Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of
HealthDay:
Gerontologist Who Coined Word 'Ageism' Dies At Age 83
The American gerontologist and psychiatrist who coined the term
"ageism" died Sunday in New York City.
Dr. Robert Butler, 83, died of leukemia at Mount Sinai Medical
Center, according to his daughter Christine Butler, the
Associated Press reported.
Butler, who was founding director of the U.S. National Institute
on Aging, wrote a number of books on aging. Perhaps the most famous
was the 1976 Pulitzer Prize-winning
Why Survive: Being Old in America.
In 1968, Butler created the word "ageism" to describe
discrimination against older people.
Among his many achievements, Butler played a key role in
research proving that senility was not a normal part of aging, but
rather a result of disease, the
AP reported. He was also founding chairman of the United
States' first department of geriatrics, at the Mount Sinai School
of Medicine.
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Task Force Issues New Osteoporosis Screening Guidelines
Younger postmenopausal women should undergo routine screening
for osteoporosis because they're as likely to suffer a bone
fracture as older women, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
recommends.
But the new draft guidelines released Monday said there isn't
enough evidence for or against recommending routine screening for
men, the
Associated Press reported.
"The majority of the evidence supports screening and treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women," said the task force document. "The evidence for primary prevention in men is lacking and future research is needed."
The draft guidelines were created to update the task force's
2002 guidelines, which recommend that all women over 65, and those
ages 60 to 64 at risk for fractures, should undergo a bone density
test, the
AP reported.
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New Technology May Enable Blind People to Drive
A prototype vehicle equipped with technology that enables a
blind person to drive a car is scheduled to be demonstrated next
year by U.S. researchers.
The system utilizes sensors that provide information to a blind
driver about what's around the vehicle, such as whether another car
or object is in front of the vehicle or in an adjacent lane, the
Associated Press reported.
The planned demonstration of the technology -- announced Friday
by the National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech -- will
involve a blind person driving a vehicle on a course that simulates
a typical driving experience.
"We're exploring areas that have previously been regarded as unexplorable," said Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, the AP reported. "We're moving away from the theory that
blindness ends the capacity of human beings to make contributions
to society."
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