5 Good-News Items on Health

Looking for good news? Things are looking up in several areas of physical and mental health. With science-backed information, it's often possible to allay fears or take simple steps that pay off for ourselves or our loved ones. Here are five examples.

A nutritious diet, physical activity and disciplined sleep habits all contribute to a lower risk of Alzheimer's and related brain illness. "Maintaining a healthy, diverse, nutritious diet is going to be beneficial," says Thomas Holland, MD, of Chicago's Rush University Institute for Healthy Aging — as well as keeping up socially, engaging your brain, reducing stress and more.

A paper in the scientific journal Alzheimer's & Dementia has outlined 11 ideas on six topics. "As many as 40% of dementia cases can be attributed to modifiable risk factors," the paper states. In other words, you have a lot of control here.

Because of links between brain health and heart health, people 45 and over can lower their risk by caring for their heart: managing hypertension and diabetes, exercising 2.5 hours a week, and eating a nutritious diet in moderation. Get sleep problems and eating patterns checked out. Take steps to avoid loneliness and social isolation, and keep learning something new: cooking, dancing, music, games, crafting or the like.

Holland focused on diet in a long-term study published in the journal Neurology. Among healthy older people, he found a link between higher intake of flavonols — the building blocks of kale, beans, tomatoes, apples, olive oil and other fruits/vegetables — and reduced risk of developing dementia.

Decades ago, patients' cataract surgery involved multiple hospital days "with their heads surrounded by sandbags to prevent movement," says Jeff Pettey, MD, vice chair of clinical affairs at University of Utah Health John A. Moran Eye Center.

Modern outpatient surgery often takes about 10 minutes (not counting preparation and some observation afterward), he adds. Use of ultrasound and a smaller incision — just 2 to 3 mm — has shortened both procedure and recovery. 

In addition, "for 95% to 99% of patients, it's a completely painless operation" due to topical numbing drops, says Lloyd Williams, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at Duke University School of Medicine.  

Unfortunately, cost poses complications. "Insurance covers the cost of the surgery and a quality lens that focuses light at one distance. This lens allows patients to see far away or up close, but not both," says Pettey. 

A third alternative that insurance covers is distance vision in one eye and close vision in the other, "which for some people solves the reading-glasses problem quite well," says Williams. "These lenses are in my opinion the clearest and highest-quality vision you can get, but they require you to have glasses for some activity — and if you have any significant astigmatism, you will need glasses for it."

"Insurance does not pay for astigmatism-correcting lenses, which would be an out-of-pocket expense for the patient," Pettey stresses. "Likewise, there are some lenses that aid in a patient seeing [both] near and far. However, these lenses are also an out-of-pocket expense." Affordability of advanced lenses may be something to discuss with your family and financial adviser.

Rates fell by 8.1% for vets 75 and older and 2.2% for those ages 55 to 74, according to the Veterans Administration's 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, which covers through 2021.

Enrollment in Veterans Health Administration care makes a difference, as do programs for secure firearm storage, crisis intervention and community-specific suicide prevention. Vets took advantage of Veterans Crisis Line call, text and chat functions, for example, and a telehealth effort offering evidence-based therapy for suicide prevention.

Meanwhile, 79% of veterans age 60+ "rate themselves as aging successfully," says Michelle J. Karel, Ph.D., National Mental Health Director, Geriatric Mental Health, in the Veterans Health Administration Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

She cites the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, which shows that despite downsides such as trauma and potential disability, veterans often show what she calls "protective characteristics" such as a perceived purpose in life, optimism and gratitude, and community integration and connections.

Artificial intelligence has reduced time spent in these noisy, cramped MR (magnetic resonance) machines by at least half, according to major manufacturers.

"With AI [artificial intelligence] – based techniques, we can now scan up to 50% faster with the same or even better image quality," says Fotis Vlachos, chief marketing officer of MR at GE HealthCare and a leading MRI maker.

At another, Philips, Clinical Leader in MR Gwenael Herigault explains the result as "shortening overall exam times significantly, down to 5 or 10 minutes as opposed to 20 minutes or more … [because] AI has been able to remove 'noise' from images without removing anatomical details." Staff can now spend some of the saved time alleviating patient anxiety, he says, which is key to increasing the exam's success.

Plus, Vlachos says, such advances apply to more than 90% of exams, "so most patients will benefit from AI" — especially as most MRI machines or upgrades GE has installed in the past two to three years include them. All this means not just less time inside the scanner but a shorter wait for an appointment and for results.

Hear better, live longer, suggests a study newly published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity. "We found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 24% lower risk of mortality than those who never wore them," lead researcher Janet Choi, MD, MPH, an otolaryngologist with the University of Southern California (USC), told Science Daily.

This long-term study by researchers at USC's Keck School of Medicine looked at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the years 1999–2012. The data covered nearly 10,000 adults who were tested for hearing ability and completed questionnaires about use of hearing aids. The adults' average time in the study was 10 years.

Of those with hearing loss, the 24% lower risk of dying during this period for those who regularly used hearing aids persisted despite differences in age, ethnicity, income, medical history and severity of hearing loss, researchers found. Using a hearing aid only occasionally apparently offered no benefit in terms of life extension.

Why do hearing aids help prevent early death? The study doesn't answer that, but Choi notes other studies that connect use of hearing aids with a decrease in depression and dementia. Says Science Daily, "She speculates that the improvements in mental health and cognition that come with improved hearing can promote better overall health, which may improve life span."