Latest news with #FamilyMedicine
Medical News Today
4 days ago
- Health
- Medical News Today
Food and nutrition for older adults
Medically reviewed by Shilpa Amin, M.D., CAQ, FAAFP, Family Medicine , Women's Health , Geriatrics , Integrative Medicine , Clinical Research , Jurisprudence , — Written by Mandy French on June 6, 2025 Nutrition needs Foods to eat Meal planning Sample menus Summary Food and nutritional needs can change as a person ages. Certain foods and vitamins are even more important for older adults. As a person ages, their nutritional needs and caloric intake requirements change. To meet these new needs, it is important for them to maintain a nutritious and balanced diet and reduce their portion sizes if their activity level has lowered. Eating a balanced diet and staying physically active can help support overall health as a person ages. As people age, their bodies change, and so do their nutritional needs. For example, the body naturally loses muscle mass and strength with age. This begins around their 40s and declines more rapidly in their 60s. Losing muscle can contribute to the slower rate at which the body uses calories. Bones also begin to thin as an individual ages. This, along with muscle loss, can contribute to a less active lifestyle. A person may also become less mobile and more sedentary. Certain medical conditions and medications can also make it more difficult for the body to absorb certain nutrients, such as vitamin B12. Older adults may need to consume more protein to help reduce the loss of lean muscle mass. It is also common for older adults to not drink enough fluids to stay hydrated. One cause of this is the gradual decline of the thirst sensation as they age. Therefore, older adults need to drink enough fluids to stay hydrated. Older adults typically need fewer calories than they did when they were younger. This is partly due to the loss of muscle mass, and a slower metabolism also contributes to this need. The following table shows the recommended caloric intake for people assigned male or female at birth who are ages 61 years old and older. This compares to the higher needs of adults assigned male or female at birth who are between the ages of 19 and 60 years old: Males: 2,200 to 3,000, depending on activity level 2,200 to 3,000, depending on activity level Females: 1,600 to 2,400, depending on activity level » Learn more: Foods that support aging Eating enough protein is important to help slow or prevent the natural loss of muscle that occurs with age. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) calculator can provide an exact recommendation for the amount of protein and other nutrients individuals need to consu me daily. While it can be helpful to find a personalized recommendation for protein intake, the following table shows a general daily recommendation for adults assigned male or female at birth who are 60 years old and older. » Learn more: High protein foods Eating enough fruits and vegetables is important to help prevent certain conditions and illnesses. Fruits and vegetables are also important sources of vital nutrients, such as: potassium fiber vitamin C folate vitamin A The following table shows the general daily fruit and vegetable intake recommendations for people assigned male or female at birth who are 60 years old and older. » Learn more: Fruits vs. vegetables It is important for older adults to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, help with digestion, and assist with the absorption of nutrients. They can also choose unsweetened beverages, such as 100% fruit or vegetable juice, low fat or fat-free milk, and fortified soy beverages. Dietary guidelines recommend that older adults limit their alcohol intake. These individuals may experience the effects of alcohol more easily than they did when they were younger, which can increase their risk of falls and other injuries. » Learn more: Symptoms of dehydration One reason some people may not get the amount of nutrition they need is that it is difficult to decide what to eat. Meal planning helps take the guesswork out of eating and ensures that people eat a variety of nutritious foods throughout the day. When considering meals to plan, an individual may want to keep the following in mind: Preparation time: Some meals can be made in just a few minutes. However, if a person enjoys cooking, they may want to try meals and recipes that are a bit more challenging. When planning a meal, consider the preparation time and anything else going on at the time. Some meals can be made in just a few minutes. However, if a person enjoys cooking, they may want to try meals and recipes that are a bit more challenging. When planning a meal, consider the preparation time and anything else going on at the time. Calories: Consuming the right amount of calories can help overall health and help a person maintain a moderate weight. Consider the amount of calories in the foods to be sure to get the right amount of nutrients. Always speak with a healthcare professional about any weight and fitness goals before making big changes. » Learn more: A guide to eating a balanced diet » Learn more: Healthy aging and why it is important As people age, their nutrition needs change, so it is important to ensure they eat a healthy and balanced diet. This can help reduce the risk of certain conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. It can also help prevent the natural muscle loss that occurs with age. It is important to eat a variety of foods from each food group and remember that caloric intake requirements generally reduce with age. A person can speak with a healthcare professional about ways to get the nutrition they need. