Nicotine Patch Helps Against Cognitive Impairment

A nicotine patch worn for six months can improve attention, memory and mental processing in people with mild cognitive impairment, a clinical trial has found. 

Researchers randomly assigned 67 otherwise healthy men and women with M.C.I. to wear a nicotine patch or a placebo patch for six months. The volunteers, nonsmokers whose average age was 76, took periodic tests of mental ability, mood and behavior. 

Those with the nicotine patch showed improvements in reaction times, attention and long-term memory, and more modest improvements in short-term memory. For subjects on the placebo, scores declined on those tests. 

 

 Mild cognitive impairment, or M.C.I., involves a decline in mental acuity that is noticeable but not severe enough to be diagnosed as dementia. It is often a precursor to more severe disease. 

Read about this in the New York Times at    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/health/research/nicotine-patch-helps-against-cognitive-impairment-in-study.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

William Wombacher, your Central Illinois Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) and Social Security Disability Specialist. I'll help you!   www..wombacherlaw.com

 

Serving Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Dunlap, Chillicothe, Morton, Washington, Metamora, Canton and surrounding cites and counties of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton and  Knox Counties in Central Illinois.

  

4 Vitamins That Strengthen Older Brains

Higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E are associated with better mental functioning in the elderly, a new study has found. After controlling for age, sex, blood pressure, body mass index and other factors, the researchers found that people with the highest blood levels of the four vitamins scored higher on the cognitive tests and had larger brain volume than those with the lowest levels.

Omega-3 levels were linked to better cognitive functioning and to healthier blood vessels in the brain, but not to higher brain volume, which suggests that these beneficial fats may improve cognition by a different means. 

Higher blood levels of trans fats, on the other hand, were significantly associated with impaired mental ability and smaller brain volume.

Read about this in the New York Times at  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/health/research/vitamins-b-c-d-and-e-and-omega-3-strengthen-older-brains.html?partner=rss&emc=rss   

William Wombacher, your Central Illinois Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) and Social Security Disability Specialist. I'll help you!   www..wombacherlaw.com

 

Serving Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Dunlap, Chillicothe, Morton, Washington, Metamora, Canton and surrounding cites and counties of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton and  Knox Counties in Central Illinois.

  

  

Old Age and End of Life

By age 85, the average remaining life expectancy for Americans is six years. An 85-year-old has a 75 percent chance of living another three years, but only a one in four chance of surviving for 10. Which category a particular old person falls into has much to do with the medical problems he or she has, or doesn’t have, and with his or her ability to function.

When the odds are that they have only a few remaining years, should doctors discuss that with them? These issues were discussed in a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Smith, a palliative care specialist at the University of California, San Francisco suggested offering to discuss “overall prognosis,” doctorspeak for probable life expectancy and the likelihood of death, with patients who don’t have terminal illnesses. The researchers favor broaching the subject with anyone who has a life expectancy of less than 10 years or has reached age 85.  Dr. Smith and his co-authors, Dr. Brie Williams and Dr. Bernard Lo — a geriatrician and an internist, said “This is about empowering patients to make informed choices and encouraging individual decision-making,”

“Advanced age itself is the greatest predictor of poor prognosis,” said, Dr. Smith and when patients they do think about it, Dr. Smith continued, “they want to get their finances in order, plan for long-term care, spend time with children and friends.” They may be able to take fewer medications and undergo fewer procedures, with the emphasis on quality of life, or otherwise shift priorities.

Read about this  in the New York Times at  http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/the-unspoken-diagnosis-old-age/?partner=rss&emc=rss

 

William Wombacher, your Central Illinois Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) and Social Security Disability Specialist. I'll help you!   www..wombacherlaw.com

 

Serving Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Dunlap, Chillicothe, Morton, Washington, Metamora, Canton and surrounding cites and counties of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton and  Knox Counties in Central Illinois.

New Drugs Raise Hope for Patients With M.S.

After decades of basic research on M.S., the last five years have brought a rapid rollout of new and sophisticated drugs that are changing how this disease is managed and offering patients new hope.“We have a disease that’s gone from having no treatments 20 years ago to having multiple treatment options,” said Dr. Timothy Coetzee, the chief research officer at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “There is a growing recognition that M.S. is becoming a manageable disease.” 

There have also been advances in treating specific symptoms of M.S. Within the past two years, three medications have been approved specifically for M.S. symptoms: Ampyra to improve walking, Nuedexta for uncontrollable laughing or crying, and Botox for urinary incontinence and spasticity in upper limbs. 

Just last year, the first oral drug for M.S., Gilenya, gained approval with data showing it cut the relapse rate by 55 percent. Gilenya causes inflammatory cells called lymphocytes to get trapped in lymph nodes so they don’t travel to the brain, where they would damage neurons.Patients need to be monitored for several potentially serious side effects, including a slowed heart rate and liver and vision problems. One patient recently died 24 hours after starting on Gilenya; the Food and Drug Administration is investigating the cause of the death.

The most potent drug, Tysabri, reduces the relapse rate by about 70 percent, but it comes with a small risk of a fatal brain infection caused by a common virus. Patients may be screened for antibodies to the virus; the risk of infection is considered quite low in those with no sign of the antibodies, and they are given the drug.

