Author: Alerts CC

Researchers from Yale School of Medicine have determined that there is a close association between hospitalization and further progression of disability among older adults.

In an effort to better understand how disabilities progress in patients near the end of their lives, lead author Dr. Thomas Gill and other Yale researchers tracked more than 500 adults, all 70 years old or older, during the last year of their lives.

“These results suggests that the disabling process in the last year of life is strongly influenced by the occurrence of acute hospitalizations,” Gill explained in a news release.

A combination of home-based assessments and monthly telephone interviews allowed the team to collect health information going back nearly 15 years. In addition to asking about disability (expressed as the inability to perform certain daily tasks such as dressing, bathing, standing up and walking), the researchers also asked about hospitalizations.

They found that a full 70% of participants had been hospitalized at least once, with 45% being hospitalized multiple times in their final year of life.

Disability is a complex medical topic that changes based on age, geographic location and numerous other factors. People would probably be surprised to learn, for example, that back pain is the leading cause of disability for Americans under 45. Gill and colleagues had shown in previous studies that the course of disability for people nearer the end of life is even more varied and unpredictable than it is for younger people.

But the research team hopes this new information will better inform doctors and patients as to their options in order to optimize both health and overall wellness — including knowing when it’s better to provide palliative care rather than to continue multiple hospitalizations.

“Our results may help inform decisions about the management of disability and the appropriate level of care at the end of life,” said Gill.

The new study was published May 20 in the British Medical Journal under the title “The role of intervening hospital admissions on trajectories of disability in the last year of life: prospective cohort study of older people.”

As the late spring/early summer real estate season gets into full swing, many young people are hoping to make their first-ever home purchase.

Yet a shocking number of first-time home buyers are likely to walk away disappointed.

With home prices on the rise, fewer homes going on sale and a growing number of buyers clogging up the market, many first-time buyers are seeing their dream homes snatched up before their very eyes.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, home prices have risen at a rate more than double the pace of average hourly wages across the country. As a result, buyers — especially millennials who still face the burdens of student debt — have a harder time finding the money to make a down payment on a new home.

Universally, there is far more demand than supply in the housing market, meaning bidding wars that see a home sell for as much as four times its value aren’t uncommon. This was true even during the winter months of this year, creating a hyper-competitive environment.

“Typically, January, February, even March are not quite as highly competitive as when you go into the spring months,” said Ilona Botton, a Redfin agent in Denver. “That’s not how it was this year. It has been multiple offer situations every single month.”

Despite the fact that buying a home is becoming more difficult, the things people look for when choosing their next house have remained fairly consistent.

There are a few features pretty much all buyers want in a new home. According to Kiplinger, 93% of buyers want their new dwelling to have a separate laundry room. Additionally, 90% of home buyers want outdoor lighting, making this the most in-demand exterior home feature.

Another in-demand feature? Garages. Currently, a little more than half of home buyers — 53% — say they look for a two-car garage when perusing real estate listings; some 20% want a three-car garage or larger.

But in a market where even the successful buyers often have to settle for less, it’s clear that many people won’t be moving into the home of their dreams this summer.

Child obesity is one of the most pressing health issues plaguing American society. Since 1980, child obesity rates have more than tripled, with 31.8% of children aged two to 19 overweight or obese.

There are a number of reasons why child obesity is a problem that shouldn’t be ignored. Childhood obesity is linked to reduced life expectancy, more missed school time, a higher risk for heart disease and a number of other problems.

Seeing these statistics, it’s only natural to wonder why more parents of obese and overweight children don’t take decisive action to encourage healthy habits and lifestyles for their kids.

The answer may be that most parents don’t realize their children have a weight problem — in a recent study, a shocking 94.9% of parents of overweight children believed their kids’ size was “just right” — even as their weight gain became more apparent.

According to the Washington Post, this phenomena is fairly recent — compared to a similar study two decades earlier, a child’s chances at “being appropriately perceived by the parents declined by 30%.”

“We have changed our perceptions of what our weight ideals are,” said Dustin T. Duncan, an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Medical Center, who led the research. “If every other child is obese or overweight, you would think your child (is normal as well.)”

The study, published in the journal Childhood Obesity, tracked about 7,000 children aged two to five years and surveyed their parents over the course of five years. Duncan focused on this young age group because this is the time when many children’s unhealthy eating habits take shape.

Not surprisingly, the primary cause behind child obesity is lack of exercise. The American Heart Association has stated that the average child should get 60 minutes or more of physical activity on a daily basis for optimal health. However, studies have found that one in four children doesn’t get any physical activity during his or her free time.

The study contains a number of key lessons about the consequences of childhood obesity, however unpleasant they may be. If anything, it’s a clear indicator that parents and pediatricians alike can no longer ignore the problem of childhood obesity.

Police in Chicago arrested two men on May 12 in connection with an attempted burglary at a construction site, which police have said has been the scene of other recent burglaries.

Mokena police Chief Steve Vaccaro reported that an officer on patrol noticed a car parked outside the site, and later saw a man outside the building, whom he took into custody. After this man told the officer that there was another person inside the building, police searched for the second suspect for about five hours before finally finding him in the rafters of an attic.

