News and Updates for the Patient and Family

Improving Nutrition to Turn the Tide on Diet-Related Chronic Disease

March is National Nutrition Month, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is shining a spotlight on the importance of good nutrition and the big impact it has on improving people’s lives and lowering the enormous costs of diet-related chronic diseases. Each year, more than a million Americans die from diet-related diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain forms of cancers. In 2020 alone, an estimated 800,000 people died from cardiovascular disease, an even greater number than the horrific toll of COVID-19 during that same year. And obesity, which is both a disease and a condition that increases the risk for other diet-related chronic diseases, has increased to historic levels in children and adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

[ Read full article ]

Johns Hopkins Lipitz Center Winter 2022 Newsletter

Engaging and Supporting Family Caregivers in Care Delivery

The Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care is pleased to share the newly released Engaging and Supporting Family Caregivers in Care Delivery issue brief in this Winter 2022 Lipitz Quarterly Newsletter. Explore how faculty are leading initiatives to better understand the needs and strengthen support afforded to individuals with complex medical needs and their caregivers. These initiatives involve contributing new knowledge, collaborating with decision makers, and developing and testing models of care to better support individuals with complex health needs and their care partners and caregivers.

November Is National Diabetes Month

Prediabetes is a serious health condition affecting 88 million Americans—more than 1 in 3 people—and most are unaware they have it. People with prediabetes have higher-than-normal blood sugar levels that aren’t yet high enough to be considered diabetes, and data shows that people with prediabetes have a 50% chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years.

If you have prediabetes, the good news is that by working with your doctor or health care provider, you can make healthy changes to manage and even reverse this condition. So, take charge of your health: even small adjustments can help manage prediabetes and improve your general well-being.

[ Read full article ]

AAKP Patient Impact Statement: FDA APPROVAL OF THIRD VACCINE DOSE FOR KIDNEY TRANSPLANT PATIENTS

PATIENT IMPACT STATEMENT
 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF KIDNEY PATIENTS (AAKP)
 
AMERICA'S LARGEST ORGANIZATION OF KIDNEY TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS AND LIVING ORGAN DONORS
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. - "Kidney transplant patients, based on the lifetime immunosuppressive medications they must take to stay alive, remain at severe risk of catastrophic illness and death due to COVID-19. The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) thanks the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for incorporating the unique insights of America's kidney transplant recipients and the medical professionals who care for them in their authorization of a third vaccine dose. Kidney transplant patients dutifully fulfilled their societal responsibility to get vaccinated, yet as science has demonstrated, initial vaccines generated few or no antibodies or protections. Hopefully, today's FDA action will help move these highly vulnerable patients closer to a greater level of protection as we await even greater innovations in vaccines and further protections from COVID-19. We honor the ongoing efforts of all first responders, healthcare professionals, civil servants, and employees of the pharmaceutical industry working to protect every American from this deadly disease.
 
For the past eighteen months, kidney transplant patients, like millions of other highly vulnerable immunocompromised patients, have lived in fear of infection, severe illness, and death. We have also witnessed the senseless loss of many of our dearest friends and fellow patients. During this pandemic, through either ignorance or a conscious and reckless disregard of human life, we have also seen the diminishment of our legitimate concerns for our own lives, the security of our families, and the gift of life afforded to us by brave organ donors. We respectfully remind elected and appointed leaders, as well as opinion influencers, across the nation that the American Ethos has historically been defined by both rugged individualism and a deep empathy for the most vulnerable in our society. In the midst of this ongoing pandemic, if we fail to recover our empathy for the most vulnerable and unprotected, we will have lost an essential part of our national identity and a key virtue that has always elevated America above nations who reject the inherent rights and dignity of every person.
 
America will prevail over the challenge of COVID-19 if we stand united as a people, demonstrate our inherent concern for one another as fellow Americans, and demand clarity, accuracy, and full transparency from leaders in whom we invest our trust."

Around the World, Living Longer and Healthier Depends Largely on Gender and Countries' Income

People are living longer today than they did in past generations but now the question is: Are those extra years lived in good health?

[ READ FULL ARTICLE ]

Plan to Stay Safe, Mobile, and Independent

Do you or your friends and family have a plan to stay safe, mobile, and independent as you age? Many people make financial plans for retirement, but don’t consider how to plan for potential mobility changes.

[ READ FULL ARTICLE ]

Lower Your Risk for the Number 1 Killer of Women

Learn about heart disease and women and what you can do to keep a healthy heart.

[ READ FULL ARTICLE ]

Get Moving To Manage Your Diabetes

If you have diabetes, getting regular physical activity is key to helping manage your blood sugar. Read on for tips to help you get moving and keep going.

[ READ FULL ARTICLE ]