At least four other drugs with different mechanisms are in Phase 3 clinical trials and could win approval within the next year, experts say. Some work by protecting nerves from damage.

Read about this in Laurie Tarkan's article in the New York Times at  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/health/new-drugs-raise-hope-for-patients-with-ms.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
 

William Wombacher, your Central Illinois Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) and Social Security Disability Specialist. I'll help you!   www..wombacherlaw.com

 

Serving Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Dunlap, Chillicothe, Morton, Washington, Metamora, Canton and surrounding cites and counties of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton and  Knox Counties in Central Illinois.

  

  

Lawmakers Offer Bipartisan Plan to Overhaul Medicare

A Democratic senator, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and a Republican member of the House, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, unveiled a bipartisan plan on Wednesday to revamp Medicare and make a fixed federal contribution to the cost of coverage for each beneficiary. 

 

Under the proposal, known as premium support, Medicare would subsidize premiums charged by private insurers that care for beneficiaries under contract with the government. Congress would establish an insurance exchange for Medicare beneficiaries. Private plans would compete with the traditional Medicare program and would have to provide benefits of the same or greater value. The federal contribution in each region would be based on the cost of the second-cheapest option, whether that was a private plan or traditional Medicare. 

Unlike the Ryan budget blueprint approved by the House in April, Mr. Ryan said, the new proposal would preserve the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program as an option for all beneficiaries. “Our proposal harnesses the power of competition to address the root cause of medical inflation,” said Mr. Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee.

This something to consider. Read about it in the NY Times at  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/us/politics/lawmakers-offer-bipartisan-plan-to-overhaul-medicare.html?_r=1
  

William Wombacher, your Central Illinois Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) and Social Security Disability Specialist. I'll help you!   www..wombacherlaw.com

 

Serving Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Dunlap, Chillicothe, Morton, Washington, Metamora, Canton and surrounding cites and counties of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton and  Knox Counties in Central Illinois.

SSA to study it's Judges

The Social Security Administration has commissioned an independent review of the federal disability system amid concerns it awards benefits to those who don't deserve them and denies benefits to those who do.

A focus of the study is expected to be the work of roughly 1,500 administrative-law judges, who hear appeals by applicants but whose award rates vary widely.

The administrative-law judges, who work for the Social Security Administration, are essentially appointed for life and have wide discretion to award or deny benefits based on their interpretation of each case.

One such judge, in Houston, awarded benefits in 13% of his cases last year, according to federal data, while another judge, in Kingsport, Tenn., awarded benefits in 99% of his decisions. The average approval rate is around 60%.

A draft of the study is due in August and the final recommendations are to be released in November. The recommendations won't be binding, but they could serve as a blueprint for changes by either the SSA or Congress.

Another focus of the study will be why federal courts are overturning many of the decisions that Social Security judges make when they deny benefits. In 2010, federal courts overturned or found errors in 51% of the roughly 12,000 Social Security appeals they decided, according to Robert Rains, a law professor at Penn State University. 

Read about this in Damian Paletta's article in the Wall Street Journal  at  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204844504577098810070396878.html?mod=rss_Health

Before a case can be appealed to Federal Court the Social Security internal appeal process to it's Appeals Council must be completed and the appeal rejected by the Appeals Council. My opinion about why the federal courts are overturning more cases appealed to the Courts is that the Appeals Council has been significantly expanded in an effort to decrease the the backlog of cases and .less qualified people are reviewing decisions. As a result, more cases at the Appeals Council with errors are coming through giving attorneys no alternative than appealing to the federal court poor decisions.   

 

 

William Wombacher, your Central Illinois Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) and Social Security Disability Specialist. I'll help you!   www..wombacherlaw.com

 

Serving Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Dunlap, Chillicothe, Morton, Washington, Metamora, Canton and surrounding cites and counties of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton and  Knox Counties in Central Illinois.

Surprise! Surprise!----Mystery ALJ's

The "new policy" is that attorneys will no longer be notified of the identity of the Administrative Law Judge who will hear their clients' cases prior to the hearing. The only way you will find out the name of the ALJ is when you get to the ODAR and find out the name of the Judge to whom the case has been assigned. There was a story in the Wall Street Journal where an unnamed source indicated this was coming. This will discourage attorneys from taking certain claimant's cases just before the hearing. There are ALJ's that certainly have their bias in favor or against certain claimants based on the nature of their disabilities or past history. We all wish all of our clients were Mother Theresa but there are lot of nonfunctional people out there that have been victims of abuse, had criminal, mental health problems or have had substance abuse problems in their past. These claims are not settled as you must convince the ALJ that your client is disabled. Does knowing who the ALJ is make a difference as to whether you will take a case just before the hearing --of course.  What is going to be a tough case with a ALJ who has an allowance rate a little above average is going to be impossible with the toughest ALJ in the hearing office.  Nobody wants to bang their head against the wall.

William Wombacher, your Central Illinois Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) and Social Security Disability Specialist. I'll help you!   www..wombacherlaw.com

 

Serving Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Dunlap, Chillicothe, Morton, Washington, Metamora, Canton and surrounding cites and counties of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton and  Knox Counties in Central Illinois.