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
WebMD
5 days ago
- Health
- WebMD
The Right Way to Use AI to Interpret Medical Test Results
June 5, 2025 – It's a common situation today: You're anxiously awaiting the results of a medical test when – ding! – they land in your patient portal. You'll be looking at them before your doctor. You start reading, but the confusing jargon makes you more nervous. What's a tortuous colon? Is a 1-centimeter nodule on my thyroid big enough to worry about? Do I have cancer? Many people are now using artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT to decipher their test results while they wait to hear from their doctor. Some doctors see it as the next-gen version of asking Dr. Google, but on steroids. Just like an old-school internet search, the answers can range from highly accurate to not-so-helpful to misleading to terrifying. "Patients often do this and come in with conclusions, and sometimes those conclusions are appropriate based on what ChatGPT has recommended," says Karim Hanna, MD, an associate professor and program director of the University of South Florida's Family Medicine Residency Program. "But also, there are times where those conclusions need redirection or clarification for the patients so they're not misunderstanding the details." We asked doctors to spell out the pros and cons of using AI to interpret medical test results and share advice on the smartest ways to do it. What are the benefits of using AI to explain test results? AI is good at translating medical terms into understandable language. Test result reports aren't exactly patient-friendly. "I've been a physician for 20 years, and there are aspects of these radiology reports I don't understand because they're talking about the dye and the protocol, and that's very specific to a radiologist," says Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health and a researcher studying how AI can make test reports more understandable. "This is a document that was really directed to talk between doctors, or sometimes between radiologists." Say a report says you have a tortuous colon. It sounds horrific, but it just means your colon's twists and turns were hard to navigate. AI can clarify things like that. "If there's some verbiage that is kind of medical lingo, ChatGPT does a great job of bringing it to lay terms and explaining things to patients," says Hanna. Plain-language summaries help people digest results. One study found that people with cancer who received a CT scan report simplified by a large language model and checked by a radiologist understood their condition better than people who only received the original report. Another study found that patients better understood their pathology reports when they received an AI-generated summary. Some health systems, such as Stanford Medicine, are now using AI tools to help doctors explain test results to patients. Mehrotra expects more will follow. AI can ease panic – in some cases. Now that test results go straight to patients, sometimes before doctors see them, anxiety around test results is common, research shows. Mehrotra says AI tools could potentially decrease panicked calls to doctors by helping patients understand common findings and test results that are normal or low risk. " The hope is that more people will see their test results and say, 'Oh, it's OK,' and then be willing to wait for their doc for a couple days to respond, as opposed to having that panic," says Mehrotra. What are the downsides of using AI to explain test results? It can be wrong. AI is good, but it's not perfect. ChatGPT is 87%-94% accurate when it analyzes radiology reports, according to Harvard research, and about 97% accurate at interpreting pathology reports, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. Sometimes, AI tools such as ChatGPT generate hallucinations, presenting incorrect information as if it's true (and doing so in a confident way). Fact-check: First, click the supporting links to ensure the information comes from real sources. "There are times where it just makes up sources, and you try to find that source, and it's nowhere to be found," says Sirui Jiang, MD, PhD, a diagnostic radiology resident at University Hospitals Cleveland who studies AI. Once you verify