County Helps to Rid Clutter and Reduce Identity Theft 4/13/2011
TOMS RIVER – Ocean County's popular residential document shredding program will be traveling to 10 towns in the county starting May 5 in Tuckerton.
"We make every effort to make this program convenient for all of our residents," said Freeholder James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the county's recycling programs. "The program will move throughout Ocean County over the course of 10 different days. Residents can attend the location most convenient for them."
The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders began the program in 2008 and continues to hold it twice a year.
"This is a great way for Ocean County residents to get rid of those personal documents in a safe and convenient manner," Lacey said. "We hear so much about identity theft and taking the proper precautions when we get rid of papers and documents that may contain sensitive information about ourselves. This is one way the county can help in the fight against identity theft by giving our residents the opportunity to recycle their old documents and files safely and securely."
The vendor providing the service is NexCut LLC, Union City.
"The hours to have your materials shred will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on each scheduled day or until the truck is full," Lacey said.
Lacey noted the truck has an 8,000-pound capacity.
Residents are limited to six boxes or bags each day. Commercial documents will not be accepted. Paper clips and staples do not have to be removed from the documents.
"There is no registration required and the service is free of charge," Lacey said.
The program will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the following dates and locations: · May 5, Tuckerton Public Works Garage, 445 South Green Street · May 6, Long Beach Township Public Works, 7910 Long Beach Boulevard · May 7, Ocean County Southern Recycling Center, 379 Haywood Road, Stafford Township · May 11, Seaside Heights Recycling Center, Bay Boulevard · May 12, Lavallette Firehouse Parking Lot, 125 Washington Street · May 13, Brick Township Recycling Center, 836 Ridge Road · May 14, Toms River Recycling Center, Church Road · May 19, Jackson Township Public Works Garage, 10 Don Connor Boulevard · May 20, Manchester Township Public Works Garage, 1360 Route 70 · May 21, Lacey Township Recycling Center, 820 Municipal Lane
The service representatives are uniformed, bonded and insured. The shredding unit features an automatic feeding and tipping system, eliminating human contact with documents and forms.
For additional information on the program call the Ocean County Department of Solid Waste Management at 732-506-5047.
Sometimes the best marketing iThe gin-soaked raisins are positioned as an anti-inflammation food targeted at those with arthritis and chronic inflammation. Company founder Larry Wright, 72, of Lafayette, CO, says other than Google Adwords, selected websites, the company newsletter and press releases, he hasn't had to do much additio
Launched in September, DrunkenRaisins has sent out some 800 orders, many of them to repeat customers. "We've had orders from every state," Wright tells Selling to Seniors, noting that the lone domestic hold out is Washington, D.C.
Clearly, he has yet to tap into the vast market of Boomers, seniors and others who experience chronic inflammation. "There are 60 million out there who should give it a shot," he says.
The DrunkenRaisins company product is raisins soaked in gin and flavored with honey and imported cinnamon, but it's not Wright's discovery. "I refer to it as 'a brand new idea that's 80 years old.'" Company lore has it that about 80 years ago the therapeutic uses of raisins soaked in gin were discovered in the United Kingdom. Wright, who has arthritis in both hands, began making them to see if he could relieve his own pain. It worked.
Food That Relieves Pain
"Originally it was reported that if you only ate eight or 10 a day that you would enjoy a level of relief for that day," he says. "I have mine in the morning, and if I have flare-ups again in my hands I eat them again in the evening -- maybe a dozen of them -- and in 15 minutes the flare-ups will go away."
He's careful to note that the raisins are not medication. "Medications tell your head to ignore the pain; the DrunkenRaisins actually reduce inflammation. We're not medicine, we're a food that happens to have some anti-inflammatory value. So it's not really arthritis we attack, its inflammation -- and arthritis is a word for inflammation that doesn't go away."
The product sells for $19.95 a pound, which lasts about a month. Wright recommends a three pound order "because with one pound it's a taste test to see if you can tolerate the gin – but there's so little gin, that's not normally a problem – but you're not giving your body a chance to experience its value." Subscribers receive three pounds every two months and receive discounts.
New Guidelines for Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease
Expert Panels Define Early Stages of Disease with Biomarkers and Brain Imaging
April 21, 2011
The clinical guidelines for diagnosing whether someone has Alzheimer’s disease haven’t been updated since 1984. For the past 27 years, a person had to show dramatic memory problems and in many cases “severe” cognitive decline before being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. In most cases, this diagnosis couldn’t be confirmed until after death, when an autopsy would reveal a brain riddled with abnormal protein deposits called plaques and tangles. Now, new guidelines for Alzheimer’s disease definition and diagnosis have been put together by three expert panels and appear in a series of publications in the April 19 issue of the Alzheimer’s & Dementia journal.
