NEW SCAM ALLERT

In the Check Floating Scam, a scammer will purchase an item that has been offered for sale, frequently by a senior citizen, in an internet auction or in a classified or on-line advertisement. The scammer then sends a check to the seller that is for more than the sale price. He then contacts the seller referencing the mistake and asks the seller to wire back the money. This is all done during what is referred to as “the floating period”, the time after the check is deposited but before it clears. The seller returns the money and, too late, learns the check is invalid or has bounced.  By that time, the scammer has happily disappeared with the money.   REMEMBER: Never assume a deposited money is there until the bank says it is. If you have something to sell do not release the item until the purchaser’s check has cleared. Never wire funds to someone you don’t know.                                                                 ####

If you are considering placing a family member in a nursing home make sure you do a lot of homework before you choose which nursing home and once chosen visit often and make sure those visits are not made on any kind of regular schedule -  if nursing home employees know that you come often but have no idea of what time you will be coming through their door, they will be kept on their toes and be more attentive to your loved ones comfort.

Finding a good nursing home is not easy. Thanks to lobbyists who work to prevent adequate regulations and politicians who refuse to pass these regulations, the quality of treatment of patients, in way too many states, is, at best, inadequate and frequently dangerous. Much of this is because nursing home lobbyists place the emphasis on the bottom line of the nursing home rather than the well-being of the patient. Many states do nothing about nursing homes that have multiple failing inspection reports (see this month breaking news  -  Florida).

In Minnesota alone, Care Providers of Minnesota and Leading Age Minnesota, spent nearly $1 million on lobbying in 2016 and 2017, an increase of 56 percent from the previous two years and the largest outlay by the groups on record, according to new data from the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.

The groups, which together have nearly two dozen registered lobbyists, have also increased their presence at the Capitol, blitzing lawmakers with information as debate intensifies over how to fix the state's deeply flawed system for protecting seniors from maltreatment (see this month breaking news - Minnesota)

You can be sure that this is going on in your state as well.

But, lobbyists do not pay legislators salaries and they do not have the power to remove them from office - you do. Form a citizens’ lobby.

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THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY announced that Tony Rosen, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Attending Emergency Physician at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, will receive this year's Jeffrey H. Silverstein Memorial Award for a comprehensive review of programs to address the abuse of older individuals that he and colleagues conducted.

"Dr. Rosen has spent nearly a decade researching elder abuse and injury prevention for older adults, with a particular focus on improving healthcare provider engagement in identifying, preventing, and intervening to address mistreatment.

Dr. Rosen and colleagues evaluated more than 100 programs designed to identify, address, or prevent the mistreatment of older individuals. According to Dr. Rosen's evaluation, most programs focus on raising awareness and public education, as well as developing inter-professional healthcare teams equipped to confront the challenges of physical, social, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse.

Dr. Rosen, who earned his medical degree in 2010, said that a Geriatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at Weill Cornell Medicine  “…was invaluable in improving my understanding of the unique challenges in providing acute care to older adults and developing a career in emergency department-based elder abuse research."

It is gratifying to see a young doctor entering this field of medicine.

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Researchers at Temple University, studying the cognitive effects of the vegetable-based fat canola, split lab mice into two groups: Group A was fed a normal daily diet and group B had about two tablespoons of canola oil added to their meal. After six months, they test the animal’s cognitive skills by having them run through a maze.

Observing their ability to negotiate this challenge, the researchers noted that the mice in group B demonstrated a sharp reduction in their ability to remember.

The researchers believe the canola oil lowered levels of a dementia fighting protein (amyloid beta 1-40) in the mices’ brains. This would lead to amyloid plaque surrounding their brains’ neurons, decreasing and damaging the neural connections, and result in memory loss. 

Though this research was done on mice not humans, Domenico Praticò, MD, a senior investigator on the study which was published in Scientific Reports, said “Based on the evidence from this study, canola oil should not be thought of as being equivalent to oils with proven health benefits

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