a source exists, check its quality. Ideally, it's a peer-reviewed journal, a doctors' society, or a health system. Then, make sure the text says what the AI tool claims it does. The output isn't tailored to your situation. One drawback of ChatGPT for interpreting medical tests: It lacks context about the patient's medical history, according to research by Hanna and colleagues. When ChatGPT interprets one test in isolation, it might miss the big picture. "Let's say someone has a hemoglobin of 11," says Hanna. "That hemoglobin of 11 is, in theory, abnormal, and ChatGPT will report it as such, sometimes giving reasons that may be scary or concerning to patients." For example, ChatGPT might say that person needs to rule out colon cancer. But they may have had a hemoglobin of 11 for years, and this finding might not actually be new or concerning. "Take everything that ChatGPT gives you with a grain of salt," says Hanna. "The best person to give you recommendations on the results that they ordered is the physician that ordered said result because that clinician will at least have the wherewithal to get you to the right resource, even if it's beyond their capacity to handle that problem." If you're expecting bad news, should you wait to hear from your doctor? Before a high-stakes test, like a test to stage cancer, doctors and patients should make a plan to shorten the limbo period when a patient is alone with their results, says Howard Forman, MD, MBA, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging at Yale University. "The first thing is to have foresight, both from the patient as well as the physician point of view, and an agreement about how you're going to handle new information," he says. "I think some physicians know that a patient is awaiting a very anxiety-provoking report, and in those situations, it's really useful to have an agreement that the doctor is going to be as anxious to see the results as you are and that they'll be in touch with you by MyChart in a few hours, or maybe by phone or maybe in person." Whether you choose to dive into the results early or not, at least you know how soon you will have a chance to ask questions. What should you tell AI about your test results? For the most helpful output, don't just copy and paste test results into an AI tool and hit send. Use prompt engineering – the art and science of creating prompts for best results. "If you're a patient and you are going to leverage these tools, then I usually suggest an acronym, C.A.R.E," says Hanna. Give the tool: Context, or background about yourself Action, a verb that describes what you want it to do Role to take on; in this case, an expert doctor Expectations for how complex the explanation will be For example, you could paste your results and add the following text: I am __. (Enter relevant background information, like your age, if you're comfortable with it, keeping in mind that these tools don't have the same security and privacy standards as medical records.) Assume the role of a _____. (Enter radiologist for an imaging test or pathologist for a tissue or fluid sample.) Please ____ (Identify the key findings in this report OR tell me what the most likely next steps would be OR simplify this report.) at a _____ language level. (Start with fourth grade. If you want more detail and complexity, go up to your highest education level.) Try a few variations and compare. "If you're going to do it, do it a few ways and see how consistent it is," says Mehrotra. "Three interpreted responses versus just one is probably going to be more helpful." Consider using an AI tool made for medical information and clinical data, such as Open Evidence. "It's trained on evidence-based medicine, essentially, so it's not just pulling from the internet; it's pulling from peer-reviewed articles," says Hanna. Whether patients use AI or not, radiologists and imaging specialists can help by writing reports in scientifically accurate yet understandable ways, says Forman. "The more that we can use terms that are clear, concise, and convey information in a manner that is useful to the clinicians and then the patients, the better it is," he says. How should you talk with your doctor about what ChatGPT told you? If you're concerned, call and ask to discuss your results as soon as possible. Be upfront about where you got your information. "If you're feeling guilty about using ChatGPT or any other way to interpret your test results, don't feel guilty, and don't hide it from the doctor," says Mehrotra. "Everyone's doing it." During the waiting game, it helps to remember that while most doctors are busy, they move fast in emergencies. "Patients may not be aware of that if there's something life-threatening on a radiology test, a laboratory test, a pathology test, that radiologist is calling at 2 a.m. or whatever time it is to a doctor to say, 'Look, there's a life-threatening issue here, call the patient, get them on board," says Mehrotra. "That is their responsibility."
