here are some ideas on what changes to the home could make a big difference. Hallway and stair safety AARP suggests checking the stairs to make sure they’re in good condition. Stairwells should be well-lit and there should be secure handrails on both sides. Remove throw rugs in the home. You should also declutter hallways, walkways and stair areas. To improve visibility inside the home at night,…  read on >  read on >

Children with autism are less likely than their peers to receive important vision screening despite a high risk for serious eye disorders, researchers report. Only about 36% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) completed vision screenings during their health checkups, a new study found. That was far fewer than the 59% rate for children without ASD. In addition, the screening rate for Black children with ASD was just under 28%, compared with nearly 40% for white and multiracial kids, the findings showed. “I noticed that many of our patients with autism have never had vision screening, even though it’s recommended for all young children,” said senior author Dr. Brittany Perry, a pediatrician at the Nemours Swank Autism Center in Wilmington, Del. “So, I wanted to study whether this might be a broader disparity — whether kids with autism receive vision screening less often than other kids,” she added in a Nemours news release. Early childhood is crucial for vision development, as well as for early detection and treatment of eye problems, the study authors noted. For the study, Perry’s team examined data for more than 63,800 well visits across a primary care network in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Florida. Children were 3 to 5 years of age. In Florida, nearly 46% of kids with ASD had vision screening, compared to 28% each in Delaware and…  read on >  read on >

For some older adults, thinning bones may be a harbinger of waning memory, a new study suggests. The study, of more than 3,600 older adults, found that those with relatively low bone density were at greater risk of being diagnosed with dementia within the next decade. The one-third of participants with the lowest bone mass at the hip faced double the risk of dementia as the third with the strongest hip bones. Researchers said the findings — published March 22 in the journal Neurology — do not mean that thinner bones help cause dementia. Instead, they suspect that declining bone mass is one part of the early dementia process — before problems with memory and thinking skills become apparent. And that implies that doctors should pay attention to bone health as soon as older adults are diagnosed with dementia, said senior researcher Dr. Mohammad Arfan Ikram. One of the main reasons that people with dementia end up in nursing homes is poor mobility and falls, noted Ikram, a professor at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. “We know that low bone mineral density is a strong risk factor for poor mobility, and falls and fractures,” he said. “Therefore, it can be helpful in persons with early-stage dementia to also pay proper attention to their bone health — and where possible optimize it.” The…  read on >  read on >