Construction sites might not seem like prime targets, but the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) estimates that more than $1 billion in construction equipment is stolen in the U.S. each year. The NICB’s 2012 Equipment Theft Report also revealed that in 2012, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and California respectively had the most thefts, accounting for a whopping 37% of all construction equipment thefts that year.

Police have not yet said what the two suspects may have been attempting to steal. They may have been trying to steal materials or equipment, which can be resold, but it is possible that they may also have been searching for something a bit more dangerous, such as explosives.

Last month, dynamite was stolen from a construction site in Louisville. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has even gone so far as to offer a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the theft.

According to Vaccaro, “They have to conduct an inventory, and they have a lot of tools out there. They have a lot of materials, so they have to do an extensive inventory to determine what, if anything, was taken.”

On April 22, a settlement was reached by the National Football League (NFL) and thousands of ex-players regarding a class-action lawsuit filed by the players.

CNN reports that a federal judge approved the settlement, which if fully implemented over the agreed 65 year timeline could cost the NFL more than $1 billion. The settlement would pay out to former players dealing with, or who will have to deal with, Alzheimer’s disease, moderate dementia, Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Each retired player can stand to see up to $5 million in damages.

The lawsuit was filed against the NFL by players who accused the league of ignoring serious medical conditions they developed while playing. More than 5,000 retired NFL players participated in the lawsuit, citing medical issues stemming from repeated trauma to the head.

The settlement will go to players who retired before July 8th, 2014 as well as to the family members of players who died before then.

More than 200 retired players, however, decided not to join the lawsuit, opting instead to sue the NFL by themselves.

The plaintiffs hope that the money will come to them soon, though if the NFL appeals the settlement may not be allotted for quite some time. Typically, 95% of personal injury lawsuits are settled pretrial.

“Today, these courageous men and their families have made history,” said Christopher Seeger and Sol Weiss, two attorneys representing the players. “Despite the difficult health situations retired players face today, and that many more will unfortunately face in the future, they can take comfort that this settlement’s benefits will be available soon, and will last for decades to come.”

They cautioned, however, that an appeal could “take months, if not years” to resolve before players start to see payments.

Kevin Turner, a former fullback who filed one of the first lawsuits against the NFL for concussion-related injuries, was ecstatic about the settlement.

“What matters now is time, and many retired players do not have much left,” Turner wrote in a statement. “I hope this settlement is implemented without delay so that we can finally start helping those in need.”

Turner has ALS (otherwise known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease”), a nervous system disease which he claims was caused by the head injuries he sustained while playing for the NFL.

Four men have been charged with serious counterfeiting charges after an investigation busted a multi-million dollar scheme that spanned the globe.

The men are accused of running more than $1.5 million counterfeit American bills from Uganda. The high-quality $20, $50, and $100 bills were made in Uganda and then sold on underground, illicit websites (sometimes known as the “Dark Web”). The bills have been found in Florida, Minnesota, Texas, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

The Morning Call reports that on April 22nd, Michael Lin and Zackary Ruiz were arraigned in an American court in Pittsburgh. Lin and Ruiz, both of whom are underage, pleaded not guilty. Ryan Gustafson, 27, the alleged ringleader of the plot, is being held in Uganda where the operation is said to have been based. The fourth member, 30 year-old Jeremy Miller from Seattle, plead not guilty via his attorney the following day in the Pittsburgh court. It is not certain whether Miller will be extradited to the United States, since he is also facing prosecution in Uganda.

Gustafson sold the bills to Ruiz and Miller (among other customers, presumably), who then circulated them across the country.

Lin was not charged with buying the fake notes from Gustafson, though like Ruiz he is facing conspiracy charges. Lin is accused of circulating the currency as well as writing an online guide about how to use them in casinos. Lin, a former employee of the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is 20.

Ruiz, 18, is originally from Las Vegas and despite the federal charges against him, remains a student at the Nevada Virtual Academy. Because he lives at home with his mother and sister, the judge has allowed him to remain free. Lin is also not in jail but has to wear an electronic ankle bracelet because he has no ties to the Bethlehem area.

In what prosecutors call a sophisticated operation, the counterfeit bills were printed in Uganda and then shipped in boxes that appeared to contain brochures from a Christian charity organization in Uganda. The money was hidden under the boxes and kept together by water-soluble glue. The men collected the money by dissolving the boxes in water, freeing the money.

The operation fell apart in December 2013 when authorities arrested a conspirator who is now cooperating as a witness. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shardul Desai told the presiding judge that the trial could take up to a month, due to the tome of documents submitted as evidence, including chatroom and instant messaging transcripts retrieved from the Dark Web. Desai did request, however, that the court seal or redact certain documents in order to protect confidential informants.

“We have data…from all over the world — Uganda and several sites in the United States,” Desai told the judge.

Counterfeiting is a serious problem in the United States, Canada, and throughout the world. In order to combat the problem, many currency counting machines used by banks and financial organizations feature counterfeit-detection technology to root out fake notes quickly.