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Doctors warn these seemingly small health symptoms should not be ignored
Have you ever had a weird ache that had you umming and ahhing about whether to book a doctor's appointment? Or wondered if you need to get this probably minor thing checked out? Our modern lives of overworking, poor sleep routines and general life stress all exacerbate a wide variety of symptoms. However, there are some things that, though seemingly small, may require a second opinion. The Independent spoke to Dr Lori Solomon, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at New York Medical College, and Dr Estelle Williams, medical director for CityMD for the southern New Jersey region to get their thoughts on which symptoms should really not be ignored. Waking up in the middle of the night needing to pee is totally normal, Solomon tells The Independent. But if that's something you're doing two or three times per night – every night – that might be indicative of a more serious problem. Over-frequent urination can be a symptom of diabetes. 'When your sugar is high, one of the ways the body tries to get rid of the sugar, is to get rid of it through the urine,' Soloman says. 'During the day, you just go to the bathroom more often, but at nighttime, you often have to wake up.' Williams agrees, adding that other worrying signs can be feeling more thirsty and a significant increase in appetite. 'Those are the types of things I think need to be checked sooner rather than later,' she says. Any pain that wakes you up during the night could be a problem. While pulled muscles, physical injuries, or other discomforts may hinder someone getting to sleep – they shouldn't be disturbing you once you're asleep, Solomon says. 'If you're waking up in the middle of the night with a headache, you've got a problem… because usually we don't wake up with headaches in the middle of the night,' she says. 'If that's waking you up at night – I'm a little bit more worried about that.' Headaches are 'super common,' and shouldn't necessarily be considered worrisome, Solomon says. However, if a headache is accompanied by other things such as vision changes, nausea tingling in the extremities, weakness – those may be a sign that something neurological is going on. Williams cautions those who jump to label sudden, severe headaches as migraines. 'A migraine is actually a very specific diagnosis and headache pattern, requiring neurologic evaluation,' she says. 'It's good that you get evaluated if you're having a headache that's unusual for you, if it's very intense.' Such high-intensity episodes, coming on quickly and out of nowhere, can be what is known as 'thunderclap headaches' should definitely necessitate a trip to the emergency room, says Solomon. Another symptom that crops up fairly frequently that shouldn't be ignored is sudden shortness of breath – especially if it's not something you've experienced before, says Williams. 'If you're like, 'that's weird. I was just doing my regular activities and I became very winded and short of breath,' get that checked,' she says. 'I would also say, if you take a deep breath and you develop pain in your chest or your back that you've never had before, that can sometimes be a soft sign for a blood clot in the lungs, called a pulmonary embolism, that we certainly want to see for sooner rather than later. Fatigue too – while common in many people due to hectic work schedules or other lifestyle commitments – should not be significantly interfering with things you would do day-to-day such as exercising, Solomon adds. In very severe cases, fatigue can be symptomatic of heart disease, sleep apnea, and even some cancers. There is one less obvious and very typical symptom of heart disease. 'It's very common for people who are having a heart attack to think they're having indigestion,' Solomon says. 'If you're taking a walk and all of a sudden you feel like, 'Oh, I've got some indigestion', and then it gets better when you stop walking, that's your heart.' A combination of fatigue and indigestion, unconnected to a big meal, is something that people should see the doctor about, she says. It could be due to a lack of blood flow to the heart. Williams says that bouts of indigestion-like symptoms – pressure or tightness – that last for 15 minutes or 20 minutes can be telling, especially for those who do not typically suffer from indigestion or heartburn. 'Sometimes people think 'Oh, I just ate something weird, and I must have a bubble of gas in my chest,' she says. 'That sensation of indigestion is something that can be an indicator of heart disease… It can be a masker of something more serious.' Monitor your bowels, says Williams, because being constipated or having diarrhea is something that's different is worth getting checked out. And while it may seem obvious, seeing blood in either your poop or pee is definitely something to see a doctor about. 'If you're having a change of bowel habits – if you see black stool or a lot of blood when you're using the restroom, I feel like that's perhaps not a subtle sign,' William says. 'That's something a little more concerning that means you should come in.' People often associate blood in the stool as a hemorrhoid, but should not be ignored as it can be a common presentation for colon cancer, according to Solomon. 'In general you generally don't want to see blood in the urine either,' she says. 'But that's usually kidney stones or urinary tract infections.' Solomon also warns people to pay attention when things just don't clear up on their own. 'If there's a cough lasting more than four weeks, you generally want to see somebody about that,' Solomon says. 'There's lots of reasons you can have a cough, but generally, if you have a cough after a cold, it generally goes away in a few weeks. So if it lasts longer than a month, we generally want to know about that.' Williams agrees, adding that things that have been happening for months that may seem innocuous may still be worth investigating. Losing weight unintentionally is definitely something worth mentioning to your primary care doctor. Above all, Solomon recommends that to avoid anything too concerning, take regular visits to your primary care physician, who is better qualified to notice any changes, concerning or otherwise. She encourages people to be over, rather than under-cautious. 'Sometimes people feel silly about coming in with all these different symptoms, but I don't think we could expect that people are going to know everything that doctors know,' she says. 'I'd rather say it's nothing and reassure them than miss something that could be really serious if we didn't catch it in time.'
