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 >

Patients could soon have access to a new injectable drug to treat atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema. The drug, lebrikizumab, proved effective in teenagers and adults in two clinical trials just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Across both of these pivotal studies for atopic dermatitis, lebrikizumab was highly effective, with a subset of patients responding quite early and then experiencing very durable responses up until week 16 in the initial phase of the study,” said lead researcher Dr. Jonathan Silverberg. He is an associate professor of dermatology at George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. Subsequent data has shown a good response among patients out to a year, he added. Based on these results, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could approve lebrikizumab within a matter of months, Silverberg said. “We’re hoping that by mid-2023 that this will be FDA-approved and available to us to use, which is very exciting to have another highly effective option on the horizon,” he said. Lebrikizumab is an injectable monoclonal antibody designed to target interleukin-13, a biochemical expressed by immune cells that promotes an inflammatory response in the body. “It increases inflammation within the skin. It can increase or amplify the sensation of itch,” Silverberg said of interleukin-13. “And it also can lead to disruption of the skin…  read on >  read on >

If you bought a carbon monoxide detector on Amazon and it was sold under the names GLBSUNION and CUZMAK, stop using it. The U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission issued a warning because these detectors may fail to alert consumers to the presence of deadly CO, which is odorless and colorless. The detectors have a digital display. More than 200 people in the United States die every year from accidental, CO poisoning associated with consumer products. If an elevated level of the deadly gas is in the home and the detector isn’t working, injury or death are likely, CPSC noted. Sensitivity tests performed by the commission on the GLBSUNION and CUZMAK detectors found that they failed to alert when exposed to predetermined concentrations of CO in the amount of 400 ppm. This is a violation of UL 2034, a voluntary safety standard, the commission said in a statement. The CO detectors in the warning are made of white plastic, with approximate dimensions of 4 by 1.5 by 4 inches. The devices are advertised to detect dangerous levels of carbon monoxide and alert with a flashing red LED and a loud alarm pattern. The items sold on Amazon for between $16 and $40. Model No. AJ-938 was sold under the Amazon ASIN B093Y1KK5Q and B093Y637CM. Model No. CD01 was sold under the Amazon ASIN B07MPVK6HG and B07K44HLCV.…  read on >  read on >

Wildfires are known to have a lot of negative impacts on the environment and the health of the people who live through them. Yet another is the worsening of skin conditions, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). The group shared strategies to minimize the effect air pollution can have on people’s skin during its annual meeting, held this past weekend in New Orleans. “The health impact of air pollution from wildfires has not been well studied, but the evidence from our recent studies suggests that short-term exposure to wildfire air pollution can affect the skin and cause flares of certain skin disorders,” said Dr. Maria Wei, a professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco. “We found that the air pollution from California wildfires were associated with an increase in patient visits to dermatologists for both eczema and psoriasis,” Wei added in an AAD news release. “These results are consistent with studies indicating that air pollution from wildfires can be more toxic than air pollution caused by traditional industrial and traffic sources.” Psoriasis happens when the body makes skin cells too quickly, causing them to pile up and form patches on the skin. Eczema is inflamed, itchy, irritated skin. People with the skin condition eczema were more likely to visit dermatologists during the wildfires. Those with psoriasis were more likely to…  read on >  read on >