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A program of individual and family counseling sessions and ongoing support for men and women who care for a wife or husband with Alzheimer's disease has a major impact on how long they can keep their spouses at home with them.

According to recent findings from a long-term study led by a New York University School of Medicine researcher, a psychosocial support program delays by an average of 11⁄2 years the time when people with dementia are usually put in nursing homes. The study, the longest running of its kind, appears in the Nov. 14 issue of the journal Neurology.

“Comprehensive medical treatment, particularly for the elderly, has got to include more than just using a prescription pad,” says Dr. Mary S. Mittelman, the lead author of the study and research professor in the NYU psychiatry department.

The study found that the counseling program helped caregivers gain more support from family and friends, alleviating depression among caregivers and helping them understand and tolerate the memory and behavioral problems that accompany Alzheimer's.

Giving intensive diet and exercise counseling can result in sustained lifestyle changes and a reduction in the occurrence of type 2 diabetes in people at high risk of developing the condition, even after active counseling ceases.

That is the findings of a report published in the Nov. 4 issue of The Lancet on the extended follow-up of the landmark Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study.

Previous FDPS research shows that about 50 percent of people with impaired glucose tolerance will develop diabetes within 10 years if no active intervention is applied.

In the original study, the intervention group was given detailed and individualized counseling to achieve lifestyle goals such as weight loss, decreased intake of fat and saturated fat, increased fiber intake, and adopting a regimen of moderately intense physical activity for 30 minutes or more per day.

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