Ambien Ups Risk of Falling in Elderly

Refer to The Case of the Sequestered Mind

The elderly are often unsteady on their feet – but it might not be anything to do with getting old.  One of the world’s most popular sleeping pills could be the unsuspected culprit, researchers have discovered this week.

Zolpidem – which is found in many prescription sleeping drugs, such as Ambien – causes a loss of balance and unsteadiness even several hours after waking up.

Zolpidem causes a “significant loss of balance” in around 58 per cent of elderly people.

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Posted in: Ambien,Elders,falls,Good Health News,natural health news,Zolpidem

Anti-convulsant Drugs Increase Suicide Risk in Elders

This article points out problems with anticonvulsant drugs.   It is important to be because the gabapentin mentioned in the article showed suicide was increased with gabapentin and the increased risk was greater in Elders.

I knew of this information at least a dozen years ago.  I am both pleased and troubled to see this again.

This drug was one of five psychotropic drugs forced on my mother after she suffered a closed head injury seven years ago.  The suicidal side effect issue seemed to bother my brother but he refused to accept  both my data and FDA confirmation to act to change doctors and prescriptions. He said he did not like the doctors offered by the "5 star"  facility where my mother was housed.  And he refused to allow my mother to see one of the top neurologists in the US whose practice is in the Naples FL area where she lived.

Use of certain anticonvulsant medications may be associated with increased risk of suicide

ScienceDaily (2010-04-13) -- An analysis of prescription and clinical claims data suggests that the use of certain anticonvulsant medications may be associated with an increased risk of suicide, attempted suicide or violent death, according to a new study. ... > read full article

and from CNN -
The study, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, echoes a 2008 review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that found that taking anticonvulsants (as this class of drugs is known) roughly doubled the risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
...Doctors are increasingly prescribing the drugs off-label, meaning the drugs are not officially approved by the FDA for that condition.

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Posted in: anticonvulsant drugs,Elders,gabapentin,neurontin,South Hero VT,suicide risk

Better Function with Vitamin D

More good news about the benefits from vitamin D.

Vitamin D improves elderly mobility

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., April 27 (UPI) -- Elderly study participants with the highest levels of vitamin D had better physical function and mobility than others, U.S. researchers found.

Dr. Denise Houston of the Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest University and colleagues studied vitamin D status and physical function in a group of relatively healthy seniors, mean age 75, in Memphis and Pittsburgh.

The study tracked 2,788 seniors for four years and assessed vitamin D status by analyzing each person's blood for 25-hydroxyvitamin D -- a precursor activated vitamin D.

The researchers looked at how quickly each participant could walk a short distance about, six yards, and rise from a chair five times, as well as balance tests.

The study found physical function declined during the study period, but it remained significantly higher among those with the highest vitamin D levels at the beginning of the study.

However, Houston said it is possible those with better physical function had higher vitamin D because they were able to go outside more often and get the vitamin through exposure to sunshine.

The findings were presented at the American Society for Nutrition at the Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

And it is certainly better for osteoporosis, that also can impact physical function and mobility -

Causes of osteoporosis include a decrease in osteoblast function, a change in parathyroid activity as a compensatory factor for decreased calcium absorption, and usually a combination of either less sun exposure and/or a decreased ability to synthesize Vitamin D, or insufficient dietary intake of Vitamin D.

Additional causes include sedentary lifestyles, which play a significant part, there are genetic factors, which are less-common, while insufficient sex hormones and body weight (anorexia), various stimulants and drugs (caffeine, alcohol, glucocorticoids [cortisone, prednisone, dexamethasone] , Lupron [GnRHagonist to lower hormones], Depo-Provera [a form of progesterone]...), hyperthyroidism, and kidney
disease are also contributing factors.

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Posted in: Elders,mobility,physical function,Vitamin D

Stopping Pneumonia

High quality probiotics do help many health issues, preventing secondary infection related to antibiotic use and ploy-antibiotic use of fluroquinolones, by maintaining health gut bacteria necessary for immune function. Other methods must be relied on when overuse of acid blockers reduces gastric HCl (hydrochloric acid). The acid acts to fight bacteria and help in protein digestion to give you the necessary nutrition to support your body while you're fighting off infection.

Another excellent way to fight pneumonia is the use of vitamin A. This can be by oral administration or in IVs for critically ill persons. The dose is very high for a short duration, either three days or seven days, with dose adjustment based on time used.

Vitamin A acts to protect the mucous membrane lining of the respiratory tract.

Probiotics 'may stop pneumonia'
Probiotics could be used to protect critically ill patients from developing pneumonia, according to scientists.

The friendly bacteria can block the colonisation by dangerous bugs of the airways of ventilated patients, the Swedish study concluded.

The probiotic solution performed just as well as normal antiseptics used to keep pneumonia-causing bacteria at bay, the journal Critical Care reported.

Being more natural it could pose fewer side effects, the authors said.

Friendly bugs

The probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum 299 is normally present in saliva and is also commonly found in fermented products like pickles and sauerkraut.

Although rare, some patients are allergic to the antiseptics normally used to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia, namely chlorhexidine.

There is also a very small risk of the pneumonia-causing bacteria developing chlorhexidine resistance.

Pneumonia is a common complication in patients on breathing machines and occurs when harmful bacteria from the mouth, throat or breathing tube are inhaled into the lungs.

This is a plausible idea. But we need much larger trials that focus on clinical outcomes to prove it is an effective and affordable treatment
Bob Marsterton of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

Swabbing the mouth with chlorhexidine is widely recommended to reduce the risk ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation.

Bengt Klarin and colleagues at the University Hospital in Lund, Sweden, compared the probiotic treatment with chlorhexidine in 50 critically ill patients.

Microbiological testing revealed both treatments appeared to be equally effective at preventing potentially harmful bacteria from flourishing in the mouth and throat.

In addition, a probiotic that adheres to mouth lining will be able to work around the clock, unlike antiseptics which wear off after a few hours, say the authors.

The scientists said bigger studies were now needed to investigate the feasibility of using probiotics in this setting.

Bob Marsterton, chair of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy's working party on hospital acquired pneumonia, said: "This is a plausible idea. But we need much larger trials that focus on clinical outcomes to prove it is an effective and affordable treatment."

He said chlorhexidine highly effective, affordable and readily available.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7708895.stm

Published: 2008/11/06 © BBC MMVIII

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Posted in: Elders,health news,natural care,natural news,pneumonia,probiotics