Family caregivers of military vets need their own support

Larry Barfield returned home to southwest Georgia from military duty in Iraq nine years ago. Barfield was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, a result of regular mortar attacks and what he witnessed as a Navy construction mechanic. His wife, Pam, 54, is his full-time caregiver, helping him cope with his condition at their Leesburg home….

New firm to tackle shortfalls in senior care

New firm to tackle shortfalls in senior care

Outcomes Health Information Solutions, based in Alpharetta in northern metro Atlanta, has launched a company that aims to address gaps in the medical care of seniors. SeniorCare will send nurse practitioners into people’s homes to assess the health of individual seniors and send the information to the appropriate insurers and physicians’ office. It will primarily…

Rally opposes cuts in care for seniors

Rally opposes cuts in care for seniors

Dianna Massey of Norcross says respite care greatly helped her family when her mother had Alzheimer’s disease. For years, “she was aggressive and combative,’’ Massey said. Before her mother died four years ago, her father was able to afford respite care – short-term help so the caregiver can have time off. Concerned about those who…

Med student Bijal Vashi works with Dr. David Gaines at St. Mary's Hospital

Med students make history in corridors of Athens hospitals (video)

A major cultural shift is under way in the two community hospitals that have been serving Athens for generations. In such a storied university town, it may seem surprising that the change did not happen long ago. While medical students are a part of the landscape at big university hospitals across the country, they are…

Legislators look at plan to fight Alzheimer’s

Legislators look at plan to fight Alzheimer’s

Nancy Humberstone fought an eight-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease before passing away last year. She was just 65 years old when she died. Humberstone, of Gainesville, was an Emory University professor of physical therapy. But the disease, as it slowly took its toll on her brain, made her unable to figure out how to check…

Progress toward an Alzheimer’s blood test (video)

Progress toward an Alzheimer’s blood test (video)

A loved one is having memory problems. Often he is confused about where he is – and he’s having trouble completing familiar tasks. Is it Alzheimer’s disease? Currently, neurologists diagnose Alzheimer’s based mainly on clinical symptoms. Added information can come from brain imaging, which tends to be expensive, or analysis of a spinal tap, which can…

Breaking ground on mental health: An interview with Dr. Frank Shelp

Two years ago, Georgia reached a landmark agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to revamp its system of care for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities. The Justice Department involvement followed articles in the AJC that reported more than 100 suspicious deaths of patients occurred in Georgia’s mental hospitals during a five-year period. Dr….

Besse Cooper Governor Deal GA

A healthy life in Georgia: Besse Cooper’s world-beating longevity

Besse Cooper, the Monroe woman who is the oldest person in the world, has been remarkably healthy all her life, her son Sidney says. Cooper, a Georgia resident since she was a young woman, celebrated her 116th birthday Sunday. She lives in an area nursing home. Even now, she takes few medications, her son says….

Heroes lift spirits with visit to Grady

Heroes lift spirits with visit to Grady

In the early 1940s, shortly after U.S. entry into World War II, Irma “Pete’’ Dryden of New York City was inspired when she heard of the young black men training as military pilots. Dryden became a nurse for that unit in Alabama, which became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. “We would see to it that…

Drug testing, abortion bills get 11th-hour approvals

Drug testing, abortion bills get 11th-hour approvals

Major social issue legislation related to health received last-minute approvals Thursday night before the close of the 2012 Georgia General Assembly. In the last hour of the legislative session, the House passed a bill that would cut the time for elective abortions from 26 to 20 weeks. Negotiators reached a compromise on the abortion bill…