University of Iowa Professor Thorsten Rudroff is seeking people between the ages of 50 and 80 to participate in a two-year study to characterize the effects of medical marijuana on older adults who are already at an elevated risk of falling, reports KCRG . Researchers will compare medical marijuana smokers to non-smokers in terms of motor functions, for example, to see how they walk. Rudroff says people "don't know how to use medical cannabis. There are no guidelines, no recommendations out there. We want to find out what is the best and safest product." Rudroff suggests people use more cannabidiol (CBD) products rather than smoke medical marijuana. "We looked in one study how CBD affects the brain, and we found some really positive results," he explained. "So it is very positive that CBD has some benefits to cognition to older people."

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced in the Journal of the American Medical Association that it could neither recommend nor oppose cognitive screening for older adults due to insufficient scientific proof of the practice's benefits and harms, reports the Los Angeles Times . The task force said additional research is required to gather sufficient evidence, and its statement comes amid growing concern over an increasing population of older adults with Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia. Cognitive screening entails short tests given to people lacking symptoms of cognitive decline. Test-takers may be asked to recall words, draw a clockface, spell a word backward, or sort items into different categories. Advocates claim that testing asymptomatic seniors can help identify people with unrecognized problems and potentially lead to better care, as well as give them more time to make financial and medical plans. However, critics argue that the benefits of screening are unproven, and the potential for harm is troubling. The task force focused on universal screening for all asymptomatic adults 65 and older, and uncovered little high-quality evidence that such screening would improve their quality of life or ensure that they receive better care.

A study in Global Epidemiology suggests older adults with a greater sense of hope are more likely to have better physical health outcomes and psychological and social well-being, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers looked at some 13,000 adults older than 50 in a longitudinal and nationally representative dataset, and associated a greater sense of hope with better physical health and health behavior outcomes on certain indicators — like fewer chronic conditions, a lower risk of cancer, and fewer sleep problems — as well as higher psychological well-being, reduced psychological distress, and better social well-being. "Hope also is associated with motivation to keep trying to live a quality life, and that means doing what we know we should do — and yet, in seniors, they often don't physically feel like doing," says Virginia Commonwealth University Professor Everett Worthington. "Namely, hope keeps them exercising, eating healthily, trying to keep weight under control, and maintaining their self-control." Worthington ascribes three aspects to hope: willpower to change, waypower to change, and the willingness to persevere when change is not apparent. He says older people especially need the third aspect as age and time impairs them physically and shrinks their social network. Worthington suggests strategies like fostering resiliency and mental flexibility, and relying on stable romantic relationships, friends and support networks, and habits that maintain physical activity.

A panel discussion at the recent National Association of Health Underwriters 2020 Capitol Conference considered Medicare and its long-term stability amid an influx of baby-boomer retirees, reports InsuranceNewsNet . Better Medicare Alliance CEO and former U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz said Medicare could do more to keep beneficiaries healthy and keep them from using more expensive types of care. "We want to get people the right care at the right time at the right cost," she noted. National Coalition on Health Care CEO John Rother added that the program's revenues could be raised by lawmakers mulling two options: upping the minimum wage so workers would be contributing more money into Medicare, or admitting more immigrants into the United States for employment. Rother also suggested that reducing the age for Medicare enrollment would help by adding more people to the risk pool, thus taking more workers out of their employers' risk pool and benefiting those in their early 60s who want to retire but have yet to qualify for Medicare and who cannot otherwise afford health insurance premiums. Panelists also addressed the increase of nonmedical benefits in Medicare Advantage plans, which cover social factors that can affect seniors' health. None of the panelists felt that Medicare is imperiled, despite concerns that its funds could be depleted in the future.

The Florida-based Suncoast Nursing Action Coalition (SNAC) is currently offering up to $150,000 in scholarships to encourage prospective students to earn their bachelor's degree in nursing, in the hope of improving healthcare for older adults, reports the Sarasota Herald-Tribune . The bachelor's degree is deemed important because long-term research shows that more nurses with bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degrees leads to improved health outcomes for beneficiaries. SNAC has awarded $264,000 in nursing scholarships to 72 local recipients since 2016. SNAC also has allocated eight scholarships to nurses pursuing doctoral degrees, as strong nursing professors are essential to good nursing students. In addition to living or working at a medical center within the SNAC region, or having graduated from a high school in that region, eligible applicants must: one, have submitted an application for acceptance to an accredited nursing bachelor's program; two, plan to pursue studies full time or part-time; demonstrate a clear financial need; and, three, provide at least one recommendation from an employer or faculty/instructor.

