"Lingual resistance exercises" may help prevent swallowing difficulties due to frailty or other age-related conditions, researchers report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Dr. JoAnne Robbins and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-Madison note that as many as 40 percent of adults aged 60 years or more may currently have dysphagia, or swallowing problems

The potential for lingual exercise "to improve quality of life in the elderly and reduce healthcare costs," Robbins and colleagues conclude, "is encouraging and warrants pursuit."Reuters Health - MORE

New 28-page booklet summarizes up-to-date research findings on AD risk factors and potential prevention strategies. FREECLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE BOOK...OR DOWNLOAD PDF - www.alzheimers.org

• Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation: New Technology, New Cures
• Surgical Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease
• New Techniques in Valve Surgery
• Question and Answer Period
...Click to watch video or listen to audio from The Cleveland Clinic

CLICK HERE: John Gearhart is a stem-cell biologist at the Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

A little more than a century ago, on Nov. 25, 1901, a German neuropsychologist, Dr. Alois Alzheimer, admitted a new patient known as Frau Auguste D. of Frankfurt, Germany, into the city's Hospital for Mental Illness and Epilepsy. The 51-year-old woman had no personal or family history of mental illness, and her symptoms seemed to represent a significant departure from senility. She not only suffered difficulty performing everyday tasks with memory problems, but also had unusual bursts of anger, was unable to remember her entire name, her husband's name or how long she had been in the hospital....Dr. Alzheimer asked her to write her name. She failed several times before she looked up, exasperated, and declared, "I have lost myself" - a fitting description of the degenerative fate that would follow her.....Dr. Alzheimer continued his research into Frau Auguste D.'s consented autopsy... With great amazement, he would discover never before seen tacky plaques and cellular tangles covering Auguste D.'s shrunken brain.....Alzheimer presented a lecture at a conference where he described for the first time a form of dementia that subsequently, at the suggestion of his colleagues, became known as Alzheimer's disease.more

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is pleased to introduce its newest publication, Aging Hearts and Arteries: A Scientific Quest. This 64-page booklet offers an inside look at the latest cardiac research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Topics include:

• anatomy and history of the heart
• characteristics and effects of aging on the normal heart
• clues about when a good heart goes bad
• arteries and their relationship with the heart
• exercise, diet, and metabolism and their connection with better heart health
• what lies ahead for cardiac research

CLICK - National Institute on Aging

...Click to read...Dementia is considered as an incurable disease, but it is not. Of course, there is no “wonder drug” for Alzheimer’s disease. However, the progress of vascular dementia can be prevented. Some kinds of dementia can also be cured if it is detected at an early stage.

Because there was little difference in oral hygiene between the two groups in the study, the researchers say the difference may be related to stress.Newswise | MORE

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"St. Joseph's is constructing a new patient care tower which will expand the hospital's capacity by 25 percent and allow us to meet the healthcare needs of our growing community."

On March 19, 2006, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center will celebrate its 111th anniversary by dedicating the new Barrow Patient Care Tower. The 430,000-square-foot building is currently under construction on the southwest corner of Third Avenue and Earll Drive. When completed, it will house:

• 144 new patient beds (all of which will be devoted to acute or intensive care)
• 48 new emergency beds
• Six trauma bays
• 11 operating rooms
• Three MRIs (one surgical)

When the new tower opens, St. Joseph's will have approximately 724 patient beds, making it the largest hospital in Arizona.The new building is part of a $203-million expansion and improvement project that also includes renovating a portion of the hospital's existing 1.6 million square feet of patient-care space.

St. Joseph's will expand its Research labs and its Neuro-Rehabilitation Department, increasing the number of Neuro-Rehab beds from 38 to 53. This project is expected to be completed in spring 2006.
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MORE: The Cleveland Clinic%u2019s Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases: "Vaccinations help immune system battle disease in elderly as well as young.

At any age, a strong immune system is vital to good health. 'But like
every other system in your body,' says Leonard H. Calabrese, D.O, Section
Head of The Cleveland Clinic's Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic
Diseases, 'your immune system ages. It declines with time.' The key to
maintaining a healthy immune system is"

Singing is thought to help the brain re-learn communication skillsBBC NEWS | MORE