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New Study Finds 1 In 4 Multiple Sclerosis Patients With High Out-of-Pocket Costs Not Filling Prescriptions
One in four multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are declining to fill their prescriptions likely due to high out-of-pocket costs, according to new research conducted by pharmacy benefits manager Prime Therapeutics (Prime). The study found that patients with an out-of-pocket expense greater than $250 were seven times more likely to decline to fill their prescription than patients with an out-of-pocket cost of $100 or less. The study concluded that this increase in the number of patients who decline to fill their MS specialty prescriptions and do not continue taking the necessary MS medications may adversely affect long term patient care.
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Delays To Seeing Docs Stretch On
A new study finds the average wait for a medical appointment has increased by more than a week since 2004, to 8.6 days, USA Today reports. In Boston, the worst-performing city of the 15 surveyed for the Merritt Hawkins and Associates study, patients waited nearly 50 days, on average, to see a doctor.
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Biological 'Fountain Of Youth' Discovered In New World Bat Caves
Scientists from Texas are batty over a new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical breakthrough in human history - significantly longer lifespans. The discovery, featured on the cover of the July 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, shows that proper protein folding over time in long-lived bats explains why they live significantly longer than other mammals of comparable size, such as mice.
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Weight Loss In Old Age May Signal Dementia

A new study shows that older people who are thinner or are losing weight quickly are at a higher risk of developing dementia, especially if they started out overweight or obese. The research is published in the May 19, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. For the study, researchers followed for eight years 1,836 Japanese Americans in Washington state with an average age of 72. During that time, 129 people developed dementia. The research found that people with lower body mass index (BMI) scores at the beginning of the study were 79 percent more likely to develop dementia than those with higher BMI scores. In addition, those who lost weight over the study period at a faster rate were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia than those who lost weight more slowly over time. This result was more pronounced in those who were overweight or obese to start; those with a BMI of 23 or higher had an 82-percent reduced risk of developing the disease compared to those who were normal or underweight. The results were the same after testing for other health risk factors such as smoking, exercise and gender. "Our finding suggests that losing weight quickly in older age may be an early sign of dementia," said study author Tiffany Hughes, PhD, MPH, who is with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine but conducted the research while she was a doctoral student at the University of South Florida. "This doesn"t mean that being obese or overweight is healthy for the mind or body, but losing weight may be a sign of emerging brain disease." Hughes says other current research shows that, in contrast, a larger belly in midlife may be a risk factor for dementia. "Dementia has been shown to develop in the brain decades before any symptoms develop," Hughes said. "These findings likely reflect that process. In middle age, obesity may be a risk factor for dementia, while declining weight in late life may be considered one of the first changes from the disease that occurs before it actually affects a person"s memory." The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 21,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, restless legs syndrome, Alzheimer"s disease, narcolepsy, and stroke. American Academy of Neurology (AAN)


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