A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society examined whether Metabolic Syndrome in depressed older adults has an effect on their response to antidepressant treatment, reports News-Medical . Older adults with depression are at higher risk for having difficulty thinking and making decisions, as well as performing regular daily activities and managing their personal care. Included in the study were adults 60 and older with Metabolic Syndrome and depression. Researchers treated participants with the antidepressant venlafaxine, and after six weeks of treatment, the dose was upped if participants' depression scores were still high. Participants had follow-up visits every one to two weeks, and they were assessed for their response to treatment again after 12 weeks. The researchers determined people with Metabolic Syndrome had a more chronic life history of depression, while their depression symptoms at the start of the study had greater severity. In addition, they took longer to respond to antidepressant therapy. From these observations, the researchers suggest older adults with Metabolic Syndrome may be an important population for healthcare providers to pay close attention to when screening for and treating depression.

On November 30, 2017, the U.S. Postal Service issued the first ever Alzheimer's Disease Research Semipostal Stamp . The stamp was issued under the Semipostal Authorization Act which grants the US Postal Service discretionary authority to issue and sell semipostal stamps to advance causes it considers to be in the national public interest and appropriate. Semipostal stamps, currently sold for 60 cents, are First-Class Mail (FCM) postage stamps that are issued and sold at a price above the FCM rate to raise funds for designated causes. Revenue from sales of the stamp minus the postage paid and the reimbursement of reasonable costs incurred by the USPS will go to the National Institutes of Health to search for better treatments, prevention, and a cure for Alzheimer's. The stamp is intended to be sold for a two-year period, but legislation has been introduced in the House and the Senate that would allow the Alzheimer's Semipostal to be extended for six more years. The stamps are available at most Post Offices, online at usps.com , and by toll-free phone order at 1-800 STAMP-24.

A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) detailed the failure of the experimental drug idalopirdine to help people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease in three trials involving 2,525 persons in 34 countries, reports the Los Angeles Times . Idalopirdine failed to produce significant improvements in general measures of daily function among those taking it at any of three tested doses. The drug largely functioned to boost the supply of serotonin, which regulates mood, sleep, and appetite, and which diminishes in those with Alzheimer's disease. Idalopirdine also acts on glutamate, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, and dopamine, which also are affected by Alzheimer's. Following 24 weeks, subjects with Alzheimer's who received idalopirdine did no better than those who were given a placebo. Last autumn, another experimental drug, intepirdine, which also acted on many of the same brain systems as idalopirdine, was reported as a failure. Dr. David A. Bennett with Rush University's Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago wrote in an editorial published in JAMA that "better symptomatic therapies must continue to be pursued. However, from a public health perspective, delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease dementia is the most effective approach to reduce the overall human and economic toll of the disease." Bennett noted this will involve earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's among a broader spectrum of people, including those with no outward dementia symptoms. Those in the disease's earliest stages should be enrolled in clinical trials of preventive strategies faster, and in larger numbers.

The Trump administration announced it would start a Medicare payment model very similar to the ones it canceled and curtailed last year, reports the New York Times . In the new program, Medicare will make a single "bundled payment" for nearly all the services provided in a 90-day period to certain Medicare patients who are admitted to a hospital or have certain outpatient medical procedures, according to officials. Providers can receive a bonus if they hold Medicare spending for these patients below a target set by the government, and they may have to repay the government if Medicare spending for them exceeds the target. The new project seeks to save money for the government while improving care for Medicare patients. The lump sum payments encourage healthcare providers to work together and coordinate care.

Research published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine estimated that six months after visiting the emergency room (ER), seniors were 14 percent more likely to have developed a disability than those of the same age, with a similar illness, who did not go to the ER, reports Kaiser Health News . Yale University Professor Thomas Gill believes sickness or injury that leads to ER visits can trigger "a fairly vulnerable period of time for older persons" and "we should consider new initiatives to address seniors' care needs and challenges after such visits." A 2016 study published in the American Journal of Medicine determined older adults experienced sharp declines in their "life-space mobility," or the degree to which they get up and about and out of the house, following an ER visit, which lasted for at least 12 months without full recovery. Research published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society suggests seniors who are having difficulties with self-care or activities such as cooking, cleaning, and managing medications are particularly vulnerable to the aftereffects of an ER visit. The emergency medicine field has endorsed guidelines for making ERs more senior-friendly. They call for training medical staff in the principles and practice of geriatric care, evaluating seniors to ascertain their degree of risk, screening seniors designated at risk for various problems, conducting a comprehensive medication review, making referrals to community resources such as Meals on Wheels, and providing an easily understood discharge plan.