The updated guidelines redefine the disease progression to include an early “preclinical” stage, a middle stage called “mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s disease,” and a final stage of dementia due to the Alzheimer’s related changes in the brain. In particular, the guidelines have added new detection methods to define each stage and determine whether any clinical change in thinking or memory is specifically due to Alzheimer’s.
The findings are not without controversy. While all agree that medical research stands to greatly benefit from new assessment criteria, some media outlets have shrugged their shoulders, suggesting that this is more about calls for increased funding than for an immediate impact on concerned families.
Under the new guidelines, clinical definitions of cognitive decline are combined with what is known about protein biomarkers and brain imaging technologies such as MRI and PET scans. These panels clarified the difference between the presence of biological changes in the brain (beta-amyloid and tau proteins, the hallmarks of plaques and tangles, respectively) and the appearance of changes in brain function or cognitive decline. “There have been tremendous advances in biomarker research which now allow us to detect evidence of early Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the living brain, likely more than a decade before clinical dementia,” said Reisa A. Sperling, M.D., Director of the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, who chaired the “preclinical” panel.
Since cognitive symptoms are believed to appear long after structural or biochemical changes, the panels reasoned that evidence of these chemical or structural changes could be accepted as an indication of Alzheimer’s disease. “The Alzheimer’s disease process is long and goes on for years before the symptoms become severe,” says Bradley T. Hyman, M.D., Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, chair of the dementia panel and contributor to the two other panels. “We hope that by diagnosing this disease in early stages, we’ll be able to develop disease-modifying treatments.”
One of the updates to the old guidelines is the definition of the middle stage, “MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease.” Previously, MCI was not necessarily specific to Alzheimer’s disease. MCI, on its own, is defined as a set of mild cognitive difficulties that can be caused by Alzheimer’s and also by a number of other conditions, like stroke, problems with blood vessels in the brain, dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease, depression, drug interactions, and others.
With the new guidelines, if someone has the clinical signs of MCI and is positive for characteristics of Alzheimer’s such as abnormal beta-amyloid and tau protein biomarkers, then there’s an increasing likelihood that this is the new classification “MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease” rather than just “MCI.” If someone is negative for both biomarkers, then the MCI is unlikely to be due to Alzheimer’s and the clinician can look for other causes that would be managed and treated differently.
Currently, there are no disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Existing medications serve only to address symptoms without affecting the underlying progression of the disease. Concerned patients or family members are presented with the dilemma of whether an earlier positive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease might provide a benefit or cause them greater stress.
Although many of the technologies described in the new criteria are not widely available at this time and are largely limited to facilities actively involved in research, there may be some immediate benefits to clinicians and patients with access to the tools. “These new guidelines help to better define whether someone’s initial difficulties with cognition are due to Alzheimer’s disease versus another cause,” says David M. Holtzman, M.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, and expert on the “MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease” panel. Though many dementias remain untreatable, some causes such as tumors or abnormal pressure in the brain may be treatable. “In addition,” says Holtzman, “the guidelines allow for a standardized way to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease at all stages of the illness. This will be particularly important as effective treatments are being developed to delay the onset or prevent the disease.”
The promise of early diagnosis may have benefits that are not, strictly speaking, biological. “Disease-modifying treatments are our holy grail, but we also have to focus on the idea that biological changes are not the only toll that Alzheimer’s disease has on patients and families,” says Guy Eakin, Vice President of Scientific Affairs at the American Health Assistance Foundation. “Even if we can’t yet cure Alzheimer’s, new technologies may give patients and families valuable time to prepare for life changes.” In addition, many caregivers must make career, legal and financial decisions, as they prepare to devote more and more time and resources to caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease. Says Eakin, “For some families, even a few extra months may make a world of difference—especially if those months position the patient to have a greater voice in these decisions.”
Co-authors Bradley T. Hyman, M.D., Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, David M. Holtzman, M.D., Washington University School of Medicine, Reisa A. Sperling, M.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, and Kristine Yaffe, M.D., University of California, San Francisco, are grant recipients of by AHAF’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research program. Co-authors Dennis Dickson, M.D., Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, David M. Holtzman, M.D., Washington University School of Medicine, and William Jagust, M.D., University of California, Berkeley, serve as scientific advisors to AHAF.
