Recent older immigrants at higher risk of heart disease

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Liz Seegert

About Liz Seegert

Liz Seegert (@lseegert), is AHCJ’s topic editor on aging. Her work has appeared in NextAvenue.com, Journal of Active Aging, Cancer Today, Kaiser Health News, the Connecticut Health I-Team and other outlets. She is a senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University and co-produces the HealthCetera podcast.

Photo Adam Jones via Flickr

An increasing number of uninsured, older immigrants are going to emergency rooms with strokes, heart attacks and other serious but preventable complications of cardiovascular disease, according to a recent study. Lack of health insurance may be to blame.

Older immigrants’ risk for cardiovascular disease may be higher among those who recently arrived in the United States, according to researchers contributing to the study published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship. Continue reading →

Webcast to feature author of book on rampant fraud in the generic drug industry

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Joseph Burns

About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

Investigative journalist Katherine Eban will discuss her new book documenting rampant fraud in the generic drug industry during an AHCJ webcast on Wednesday, June 19.

In her book, “Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom,” Eban reveals how generic drug makers not only help ensure that some of the worst quality drugs enter the least regulated markets but also take extreme measures to avoid regulatory scrutiny. Harper Collins/Ecco’s Hardcover division published the book on May 14. Continue reading →

New research examines pros and cons of vitamin D to improve memory

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Liz Seegert

About Liz Seegert

Liz Seegert (@lseegert), is AHCJ’s topic editor on aging. Her work has appeared in NextAvenue.com, Journal of Active Aging, Cancer Today, Kaiser Health News, the Connecticut Health I-Team and other outlets. She is a senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University and co-produces the HealthCetera podcast.

Photo: Thomas Hassel via Flickr

How much can vitamin D supplementation boost memory, learning and decision-making in older adults – and how much can be too much?

That’s what Rutgers University-led research team set to find out in a recent study published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A.

They examined the effects of three different doses of vitamin D on the cognition of older women. Continue reading →

Caution and ideas for covering HIV/AIDS in 2019

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Bara Vaida

About Bara Vaida

Bara Vaida (@barav) is AHCJ's core topic leader on infectious diseases. An independent journalist, she has written extensively about health policy and infectious diseases. Her work has appeared in outlets that include the National Journal, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg News, McClatchy News Service, MSNBC, NPR, Politico and The Washington Post.

In April 1984, then-U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler announced the National Cancer Institute had discovered the virus that caused acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and scientists hoped to soon have a cure.

Since the epidemic began, around 35 million people have died around the world from AIDS-related illnesses, and there is still no widely available cure. There have, however, been huge advances in treatment, with new drugs to prevent the disease and drugs that enable those diagnosed with the virus -human immunodeficiency virus or HIV – that causes AIDS, to live into their 70s. Continue reading →

Survey highlights desire for involvement in Alzheimer’s trials, early detection

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Liz Seegert

About Liz Seegert

Liz Seegert (@lseegert), is AHCJ’s topic editor on aging. Her work has appeared in NextAvenue.com, Journal of Active Aging, Cancer Today, Kaiser Health News, the Connecticut Health I-Team and other outlets. She is a senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University and co-produces the HealthCetera podcast.

Would you want to know if you were at risk of Alzheimer’s disease, although it’s incurable and treatment options are limited?

Most people said yes” according to a recent survey from the Alliance for Aging Research conducted by Avalere Health. The vast majority of those surveyed also said that early detection is important to them and that they are willing to participate in clinical trials. Continue reading →

Lack of routine dental care under Medicare continues to rankle

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Mary Otto

About Mary Otto

Mary Otto, a Washington, D.C.-based freelancer, is AHCJ's topic leader on oral health and the author of "Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America." She can be reached at mary@healthjournalism.org.

Photo: Spazzy Max via Flickr

About 60 million Americans depend upon Medicare for their health care coverage. But the national health insurance program for retired and disabled people has never covered routine dental services. The gap represents a significant barrier to necessary care for a growing segment of the country’s population, experts say.

An estimated 65% of beneficiaries – nearly 37 million people on Medicare — are dentally-uninsured, according to an issue brief from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation published this spring. Continue reading →