A study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that older adults often face new disabilities following hospitalization for a serious illness, reports Medical Xpress . These new disabilities can mean a return to the hospital, being placed in a nursing home, and more permanent deterioration to well-being. The researchers considered 515 people 70 or older who lived at home at the study's outset — and who had no disability and did not need assistance for bathing, dressing, walking inside the house, or getting out of a chair. At one and six months after hospitalization, disability was common for participants, which made it hard for them to leave home for medical care. Disabilities included being unable to dress, walk across a room, get in or out of a chair, walk a quarter-mile, climb a flight of stairs, and drive. Disability at one and six months after hospitalization also was frequent for activities people need to take care of themselves, like preparing meals and taking medications. Significant numbers of subjects had new disabilities after hospital stays, which hindered bathing, simple housework, taking medication, and walking a quarter-mile. Those who recovered spent one to two months doing so post-hospitalization, and recovery often was incomplete even six months after.

California-based GTX makes a product that can help find people with Alzheimer's, dementia, and autism who wander off through a global-positioning system (GPS) tracker in the insole of their shoes, reports KTAR News . "It's an orthotic insole, but it's embedded with a GPS Cellular module that triangulates your position and transmits it out via cellular to the cloud," said GTX Chief Executive Patrick Bertagna. The so-called Smartsole allows loved ones and caregivers to track the wearer's location through their computer or smartphone. Bertagna said GPS in the insole is more comfortable for users than if it was worn elsewhere. "You can't give them something that they'll wrap around their neck or around their wrist, because they'll feel intimidated by the technology," he noted. Bertagna added that wearers are less likely to lose the GPS device because it is always in their shoe, and they may only own a few pairs of shoes. The device's battery can be charged within two hours, and holds a charge for up to three days.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a quadrivalent formulation of first-and-only adjuvanted season flu vaccine for adults 65 and older from Seqirus, confirms HCPLive . The Fluad Quadrivalent vaccine employs the same MF59 adjuvant as Seqirus's Fluad medication. A 2019 study in Clinical Infectious Diseases showed that enhanced flu vaccines can better protect older adults, and the MF59-adjuvanted vaccine was one of three study vaccines which induced a stronger immune response than in the standard vaccine cohort. "Adults 65 years and older are at high risk for influenza-related complications each season and it is important to have influenza vaccines to help protect this vulnerable population," stated Seqirus General Manager Anjana Narain. Adults 65 years and older also have had the highest rate of hospitalization in the current flu season.

A study in JAMA Internal Medicine found the number of American adults over 65 who used cannabis nearly doubled from 2.4 percent in 2015 to 4.2 percent in 2018, for an increase of 75 percent, reports United Press International . Many states legalized some forms of cannabis during that period, but the researchers think social acceptability overall may have played a significant role. "I think a lot of older people are hearing more and more about potential medical uses and many of these people are willing to try it out to see how it works," said New York University Langone Medical Center Professor Joseph J. Palamar. Cannabis use especially increased among women, people who were college educated, and higher income earners — and all races and ethnic groups exhibited greater use as well. Much of the increased use seems have been driven by potential health benefits associated with cannabis, in relation to conditions that include diabetes and mental illness."If you're an older individual and re-initiating marijuana use, you need to keep in mind that it may be stronger than what you used back in the day, and your body also isn't the same," Palamar cautioned.

A study in Geriatrics found that people whose memory and gait speed declined together were most at risk of developing dementia, reports Medical News Today . The researchers combined data from six large-scale studies involving 8,699 participants older than 60. They compared participants with dual decline with those whose walking speeds and memory remained constant, categorized as "usual agers." Across all six studies, individuals who experienced memory decline had a 2.2 to 4.6 times higher risk of developing dementia than usual agers. Among subjects who had reduced gait speed, the risk of dementia rose by 2.1 to 3.6 times, and this effect was only statistically significant in three of the six studies. "Participants with dual decline had 5.2 to 11.7 times higher risk of developing dementia, compared with usual agers," the authors concluded. They also suggested that dual decline could be "captured early in clinical settings by routinely administering gait speed assessment and a free recall memory test."