Most American adults over 65 have some mental health coverage through Medicare, but it’s far from adequate, according to a recent Commonwealth Fund study that compared U.S. coverage with that of 12 other high-income countries.
Researchers conducted an international survey after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Roughly 21% of older adults in the U.S. had a diagnosed mental health condition; more than one-quarter said they had trouble paying for the care they needed.
The next highest rate of depression, anxiety or other illness was 13% in New Zealand. Germany was the lowest at 5%.
Less than 10% of adults in the United Kingdom, France, Sweden and Germany said they struggled to pay for mental health care.
Missing Companions and Teeth
A Chinese study reports that older adults who are socially isolated are more likely to have missing teeth and to lose their teeth more quickly over time, compared with peers with more social interaction.
The finding jibes with past data that demonstrates that social disconnection can have a power effect on indicators of health and well-being.
Social isolation and loneliness are related but different. Social isolation is an objective measure defined as having few social relationships or infrequent social contact with others, while loneliness is the feeling created by a lack of social connection.
“While social isolation and loneliness often go hand in hand, it’s possible to live alone and be socially isolated but to not feel lonely, or to be surrounded by people but still feel lonely,” says Bei Wu, a professor in global health and the study’s senior author.
“Socially isolated older adults tend to be less engaged in social and health-promoting behaviors like physical activity, which could have a negative impact on their overall functioning and oral hygiene, as well as increase their risk for systemic inflammation,” says Wu. “This functional impairment seems to be a major pathway linking social isolation to tooth loss.”
Body of Knowledge
Babies don’t have kneecaps. They have cartilage instead, which begins turns to bone or ossify between the ages of 2 and 6, completing the process by young adulthood.
Get Me That, Stat!
Global cases of dementia could triple by 2050, according to a Lancet Public Health study, translating to roughly 153 million people. The smallest increases, reports STAT, are predicted in the high-income Asia Pacific region (53%) and Western Europe (74%), and the largest growth in North Africa and the Middle East (367%) and eastern sub-Saharan Africa (357%).
Doc Talk
Orthostatic hypotension: getting dizzy from standing up too fast
Phobia of the Week
Hypsiphobia: a fear of heights, similar to acrophobia, but a lot more “hyp.”
Best Medicine
A patron of a health food store was assaulted by another customer who threw a massive bottle of cod liver capsules at him. Fortunately, there were only super fish oil injuries.
Observation
“Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself.” — Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Medical History
This week in 2003, Dolly, the world-famous first cloned sheep, was put down, at about 6 years old. She had been suffering from a progressive lung disease. Dolly, a Finn Dorset sheep, was born at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1996, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. Normal life expectancy of a Finn Dorset sheep is 11-12 years. Dolly’s early death, like her birth, raised new controversy about the wisdom of cloning.
Ig Nobel Apprised
The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that’s hard to take seriously, and even harder to ignore.
In 2019, the Ig Nobel Prize in medicine went to a group of Italian researchers for collecting evidence that pizza might protect against cancer — if the pizza is made and eaten in Italy. The research was conducted entirely in Italy, but found that among pizza eaters, risk for oral and pharyngeal, esophageal and colon cancers was lower than for non-pizza eaters.
Self-Exam
Q: Is a daily glass of wine healthy?
A: Not for everyone. Numerous studies have found that small amounts of alcohol may stave off heart disease and lower the risk of stroke and diabetes, but too much alcohol increases the chances of liver and heart damage and cancers such as breast and colon. Current recommended levels are one drink per day for women and two for men, based on body size.
Epitaphs
Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,
Lies Uncle Peter Daniels,
Who too early in the month of May,
Took off his winter flannels. — Headstone in Medway, Massachusetts, cemetery
To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