For the full press releases from the National Institute on Aging/National Institutes of Health and Alzheimer’s Association (who jointly convened the expert panels), and for copies of the original publications from the Alzheimer’s & Dementia journal, please refer to the following websites:
(INSPECTOR GENERAL) Multi-Million Dollar Errors Found in Medicare Payments for Diagnostic Radiology Services
The Department of Health & Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG) has turned up evidence of tens of millions of dollars worth of payment errors in connection with Medicare's handling of claims for certain types of emergency room radiology services.
In 2008, Medicare erroneously allowed 19% ($29 million) of claims for interpretation and reports for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 14% ($9 million) of claims for interpretation and reports for x-rays in hospital outpatient emergency departments because of insufficient documentation, the OIG finds.
Of the allowed Medicare claims for CTs and MRIs in hospital outpatient emergency departments in 2008:
12% ($18 million) did not have physicians' orders as part of the medical record documentation, and
12% ($19 million) did not have documentation to support that interpretation and reports had been performed.
5% ($7.3 million) had overlapping errors.
Of the allowed Medicare claims for x-rays in hospital outpatient emergency departments in 2008:
8.6% ($5.5 million) did not have physicians' orders as part of the medical record documentation, and
8.2% ($5.4 million) did not have documentation to support that interpretation and reports had been performed.
3% ($1.9 million) of claims had overlapping errors.
Although not erroneously allowed, 12% ($19 million) of CT and MRI claims and 16% ($10 million) of x-ray claims were for interpretation and reports that were performed after beneficiaries left emergency departments, says the OIG.
"The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) offers inconsistent payment guidance on the timing for interpretation," the OIG says in its report. "In 2008, approximately 71% of interpretation and reports for x-rays and 69% of interpretation and reports for CTs and MRIs did not follow one or more of the American College of Radiology-suggested documentation practice guidelines."
No symptoms of macular degeneration may be noticed if only one eye is affected or during the early stages of the disease. Therefore, it is very important to have regular eye examinations.
Vision Loss In Macular Degeneration Slowed Using Unique Encapsulated Cell Therapy
April 7, 2011
A phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of a severe form of age-related macular degeneration, called geographic atrophy (GA), has become the first study to show the benefit of a therapy to slow the progression of vision loss for this disease. The results highlight the benefit of the use of a neurotrophic factor to treat GA and provide hope to nearly one million Americans suffering from GA.
The multi-center research team, including Kang Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of California, San Diego, Shiley Eye Center, the lead author of the paper and one of the leading investigators in the study, found that long-term delivery of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) served to re-nourish the retina and stop or slow the loss of visual acuity caused by the disorder. The results were recently published online in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
According to Zhang—professor of ophthalmology and human genetics at the UCSD School of Medicine and director of UCSD's Institute of Genomic Medicine—there is currently no effective treatment for dry AMD or GA, though there is a very big need. "This could open the door to long-term treatment of dry AMD, using a simple surgical procedure."
Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is a leading cause of vision loss in Americans age 60 and older. It is a disease that causes cells in the macula—the part of the eye that allows us to see in fine detail—to die. There are two forms of the disorder, wet and dry AMD. GA is considered the end stage of dry AMD, where central vision is lost.
According to the National Eye Institute, wet AMD occurs when abnormal blood vessels behind the retina start to grow under the macula. These new blood vessels tend to be very fragile and often leak blood and fluid. The blood and fluid raise the macula from its normal place at the back of the eye, resulting in rapid loss of central version. There is currently a very effective therapy for wet AMD. Dry AMD occurs when the light-sensitive cells in the macula slowly break down, gradually blurring central vision in the affected eye.
In the trial, high-dose CNTF was delivered to 27 GA patients using encapsulated cell therapy (ECT). Another 24 patients received either a sham surgery (12) or a low-dose of CNTF (12). CNTF affects survival and differentiation of cells in the nervous system, including retinal cells. CNTF has been shown to retard the loss of photoreceptor cells in many animal models of retinal degeneration.
The ECT utilized a capsule that contains genetically engineered cells to continuously produce CNTF over a 12-month period. The CNTF-secreting capsule was implanted in the back of the study subject's eye. The implant allows the CNTF molecules to diffuse into the eye tissue, while keeping out antibodies and immune cells that would attack and destroy the CNTF-producing cells.
There was a statistically significant difference in the change of the total macular volume in the eyes of study participants at the 12-month point, versus baseline in the high-dose group, according to Zhang. "In addition, all but one of the patients in the high dose group, or 96.3 percent, maintained stabilized vision, compared to only 75% of the patients in the sham-treatment group."