A survey from the Globoforce WorkHuman Research Institute found employees desire a personal sense of meaning in the work they perform, which is key to retaining them, reports Fast Company . "Having a personal sense of meaning in one's work was even more important than compensation, which ranked as the third most important reason for staying," says Globoforce CEO Eric Mosley. To help employees find meaning at work, employers can offer them regular validation. Globoforce determined of employees who were recognized in the last six months, 93 percent concur their work has meaning and purpose, while just 72 percent of those who were not recognized say the same is true. A second recommendation is to link jobs to a greater societal cause. "Every individual needs to feel a sense of 'I matter,' that showing up every day makes a difference," says Skillsoft CEO Bill Donoghue. A third tip is to develop a strong sense of community of individuals, which entails "giving people the opportunity to share who they are with their colleagues, and the chance to create the kind of place in which they personally want to work," according to Funding Circle's Maria Weaver. The final recommendation is to encourage and sponsor continuous learning and career development opportunities for employees, with Donoghue contending "everyone should become a lifelong learner to develop and grow new skills and competencies."

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has vacated the incentive sections of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) wellness program rules under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, reports PlanSponsor . The AARP alleged in a lawsuit that the commission's final wellness program rules implemented at the start of last year are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law. The association requested the invalidation of the rules, which allow employers to implement incentives for participating in workplace wellness programs worth up to 30 percent of the cost of health insurance. In August, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ruled, "It is far from clear that it would be possible to restore the status quo ante if the rules were vacated; rather, it may well end up punishing those firms — and employees — who acted in reliance on the rules." At that time, Bates "remanded' the rules to the EEOC for reform and/or elucidation. He also observed the EEOC's statement that it does not plan to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking until August 2018, nor does it intend to issue a final rule until October 2019. Given the time required for employers to comply, the EEOC said any new final rule "likely would not be applicable until the beginning of 2021." Bates noted this is not the timeline he had in mind when he remanded the rules to the EEOC, so he vacated the rules' incentive portion while issuing a stay on his decision until January 1, 2019.

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) has endorsed a recently announced partnership between Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) and Affinity Living Group, whose goal is to design job training programs to expand Affinity employees' and cultivate potential corporate leaders, reports the Hickory Daily Record . "We want to talk with young people in particular but others too who are going back to get an education, maybe after they've lost their job, that they're not just going into a job, but they're beginning a career," Foxx says. "It's so important because in so many cases we have lost that concept of you're not going to do this job, your beginning job, forever." Affinity is the 11th largest provider of assisted living in the U.S., the sixth largest provider of Alzheimer's and memory care, and the largest senior housing provider in the southeastern U.S. "What we're trying to do with the college is develop an academy specializing in assisted living and trying to take the concept of education in the workforce and step it up from the lowest level when you come out of high school and progress them all the way to a nursing degree if that's their desire," says Affinity CEO Charlie Trefzger. Affinity Executive Vice President Denis Rainey notes staffing shortages are of particular concern. "With the partnership we're going to have here, trainees can start out with us as a personal care aide, CNA, they could become a med tech, they could become a supervisor, and they could become a care manager," he says.

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society focused on how much exercise older adults can perform and its affect on their health, reports EurekAlert . The researchers studied 6,489 female participants aged 63 to 99 years old, who consented to take in-home exams, answer health questionnaires, wear accelerometers, and keep sleep logs. The study was performed between 2012 and 2013, and at the start most participants were in their late 70s and considered overweight according to BMI standards, while almost 30 percent were considered obese. A majority of participants scored 8.2 out of a possible 12 points on physical function assessments. Accelerometer measurements determined 1 percent of the participants performed "low" light-intensity physical activity, 29 percent performed "high" light-intensity physical activity, and 15 percent performed moderate to vigorous physical activity. After accounting for the deaths in the women according to their activity levels, the researchers found older women with higher levels of physical activity were less likely to die than those with lower levels, regardless of the cause of death. The researchers believe their results support encouraging older women to boost the amount of time they spend every day in light-intensity physical activity, and lower the amount of time when sedentary.

U.S. health officials are warning of one of the most severe flu seasons in years, with 46 states affected, reports HealthDay News . Anti-flu medications are in short supply as flu cases spike; furthermore, many hospitals are suffering a shortage of intravenous bags containing fluids that deliver medicine to treat dehydrated people, since many bags are manufactured by factories in Puerto Rico, which is still coping with power outages from Hurricane Maria. Lynette Brammer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) flu division says although flu drugs are available nationally, "in areas hard hit by flu the local pharmacy may not have them." In addition, Brammer notes the flu vaccine does not match well with the H3N2 strain that is prevalent in the current season. The CDC estimates 80 percent of reported flu cases so far are of the H3N2 strain. Dr. Matthew Mullarky at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif., says half the patients he saw on a recent shift were so ill they required hospitalization, with most older than 85 and struggling with both the flu and pneumonia. Stony Brook Medicine's Dr. Bettina Fries notes in New York state, most persons going into the hospital for flu are either very young or older than 65. "Nowadays, a lot of people get treated for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus or cancer treatments, which makes them at higher risk for complications from flu," Fries says. "It's been shown in these persons that vaccination, even if it doesn't prevent them from getting the flu, they will have a milder case and that's highly beneficial."