Live in care at Home – Elderly home care blog

Barbara Young, Chair of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), has announced that Cynthia Bower has been appointed as the Commission’s Chief Executive.
Cynthia Bower is currently Chief Executive of NHS West Midlands. She has previously held posts as chief executive of a community health trust and a primary care trust.
CQC will come into being in April [...]

[Read more →]

Councils in the UK are not ready to meet the challenges of the ageing population, according to a report by the Audit Commission.
The report investigates the difficulties faced by older people trying to access council services.
Belinda Wadsworth, Regional Policy Manager at Help the Aged, says: ‘Older people often tell us that they feel ignored and [...]

[Read more →]

Scientists are hailing a new drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer as potentially the most significant advance in the field for 70 years.
Abiraterone could potentially treat up to 80% of patients with a deadly form of the disease resistant to currently available chemotherapy, they say.
The drug works by blocking the hormones which fuel [...]

[Read more →]

Three pensioners have won their High Court battle to receive a “sight-saving” drug – paving the way for others to be given it too.
Warwickshire Primary Care Trust said it would now fund the drug, Lucentis.
The move came after maker Novartis agreed to start a “cost-sharing” deal earlier than expected.
The RNIB said there [...]

[Read more →]

Direct payments are local council payments for people who have been assessed as needing help from social services, and who would like to arrange and pay for their own care and support services instead of receiving them directly from the local council.
A person must be able to give their consent to receiving direct payments and [...]

[Read more →]

Being physically fit could hold back the advance of Alzheimer’s disease, US researchers have suggested.
Their study, published in the journal Neurology, looked at 121 people aged over 60, around half of them in the early stages of the disease.
Those with Alzheimer’s who were less fit had four times more signs of brain shrinkage [...]

[Read more →]

Campaigners say dementia patients and their carers are being unfairly charged for care.
One woman, who helps care for her husband at home, talks about her fight for help.
Freddie was 64 when he was diagnosed with dementia
Freddie Smith was just 64 when he was diagnosed with a form of dementia brought on by a [...]

[Read more →]

People who have had depression may be more prone to Alzheimer’s disease, two studies suggest.
Dutch researchers found Alzheimer’s was 2.5 times more likely in people with a history of depression.
Similarly, US researchers, examining Catholic clergy, found those with signs of depression were more likely to go on to develop Alzheimer’s.
The Dutch appears [...]

[Read more →]

Having a large hippocampus – a part of the brain involved with memory – seems to provide protection against the symptoms of dementia, a study suggests.
A US team compared the brains of 35 people who had Alzheimer’s “plaques”, some of whom died with sharp minds and others who showed no dementia symptoms.
The hippocampus, [...]

[Read more →]

Heavy drinkers and smokers develop Alzheimer’s disease six to seven years earlier than those who do not smoke or drink, US researchers claim.
A study of 900 people aged over 60 found early onset was most likely in those who also had a high-risk gene.
A second US study found people with high cholesterol in [...]

[Read more →]