The patients treated with a high dose of CNTF also showed an increase in retinal thickness as early as four months after implant, an increase that correlated to the stabilization of vision.
In most cases, the primary caregiver of a person with Alzheimer’s disease will be a loved one, a spouse, adult child or close companion. Even in the early stages of the disease, caregiving is an extremely demanding, 24-hour-a-day task. Caregivers need to be flexible and understanding in dealing with changes in their loved one’s behavior and personality. They must also be able to communicate with family, friends and professionals about his or her condition.
Spouses who are caregivers are likely to be strongly affected by a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, as they process the profound changes their future holds. Many times spouses have their own health problems. Further, husbands and wives often are required to reverse roles and take on unfamiliar tasks. Depending on their relationship, Alzheimer's can bring couples closer together or it can alienate them. Finally, spouses need to accept that the person they have known and loved may change dramatically in personality and behavior, and there will almost without a doubt come a time when their loved one does not recognize them.
Adult children who are caregivers also need to adjust to the role reversal in caring for their parent. They may feel overwhelmed by the other responsibilities in their lives such as working within or outside the home and caring for their own children.
As distressing as an Alzheimer’s diagnosis can be, this is the time to begin to accept the future, build a support network, gather information to help alleviate fears and plan for the road ahead. Family members who do not live nearby should support the main caregiver and try to help with tasks that do not require them to be nearby.
Caregivers can greatly benefit from participation in support groups, some of which meet physically on a regular basis and others that interact virtually on the internet. Both offer advice, information, resources and comfort. Those in support groups have a common understanding of issues facing caregivers in similar situations. Many members become like family or close friends as they discuss common problems, coping strategies, and caring for oneself as well as the Alzheimer’s patient.
The encouragement and assistance of family and friends is especially important. Caregivers may appreciate getting together to discuss their feelings and may seek offers to help with various tasks. As much as possible, family members should be supportive of one another, offer assistance and respite to the primary caregiver, and stay up to date on the physical and emotional condition of the person with Alzheimer’s. Caregiver training and support groups can also be very helpful and are recommended. In some cases, professional counseling may be needed.
Get family and friends to help you with this great online tool. Lotsa Helping Hands is a free private group calendar that helps caregivers, friends, family members and other volunteers coordinate the dates and times when they will help with caregiving duties, such as preparing meals, providing rides or running errands.
Caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease is often a stressful and demanding ordeal. We need to remember that caregivers have human needs and emotions, and that they must care for themselves as well as their loved one. To help cope with the strain of caregiving, it is important to allow oneself to feel varying emotions, including negative ones, express them and deal with them.
Caregivers need to give themselves permission to be human. It is all right to:
BE ANGRY. Turn this energy into positive action. Clean a closet, take a walk, or talk with someone.
BE FRUSTRATED. Stop what you are doing, take a deep breath, and begin a different activity.
TAKE TIME OUT. Sit in a favorite chair in a quiet room, take a trip to the store, spend a few hours out with friends.
ASK FOR HELP. Explore family, friends, and local agencies for resource services. Many doctors’ offices and clergy provide referrals.
RECOGNIZE YOUR LIMITS. You are a valuable person. Take care of yourself, too!
MAKE MISTAKES. Because no one is perfect, and they help you learn.
GRIEVE. It is normal to be sad over the loss of the way things used to be.
LAUGH AND LOVE. Now more than ever it’s important to have meaningful connections.
HOPE. Tomorrow, the day may go smoother, a friend may call, and new treatments may be found.
Fulfilling and adapting to the changing needs of the person with Alzheimer's, and dealing with unfamiliar behavior and practical matters takes a physical and emotional toll on caregivers. If these pressures are not periodically relieved, caregivers are susceptible to exhaustion, illness and depression. To avoid this, caregivers first need to recognize the signs of stress. Some warning signs include feelings of denial, depression, irritability, anger and anxiety, as well as physical signs such as trouble sleeping, exhaustion and health problems.
For many caregivers the more they learn about Alzheimer's disease, the better they can cope. They learn to recognize the things that can be changed and accept those that cannot. They identify sources of help, let go of unrealistic expectations, adapt to their loved one’s changing needs and understand that a positive attitude can change a bad day into a better one.
There are many ways to reduce stress, some of which include: take time out to relax, engage in an enjoyable pastime, do one thing at a time, keep a list of tasks, write in a journal, maintain a sense of humor, eat right, exercise and get proper rest. Caregivers deserve to give themselves credit for doing the best they can in very trying circumstances.
