Elderly health

Selenium is an antioxidant mineral which plays an important role in thyroid and immune function. Some studies have also shown that selenium may have anti-cancer activity. You can get selenium from Brazil nuts, whole grains, salmon and crab. However, selenium levels among populations tend to be low, so might this be a case for taking selenium supplements, either alone, or in a multi-vitamin formulation?

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Not much is known about the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders among older adults. According to a new study published in the May issues of the Archives of General Psychiatry, the rates of mood and anxiety disorders tend to decrease with age but remain very common, particularly in women.

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Herbal medicines are popular with patients. A recent survey revealed that one third of people in the UK had used herbal medicines and one in four had used one in the last two years. Herbal medicines, which can be bought without a prescription, include St John’s Wort, for depression, and feverfew, for migraine headache. Problems may arise when herbal medicines interact with conventional prescription medications. These interactions may reduce the efficacy of either medicine or may produce unwanted, and even dangerous, side effects. Therefore, it’s important for doctors to know about, and understand, herbal medicines. Unfortunately, a recent survey of doctors and pharmacists, reveals a huge knowledge gap when it comes to herbal medicines.

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Osteoarthritis is the most common of the degenerative joint diseases and it is a significant cause of disability among older people. We know that age, overweight and obesity, as well as a history of injury, are risk factors for osteoarthritis. But genetic factors are involved as well. Researchers in Germany have now uncovered a variant in a gene known as COX-2. We know that this gene is involved in the inflammatory process which appears to be involved in end-stage hip and knee osteoarthritis. The variant involves a change in the DNA of this gene from coding letter G to C. Note that the genetic code of DNA is ‘written’ in chemicals called four bases known as G, C, A and T for short and in gene variants, these letters are swapped and substituted in various places on the genome.  Also, each person bears two copies – known as alleles – of each gene. One is inherited from the mother, one from the father.

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Fibromyalgia is a debilitating condition characterized by chronic, body-wide pain and tender points in the muscles, tendons, joints, and other soft tissues. According to the results of a study published in the May 2010 issue of the journal Arthritis Care & Research, overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk of fibromyalgia, especially among women with low levels of physical exercise.

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According to a study published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, having a spouse with dementia significant increases an older adult’s risk of developing dementia themselves. In addition, men appear to be at greater risk of developing incident dementia than women.

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