Changes with in the NHS

The NHS is now discussing reforming the letters sent out by hospital doctors, in the hope of removing the jargon, 

The whole idea is to make these letters easy to understand by patients, without all of the medical jargon which comes within them,  but some doctors argue that these letters should be digital, thereby cutting costs, and by that, I guess emails

When will these officials ever accept that many people including elderly, do not understand computers etc, and therefore will not have access to digital letters

However as i said before, its not just the elderly, it covers quite a lot of people living within the UK many of who simply don't understand social media

Will these officials ever take this on board, or is this another way to keep people in the dark.

Considering the fact that most medical letters are written out by secretaries etc, not doctors, I wonder just what these people are hoping to achieve by this project.

Why blame the elderly for everything

Over the last few years we have heard the elderly being blamed for nearly everything that has gone wrong in the UK.

We were told that the problems within the NHS were all caused by the elderly who were blocking up the beds, even though in most cases, it's caused by the fact that many local authorities stopped providing social care. 

This in turn meant that those who cannot afford to pay for private care homes, and don't have any support at home are left in hospital after they have had a fall or have been ill, etc. 

But like it or not, this all goes back to the Government who have slashed the support and are starving the county council's, and this has the knock on effect.

It's certainly not the fault if the elderly but the government, and the vast cost of care homes, all of which have to pay their directors and shareholders etc.  

We must remember that many elderly people worked hard and paid their national insurance to cover our retirement, so its not our fault, but the last few governments who have changed the rules on retirement ages etc.

Now today we hear the Brexit is all down to the elderly in the country. 

But here again, many elderly don't really care about the lies we were told about this by politicians, but they realised that although we are paying to be part of the European community, we also have the security of working with these countries, and like it or not, this country has starved of it's security and armed forces over the years, and we could end up in a lot if trouble through this. 

The elderly understand most of this, but also realise that the politicians told us a pack of lies about the  whole story, because many have served in the armed forces, either by signing up or have done National Service. Most politicians have never ever served their country

Our children and grandchildren are the ones who will suffer in the end, not these wealthy politicians who from all accounts are making a vast amount of money out of this 

We must remember that must of the elderly have worked had for all, if not most of their lives, and have paid their taxes in full, unlike today when we hear of most well off people are getting away with paying only the basic tax, and sending the rest abroad.

This is the cause of most of the UK problems today, because of people banking abroad and hiding their real salaries.

So please stop blaming the elderly for everything which is wrong in this country, blame the politicians

Testing For Cognitive Decline Made Easier

Written by Brenda Kelly Kim

 In any form of disease, the sooner a diagnosis is found, the sooner treatment can begin.

Finding a health problem early is the best way to increase the chances of a good outcome. This is especially true in cognitive impairment. Whether it’s normal age-related memory issues, or something more severe, like Alzheimer’s, knowing where a patient is, cognitively, is crucial.

Diagnostic tests like looking for biomarkers in the blood are not available for most cases of dementia. Alzheimer’s has no definitive test that can say with the same certainty as an X-ray or other assays that there is a problem. Many patients must go through complex neuropsychological testing and detailed questionnaires on their health and habits. These kinds of tests are time-consuming and can be expensive as well. They are not entirely objective either, because confounding factors like IQ, socioeconomic status, and environmental factors such as places of residence. Estimates from the WHO and the CDC have shown that globally, the number of older adults that will develop dementia is growing every year. Right now about 50 million people worldwide are living with some form of cognitive decline, so anything that aids in early detection is vital.

A team of researchers from the UK and Switzerland has developed a remarkably simple assessment that their study suggests could help improve the process of early diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI.) About 30 to 50 percent of patients with MCI will go on to develop Alzheimer’s so a test that can measure impairment would be useful in helping patients and their caregivers set up early interventions like therapy, activities, or diet changes to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

The research included UK researchers Dr. Trudi Edginton from City, University of London and Dr. Alison Eardley from the University of Westminster and was led by Professor Micah Murray from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. It was published in the journal Scientific Reports. The cohort was 123 participants. Of the group, 51 were healthy young adults, 49 were healthy older adults, and the remaining 23 were older adults with a diagnosis of MCI. What they were asked to do was quite simple, but provided results the scientists say were valuable. Volunteers were asked to push a button whenever they hear a sound or see a light flash. The sounds and lights were visible on a laptop screen, but the team says that it’s possible that an app for a smartphone or tablet could come out of the work.

The patients in the study had to indicate when they heard just a sound, saw just a light or when they noticed both at the same time. The speed at which they indicated what they had seen or heard was measured. Cognition is often assessed via the sense of hearing or vision, so the test, while simple, can show quite a bit about a patient’s mental acuity. Using just the two measurements of whether they were faster at detecting light or sound and how fast they were able to detect a combination of both, the researchers say they were able to tell which had MCI and which did not accurately.

Professor Murray explained the work, stating “We are particularly excited about this work because it shows how very simple tests can help clinical practice by reaching a wider population, at a lower cost. We are happy that our findings clarify the link between our vision and hearing and their role in supporting memory (dys-)function; it becomes increasingly clear that how preserved our cognitive skills are as we age depends on how intact our senses are. This importantly extends our similar existing findings in school-age children.”

The clip below talks about cognitive impairment and some of the signs to look for, check it out.