Month: May 2015

Hospice programs may help some surviving spouses deal with depression, a new study suggests. The study was based on a national survey of 1,016 older adults whose spouses died after a serious illness. Researchers also used Medicare records. About 30% of those who died had received hospice care for at least 3 days. Overall, 52% of surviving spouses had an increase in depression symptoms over time. This was true whether they had been involved with hospice or not. Depression symptoms improved for about 28% of hospice users’ survivors and 22% of those not involved with hospice. Researchers also looked just at survivors who had been primary caregivers. Results were similar. These differences were small enough that they could have been the result of chance. Then researchers adjusted the numbers based on other information.

Many pregnant women are not getting recommended shots to protect themselves and their babies against whooping cough, a new study shows. The study comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It includes data from New York City and 16 states for the last 4 months of 2011. In all, nearly 56% of pregnant women got the Tdap vaccine. This vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis bacteria. Pertussis causes whooping cough. About 14% of the women got the shot before pregnancy. Another 10% got it during pregnancy and 31% after the birth. U.S. health officials urge all pregnant women to get the Tdap booster shot. Getting it just before or during pregnancy can pass some immunity to the infant. Vaccination after the birth for the mother and other contacts also helps to protect the baby.

Support groups that encourage people to walk may help people with clogged leg arteries, a new study suggests. The study included 194 people age 65 or older. All of them had peripheral artery disease. This is a narrowing of leg arteries. It causes pain when people walk even short distances. People in the study were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group attended weekly sessions that encouraged them to walk. This part of the study lasted 6 months. Then, for another 6 months, they got weekly phone calls from the group leader. The leader encouraged them to walk at least 5 days a week. People in the other group also went to weekly meetings on health topics. But they did not get any messages about exercise. After 12 months, 80% of those in the exercise group were able to climb a flight of stairs or walk one-quarter of a mile without help.