Slow Medicine Lets Elderly Go More Gracefully

(NEWSER) - Conservative radio hosts are scaring America's seniors with a campaign against an end-of-life counseling proposal in the health care reform bill, the Washington Post reports. Under the proposal doctors would be reimbursed for consulting with elderly patients about what medical interventions they would prefer as the end nears, but opponents portray it as a step towards mandatory euthanasia, even labeling it the "kill Granny" clause. More»

Falls treated as complicated medical events instead of routine part of getting old

(NEWSER) - Falling and breaking a hip is so common among the elderly it's been considered an inevitable sign of aging, but medical experts have now developed complex protocols to both prevent and treat breaks that often trigger a spiral of decline, the New York Times reports. Even minor falls "need to be taken as seriously as diabetes," a professor of geriatrics tells John Leland, who follows the cases of two women—a 94-year-old who recovered her mobility, and an 87-year-old who died within months. More»

Many 'go gently' rather than opting for extreme measures: Dr. Ken Murray

(NEWSER) - You'd think a doctor with, say, a terminal illness or a weak heart would have an inside edge over the rest of us and opt for the most whiz-bang, no-holds-barred treatment available. Just the opposite, writes Ken Murray, MD, in the Zocalo Public Square (as spotted by Andrew Sullivan's blog ). Doctors "don't die like the rest of us," writes Murray. "What’s unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little." They have seen first-hand the desperate, expensive , usually futile measures taken to save a life, generally because end-of-life wishes were not explicitly spelled out. More»

Those who adapt to stress live longer, writes geriatrics expert

(NEWSER) - Dr. Mark Lachs is an expert on geriatrics, and his oldest patient is 109. Not only is she 109, but she still lives at home—"with all her marbles," he writes—and enjoys chocolate truffles and Budweiser. What's her secret? "Adaptive competence," which Lachs defines as "the ability to bounce back from stress." Not just biological stress but, in his opinion and the opinion of other geriatrics experts, psychological stress as well. More»

Lowering health care costs means cutting unnecessary end-of-life treatment

(NEWSER) - Nobody wants to talk about rationing health care, but “the need to spend less money on the elderly at the end of life is the elephant in the room in the health-reform debate,” Evan Thomas writes in Newsweek. To expand coverage and lower costs, Americans must overcome their urge to extend life at any price, and “learn to contemplate death as more than a scientific challenge to be overcome.” More»