There are many resources available to those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease. These organizations and websites offer a wide variety of advice on: health, financial and legal matters; senior services and housing; caregiving strategies and tips; and support and assistance for the caregiver. Many websites have databases to help find local services.
The average daily cost of a private room in a nursing home is $219, which calculates to $79,935 per year.
Brain Starts Shrinking Nearly A Decade Before Alzheimer's Appears
April 19, 2011
Areas of the brain affected by Alzheimer's disease may start shrinking up to a decade before dementia is diagnosed, according to a new study published in the April 13, 2011, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, researchers used MRI scans to measure areas of the brain in people with no memory problems or other signs of Alzheimer's, then followed them for years to see who developed the disease. The researchers specifically focused their measurements on areas known to be involved in AD. Those with smaller brain size in the Alzheimer's-related areas of the brain were much more likely to develop the disease than those with larger measurements.
"This measure is potentially an important imaging marker of early changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease that could help predict who might develop the dementia associated with this disease and possibly even how long it would be before dementia develops," said study author Bradford Dickerson, M.D., of Harvard Medical School in Boston and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study involved two separate groups of people with no signs of Alzheimer's. In the first group, 33 people were followed for an average of 11 years. During that time, eight of the participants developed Alzheimer's disease dementia. In the second group, 32 people were followed for an average of seven years, and seven of them developed the disease.
The participants were divided into three groups based on the brain scans: those with low, average and high measurements in the Alzheimer's-related areas. Of the 11 people who had the lowest MRI measurements, 55 percent developed Alzheimer's, while none of the nine people with the highest measurements developed dementia. Of those with average measurements, 20 percent developed the disease.
"We also found that those who express this MRI marker of the Alzheimer's disease in the brain were three times more likely to develop dementia over the following 10 years than those with higher measurements," Dickerson said. "These are preliminary results that are not ready to be applied outside of research studies right now, but we are optimistic that this marker will be useful in the future."
Ocean County Clerk's Office Ready to Help Veterans 4/11/2011
TOMS RIVER – With "Serving Our Veterans, Armed Forces and Their Families," as this year's theme of National County Government Month, the Office of the Ocean County Clerk is encouraging veterans to register their discharge paper known as Form DD-214.
Ocean County veterans may bring their original DD-214 discharge paper to the Ocean County Clerk's Office at the Court House in Toms River and have the document recorded and receive a registration card to verify that their original DD-214 has been registered, according to Ocean County Clerk Scott Colabella. There is no charge for the service.
"With more than 68,000 veterans living in Ocean County it's important we alert veterans to this service offered by the County Clerk," noted Freeholder Deputy Director Gerry P. Little, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Veterans Service Bureau. "Registering veterans discharge papers (Form DD-214) with the County Clerk's Office ensures that a true copy of the original document may always be obtained in the event that the original is lost or destroyed."
Copies of the DD-214 discharge papers are needed for a number of reasons to provide veterans and their families proof of discharge for: dependents of deceased veterans attending high school, college or technical school; obtaining funeral benefits; obtaining benefits from Veteran's Services; obtaining property tax exemption; Government employment; Civilian employers doing government work; Job placement; Veteran's social clubs and obtaining a Peddler's license.
"To date, the Ocean County Clerk's Office has registered over 8,000 DD-214 papers for veterans," said Freeholder John P. Kelly, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Clerk's Office. "The professional and knowledgeable staff there will make the process an easy one and once done it provides peace of mind should the original form be misplaced."
"As we celebrate April as National County Government Month, it's important we raise awareness and educate the residents of Ocean County of the numerous programs and services provided by county government including those at the Ocean County Clerk's Office," said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. "This service is truly a benefit to the veteran and their family."
Veterans may bring their original DD-214 papers to the Ocean County Clerk's Office located at the Ocean County Court House, 118 Washington Street in Toms River, during regular business hours Monday thru Friday. Veterans may call the County Clerk's Office at (732) 929-2018 or go online at www.oceancountyclerk.com for additional information
Is A Chronic Condition Getting The Best of Your Life?
Ongoing health conditions affect how you live your life, how you experience your relationships and how you deal with your emotions.
This workshop will provide you with the tools that will help you to design your own strategy for managing chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart and lung conditions, anxiety, diabetes, or high blood pressure.
You will learn:
ØHow to manage stress
ØHow to improve your communication skills
ØHow to cope with depression
ØHow to increase your energy levels
ØHow to eat healthy
ØHow to get more out of life!
The course meets 2 ½ hours once a week, for six weeks.It is highly interactive and informal.
When life changes, you need new skills and tools to deal with the impact of these challenges.
Make better choices today for a healthier tomorrow.
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